Question
What was the ryotwari system? Why did the ryots turn violent? Explain three reasons.
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Answer
Ryotwari was the land revenue system started by Munroe in the Bombay Deccan based on fixation of revenue terms directly with the ryots only Ryots turned violent:
- The revenue that was demanded was so high that in many places peasants deserted their villages and migrated to new regions.
- In areas of poor soil and fluctuating rainfall the problem was particularly acute.
- However, the collectors went about extracting payment with utmost severity.
- When someone failed to pay, his crops were seized and a fine was imposed on the whole village.
- By the 1830s the problem became more severe. Prices of agricultural products fell sharply after 1832.
- This meant a further decline in peasants’ income.
- At the same time the countryside was devastated by a famine.
- Inevitably, they borrowed. Revenue could rarely be paid without a loan from a moneylender.
- But once a loan was taken, the ryot found it difficult to pay it back.
- As debt mounted, and loans remained unpaid, peasants’ dependence on moneylenders increased.
- They now needed loans even to buy their everyday needs and meet their production expenditure.
- The average income from different types of soil was estimated, the revenue-paying capacity of the ryot was assessed and a proportion of it fixed as the share of the state.
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