Question

Colonisation of India wrecked the conditions of the peasants. Substantiate.

Answer 1

Instructions:

1. Talk about the agrarian conditions and the land revenue settlements brought about by the British.
2. Discuss how land tax and loans pauperised the peasantry.

Solution:

• Governor General Cornwallis developed a class of zamindars and cultivators in India.
• Zamindars were landlords with a right to own, bequeath, and inherit lands. The position of cultivators was reduced to mere tenants.
• Under the Permanent Settlement of 1793, the zamindars were directly controlled by the British and had the freedom to do what they liked with their tenants.
• Under the Ryotwari Settlement, the peasants were the proprietors of the land. They paid tax directly to the government. The farmers were entitled to remain in possession of the land as long as they paid the land revenue.
• Peasants had to mortgage or sell their property to pay the landlord’s rent or the land tax.
• The farmers were forced to produce commercial crops to clear their debts.