<h5 id="1-bengal-and-the-zamindars">1. BENGAL AND THE ZAMINDARS</h5> <ul> <li>The British East India Company established its first colonial rule in Bengal.</li> <li>It was the earliest attempt to reorder rural society and establish a new regime of land rights.</li> <li>A new revenue system was also introduced in Bengal during the early years of Company rule.</li> <li>The new revenue system aimed to extract as much land revenue as possible from the peasants.</li> <li>The Zamindars, who were the intermediaries between the state and the peasants, played a significant role in the new revenue system.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="11-an-auction-in-burdwan">1.1 An auction in Burdwan</h5> <ul> <li>The auction in Burdwan in 1797 was a result of the Permanent Settlement of 1793, where the East India Company fixed the revenue for each zamindar.</li> <li>The Raja of Burdwan had accumulated huge arrears, leading to his estates being put up for auction. However, over 95% of the sale at the auction turned out to be fictitious, with the raja’s servants and agents buying the lands on his behalf.</li> <li>The raja remained in control of his zamindari despite the public sale of his estates, indicating a complex situation in the rural areas of eastern India at that time.</li> <li>The term ‘Raja’ was often used to designate powerful zamindars.</li> <li>By the late nineteenth century, many rich zamindars of Bengal had city palaces with European architectural influences, as depicted in the image of the Burdwan raja’s City Palace on Diamond Harbour Road, Calcutta.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="12-the-problem-of-unpaid-revenue">1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue</h5> <ul> <li>The Permanent Settlement was introduced in Bengal in 1793 to resolve issues faced by British officials since the conquest of Bengal, such as a rural economy in crisis with recurrent famines and declining agricultural output.</li> <li>The British aimed to develop agriculture, trade, and state revenue by encouraging investment in agriculture, which was to be achieved by securing rights of property and permanently fixing the rates of revenue demand.</li> <li>The Permanent Settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal, who were classified as zamindars and had to pay a revenue demand fixed in perpetuity.</li> <li>Zamindars were not landowners in the village but revenue Collectors of the state, holding rights to several villages and collecting rent from them, paying revenue to the Company, and retaining the difference as income.</li> <li>The Company fixed the total demand over the entire estate, and zamindars were expected to pay the Company regularly, with estates being auctioned if they failed to do so.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="13-why-zamindars-defaulted-on-payments">1.3 Why zamindars defaulted on payments</h5> <ul> <li>The Company imposed high revenue demands on zamindars, expecting the burden to decrease as agricultural production expanded and prices rose.</li> <li>However, the initial demands were very high and imposed in the 1790s when agricultural produce prices were depressed, making it difficult for ryots to pay their dues to zamindars.</li> <li>The revenue was invariable, regardless of the harvest, and had to be paid punctually, leading to zamindari auctions if payment was not made by sunset of the specified date.</li> <li>The Permanent Settlement initially limited the power of zamindars to collect rent and manage their zamindari, with the collectorate emerging as an alternative center of authority.</li> <li>Rent collection was a perennial problem due to bad harvests, low prices, and deliberate delays by ryots, making it challenging for zamindars to assert their power.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="14-the-rise-of-the-jotedars">1.4 The rise of the jotedars</h5> <ul> <li>Jotedars were a class of rich peasants in North Bengal, who had consolidated their position in villages by the early 19th century.</li> <li>They acquired vast areas of land, sometimes up to several thousand acres, and controlled local trade and moneylending.</li> <li>A significant portion of their land was cultivated by sharecroppers, who were poorer cultivators, bringing their own ploughs and laboring in the field, handing over half the produce to the jotedars after harvest.</li> <li>Jotedars exercised more effective power over poor villagers than zamindars, as they were located in the villages and directly controlled a considerable section of villagers.</li> <li>They fiercely resisted efforts by zamindars to increase the jama of the village, prevented zamindari officials from executing their duties, mobilized ryots dependent on them, and delayed payments of revenue to the zamindar.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="15-the-zamindars-resist">1.5 The zamindars resist</h5> <ul> <li>The authority of zamindars in rural areas did not collapse despite the exorbitant revenue demand.</li> <li>Zamindars devised ways of surviving pressures, such as fictitious sales, which involved transferring property to women or manipulating auctions to buy back the estate at a lower price.