Zamindari System & All India Kisan Sabha - UPSC Modern History Notes

Lord Cornwallis introduced the Zamindari System under his Permanent Settlement Act. The three major components of the Zamindari System were – British, Zamindar (Landlord) and peasants. Known as one of the major land revenue systems, Zamindari System is important for the Modern History preparation of the IAS Exam. Read on to know about Zamindari System characteristics, major events related to it.

Quick Facts about Zamindari System for UPSC

The table below mentions the relevant facts about the Zamindari System for the preparation of the Modern History subject:

To help prepare for UPSC History, aspirants can get all History Questions of UPSC Mains GS 1 in the linked article.

Zamindari System – Major Events

The system recognised the zamindars as landowners who then let out their lands to tenant farmers in return of a share of the produce. The zamindar, in turn, had to pay a fixed sum to the British Government. This led to a lot of exploitation of the peasants.

Issues related to peasants were an important part of the freedom movement from the first decade of the twentieth century. One of the issues that the national movement focussed on after 1915 was the condition of the peasantry and their upliftment. As a result, the abolition of intermediaries and by extension the zamindari system increased in importance. Here are a few important events related to reforming the land revenue system during the early twentieth century:

• The first movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi in India was related to peasants, which was the Champaran Satyagraha (1917) against forced indigo cultivation.
• Kheda Satyagaraha(1918) against high taxation following a plague epidemic and crop failure.
• Issues regarding peasants were raised during the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928. Sardar Vallabbhai Patel took up the issue of a 30% rise in taxes just after a major flood and resulting crop failure.
• Apart from Gandhian movements, we also find various peasant organizations, who were independently fighting for the rights of peasants of the middle and lower level. One such movement was the ‘Awadh Kisan Sabha’ led by Madari Pasi in the erstwhile United Provinces(present-day Uttar Pradesh).
• Also, the issues related to agriculture and peasants were included in the list of Fundamental Rights and Economic Programme by the Indian National Congress in its Karachi session of 1931.
• A reiteration of the demands made at the Karachi session of INC(1935) was made during the Faizpur Agrarian Programme in 1936,
• A resolution for the abolition of the Zamindari system was passed by the Kisan Conference held in Allahabad in 1935 presided by Sardar Patel, Bihar Kisan Sabha by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, and Andhra Riyad Association by NG Ranga.

These were some of the important steps taken towards the abolition of zamindari during the early phase of the freedom movement.

All India Kisan Sabha

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) welcomed the four farm legislations passed by the Punjab Assembly and urged all other States to follow the model.

1. All India Kisan Sabha was formed with Sahajanand as its first president in 1936, at the Lucknow session of the Congress,
2. All India Kisan Sabha is also known as ‘Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha.’ The secretary of this association was NG Ranga.
3. The motives of the All India Kisan Sabha were:
   • To abolish the Zamindari system,
   • To reduce land revenue,
   • To institutionalize credit.

Rift between All India Kisan Sabha and Indian National Congress

• A good number of the INC leaders were Zamindars themselves, while the peasants and workers came from another class. Thus this class clash within the INC was a hurdle, in implementing all the schemes that were visualized by Gandhi, Nehru and others. Know in detail about the Indian National Congress on the linked page.
  • also check out , Establishement of Indian National Congress
  • List of Indian National Congress Session
  • 1st session of Indian National Congress
• So, by and large, the INC failed to meet all the promises they had claimed to fulfil to the peasants. The peasants thus became disillusioned with the INC government.
• Thus, the All India Kisan Sabha felt betrayed by the INC and this is why, when in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for the Quit India Movement, the peasant leaders such as Swami Sahajanand Saraswati appealed to the peasants not to support Gandhi or the INC.
• The peasant movement started being dominated by the socialists and communists and in the INC Haripura session, the rift between INC and AIKS became evident.
• In May 1942, CPI took over AIl India Kisan Sabha all across the country.
• There are two organisations at present working under the name AIKS (following the split of Communist Party of India in 1964):
  1. All India Kisan Sabha – Communist Party of India’s Peasant Wing
  2. All India Kisan Sabha – Communist Party of India-Marxist’s Peasant Front; also known as All India Kisan Sabha (36 Canning Lane).

Know in detail about the All India Kisan Sabha on the linked page.

End of the Zamindari System

The zamindari system was finally abolished by law after independence. In 1951, the first amendment of the Constitution of India amended Article 19 and Article 31. The right to property was modified to allow the states to legislate on ending the zamindari system.

The land revenue systems of British India were an important focus of the freedom movement. In many cases, immediate triggers to various agitations as described in the preceding paragraphs. IAS aspirants should study these systems and the present land revenue system in India. They should also study the impact of land revenue systems on the people. This would enhance preparation for the history as well as economy syllabi of the UPSC 2024.

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