Permanent Settlement ACT

Bph101 Modhumoti
Independent University, Bangladesh

1. Greetings

2. Modhumoti Name ID Md. Naimur Rahman 1511063 Noshin Tasnim Priyoti 1721785 Faria Khan 1510921 Md. Asrafuzzaman 1610321

3. Permanent Settlement Act

4. Introduction The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, which was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire British Empire and the political realities of the Indian countryside.

5. Background When the Eastward Bharat Party was awarded the diwani or over lordship of Bengal by the empire following the Engagement of Buxar in Following the devastating shortage of 1770, which was partially caused by this short-sightedness, Company officials in Kolkata better Between 1786 and 1790, the new Governor -General Lord Cornwallis introduce a permanent wave colonisation with the zamindars. Permanent Settlement Bit of 1793, the Zamindars power of keeping the armed forces were taken spine and they remained just the tax In order to keep powerful citizenry happy and to collect better receipts.

6. As per the permanent settlement: The rate of revenue was not to be increased ever in the future, The company officials believed that this would give some motivations to zamindars to invest in the land, Zamindars would be assured of long-term returns of continuous flow of revenue, It also created a new social class of land-lords were loyal to the British. Background

7. Impact of the Permanent Settlement The immediate consequence of the Permanent Settlement was both very sudden and dramatic, one that nobody had apparently foreseen. By ensuring that zamindars' lands were held in perpetuity and with a fixed tax burden, they became desirable commodities. As a result, many zamindars immediately fell into arrears.

8. Working of the Permanent Settlement A settlement in trusts law is a deed whereby real estate, land, or other property is given by a settlor into trust so that the beneficiary only has the limited right to the property, but usually has no right to transfer the land to another or leave it in their own will. Instead the property devolves as directed by the settlement.

9. Notions of private property in land Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity; and from collective property, which is owned by a group of non-governmental entities. IN Marxist literature, private property is further distinguished from personal property, which refers to property for personal use and consumption

10. Ancient Zamindars In the 19th and 20th centuries, with the advent of British imperialism, many wealthy and influential zamindars were bestowed with princely and royal titles such as Maharaja (Great King), Raja (King) and Nawab. Many of the region's princely states were pre-colonial zamindar holdings elevated to a greater protocol. However, the British also reduced the land holdings of many pre-colonial aristocrats, demoting their status to a zamindar from previously higher ranks of nobility. One of the most notable examples is the 16th century confederation formed by 12 zamindars in the Bhati region, which, according to the Jesuits and Ralph Fitch, earned a reputation for successively repelling Mughal invasions through naval battles.

11. Merits of Permanent Settlement With the implementation of Permanent Settlement the condition of the peasants improved a lot and their fields began to produce rich crops. The Government of the company was benefited a lot by the Permanent Settlement. All the landlords who became the owners of the land felt obliged to the English Government and became its true supporters as the time of revolt. Although the government could not increase the revenue in future yet the flourishing trade enabled the English to impose some fresh taxes on the traders and thus they earned a lot of wealth through new tax levied on these landlords. So far, a large number of employees were involved in the revenue administration of the company but the implementation of the permanent settlement enabled them to devote their services to the other department of the company as there was no work in this department now.

12. Demerits of the Permanent Settlement On the other hand there are some scholars who hold the opinion that the Permanent Settlement adversely affected the interests of the landlords, peasants and the company alike. The Permanent Settlement adversely affected the income of the company as the revenue was fixed quite on the low side due to lack of proper measurement. The British government expected that with the implementation of permanent settlement the income of the company would increase tremendously but their expectations were not fulfilled. This settlement also proved harm full for the landlords who failed to deposit the required revenue in the royal treasury in time. It was really a great mistake on the part of Cornwallis that he deprived the majority of the cultivators of the right of ownership of land and made the landlords owners 01 the land. Ishwari Prasad remarks about Permanent Settlement, "The Permanent Settlement also sacrificed the future interest of the state and deprived it of the right of increased revenue resulting from increased prosperity."

13. Overview With a fixed land tax, zamindars could securely invest in increasing their income without any fear of having the increase taxed away by the Company. The Company's policy of auction of any zamindari lands deemed to be in arrears created a market for land that previously did not exist. Many of the new purchasers of this land were Indian officials within the East India Company's government. The new landlords were different in their outlook; "often they were absentee landlords who managed their land through managers and who had little attachment to their land"

14. Conclusion The conclusion of the permanent settlement with zamindars had some immediate objectives in view. These may be classified as: Placing revenue paying on a definite footing and making revenue collection sure and certain, Ensuring a minimum revenue. Relieving officials of revenue matter and engaging them to other spheres of administration and finally, The government now knew how much was to be its annual inflow from land and the zamindars also knew for certain their contractual obligation to government.

15. 15 27-Nov-17