Describe the main features of the permanent settlement

3. Describe the main features of the Permanent Settlement. • 4. How was the mahalwari system different from the Permanent Settlement? • 5. Give two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue. • 6. Why were ryots reluctant to grow indigo? • 7. What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in Bengal?

In order to get a stable revenue income, most of the East India Company’s officials believed that investment in land had to be encouraged and agriculture had to be improved. Debates on this how to be done led to the introduction of Permanent settlement in 1793. The aim of the settlement was to ensure a regular flow of revenue for the company. The main features of the Permanent Settlement were: (i) The rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars. The Company set a fixed amount to pay for the peasant and these Zamidars were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the Company. (ii) It encouraged the zamindars to invest in improving the land. (iii) Since the revenue demand of the state would not be increased the zamindar would benefit from increased production from the land. (iv) If any of them failed to fulfill these conditions, he was ousted from his land and the government did not hesitate in putting his zamindari to auction.

The ryots in Bengal were fed up with the coercive methods which the planters employed and had refused to grow indigo. (i)They had turned rebellion. Theyrefused to pay rents to the planters, and attacked indigo factories armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows. Women too turned up to fight with pots, pans and kitchen implements. (ii)Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted, and the gomasthas – agents of planters – who came to collect rent were beaten up. Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by the planters’ lathiyals – the lathi-wielding strongmen maintained by the planters. (iii)In many villages, headmen who had been forced to sign indigo contracts, mobilised the indigo peasants and fought pitched battles with the lathiyals. In other places even the zamindars went around villages urging the ryots to resist the planters. These zamindars were unhappy with the increasing power of the planters and angry at being forced by the planters to give them land on long leases. (iv)Worried by the rebellion, the government brought in the military to protect the planters from assault, and set up the Indigo commission to enquire into the system of indigo production. (v)The commission held the planters guilty and criticised them for the coercive method they used with indigo cultivators. It declared that indigo production was not profitable for ryots. The commission asked the ryots to fulfil their existing contracts but also told ...

The function of settlements A settlement is a place where people live. Settlements can be as small as a single house in a remote area or as a large as a mega city (a city with over 10 million residents). A settlement may be permanent or temporary. An example of a temporary settlement is a refugee camp. However, a temporary settlement may become permanent over time. This has happened to many refugee camps that have been built in conflict zones. The function of a settlement helps to identify the economic and social development of a place and can show its main activity. Most large settlements have more than one function though in the past one function was maybe the most important in defining the success and growth in importance of the settlement. Belfast Harbour The main functions of a settlement are: • Market town – where farmers will buy and sell their goods and materials • Mining town – where minerals and fuel might be extracted • Industrial town – where raw materials will be processed into manufactured products • Port – a place where goods can be imported and exported • Route centre – a place where several important roads/ transport links will meet • Service centre – a place that will provide for the main needs and services for people living in a particular area • Cultural/ Religious centre – a place that will welcome people from different places for learning or religious observance • Administrative centre – where government offices and departments will be located • Resid...

On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Famine, disease and conflict with local Native American tribes in the first two years brought Jamestown to the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies in 1610.Tobacco became Virginia’s first profitable export, and a period of peace followed the marriage of colonist John Rolfe to Pocahontas, the daughter of an Algonquian chief. During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from the area around the original James Fort into a New Town built to the east. It remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699. WATCH: Settlers landing on the site of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. After At the time, Virginia was the English name for the entire eastern coast of North America north of Roughly 100 colonists left England in late December 1606 on three ships (the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery) and reached Chesapeake Bay late the next April. After forming a governing council—including Christopher Newport, commander of the sea voyage, and Captain Surviving the First Years Known variously as James Forte, James Towne and James Cittie, the new settlement initially consisted of a wooden fort built in a triangle around a storehouse for weapons and other supplies, a church and a number of houses. By the summer of 1607...

Main Features of the Permanent Settlement • Introduction: The Permanent Settlement was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793. It was also known as the Cornwallis Code. This settlement was introduced to bring about a permanent settlement of land revenue for the British East India Company in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. • Fixed Revenue: The main feature of the Permanent Settlement was that the landowners had to pay a fixed revenue to the British government every year. This revenue was fixed in perpetuity and could not be increased or decreased based on the productivity of the land. This fixed revenue was known as the zamindari system. • Zamindars: The zamindars were the intermediaries between the British government and the peasants. They were responsible for collecting the fixed revenue from the peasants and paying it to the British government. In return, they were given the right to collect rent from the peasants and retain a portion of it as their own income. • Hereditary Rights: Another feature of the Permanent Settlement was the hereditary rights of the zamindars. The zamindars were given the right to pass on their land and revenue rights to their heirs. This ensured that the zamindars had a long-term stake in the land and would work to increase its productivity. • Impact on Peasants: The Permanent Settlement had a significant impact on the peasants. The fixed revenue system meant that the zamindars had to extract as much rent as possible from the peasants to pay the Britis...

In order to get a stable revenue income, most of the East India Company’s officials believed that investment in land had to be encouraged and agriculture had to be improved. This led to introduction of permanent settlement in 1793 (i) By the terms of the settlement the rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars. (ii) They were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the company. (iii) The amount to be paid was fixed permanently. (iv) It was felt that this would ensure a regular flow of revenue into the company’s coffers and at the same time encourages the zamindars to invest is improving the land. (v) If the zamindars failed to pay the revenue, which they usually did as the fixed revenue was very high, they lost their zamindari.