</li> <li>Other ways zamindars circumvented displacement included attacks on outsiders who bought an estate at an auction and the resistance of ryots (peasants) to the entry of outsiders.</li> <li>Zamindars were able to consolidate their power in the early 19th century due to the end of price depression and more flexible revenue payment rules.</li> <li>Zamindars finally collapsed during the Great Depression of the 1930s, leading to the consolidation of jotedars’ power in the countryside. (No equations or formulae were provided in the text.)</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="16-the-fifth-report">1.6 The Fifth Report</h5> <ul> <li>The Fifth Report, submitted to the British Parliament in 1813, was a detailed document on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India, specifically focusing on the revenue administration in Bengal and Madras.</li> <li>The report, which ran into 1002 pages, contained over 800 pages of appendices that reproduced petitions of zamindars and ryots, reports of collectors from different districts, statistical tables on revenue returns, and notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras written by officials.</li> <li>The report highlighted the condition of zamindars and the auction of lands, stating that the revenue was not realized with punctuality and lands were periodically exposed to sale by auction. However, recent research indicates that the report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and overestimated the scale on which zamindars were losing their land.</li> <li>The report is critical of the maladministration of the company and mentions that even some of the oldest families of the country, such as the rajahs of Nuddea, Rajeshaye, Bishenpore, were facing poverty and ruin due to the dismemberment of their estates.</li> <li>The report should be read carefully, keeping in mind the perspective and intentions of the authors, and long-term generalizations from the figures of two years should be made with caution.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="2-the-hoe-and-the-plough">2. THE HOE AND THE PLOUGH</h5> <ul> <li>The text shifts focus to drier zones where shifting agriculture was practiced, as opposed to settled cultivation in wetlands of Bengal.</li> <li>This expansion of the peasant economy led to the incorporation of pastures and forests in the Rajmahal hills.</li> <li>This expansion resulted in conflicts within the region.</li> <li>The text suggests that these changes created a variety of conflicts within the region.</li> <li>However, specific details about the equations, formulas, or exact nature of the conflicts are not provided in the text.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="21-in-the-hills-of-rajmahal">2.1 In the hills of Rajmahal</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Francis Buchanan, also known as Buchanan-Hamilton, was a physician who served in the Bengal Medical Service from 1794 to 1815. He undertook detailed surveys of areas under the British East India Company and was known for his journals providing insights into people and places.</p> </li> <li> <p>The hill folk around the Rajmahal hills in the early nineteenth century were known as Paharias. They lived by subsisting on forest produce, practising shifting cultivation, and collecting mahua, silk cocoons, resin, and wood for sale.</p> </li> <li> <p>Paharias’ way of life was intimately connected to the forest, and they resisted the intrusion of outsiders. Their chiefs maintained the unity of the group, settled disputes, and led the tribe in battles with other tribes and plainspeople.</p> </li> <li> <p>The British saw forests as symbols of wildness and associated forest people with savagery. As settled agriculture expanded, the area under forests and pastures contracted, leading to conflict between hill folk and settled cultivators.</p> </li> <li> <p>The British attempted pacification by giving Paharia chiefs annual allowances and making them responsible for maintaining order. However, many Paharia chiefs refused the allowances, and as the pacification campaigns continued, the Paharias withdrew deeper into the mountains, perceiving the British as a destructive power.</p> </li> <li> <p>As Paharias receded deeper into the Rajmahal hills, Santhals began pouring into the area, taking over lower hills and growing rice and cotton. The battle between the hoe, symbolizing Paharia life, and the plough, representing Santhal settlers, was a long one.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="22-the-santhals-pioneer-settlers">2.2 The Santhals: Pioneer settlers</h5> <ul> <li>The Santhals, a tribal community, started settling in Bengal around the 1780s, hired by zamindars to reclaim land and expand cultivation.</li> <li>In the early 1800s, the British invited the Santhals to settle in the Jangal Mahals, as they had failed to subdue the Paharias and transform them into settled agriculturists.</li> <li>By 1832, a large area of land was demarcated as Damin-i-Koh, specifically for the Santhals to live in, practice plough agriculture, and become settled peasants.