EHI - 5

14th Part

Q.  Compare and contrast the main features of the Permanent Settlement and the Mahalwari settlement. Were they able to fulfill their objectives?           20

A.  Permanent Settlement - Main Features - 

In this method, the land tax to be paid to the government was permanently fixed with assurance from the government not to increase it in the future. The state would not demand anything extra even if the production increases as it was believed that landholders would invest money in improving the land.

Zamindars - The zamindars became the agents of govt who were assigned the duty to collect taxes (land reverse). The zamindar had to pay the tax fixed upon it by collecting from the peasantry and if he did so then he was the proprietor, the owner of his zamindari. He could sell, mortgage or transfer it. The land would be inherited by heirs after him. If however, the zamindar failed to pay the tax due, then the Government would take the zamindari and sell it by auction and all the rights would vest in the new owner. 

Peasantry - The actual cultivation of the land was carried on by the peasants who were reduced to the status of tenants of the zamindars. Now the peasants were wholly at

the mercy of the zamindars who can evict them at will. 

             The permanent assessment demand was the largest sum that could be extracted from the land by the government. It was a heavy and oppressive assessment. The tax demand was huge, it led to oppressive methods employed by zamindars to collect revenues. The zamindars could seize the tenant's property if the rent had not been paid. He did not need the permission of any court of law to do this. This greatly worsened the position of the actual cultivators of the soil, in order to benefit the zamindars and the British Government.

The objective of Permanent Settlement - The main objective of this system was to get maximum money out of land every year without variation. The zamindars were obliged to pay a fixed amount by fixed dates every year, and any failure on their part meant the sale of the zamindari. Furthermore, many of the zamindaris were rated for large sums that left no

margin for shortfalls due to flood, drought or another calamity. As a result, many zamindars had their zamindaris taken away and sold in the decades immediately after the permanent Settlement. The government benefited immensely which was the primary objective. 

Mahalwari System - Main Features

The officials went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields and recording customs and rights of different groups. The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added up to calculate the revenue that each village had to pay. Revenue was not fixed, rather revised periodically. The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the government was given to the village headman. 

     The land revenue was collected from the village directly through its pradhan or muqaddam (headman). In the revenue records, the word used for a fiscal unit was a 'mahal', and the village-wise assessment, therefore, came to be called a mahalwari settlement. It was however quite possible for one person to hold a number of villages so that many big zamindars continued to exist.         

Far from favoring the village communities, the mahalwari ruined them by imposing impossible tax assessments. The result of this situation was that large areas of land began to pass into the hands of money-lenders and merchants who ousted the old cultivating proprietors or reduced them to tenants-at will. The mahalwari settlement brought impoverishment and widespread dispossession to the cultivating communities due to arbitrary and high reverse demands by the government.

Objective - The main objective of the government was to collect maximum revenue directly from the peasantry without the zamindars. Moreover, the tax demand was imposed arbitrarily without full assessment leading to very high revenue demands. Gradually land began to be passed into the hands of moneylenders who benefited immensely. 

           In 1833, the Mahalwari settlement was introduced in Punjab, the Central Provinces and parts of North-Western Provinces. Under this system, the basic unit of revenue settlement was the village or the Mahal. As the village lands belonged jointly to the village community, the responsibility of paying the entire Mahal was on the village community. So the entire land of the village was measured at the time of fixing the revenue. Though the Mahalwari system eliminated middlemen between the government and the village community and brought about an improvement in irrigation facilities, its benefit was largely enjoyed by the government.

       The mahalwari settlement brought impoverishment and widespread dispossession to the cultivating communities of North India in the 1830s ad 1840s and their resentment expressed itself in popular uprisings in 1857. In that year villagers and taluqdars all over North India drove off government officials, destroyed court and official records and papers, and ejected the new auction purchasers from the villages.

Q. Discuss the salient aspects of the Hyderabad administrative setup.         20    

A.    Hyderabad administration -  

Army - 

The army was an important component of the polity that emerged in Hyderabad. The Nizam-ul-Mulk essentially followed a policy of allowing the existing jagirdari holdings. The military commanders and their troops were tied to the political system through their individual employer, mainly the nobles. Like in the Mughal army, the Hyderabad army too was maintained from the cash allowances drawn by the nobles from the Nizam's treasury. 

