Chapter – 10

Colonialism and the Countryside

In this post, we have given the detailed notes of Class 12 History Chapter 10 (Colonialism and the Countryside) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

Printed Books Are Available Now!

Colonialism and the Countryside

• The British had entered India during the Mughal period itself.
• As the Mughal rule weakened, the British increased their power and established their rule over India.
• The British rule in India started from Bengal.

Battle of Plassey – 1757

• In 1757, there was a war between the Nawab of Bengal and the British in Plassey, a place in Bengal, this is called the Battle of Plassey.
• The British won this war between the army of Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal and the British army.
• It was from here that the British rule started in India.

Tax Regime

• After conquering Bengal, the British made a system of collecting taxes.
• During the British era, mainly three types of tax system were prevalent.
  • Isthmari settlement (zamindari system, permanent settlement)
  • Ryotwari system
  • Mahalwari system

Isthmari Settlement

• Isthmari Settlement is also called Zamindari Settlement or Permanent Settlement.
• This system was implemented by Charles Cornwallis in 1793.
• At that time Bengal included the area of ​​present-day Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. The system of Isthmari settlement was implemented in this area.
• Under this system zamindars were appointed.
• All those people who were powerful before the British rule (nawabs, old kings, moneylenders etc.), were made zamindars by the British.
• Every zamindar was given some villages from where he could collect taxes.
• A certain amount was collected by the East India Company from each zamindar as tax.
• The zamindars could collect any amount of tax from the farmers as per their wish.
• This arrangement was called Permanent Settlement. Because in this the landlords had to pay a fixed amount to the East India Company.
• It was called the Zamindari system because the Zamindars were important in this system.

Ryotwari System

• This system was implemented by Thomas Munro in 1820.
• This system was implemented in the Deccan region of India.
• In this system, the farmer himself went and got his tax deposited.
• This system was called Ryotwari system because Ryot means farmer.

Mahalwari System

• This system was implemented by the British in 1833.
• In this system the tax of the whole village was collected by one person and then it was deposited to the British Government.
• It was implemented in the North-Western region of India.
• This system was called Mahalwari. Because Mahal means village.

Bengal and British rule

• After the establishment of British rule in Bengal, the British tried to change the system of Bengal so that they could rule properly.
• At the beginning of British rule, the village economy in Bengal was dependent on agriculture.
• But this agricultural system was facing many problems and lack of resources.
• The British realized that to improve this system, there was a need to increase investment in agriculture.
• To increase investment in agriculture, the British made a system called Isthmari Settlement.
• In this system all the powerful people of the old regime (nawab, old king, moneylender) were appointed as zamindars.
• All these landlords were entrusted with the responsibility of collecting tax from the village by the British government.
• The British government used to take a certain amount as tax from these zamindars and the zamindars were free to collect taxes from the farmers as per their wish.
• This was also called Permanent and Zamindari Settlement.
• The zamindars were not the owners of the land, but they used to do the work of collecting taxes for the British rule.
• The British government hoped that due to this system investment in agriculture would increase and the rural economy would improve.
• But this did not happen, the landlords had to face many problems in collecting taxes from the farmers, due to which they could not pay taxes to the British government on time.

Why were the zamindars unable to pay the revenue on time?

• In the first few years, this system ran well, but gradually problems started arising in this system and both the landlord and the farmer started being exploited.
• There were many reasons for this to happen

Negligence of landlords

• For a long time after the introduction of the Isthmari system, the landlords did not take it seriously.
• Due to which the revenue owed to the landlords increased and after a time it became almost impossible for them to pay this revenue.

High Revenue Demand

• In the initial system the revenue demand was very high i.e. the zamindars had to pay a lot of taxes to the British rule.
• He could not collect so much tax from the farmers, due to which the amount of outstanding tax increased.

Low Cost of Crops

• During the period when this system was implemented, the cost of crops was very low.
• Due to which the farmers were not able to pay such a high amount of tax and due to not being able to collect the tax from the farmers, the landlords were also unable to pay the tax to the government.

Uneven Arrangement

• The tax system was uneven.
• No matter what the circumstances were, certain taxes had to be paid on time.
• Many times, due to lack of good crop, farmers were unable to pay taxes to the landlords, but the landlords were not given any exemption in this situation.

Sunset Method

• According to this method, if the zamindars could not pay their revenue by sunset on the specified date, the value of the tax was doubled and in many cases the property of the zamindars was also auctioned.

Control over the powers of the landlords

• The powers of the zamindars were controlled by the British rule.
• Due to which he could neither keep his army nor could he collect taxes by pressurizing the farmers.
• Because of this the landlords had to face many problems to collect taxes.

Farmers will not Pay Taxes

• Sometimes farmers deliberately delayed the payment of taxes
• The farmers used to be very happy to see the landlords in such trouble.
• In such a situation the zamindar could prosecute the peasants but could not use his power against them.
• The legal process of litigation was also very long.
• For this reason, even after filing a lawsuit, the landlords could not collect the tax.

