Question

Why the charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the companywas was given to village headman instead of zamindars in the mahalwari system

Answer 1

The responsibility of collecting revenue and paying it to the Company was given to village headmen in the Mahalwari system because under this system, the village or mahal was the unit of revenue. Revenue was determined for the village as a whole and it was the responsibility of the village as a whole to pay the revenue. The village headman was regarded as the representative of the village. Hence, the responsibility was given to the headman.