Land Revenue System -  

The land revenue system in Hyderabad allowed intermediaries to function. Three important features were, firstly there existed ijara or revenue farming land. Secondly, there were a large number of peshkush zamindars whose lands were not officially assessed but required to give an annual tribute or peshkush on the basis of their own assessment records. Thirdly even where the zamindars and deshpandes (village chiefs) had to pay the land revenue assessed by the state, their consent was obtained. The land revenue administration in Hyderabad had officers under amils (provincial heads). Measures for regular assessment and survey were taken. Encouragement was given to the cultivator by the state policy of loans and reprieves.  

Patrons and Clients - 

Personal relations with Nizam or military skills were important for career advancement in Hyderabad. So to become powerful in Hyderabad, the mansab rank (as under the Mughal system) did not prevent the rise of the noble. Many Zamindars or Jagirdars who could rally the smaller intermediaries behind them, could with a little military skill and diplomacy became powerful.  

Vakils - 

Aiding this process of grabbing wealth and power was a network of intermediate clients called the vakils. These vakils acted as agents between Nizam and nobles, nobles and nobles and Nizam and outside powers. The vakis also provided opportunities for individuals within the huge and affluent establishments maintained by the Hyderabadi nobles. The vakils normally acted on the basis of interests of individuals and were powerful only in so far as their patron was powerful. However switching of loyalties, for personal gain was common.

 The Local Chiefs

The local chiefs under the Nizam continued to control their inherited land on the payment of tribute to the Nizam. Though they played the role of patrons like Nizams and his nobles, they were never fully integrated within the Hyderabad political system. Nor did their vakils maintain the relationship with other rulers. The local chiefs did not even follow the lifestyle of Hyderabad court and as such seemed content to remain out of the sphere of the court politics. However, they could become decisive individual factors when the Hyderabad court was weak. 

Financial And Military Groups - 

Bankers; money-lenders and military commanders (usually mercenaries) played an important role in the political system of Hyderabad. They played a key role since they provided essential financial and military service to the state. Their strength derived mainly from the community they came from and in contrast to the vakils they functioned as caste or community groups. Some of the main community or caste groups amongst the financial groups were the Agarwal and Marwaris while Afghans and Arabs were prominent military groups. By threatening to withdraw support and services these individuals and groups could at their level play an important role in the balance of the polity. 

Administrative System -  

The administrative system seems to follow the trend of other aspects of the Hyderabad

polity. The earlier Mughal institutions apparently continued but now allowing the consolidation of the vested interests and in the process allowing individuals to profit. The most illustrative is the case of the office of diwan who conducted most of the day to day-affairs of the state of Hyderabad. Here instead of the diwan, the subordinate hereditary office of daftardars or the record keepers became more important. In the absence of salaried officials to conduct matters like revenue, these record keepers were able to exercise real control by deciding the amount of revenue by local deshpande or taluqdar and putting it on records. This allowed a lot of them also to make a huge amount of wealth.

Q.  Discuss the establishment of the British civil services in India.    

 A.   The main job of the civil service was to translate the law into action and the collection of revenue. The term 'civil services' was used, for the first time by the East India Company mainly to demarcate its civilian employees from their military counterparts. The service was initially the only commercial in nature but was late transformed into public service.

From the very beginning, it was a graded post-the gradations being-Apprentices, writers, factors. junior merchants then finally senior merchants. It was from senior merchants that appointments for higher services including the Governor were made.

This system of grading continued until 1839. The method of recruitment, however, remained through the system of patronage in the hands of the court of Directors who were free to nominate their sons and nephews for the services.

The idea of 'competition' for recruitment (as against nomination practiced earlier) was introduced for the first time by the Charter Act of 1833. But it was to be a very limited competition and could be termed as nomination-cum-competition for recruitment. But gradually the demand for open Public competition started gaining ground. The Charter Act of 1853 ultimately took away the power of the court of Directors to make nominations and made a provision for open competition. 