On non-payment of revenue by the landlords

• If the zamindars could not pay the revenue fixed by the British rule on time, their properties were auctioned.
• The British used to collect tax by auctioning the properties and land of the landlords.
• The properties of the landlord were auctioned inside the auction.
• The land and properties were sold to the person who made the highest bid.
• In this way, the British government used to collect revenue for non-deposit of revenue by the zamindars.

Landlords and Auctions

In the event of non-payment of revenue, the properties of the landlords were auctioned, but in this situation the landlords used to try to save their properties in many ways.

Fake Sales

• Many a times, when the properties of landlords were auctioned, in these auctions the landowner’s people, his relatives or his known landlords used to buy the land at high bidding.
• Later on, he used to refuse to pay the auction amount due to which the properties had to be auctioned again.
• Again, in this manner the property was bought by the zamindar’s experts and in the end the amount was refused again.
• In this way this system continued and in the end this land was sold to the zamindar at a very low price.

Do not Give Possession

• In many cases, when an outsider bought land, he was not given possession of the land or was threatened and driven away.

By Strength

• Many times, the old landlord’s lathyal (goons) used to beat and drive away the new buyer and the old farmers also did not allow the new people to enter the land.

Transfer to Women

• Many times, the zamindars gave their property in the name of women because the British rule did not snatch the land from the women.

Burdwan auction Event

• An auction was held in Burdwan in 1797.
• In this auction the property of the Raja of Burdwan was being sold as the Raja had not paid the revenue amount.
• Many people joined the auction to bid and in the end the properties were sold to the highest bidder.
• But later it was found that most of the buyers involved in the auction were servants of the king or his acquaintances.
• More than 95% of purchases made in this auction were fake.
• Before this auction, the king had already given some part of his property to his mother.

Ploughman (Jotdars)

• The rise of some wealthy farmers in the early 18th century
• It was these farmers who had a large amount of land wealth.
• Their land was cultivated by sharecroppers.
• These sharecroppers used to bring their own plows and implements to do farming themselves and in the end gave half of the crop to the owners of the land i.e., these wealthy farmers.
• These big farmers were called Jotdars, in some places they were also called Havaldars, Gantidars or Mandals.
• These Jotedars had great influence over the village and the farmers of that village.
• Zamindars mostly lived-in cities while Jotedars lived in villages, due to which they used to be closer to the farmers.
• Jotdars also used to help the farmers in difficult situations, due to which the farmers used to support the Jotdars.
• Many attempts were made by the zamindars to increase the tax in the village, but the jotdars openly opposed it.
• Jotedars, in many circumstances, refused to pay taxes to the farmers.
• Due to this the landlords could not get the tax and their properties were auctioned.
• In this situation, these Jotedars used to go and buy the properties of those Zamindars and earn profit.
• Jotdars were the most powerful in North Bengal at that time.

England and East India Company

• The East India Company was started in England.
• Ever since the East India Company established its rule in Bengal after the 1960s, it was being monitored by the British system.
• At that time the East India Company was the only company in England that could trade with India and China.
• For this reason, many merchant classes of England started opposing it because they also wanted to come to India and China and do business.

Criticism of the East India Company

• Several political groups criticized the East India Company
• he said that
  • Only the East India Company is getting the benefit of the victory over Bengal.
  • England is not being taxed sufficiently.
  • Corruption and greed of officials is increasing in the East India Company.
  • The company is ruling in a chaotic manner in Bengal.
• In support of all these criticisms, many reports were presented inside the Parliament of Britain.
• These reports contained information about the administration and functions of the East India Company.
• The most important of these reports was the fifth report.

Fifth Report

• It was a report of 1002 pages.
• This included the applications of landlords and farmers in which they appealed for tax waiver.
• It also included the report of the collectors of different districts.
• Along with this, information related to collecting revenue was also in it.
• It also described the auction of zamindari and the new tactics adopted by the zamindars to protect their properties.

Fifth Report and the East India Company

• All these reports were seriously debated in the UK Parliament
• Based on these reports, in the last decades of the 18th century, a number of Acts were enacted relating to the administration of the Company.
• Committees formed to examine the working of the company
• The company was compelled to send reports relating to administration in India.

Hill People (Pahadi)

• During the rule of the East India Company, the hill people used to live on the hills of Rajmahal located in Bengal.
• These people were closely related to the forests
• They lived in huts built among tamarind trees and considered the entire forest as their private land.
• Jhum cultivation was done by them for subsistence. In which he used to clear the land by cutting the bushes located in the forest and then with the help of his hoe, he used to dig the land and cultivate there, it mainly grew jowar, millet and pulses.
• As long as the land was fertile, it was cultivated on that land, after that it changed its place and used to cultivate other land in the same way.
• They used to oppose the entry of outsiders into the forest and used to rob and drive away any outsider who entered the forest.
• All of them used to have a chief who worked to maintain unity in the group, when there was a fight between these hill people and plain people, that chief used to lead his tribe.
• They often attacked the plains, these attacks were done for food, livestock and to show their strength.
• The landlords living in the plains had to pay taxes to the chiefs of these hill tribes to maintain peace. Similarly, if a merchant passed through the mountains, he also had to pay the tax to the chief of these hill tribes so that these tribes would not attack him.