</li> <li>The Santhals’ journey seemed to have come to an end with the Damin-i-Koh settlement, but they soon found that the land they had cleared was being taken away due to heavy taxes, high interest rates, and assertive zamindars.</li> <li>This led to the Santhal Rebellion in the 1850s, after which the Santhal Pargana was created to conciliate the Santhals and impose some special laws within it.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="23-the-accounts-of-buchanan">2.3 The accounts of Buchanan</h5> <ul> <li>Buchanan was an employee of the British East India Company, who undertook journeys to collect information for the Company’s expansion and consolidation of power.</li> <li>He had specific instructions to look for commercially valuable minerals and stones, and to record signs of iron ore, mica, granite, and saltpetre. His journals contain detailed observations of the geological features of the landscapes he visited.</li> <li>Buchanan was interested in transforming landscapes to make them more productive, with a focus on cultivating crops and turning forests into agricultural lands. His vision of development was shaped by the commercial concerns of the Company and modern Western notions of progress.</li> <li>He was critical of the lifestyles of forest dwellers and felt that forests should be turned into agricultural lands. His ideas of development prioritized commercial interests over the existing practices of local inhabitants.</li> <li>If Buchanan’s ideas were implemented, Paharia forest dwellers might have reacted negatively, as they would have lost their forests and traditional ways of life.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="3-a-revolt-in-the-countryside-the-bombay-deccan">3. A REVOLT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE THE BOMBAY DECCAN</h5> <ul> <li>The text discusses the significance of studying peasant revolts to understand the lives and experiences of peasants in colonial India.</li> <li>It uses the example of a peasant revolt in the Bombay Deccan during the nineteenth century to explore the changes in the countryside.</li> <li>The text highlights the value of rebel’s expressions of anger and fury as a source of insight into their lives and experiences.</li> <li>It also mentions the enquiries and records produced by state authorities during and after the rebellion as valuable sources of evidence for historians.</li> <li>The text suggests that studying peasant revolts can help historians understand the causes of rebellion and formulate policies for establishing peace.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="31-account-books-are-burnt">3.1 Account books are burnt</h5> <ul> <li>The Deccan Riots of 1875 were a series of revolts primarily targeting moneylenders and grain dealers, sparked by attacks on shopkeepers and the burning of account books and debt bonds in Supa, a large village in Poona district.</li> <li>The movement began with ryots from surrounding rural areas demanding their bahi khatas (account books) and debt bonds, which they subsequently burned, looted grain shops, and in some cases, set fire to the houses of sahukars.</li> <li>The estimated loss was over Rs 25,000, with moneylenders claiming it to be over 1 lakh. British officials saw the revolt’s potential to escalate, similar to the 1857 rebellion, and responded by establishing police posts and deploying troops.</li> <li>The Native Opinion (6 June 1876) reported on the ryots’ tactics, such as assembling in bodies, demanding surrender of bonds and documents, and threatening creditors. The writer’s prejudices may be indicated by terms used, while a ryot would likely describe the situation differently.</li> <li>The burning of bonds and deeds suggests a reaction to agrarian changes under colonial rule, with ryots potentially seeking to challenge their debt and the sahukars’ power.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="32-a-new-revenue-system">3.2 A new revenue system</h5> <ul> <li>The Permanent Settlement was rarely extended beyond Bengal due to rising agricultural prices and the fixed revenue demand, which prevented the colonial state from claiming a share of the enhanced income of Bengal zamindars.</li> <li>The colonial government sought to maximize land revenue in territories annexed in the nineteenth century by implementing temporary revenue settlements.</li> <li>The economist David Ricardo influenced colonial officials with his ideas, including the concept that a landowner should only claim “average rent” and that surplus income from land yield should be taxed to prevent cultivators from becoming rentiers and to promote productive investment.</li> <li>British officials in India believed that the history of Bengal confirmed Ricardo’s theory, as zamindars seemed to have turned into rentiers living on rental incomes.</li> <li>The revenue system introduced in the Bombay Deccan, known as the ryotwari settlement, directly settled revenue with the ryot, estimated average income from different soil types, assessed the revenue-paying capacity of the ryot, and increased revenue rates every 30 years, making the revenue demand no longer permanent.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="33-revenue-demand-and-peasant-debt">3.3 Revenue demand and peasant debt</h5> <ul> <li>The Bombay Deccan’s first revenue settlement was in the 1820s, with high revenue demands leading to peasants deserting their villages and migrating to new regions.