Features of Ryotwari System: Land Ownership and Occupancy Rights Were Transferred To The Ryot, and There

 In the British territories in southern India, there was a move away
from the idea of Permanent Settlement.

 A system that came to be known as the Ryotwari System, was
devised by Captain Alexander Read and Sir Thomas Munro at the
end of the 18th century and introduced by the latter when he
was governor of Madras Presidency (1819–26).
 Under the Ryotwari system, the land revenue was paid by the
farmers directly to the state.
 In this system, the Individual cultivator called Ryot had full rights
regarding sale, transfer, and leasing of the land.
o The ryots could not be evicted from their land as long as they
paid the rent.
The government collected taxes directly from the peasants. This was done in the Madras and
Bombay areas. A total of 51% British Indian area was under this settlement.
Features of Ryotwari System

 Land ownership and occupancy rights were transferred to the ryot, and there
was no limit to the amount of land they could own. They could sublet, transfer, or
sell their land at any time.
 Ryots paid the tax to the company directly. Based on an estimated production of
land, the revenue to be paid ranged from 45 to 55 percent.
 Because revenue was not fixed, it could be increased when production
increased.
 The agreement was not permanent and could be revised at any time.
 Barren land under government control was permitted to be cultivated, and the
revenue generated was required to be shared with the government.
Ryotwari Settlement In Madras

 When Thomas Munro became governor of Madras Presidency in 1820, he
introduced the system which came to be known as the Ryotwari System.
 The most important reason for the adoption of this system, from the Company’s
point of view, was that it brought in a larger revenue than any other system could
have done as no intermediaries were involved and whatever was extracted from
the cultivator went directly to the government.
 The Madras government was chronically underfunded, so such a system would
logically appeal to it. As a result of the rejection of the Permanent Settlement, the
temporary ryotwari settlement was introduced.
Ryotwari Settlement In Bombay
Ryotwari Settlement In Bombay
 Ryotwari in the Bombay Presidency originated in Gujarat.
 The British initially collected land revenue through hereditary officials known as
desais and village headmen (Patel). However, this did not generate as much
revenue as the British desired, so they began collecting directly from the
peasants.
 When they conquered the Peshwa's territory in 1818, they also introduced the
ryotwari system based on the Madras pattern, under the supervision of Munro's
disciple Elphinstone.
 The abuses that characterised the Madras ryotwari soon appeared in the
Bombay Presidency as well, particularly as the collectors attempted to increase
revenue as quickly as possible.
Drawbacks
Drawbacks of Ryotwari System
 Overestimation of revenue was a major issue. The fixed land revenue was
frequently greater than the land's capacity.
 The collection method was rigid, frequently involving torture to extract tax.
 Corruption grew as officers were able to be bribed while assessing the land.
 Non-cultivating landlords could be registered as the owners of specific holdings,
with the actual cultivator reduced to being their tenants, servants, or even
bonded labourers.
 The high tax and harassment in collection devalued land value because few
people wanted to buy it.
Issue
Issue with Ryotwari System
 This system delegated a great deal of authority to subordinate revenue officials,
whose activities were not adequately monitored.
 The mahajans and moneylenders who granted loans to cultivators by mortgaging
their land dominated the system.
 In the event of a loan default, the moneylenders exploited the cultivators and
evicted them from their land.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The burden of land revenue was somewhat reduced under the reformed ryotwari
system. The purchaser could now expect to profit from owning land because the state
would not take all of it as tax. As a result, moneylenders began seizing the lands of their
peasant debtors and either evicting them or reducing them to tenants. The zamindars
were removed by the system. The ryots paid the government roughly half the crop's
value.

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 In the British territories in southern India, there was a move away

from the idea of Permanent Settlement.

Features of Ryotwari System

Ryotwari Settlement In Madras

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