Mahalwari System: Land Revenue Impact on Peasants

British India’s Mahalwari System: Land Revenue Evolution #

The Mahalwari system is one of three fundamental land revenue systems introduced by the British in India, the other two being the Permanent Settlement system and the Ryotwari system. The term Mahalwari system comes from the word “Mahal” which means “a house or a region”. It was launched by Holt Mackenzie in 1822 in the Northern and Northwest parts of India. Later this settlement was popularized by Lord William Bentick in Agra and Awadh region. This settlement had features of both the Zamindari and Ryotwari systems.

Features Of The Mahalwari System: Peasant Land Rights and Revenue Reform #

A most prominent feature of the Mahalwari system was the ownership right of land that remained with the peasants.

• For the collection of land revenue, the entire village was converted into one big unit known as “Mahal”. Each Mahal comprised one or more villages.
• Under this system, the responsibility for the collection of land revenue from farmers lay on the village Headman.
• Unlike the Zamindari system where revenue was fixed permanently, the revenue under this system was revised periodically.
• As compared to the Zamindari system, It was found to be less exploitative.
• It was introduced in the North West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, Central Province, etc. This system had elements both from Zamindari as well as Ryotwari systems

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Drawbacks Of The Mahalwari System: High Taxes and Agricultural Neglect #

• High tax rate: The land revenue fixed under this system was often very high which increased the burden on Peasants.
• Erroneous assessment: The fixation of land revenue was not calculated in a scientific way. Rather it was based on illogical assumptions about the productivity of the land.
• No efforts to improve productivity: The village headmen and British officials only focussed on the collection of land revenue. During periods of drought and low production, no efforts were made by them to increase agricultural productivity.

Conclusion #

The British land revenue policies focussed merely on collection of tax. High revenue rates and oppressive methods of collection deteriorated the economic status of farmers. In most cases, they resorted to loans from moneylenders to avoid losing ownership of land.