        The officers of the civil services were employed both in the control officer and the district. The Chief Officer in the district was the collector who was initially responsible exclusively for the collection of revenue. He had the authority to decide all disputes related to the boundary and the rent. He was assisted by a Tehsildar who was an Indian. After the reforms of 1831, the offices of the Magistrate and the local chief of Police were also transferred to him. This gave him total authority in the district. Given the large size of some of the districts, a post of Deputy Collector, placed between the Collector and the Tehsildar in the hierarchy was also created after 1831. This was soon converted into an uncovenanted post which meant that experienced Indians could be employed as Deputy Collectors.

The Indian Civil Services in years to come developed into one of the most efficient and powerful civil services in the world. Its members played a very crucial role in the framing of the British Policies in India and also in maintaining and running the mighty British empire in India. The result was a network of laws applicable throughout the country and a vast administrative structure to implement the laws.

Q.  What was the impact of the Charter Act of 1833? Discuss. 

A.  At the time for the renewal of the Charter in 1833, there was widespread agitation for the abolition of the Company and take over of administration by the Crown. The Act of 1833 was a great landmark in the constitutional history of India.

The monopoly of tea trade with China was abolished. The Company was to have only political functions. India was to pay the Company's debts. Its shareholders were guaranteed a dividend of 10.5 percent per annum. The union of the trader and the sovereign was finally dissolved, the Indian possessions of the Company were to be held in trust for the British Crown. The President of the Board of-Control became the minister for Indian affairs. The Directors were to act as expert advisors of the President of the Board of Control. The Board of Control was invested with authority to superintend, direct and control the affairs of the Company relating to the Government or revenues of the Indian territory which vested in the Company in trust for the English Crown. 

Governor-General of Bengal became the Governor-General of India. The Governor-General in Council was to control, superintend and direct the civil and military affairs of the Company. Bombay, Bengal, Madras and other regions were subjected to complete control of the Governor-General in Council. Central Government was to have complete control over the raising of revenues and expenditure. Expenses of Provincial Governments, creation of new offices, and obedience of all members of the Government of Bombay, Madras were under the strict control of the Central Government.

By the Act of 1833, the Governor-General in Council was given the power to legislate for the whole of the British territories in India. These laws were applicable to all persons, British or Indian foreigners or others and to the servants of the Company. They were enforceable by all courts in India.

        The Act provided for the codification of laws in India. There were several types of laws before 1833. There were the English Acts, Presidency Regulations, Hindu Law, Muslim Law, Customary Law, etc. By this Act, the Governor-General was empowered to appoint the Law Commission to study, collect and codify various rules and regulations prevalent in India. The Indian Penal Code and Codes of Civil and Criminal Law were enacted by the efforts of the Indian Law Commission.   

Q. Discuss the role of Raja Ram Mohun Roy in taking forward the social reforms in India.

A.       Raja Ram Mohun Roy started the Atmiya Sabha and carried on the struggle against the religious and social malpractices prevalent in the society. He denounced idolatry and advocated monotheism. He blamed the Brahman priests for spreading superstitions and by keeping people ignorant about the true teachings of the indigenous scriptures. To educate the people he published the Bengali translation of some of the scriptures and extensively wrote in defense of monotheism.

 In 1828 he established a new society, the Brahma Sabha which later came to be known as the Brahma Samaj. His primary objective was to rid Hinduism of its evils and to preach monotheism. Brahma Samaj incorporated the best teachings of other religions and acted as a powerful platform for spreading humanism, monotheism, and social regeneration.  

          Ram Mohan Roy was extremely pained at the prevailing social degeneration. In particular, he was concerned with the pitiable plight of women in society. He launched a crusade against the evil practice of Sati, the burning of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre. His agitation bore fruit when in 1829 Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, enacted a law against the practice of Sati. He condemned polygamy, early marriage and opposed the subjugation of women and their inferior status in society. According to him, female education was an effective method to deal with the problems of women in society. 

        He propagated the introduction and spread of modern education in the society. Along with many Indian notables of Calcutta, he founded the Hindu College in 1817 and also ran an English School in Calcutta. In 1825 he founded the Vedanta College which offered both Indian and Western learning. He laid stress on the assimilation of Western scientific knowledge, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Anatomy, and other useful sciences. He believed it will help in the regeneration of society.