British and hill tribes

• The British encouraged deforestation in the last decades of the 18th century.
• Due to this harvesting, cultivable land would have increased due to which the British could get more revenue.
• The people living in the forest were considered by the British as rude and riotous.
• He decided to bring these people under control and to civilize them and to engage them in farming.
• This would have increased the agricultural work and the British could get more taxes.
• Gradually the forests started being wiped out and agriculture started growing in these areas.
• Due to all these reasons, the hill people felt that the people of the plain area wanted to capture their forests and wanted to kill them, due to this the hill people started attacking the plains more.
• To stop these attacks, the British authorities adopted a brutal policy of killing the hill people in the 1770s but it was completely unsuccessful.
• In the 1780s, Augustus Queensland, the collector of Bhagalpur, proposed a policy of peace.
• According to this policy, every year allowance was given to the Pahari Mukhiya so that he would not attack the plains and maintain peace.
• But many of the chiefs refused to take this allowance and those who took this allowance were removed from the post of headman by the residents of their area.

Buchanan and the Palace of the Hills

• Buchanan visited the palace hills in the early years of the 19th century
• Buchanan was an English officer.
• Wherever he went he wrote a description of everything in his diary
• He wrote that this area was a dangerous area, very few travellers could dare to come here.
• According to him the behaviour of the inhabitants of the hills was hostile and they were not ready to talk to the outside officials.
• They saw the British as a force who wanted to change the way of life of the hill people by destroying the forests.

Santhal

• Any effort made by the British to civilize the hill communities and motivate them to take up agriculture was to no avail.
• Now the British needed such people who could live and farm in the areas created by clearing the forest.
• During this period the attention of the British turned towards the Santhal community.
• Santhals started coming to Bengal around 1780s
• In those days they were hired by the zamindars for cultivation.
• They were settled by the British in the hilly areas so that they could increase the English revenue by doing agriculture.
• The British government gave land to the Santhals and prepared them to settle in the foothills of the Rajmahal hills.
• Here a large part of the land was declared as the land of the Santhals and this area was given the name of Damin-e-Koh.
• Boundaries were drawn around this area and a map was prepared.
• After coming to this area, the number of Santhals started increasing very rapidly.
• The number of the village of Santhals was around 40 in 1830, which increased to 1473 in 1851 and during this period the population increased from 3000 to more than 82000.
• The arrival of the Santhals had a bad effect on the lives of the hill people.
• Because of these, they had to go further into the forests where there was a lack of fertile land.
• Poachers also faced problems
• On the other hand, the life of the Santhals became better than before.
• Now he started living as a permanent farmer instead of a nomad.
• Gradually started cultivating commercial crops for the market and also started dealing with traders and moneylenders
• During this period, the tax was increased by the British rule and moneylenders also started charging higher rates of interest.
• Seeing such a situation, the Santhals revolted against the landlords, moneylenders and the British in the 1850s.
• As a result of this rebellion, an area called Santhal Pargana was created.

Note: – The spade is considered to be the symbol of the hill people and the plow is considered to be the symbol of the Santhals because the hill people used to do farming by digging the land with the spade while the plow was used by the Santhals for farming.

Ryotwari System

• Ryotwari tax system was implemented by the British administration in the Deccan region of southern India in 1820.
• In this tax system, a lot of taxes were imposed on the farmers, which was very difficult for the farmers to pay.
• Many a times, farmers used to borrow money from moneylenders on interest to pay taxes, due to which they were getting buried under debt and taxes.
• In the same period, there was a huge famine in the region, due to which agricultural production decreased, but there was no reduction in tax by the British rule.
• Due to this, the problem of farmers increased even more.

Cotton Cultivation

• In 1861, the civil war started in America, due to which the cotton trade between England and America almost stopped.
• During this period the production of cotton was encouraged in the Deccan region of India.
• The farmers took loans from moneylenders and cultivated cotton diligently
• There was some improvement in the condition of the farmers during this period, but with the end of the civil war in America, the condition of the farmers became worse than before.
• Now he had the loan on his head which he had taken for cotton cultivation, but the demand for cotton had become almost negligible.
• All these problems led to the beginning of the Deccan Riots.

Deccan Riots

• On 12 May 1875, the peasants started a rebellion against the moneylenders and the British rule.
• It started from Supa; a place located in Pune.
• In this rebellion many moneylenders were killed, their fields were burnt and warehouses were looted.
• It was one of the biggest riots of that period.
• Many moneylenders lost their lives during this riot and there was a huge amount of property damage.

We hope that Class 12 History Chapter 10 (Colonialism and the Countryside) notes in English helped you. If you have any queries about class 12 History Chapter 10 (Colonialism and the Countryside) notes in English or about any other notes of class 12 History in English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…