📜 Land Revenue and Administrative Systems in Indian History ( Ancient to Modern time )
🏛️ I. Ancient India: Land Grants and Feudal Patterns Begin
🔸 Vedic Period (1500–600 BCE)
- Land was not private property; it was tribal or clan-owned.
- Kings derived wealth through tribute and cattle.
🔸 Later Vedic & Mauryan Period (600 BCE–200 BCE)
- Mauryan Empire (esp. under Ashoka): Centralized administration.
- Land belonged to the state (king); taxes were collected by Amatyas and Revenue Officers.
- Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Clearly mentions land revenue (Bhaga) as the main source of state income (usually 1/6th of produce).
🔸 Post-Maurya / Gupta Period (200–600 CE)
- Concept of Brahmadeya (land granted to Brahmins) started.
- Feudal tendencies began: Kings started granting tax-free lands to officials, monks, and Brahmins.
👉 Land was now used to reward loyalty — a precursor to Jagirs.
🏯 II. Early Medieval India (600–1200 CE): Rise of Feudalism
- Rise of Samantas – powerful local lords who received land grants in return for military and administrative service.
- This is the Indian form of feudalism:
- Central king gives land to lords.
- Lords collect taxes, maintain army, and give loyalty.
🧠 This is a major link to later Mansabdari-Jagir system: a central ruler rewarding service with land revenue, not salary.
🕌 III. Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526): Iqta System
- Introduced by Turkish rulers.
- Iqta = Land revenue assignment given to nobles (Iqta’dars or Muqtis).
- They collected revenue from peasants, kept part for themselves, and sent the rest + troops to the Sultan.
⚠️ Iqta was not hereditary, but transferable and revocable.
👉 The Iqta system became the direct foundation of the Mughal Jagirdari system.
👑 IV. Mughal India: Mansabdari + Jagir System (1571 onwards)
📌 Mansabdari Recap:
- Rank system of Zat and Sawar (personal + cavalry).
- Every Mansabdar (officer) needed to maintain a specific number of cavalry.
📌 Jagir System:
- Since cash salary was hard to pay in a pre-monetary economy, land revenue (Jagir) was assigned to the Mansabdar instead.
- Jagir = Assignment of revenue of specific area instead of salary.
- Mansabdar collected taxes from that land and used it to:
- Maintain army.
- Keep his own expenses.
- Send a part to the royal treasury.
⚠️ Important Points:
- Jagirs were not hereditary.
- Jagir != Ownership of land (he could collect tax but not own land).
- They were transferred frequently to avoid local power consolidation.
- The system was efficient under Akbar, but became corrupt later.
🧨 V. Jagirdari Crisis in Later Mughal Period
- More Mansabdars than available jagirs = shortage.
- Result:
- Mansabdars tried to squeeze peasants to extract more revenue.
- Peasant revolts, administrative decay.
- Factionalism among nobles for rich jagirs.
- Mughal treasury weakened.
👉 This was a key cause of Mughal decline.
🇬🇧 VI. British Period: End of Jagir, Start of Zamindari & Ryotwari
- British abolished the Mansabdari/Jagir system.
- Introduced their own land revenue systems:
- Zamindari System (Permanent Settlement – Bengal) – Landlords (zamindars) collected fixed revenue.
- Ryotwari System (South India) – Tax collected directly from peasants.
- Mahalwari System (Central/North India) – Revenue fixed for entire village (mahal).
📚 The 3 Major British Revenue Systems
1️⃣ Zamindari System
Also called: Permanent Settlement
📍 Introduced: 1793 by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal Presidency
📍 Regions: Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, parts of UP and Madras
✅ Key Features:
- Zamindars became hereditary owners of land.
- They collected rent from ryots (peasants) and paid fixed annual revenue to the British.
- The settlement was permanent — revenue didn’t change over time.
🎯 Objective:
- Create a loyal class of landlords.
- Ensure stable revenue flow to the Company.
❌ Problems:
- Peasants were heavily exploited, often evicted.
- Revenue demand was high; if Zamindars failed to pay, land was auctioned.
- Zamindars became absentee landlords with no investment in agriculture.
📌 UPSC Point:
- First revenue system by the British.
- Peasants had no rights; system created rural feudalism.
2️⃣ Ryotwari System
📍 Introduced officially: 1820 by Thomas Munro in Madras Presidency
📍 Also implemented in: Bombay, parts of Assam, Berar
✅ Key Features:
- No intermediaries. The government collected taxes directly from the peasants (ryots).
- Ryots were considered actual owners of the land.
- Revenue was assessed individually based on soil fertility, crop type, and productivity.
- Revenue rates were very high (sometimes 50% of produce).
- Settlement was revised periodically (not permanent).
🎯 Objective:
- Avoid inefficiencies of Zamindars.
- Increase direct control and accountability.
❌ Problems:
- Ryots had to borrow from moneylenders to pay taxes → indebtedness.
- Failure to pay meant loss of land.
- Despite being called owners, they had no real protection.
📌 UPSC Point:
- Seen as a direct peasant-government link, but caused severe rural distress.
3️⃣ Mahalwari System
📍 Introduced: 1822 by Holt Mackenzie, modified by Lord William Bentinck (1833)
📍 Regions: North-Western Provinces, Central India, Punjab, parts of UP
✅ Key Features:
- Revenue was fixed collectively for the entire village (called mahal).
- Collected by village headman or local zamindar on behalf of the community.
- Revenue demand was periodically revised, not fixed.
- Considered a blend of Zamindari and Ryotwari.
🎯 Objective:
- Utilize existing village community system for tax collection.
- Reduce cost of administration.
❌ Problems:
- Overestimation of revenue → high burden on villages.
- If one farmer failed, the whole village was penalized.
- Destroyed traditional village solidarity.
📌 UPSC Point:
- Semi-collective system — applied in central/north India.
- Based on customary rights and village boundaries.