</li> <li>The situation worsened in the 1830s due to falling agricultural product prices and a famine in 1832-34, causing a third of the cattle and half the human population to die.</li> <li>With unpaid revenue balances, cultivators turned to moneylenders for loans, leading to increased dependence on moneylenders as debts mounted.</li> <li>By the mid-1840s, officials recognized the harshness of the 1820s settlements, moderating revenue demand and encouraging peasants to expand cultivation.</li> <li>After 1845, agricultural prices recovered, and peasants needed loans from moneylenders to buy plows, cattle, seeds, and land to expand cultivation.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="34-then-came-the-cotton-boom">3.4 Then came the cotton boom</h5> <ul> <li>Before the 1860s, three-fourths of raw cotton imports into Britain came from America, causing concern for British cotton manufacturers due to dependence on American supplies.</li> <li>The Cotton Supply Association and the Manchester Cotton Company were founded in Britain in 1857 and 1859 respectively to find alternative sources of cotton supply, with India being seen as a potential alternative due to its suitable soil, climate, and cheap labor.</li> <li>During the American Civil War (1861), raw cotton imports from America fell to less than 3% of the normal, causing panic in cotton circles in Britain. This led to frantic messages being sent to India and elsewhere to increase cotton exports to Britain.</li> <li>Between 1860 and 1864, cotton acreage doubled in the Bombay Deccan, and by 1862 over 90% of cotton imports into Britain were coming from India. However, the boom years did not bring prosperity to all cotton producers, with some rich peasants gaining while the large majority of cotton producers incurred heavier debt.</li> <li>The railway age saw a decline in river traffic, but older modes of transport were not fully displaced. Loaded bullock carts were still used to carry cotton bales from the railway station to the port.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="35-credit-dries-up">3.5 Credit dries up</h5> <ul> <li>The ryot of Mirajgaon is complaining about exploitation by sahukars (moneylenders). They are forcing peasants to take loans and grain at high prices, up to 50% more than the cash rate.</li> <li>The sahukars take the harvest from the peasants, promising to credit it to their account, but they do not do so. They also refuse to give receipts for the produce taken.</li> <li>The ryot is unable to earn enough to cover household expenses and is forced to beg the sahukars for money, clothes, and grain.</li> <li>The sahukars’ exploitative practices are due to the increased revenue demand in the new settlement, which has increased from 50 to 100%. The ryots are unable to pay this inflated demand due to falling prices and disappearing cotton fields.</li> <li>The moneylenders refuse loans to ryots as they have no confidence in their capacity to repay, leading to a credit crunch.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="36-the-experience-of-injustice">3.6 The experience of injustice</h5> <ul> <li>The refusal of moneylenders to extend loans and charging excessive interest led to the anger among the ryots, as it violated customary norms of the countryside.</li> <li>Under colonial rule, the norm of interest not being more than the principal broke down, leading to exorbitant interest rates.</li> <li>The deed of hire was signed by the peasants, giving over all their possessions to the moneylender, and agreeing to pay hire for the same.</li> <li>The British passed a Limitation Law in 1859, stating that the loan bonds would have validity for only three years, but moneylenders manipulated this law to their advantage.</li> <li>Over time, peasants came to associate the misery of their lives with the new regime of bonds and deeds, as they were made to sign and put thumb impressions on documents without knowing the clauses inserted by the moneylenders.</li> <li>The ryot was paying an interest of around 202.81% on a loan of Rs 100 over 12 years.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="4-the-deccan-riots-commission">4. THE DECCAN RIOTS COMMISSION</h5> <ul> <li>In 1765, the English East India Company acquired the Diwani of Bengal, gaining the right to collect revenue and govern the region.</li> <li>The Regulating Act was passed in 1773 by the British Parliament to regulate the activities of the East India Company.</li> <li>The Permanent Settlement in Bengal occurred in 1793, which established a framework for land ownership and revenue collection.</li> <li>In the 1800s, the Santhals began settling in the Rajmahal hills, and by the 1820s, agricultural prices started to decline.</li> <li>A slow process of agrarian expansion took place in the Bombay Deccan during the 1840s-50s, followed by the Santhal rebellion in $1855-56$.</li> <li>The cotton boom began in 1861, and in 1875, ryots (peasants) in Deccan villages rebelled.