Ruling the countryside Question Answers

  

                        Ruling the countryside
 

Q2: Fill in the blanks:

(a) Growers of woad in Europe saw  indigo  as a crop which would provide competition to their earnings.
(b) The demand for indigo increased in late eighteenth-century Britain because of   industrialisation.
(c) The international demand for indigo was affected by the discovery of synthetic dyes.
(d) The Champaran movement was against indigo planters

Q3: Describe the main features of the Permanent Settlement.

Answer:

a. Permanent Settlement was introduced by East India Company in 1793.

b. By the terms of the settlement, the rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars.

c. Zamindars would collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the Company.

d. It would ensure a regular flow of revenue into the Company’s coffers and encourage the zamindars to invest in improving the land.

Q4: How was the Mahalwari System different from the Permanent Settlement?

Answer:

	Mahalwari System	Permanent Settlement
1.	Devised by Holt Mackenzie	Introduced by Lord Cornwallis
2.	Introduced in 1822	Introduced in 1793
3.	Alternative to Permanent Settlement	Main objective to have constant land revenue
4.	Village Headmen to collect revenue	Rajas, Taluqdars (called Zamindars) would collect revenue
5.	Revenue amount was not fixed	Initially revenue amount was fixed be revised periodically

Q5: Give two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue.

Answer:
  (i) Revenue officials fixed too high a revenue demand in order to increase their revenue income.
  (ii) Peasants were unable to pay, ryots fled the countryside. Villages became deserted in many regions.

Q6: Why were ryots reluctant to grow indigo?

Answer: Ryots were reluctant to grow indigo for the following reasons:

a. British officials forced them to sign contract and ryots had to cultivate indigo at least 25% of the area.

b. Price for indigo was very low as compared to other crops.

c. The cycle of loans given to ryots became a vicious circle.

d. Indigo crops exhausted the soil fertility and after its harvest the land could not be sown with rice.

 Q7: What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in Bengal?

Answer:
a. Resentment grew among Indian peasants led to Blue Rebellion in March 1859. b. Farmers refused to pay rent to the planters. They attacked the indigo factories with weapons and their womenfolk attacked with pots and pans.

c. The agents of the planters were beaten and farmers who worked for the planters were socially boycotted.

d. The government set up Indigo Commission to enquire into the system of indigo production. It collapsed indigo production in Bengal and planters shifted their operation to Bihar.

Glossary

Mahal – In British revenue records mahal is a revenue estate which may be a village or a group of villages.

Plantation – A large farm operated by a planter employing various forms of forced labour.

Slave – A person who is owned by someone else – the slave owner. A slave has no freedom and is compelled to work for the master.

Bigha – A unit of measurement of land. Before British rule, the size of this area varied