The Origin of Ryotwari System 1820: Objectives, Features

The Ryotwari System was an ancient Indian land tenure system. This system was introduced for the sake of security of the British Empire. India was primarily an agricultural country. The production from this agriculture was the main source of income for the people. As soon as the British East India Company came to India, they controlled how the land and Land Revenue System would be managed.

After gaining the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765, land-related problems especially arose. The company’s employees had no experience in agriculture in Bengal or India. These inexperienced employees introduced the Ryotwari System (1820 AD) in this country. As a result, farmers became exploited and landless.

Who introduced Ryotwari System?

Ryotwari System was introduced by Alexander Reed and Thomas Munro in 1820. This settlement was introduced in the southern and southwestern regions of India, especially in Madras. The frist ryotwari experiment was started by Alexander Reed in Baramahal (Krishnagiri Fort) in 1792 and was continued by Thomas Munro in 1801 when he was asked to take charge of the revenue administration of the ceded districts. This settlement was abandoned after he left for London in 1807.

Around 1820, Munro returned as the Governor of Madras and permanently introduced the Ryotwari System. The Ryotwari System was also known as the ‘Putcut System’.

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What is Ryotwari System?

The Ryotwari System is one such revenue collection system where the revenue was collected directly from the village, that is, from the farmers, instead of from the zamindars. In this system, the revenue to be paid by a ryot was fixed on his entire farm, not each field.

Objectives of Ryotwari System

The main objective of the Ryotwari Settlement was primarily to reduce the level of exploitation on farmers. It also aimed to ensure that farmers strive for agricultural improvement and focus on productive power. In the previous system, zamindars were the link between the government and farmers.

As a result, farmers could not directly inform the government about their agricultural problems, the oppression of zamindars, and excessive revenue collection. To pay the fixed and additional revenue, farmers often took loans from zamindars. But they could never repay these loans, which led to eviction from their land and sometimes even loss of life.

Due to these problems, there was a deficit in the amount of revenue in the British Government’s Treasury. The profit that the government had hoped to achieve by introducing the settlement was not being fulfilled. Therefore, the British government introduced the ‘Ryotwari System’ directly with the farmers by eliminating the intermediaries.

Background of Ryotwari System

• When Cornwallis’s Permanent Settlement was not effective in Madras, Lord Wellesley came to India. Wellesley and Henry Dundas first relaxed the Permanent Settlement in Madras in 1798. But the main problem in this case was the absence of the zamindar class; they had given the responsibility of collecting revenue to the local Mirasidars or Poligars. This system continued until 1801-07 AD, but there was no way to increase government revenue through it. The surplus income from the land was pocketed by the poligars themselves. Gradually, the large poligars had created a place of distrust in the government’s mind.
• At that time, various ideologies like utilitarianism and enlightenment had supported the concept of a land revenue system. Thomas Munro & Mountstuart Elphinstone, influenced by this idea, decided to change the company’s revenue system.
• Moreover, there had been an economic crisis in Madras for a long time, coupled with war expenses. This made the British government think about introducing a new system.
• David Ricardo’s “Theory of Rent” states that the surplus rent of any area is due to the government, not to the zamindar or intermediary. This greatly influenced the situation at that time.

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Features of Ryotwari System

• There was an opportunity for direct contact and revenue collection between the government and farmers instead of intermediaries or zamindars.
• Farmers had individual ownership rights to the land.
• In this system, all land was surveyed, and government revenue was determined for each piece of land. Then an annual contract was established between the government and farmers.
• The tax rates were fixed high. It was 50% for dry lands & 60% for wetlands.
• Ryotwari System was not a permanent settlement and the rates were revised periodically after 20 or 30 years.
• Although direct contact with farmers was mentioned, the Mirasidars enjoyed special benefits related to revenue. As a result, corruption gradually increased.
• In 1855, the “Madras Charter Commission Report” was published to amend this settlement. From this year on, the land was specially surveyed. Revenue was also re-evaluated. The burden of revenue was slightly reduced, and half the value of the crops produced on the land was fixed as revenue. This settlement was effective for 30 years. This amended system was introduced in 1864 and brought prosperity to agriculture.
  In Bombay, this settlement was introduced by Munro’s disciple Mountstuart Elphinstone around 1803. From 1813-1814, British authorities collected revenue directly from farmers. But like in Madras, the condition of farmers in Bombay also became miserable. For improvement of the situation, R.K. Pringle re-surveyed the land and fixed 55% of the produced crop as revenue. But many flaws were found in this plan.
  Later, G. Wingate & H.E. Goldsmith came up with a method for revenue collection. This is called the Bombay Survey System. This settlement was quite practical. Because the main goal of this settlement was to fix revenue within reasonable limits so that farmers could pay it regularly.

Conclusion

Among the three settlements introduced by the British, 52 percent of the cultivable land was under this system. This shows that this settlement was largely accepted by farmers in Indian native states. As farmers had ownership of the land, they tried to ensure good production. However, over time, intermediaries also emerged in this system.

In some villages, zamindars selected through Permanent Settlement still existed, and they forcibly took ownership of land from farmers. As a result, farmers became landless. After considering all aspects, it can be said that the Ryotwari System was largely successful.

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