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="answer-in-100-150-words">ANSWER IN 100-150 WORDS</h5> <ul> <li> <p>The jotedar was a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal due to their role as intermediaries between the peasants and the zamindars. They collected rent from the peasants on behalf of the zamindars and often acted as moneylenders.</p> </li> <li> <p>Zamindars managed to retain control over their zamindaris through various means, such as using force, manipulation, and alliances with other powerful figures. They also maintained control by using a complex system of intermediaries, like the jotedars, to collect rent and maintain order in their territories.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Paharias, a tribal group in the Chota Nagpur region, responded to the coming of outsiders by initially retreating into the hills and forests. However, as outsiders continued to encroach on their territory, the Paharias began to resist through armed conflict and other forms of resistance.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Santhals rebelled against British rule due to the exploitation and oppression they faced at the hands of the British and their allies. The Santhal Rebellion of 1855-56 was a major uprising against British rule, which was brutally suppressed by the British.</p> </li> <li> <p>The anger of the Deccan ryots (peasants) against the moneylenders was due to the oppressive and exploitative practices of the moneylenders. The Deccan Ryots’ Agitation of 1875 was a major protest against the moneylenders, which led to the passing of the Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act of 1879.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="write-a-short-essay-250-300-words-on-the-following">WRITE A SHORT ESSAY (250-300 WORDS) ON THE FOLLOWING:</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Many zamindaris were auctioned after the Permanent Settlement due to the inability of zamindars to pay their revenue to the British government. The Permanent Settlement, established in 1793, fixed the land revenue demand for the zamindars, who were responsible for collecting rent from the peasants. However, when crops failed or agricultural prices fell, zamindars struggled to pay their revenue, leading to auctions of their estates.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Paharias and Santhals had different livelihoods due to their geographical distribution and social structure. The Paharias were a tribal group inhabiting the hilly regions of present-day Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal. They practiced podu cultivation, a form of shifting cultivation, and were also known for hunting and gathering. On the other hand, the Santhals were a plains-dwelling tribe who practiced settled agriculture. They were primarily involved in rice cultivation and lived in compact villages.</p> </li> <li> <p>The American Civil War affected the lives of ryots in India indirectly through the global demand for cotton. The war disrupted the supply of cotton from the United States to Britain, leading to a surge in demand for Indian cotton. As a result, Indian farmers increased cotton cultivation, which led to the neglect of food crops and a rise in food prices. This situation adversely affected the ryots, who were primarily involved in food cultivation.</p> </li> <li> <p>Official sources present several problems in writing about the history of peasants. These sources are often biased, reflecting the perspective of the ruling elite. They may also be incomplete or inaccurate, particularly in the case of records related to peasants, who were often illiterate and left no written records. Moreover, official sources may focus on administrative or revenue-related aspects, neglecting the social and cultural aspects of peasant life.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="map-work">MAP WORK</h5> <ul> <li>The text provides information about marking regions related to a chapter on a map of the subcontinent.</li> <li>It includes identifying areas described in the chapter and marking them on the map.</li> <li>The Permanent Settlement and ryotwari system, prevalent in some areas, are to be researched and marked on the map.</li> <li>No specific equations or formulae are provided in the text.</li> <li>The response does not include examples and their solutions as per the instructions.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="projects-choose-one">PROJECTS (CHOOSE ONE)</h5> <ul> <li>Francis Buchanan published reports on various districts of eastern India, providing valuable information about rural society.</li> <li>The report can be used by historians to understand themes such as agriculture, occupation, and lifestyle changes in rural communities over time.</li> <li>Through Buchanan’s reports, historians can analyze the evolution of rural society, including economic activities, social structures, and land use patterns.</li> <li>In a similar study, interviewing older people in a rural community reveals changes in livelihoods, productions, and intergenerational occupations over 75 years.</li> <li>This comparative analysis of historical data and recent observations can help understand the impact of socio-economic factors on rural societies.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>