        Raja Ram Mohan Roy attacked the rigidness of the caste system which, according to him, had been the source of disunity among Indians. He believed that the caste system has created inequality and division among the people on the one hand, and 'deprived them of patriotic feeling' on the other. Through his social reforms, he wished to lay the foundations for the unity of Indian society which was divided into divergent groups.

Q.  Comment on the rise of the novel in India.         12

A.   Under the influence of the West, there emerged a completely new branch in Indian literature in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This was the novel that was accompanied by the short story. This brought in its wake a new social realism in Indian literature. Alaler Gharer Dulal by Pyarechand Mitra, which is sometimes cited as the first novel in Bengali, was a satirical social sketch published in 1858.    

In 1862, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay published two romantic historical tales in Bengali. He entitled it Aitihasik Upanyas (Historical Fiction). The word 'upanyas' later on became the common word for 'novel' in several north Indian languages. Prose romances approaching to the form of the novel appeared in Marathi around the same time: Muktamala (1861) by Lakshman Moreshwar Halbe and Manjughosha (1868) by Naro Sadasiv Risbud.   

      Nazir's Ahmad's Miratul- Urus (1969), a didactic narrative contrasting the lives of a good sister and a bad one, is identified as the first novel in Urdu. Pandit Gauri Dutt's Devrani Jethani ki Kahani, published next year in Hindi, had an almost identical theme. Subsequently, the Tamil Christian author, Samuel Vedanyakam PilGi, wrote the first original novel in Tamil, Prathapa Mudaliar Charitram (1879).   

     With BankimChandra Chatterjee's first original work in Bengali Durgesh Nandni (1865), the novel came of age in India. Chatterjee's incomparable novels, set mostly in a historical context, followed one after another. Ananda-Math (1882), set against the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in Bengali, contained the famous nationalist song 'Bande Mataram'.

Rajasthan (1881), with the Rajput rebellion against Emperor Aurangzeb as its theme, was another stirring historical novel. Chatterjee's contemporary Romesh Chunder Dutt wrote several historical novels under his influence, of which the two most famous are Maharashtra Jivan Prabhat (1878) and Rajput Jivan Sandhya (1979). The historical novel came into vogue in other Indian languages, too. The reason is that contemporary society in the late nineteenth century afforded little scope for love and heroism on account of numerous social restrictions. In consequence, tales of heroism and love had to be set in a historical context. 

Q) Awadh state       6

A.  Saadat Khan was assigned the Subadari of Awadh in 1722. Saadat Khan devoted his energies to make Awadh an independent center of authority. Prevailing weaknesses in the imperial administration following the death of Aurangzeb helped him in fulfilling his ambition. Immediately after taking control of Awadh Saadat Khan faced strong resistance from numerous rebellious chiefs and rajas in Awadh. In order to consolidate his position the measures he took were:

#  Suppression of rebellious local Zamindars. and chieftains,

#  Circumscribing the authority of the Madad-i-mash grantees,

#  Systematizing revenue collection, and also

#  Negotiation with some local Zamindars.

He nominated his son-in-law Safdar Jang as Deputy governor of the province without waiting for imperial sanction. Safdar Jang continued to follow the policy of Saadat khan and between 1739 and 1764 tried to gain greater autonomy of Awadh. The outward allegiance to the Emperor was still maintained, for example,

#  Emperor's formal confirmation was taken for the appointment in the high offices,

#  Revenues were sent to the imperial treasury,

#  Orders, Titles, etc. were given in the name of the Mughal Emperor, etc.

Q)  Asiatic Society            6

A.  Asiatic society was formed with the task of unearthing knowledge about Asia both within and outside Asia. William Jones, an English Jurist started it in 1784 to rediscover India, to acquire the knowledge of the golden past of India. The Society received full blessings of the Governor-General and an era of studying India from within close quarters of its social, religious, linguistic and political aspects began. This in itself was a departure from the early travelers who would normally record impressions and go away. The Asiatic Society contributed in a major way by translating from Persian and Sanskrit works of Grammar, Puranas and the writings of Kalidasa. Secondly, the members of the Asiatic Society researched and published a large number of articles on Indian society and religion. The Governor-General Warren Hastings wanted to use the knowledge acquired thus to be passed on to those who could be involved in the project of administering India.