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Theme 10 - Colonialism and the Countryside - Exploring Official Archives -…
Theme 10 - Colonialism and the Countryside - Exploring Official Archives
1. Bengal and the Zamindars
1.3 Why zamindars defaulted on payments
First
Initial demands were very high
Second
Agricultural produce were depressed
Third
The sunset law
Fourth
Limited power of Zamindar
1.4 The rise of Jotedars
Also known as
Haoladars, Gantidars or Mandals.
Rich Ryots.
Purchased
most of the Auctioned
estates of Zamindars
.
Located in the villages
.
1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue
By 1770s,
Famine and agricultural decline.
Problem in finding individuals
who can improve agri as well as pay revenues to state.
Zamindars
(not land owners bur Revenue collectors)
1.1 An auction in Burdwan
Big
Auction in Burdwan
, Bengal in
1797
Permanent settlement
in
1793
1.5 The zamindars resist
The zamindars resisted in many ways:-
Raja of Burdwan transferred
some Zamindaris to his
mother
since The company declared that the
property of women will not be taken over
.
His agents
manipulated the Auctions
=> bidded for high price => never paid => again auction. This continued.
At last the estates were sold back to Zamindars for low price.
Other people who
bought estates from outside zamindari
were
attacked
by
Lathyals of former Zamindars.
Great depression of 1930s
=> Jotedars consolidated their power in countryside.
1.6 The Fifth Report
Submitted in
British Parliament
in
1813
by
the Select Committee.
Triggered intense debates
in British parliament.
Many groups in Britain
wanted the revocation of Royal charter.
2. The Hoe and the Plough
2.1 In the hills of Rajmahal
Paharias
Hunters, shifting cultivators, gatherers, charcoal producers, silk worm rearers
Lived in Rajmahal hills
Zamindars have to pay the tolls to Paharia chiefs in order to get protection for their travel and goods through the hills
Santhals
Moved in to the lower hills.
Paharias
receded deeper.
2.2 The Santhals: Pioneer settlers
Santhals
were invited to settle in
Damin-i-Koh
. Region demarcated and pillars were laid.
Given target of clearing 1/10th of the forest in first 10 years.
More
fertile land was not accessible for Paharias.
Slowly, the land levies were increased and zamindars and money lenders started to control the Damin lands.
This lead to a
Santhal Revolt (1855-1856)
.
Santhal Pargana
was created.
The british identified the key persons and arrested them.
2.3 The accounts of Buchanan
He has been given troops, surveyors, geologists etc by the company
He has been asked to write about the resources and possibilities to commercialise them.
He has always been seen as an
agent of Sarkar
He mostly wrote about, soil, iron-ore, salt-making, etc.
He was
critical about forest dwellers
and had a view that the
forests had to be changed as agricultural lands.
3. A Revolt in the Countryside
The Bombay Deccan
3.1 Account books are burnt
On
12th May 1875
, The revolt started in
Supa
, village near
Puna
.
Then it spread to over 6500 villages and reached Ahmadnagar.
They attacked
Sahukars
(Moneylenders) and burnt the
Bahi Katas
(account books) and
debt bonds.
They also burnt some houses.
Police posts were deployed quickly and the revolt was brought into control.
3.2 A new revenue system
Permanent settlement Act
was never extended beyond the Bengal provinces.
The reason for this is the
production was higher than the "Avergae rent".
So the
Ryotwari system
was introduced which
deals with the Ryots directly instead of Zamindars
.
3.3 Revenue demand and peasant debt
First revenue settlement in Bombay Deccan
happened in
1820s
The
collectors
were very strict in collecting the revenue and in pleasing the superiors.
1/3 of the cattle killed
,
Half of human population died
and many peasants left with no cattle of land to survive.
3.4 Then came the cotton boom
Mostly
3/4th of the cotton were coming from America.
Then the
Manchester cotton company
was formed.
Cotton supply association
was formed.
Then since there was
civilian revolt in America
The
Indian cotton
used to occupy
90% of the Britain imports in 1962
.
But this did not give prosperity to all peasants but for some rich peasants.
3.5 Credit dries up
When the
civil revolt ended in America,
the cotton produce was increased.
This ended up in decline of cotton demand from India.
Most moneylenders refused to fund on along term
Credits piled up. Unpaid loans increased.
3.6 The experience of injustice
In
1859
, British passes a
Limitation Law
The
loan bonds between moneylenders and Ryots
will have only a
validity of 3 years
(To reduce the interest accumulation)
But the Moneylenders turned the law down by
forcing
the ryots to sign a
new loan bond after 3 years.
4. The Deccan Riots Commission
When the revolt spread in deccan
The Govt of Bombay was not seeing it serious.
But Govt of India wanted the Govt of Bombay to form a commission and investigate.
Thus the commission submitted a
Deccan Riots Report
to British parliament. The commission held
Enquiries
and the reports contained:-
recorded statements
(peasants, ryots, eyewitnesses)
Statistical data
(about different revenue systems across the region)
Collated reports of collectors