question_answer

'After introducing the Permanent Settlement in Bengal the zamidars regularly failed to pay the land revenue demand." Examine the causes and consequences of it.

Or

'A chain of grievances in Awadh linked the prince, taluqdars, peasants and sepoys to join hands in the revolt of 1857 against the British.? Examine the statement.

 

Answer:

(a) Permanent Settlement was introduced in the late 18th century by Lord Cornwallis. Under this system, Zamindars collected the land revenues from peasants. The amount payable by Zamindars to the East India Company was fixed and any excess on the revenue collection was the profit to the Zamindars.

(b) Many Zamindars defaulted on the payment towards the company. The reasons were:

Many believed that the amount payable by the Zamindars was on the higher side. The Company gave the reason that the foodgrain production will normally increase and also the land under cultivation would also expand. However, the amount payable to the Company would remain fixed. Hence some may find it on the higher side on the long-term basis payable was justifiable. Despite all the argument many Zamindars believed that the amount payable to the Company was too high and in case of poor food grain production, it was not possible to pay up. Hence many Zamindars defaulted.

(c) Permanent Settlement had weakened the Zamindars. They were not enforcing law and order and dispensing justice at the local level. As their strength was weakened, their ability to extract taxes also suffered. All these resulted in defaults by Zamindars.

(d) The consequences of it can be classified as administrative, economic, social and political. Administratively, by giving the landlords the responsibility of revenue collection, the government avoided its own duty. The landlords regarded the revenue collection as their rightful duty but never thought it in administrative way. Many landlords were oppressive by nature. They punished the people, tortured them and at times put them to great hardships.

(e) Economically, permanent settlement had several drawbacks. The land revenue was fixed in a random way. The nature of the soil, etc., was not taken into consideration. So, good and bad plots were assessed in the same manner that was defective assessment. Similarly, the revenue was fixed permanently. If the productivity of the land increased, the revenue did not increase proportionately. That was a loss to the Company. So, the Zamindars prospered to a great extent. The government or Company never thought about the benefit of the people.

(f) Socially, a small class of landlords formed the upper aristocracy in the society. They enjoyed social prestige arising out of status and wealth. Their presence prominently showed the existence of a class of nobility at the top.

Politically, the British Government regarded the landlords as the loyal supporters of the Empire.

Or

?A chain of grievances in Awadh linked the prince, taluqdars, peasants and sepoys to join hands in the revolt of 1857 against the British?

The Mutiny of 1857 which was a rebellion of the sepoys, turned into mass uprising were everyone from princes to peasants joined in. One report of the government says that 75 per cent of men in Awadh were involved in the rebellion.

Following are the causes:

(i) Unceremonious removal of Nawabs: The Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Alt Shah was removed by Dalhousie on the pretext of poor governance. It was looked upon by the people as high insult to them. The local people sympathized with the Nawab. Thus, the public sentiment was against the British government that got a vent during the revolt.

(ii) The ruling elite of Awadh: The ruling elite was dislodged from the position of power and prestige. They were rendered unemployment. They began to feel hardships and it had a cascading impact, the people dependent on them also slipped in depravity.

(iii) The agrarian unrest: There were strong anti-British sentiments in Awadh from the level of talukdars to peasants. Talukdars were rich landlords collecting taxes and enforcing law and order. They enjoyed a lot of autonomy as long as they paid revenue to the Nawabs. The talukdars faced the heavy hands of the British masters. Their autonomy ceased to exist. Their foot soldiers were disarmed and disbanded. The peasants were oppressed more as hardships engulfed the talukdars. Peasants were over assessed and forced to pay higher taxes than ever.

(iv) Muslim anger: Muslims in North India looked upon the British as snatcher of their empire. The Awadh, which has the substantial Muslim population burst out against the Company?s rule when it got an opportunity.

(v) The government of East India Company described the mass uprising as Muslim conspiracy. Preserving Indian culture, many believed that the company was pushing European culture and Christianity on the Indians. The rebels wanted to reverse the process.

(vi) New Cartridge: The company introduced a new cartridge for its soldiers. It was to be bitten before use by soldiers. It was reported that it was made of the fat of cow and pig. Hence, soldiers of both Hindu and Muslim thought that it was a conspiracy of the Company to destroy their religion.

(vii) Racial discrimination: During the early phase of the company rule, British soldiers and officers had friendly relation with the Indian soldiers. Things changed after 1835 and British began to consider themselves as superior. All senior positions in the army were given to them and even at the same ranks Britishers were paid more. The native soldiers were treated with disrespect.