Bengal Tenancy Act 1885: Background, Objectives, Limitations

The ‘Bengal Tenancy Act 1885′ was an important step taken by the British government to liberate farmers from zamindars’ exploitation and to address grievances among farmers. The British in India established a land system that gave zamindars and other intermediate classes dominance over ordinary farmers. After implementing the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, there was a huge difference between the revenue paid by tenants in Zamindari areas and the revenue that Zamindars paid to the government. The Indian Association of 1876, founded by Surendranath Banerjee, supported this Act.

Since zamindars had permanent settlement rights, the government couldn’t increase the zamindars’ revenue, but zamindars and intermediate tenure holders gradually increased the revenue pressure on subordinate farmers. Since farmers had no rights to the land, they could be evicted from the land at any time. Finally, to address farmers’ discontent, the British government passed several tenancy laws. Among these, the ‘Bengal Tenancy Act 1885’ was the most important.

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Background of Bengal Tenancy Act 1885

• The British government took several steps before introducing the ‘Bengal Tenancy Act 1885’ to quell the impending peasant revolution resulting from Zamindar oppression. Which served as the backdrop for the introduction of this law. Before implementing this law, the government had applied the Bengal Rent Act of 1859, also known as Act X of 1859, in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Varanasi for the benefit of farmers. Act X of 1859 was the first step in the government’s changed policy and perspective.
• This law divided farmers into three classes. Farmers who had been paying rent at the same rate continuously for twenty years were included in the first class. The second category included those farmers who had cultivated or occupied the same land for 12 consecutive years. Their rights to the land were recognized. Except in special cases, zamindars could not increase their rents. The third tier consisted of farmers whose rights to the land were not recognized. This Act reduced the power of the zamindars to impose excessive rents on the farmers. Additionally, the mandatory practice of farmers appearing at the zamindar’s office was abolished.
• However, this act did not fully protect tenants’ interests. Since there was no provision for surveying each piece of land and farmers’ rights were not specified anywhere, farmers faced difficulties in court. In most cases, zamindars would not give rent receipts to occupant tenants. Therefore, it was very difficult for tenants to prove their 12-year occupancy rights against zamindars. Moreover, this act did not significantly improve the condition of temporary farmers in Bengal. Agricultural exploitation and oppression by zamindars continued in Bengal. Therefore, farmers’ frustration and discontent remained. Even the organized peasant revolts in 1870 put the government in an uncomfortable position.
• When zamindars failed to increase tenants’ rents through legal means under this law, they began collecting excessive rent from tenants through illegal means. As an inevitable consequence, peasant rebellions emerged in various places, among which the Pabna peasant revolt of 1873 was notable. The government realized that something needed to be done in the interests of farmers.
• In this situation, the contemporary Bengali intellectuals also expressed their resentment against the British government by highlighting the plight of Bengal farmers and the relationship between zamindars and farmers through their literature. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee emphatically highlighted the issue of zamindari exploitation of Bengal’s farmers in his essay “Bangadesher Krishak (1872).” A touching account of the oppression of Bengali farmers by indigo planters was found in Dinabandhu Mitra’s play “Nil Darpan (1860).” The story of the oppression of Muslim zamindars on Muslim farmers was mentioned in the play “Jomidar Darpan (1872)” written by Mir Mosharraf Hossain. Romesh Chunder Dutt’s book “Peasantry of Bengal (1874)” about the agriculture and farmers’ plight in Bengal created a significant impact. This protest, which emerged through literature, forced the government to introduce the Bengal Tenancy Act 1885.
• To protect tenant interests as much as possible and to pacify peasant unrest, Bengal’s Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Temple passed a law called the ‘Agrarian Disputes Act’ in 1876. This law vested all powers in the Collector for resolving disputes related to rents and other tenancy matters. Bengal’s subsequent Lieutenant Governor, Sir Ashley Eden, formed a rent commission in 1880 with the permission of the Indian government to review rent laws. HL Dampier, a member of the Revenue Board, was appointed as chairman of the commission. The commission had seven members, including three Bengalis.
• The commission was given two responsibilities: to analyze and document all rent laws and to introduce new laws by recommending necessary changes to the rent laws. The Rent Commission’s recommendations were published in 1881. The commission recommended that the government should take some steps to improve agriculture and increase the well-being of farmers. Additionally, the commission recommended using government standards for land measurement instead of using the zamindars’ preferred measuring rods.
• After this, Lord Ripon (1880-1884 AD) came to India as Viceroy in 1880. He was a Liberal Party supporter. On March 21, 1882, Lord Ripon informed the Secretary of State for India, Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, that some changes in tenancy law were urgent for the benefit of Bengal’s farmers. In fact, Ripon was influenced by the land law of Liberal British Prime Minister William Gladstone.
• Ripon believed that Act X of 1859 had failed to protect tenant interests. In his proposed law, Ripon wanted to give all farmers permanent rights to their land. However, the Secretary of State for India did not support this proposal. Therefore, a new rent law had to be created. Ripon left India in 1884 and went back to his native country. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 was passed during the tenure of the subsequent Viceroy Lord Dufferin (1884-1888 AD). Although this law did not fully protect tenant interests, it was undoubtedly much more progressive compared to Act X of 1859.

Objectives of Bengal Tenancy Act 1885

Famous historian Romesh Chunder Dutt commented on the objectives of this law. It’s worth mentioning here that the proposals Romesh Chunder Dutt made in his book “Peasantry of Bengal” for limiting zamindars’ power to increase rents were enacted in Act No. VIII of 1885, that is, the Bengal Tenancy Act. He said this law had two main objectives: firstly, to give land rights to temporary occupancy farmers, and secondly, to take appropriate measures to protect the interests of temporary at-will farmers.

Proposals of Bengal Tenancy Act 1885

The proposals of this Bengal Tenancy Act were:

• If any tenant cultivates any village land continuously for 12 years, they would gain the status of a rights-holding tenant. In other words, the previous law’s condition of requiring cultivation of the same piece of land for 12 continuous years to acquire land rights was now removed. However, farmers weren’t permitted to transfer or sell their occupancy rights.
• Previously, zamindars would transfer tenants from one land to another before the completion of 12 years to circumvent the law. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 did not allow this opportunity. This law also established that a tenant could not be evicted from their land merely for being unable to pay rent. However, if there was a court decree for non-payment of rent, a tenant’s land could be sold.
• This law didn’t say much about reducing the amount of rent. However, it was established that rents could not be increased within 15 years, and even then, the rent increase rate cannot exceed 12.5% ​​of the current rent rate under any circumstances. Even while increasing the rent, the zamindar has to mention the specific reasons for increasing rent.

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Limitations of Bengal Tenancy Act 1885

The British government considered this law an ideal system. For this reason, this law was extended to various regions outside Bengal. However, this law also had several flaws and limitations, which were:

• No provisions were made in this law to protect the interests of tenants, i.e., sharecroppers who had no rights to the land.
• The law did not consider landless agricultural labourers.
• Occupancy farmers and others did not gain the right to freely transfer land through this law.
• Furthermore, after this law, a very wealthy class emerged among Bengal’s farmers. They became wealthy by buying up the land of poor farmers. By combining land income with business and money lending, these newly emerged rural rich transformed into Bengal’s Jotedar class.

However, despite these limitations, it can be said that the Bengal Tenancy Act 1885, while keeping zamindari interests intact, managed to somewhat increase the livelihood security of farmers.

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