Ruling the Countryside

This history chapter explains how the East India Company reorganised the countryside after it became the Diwan of Bengal in 1765, and how its policies affected peasants. You will learn that the Company wanted to increase revenue and buy fine cotton and silk cheaply, that the economy of Bengal declined, and that a terrible famine in 1770 killed about ten million people, nearly one-third of the population. To secure a fixed income, the Company introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793 under Lord Cornwallis, making rajas and taluqdars zamindars with permanently fixed revenue demands. Later the Mahalwari Settlement, devised by Holt Mackenzie in 1822, and the Ryotwari system of Thomas Munro in the south were introduced. The second part tells the story of indigo, a crop that gave a rich blue dye in demand in Europe. You will learn about nij and ryoti cultivation, the misery of ryots forced to grow indigo, the Blue Rebellion of 1859, the Indigo Commission of 1860, and Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Champaran in 1917.

Detailed Worksheet: Ruling the Countryside Section A - Definitions (10 marks) 1. What was the Permanent Settlement? Who introduced it and when? (2 marks) 2. What was the Mahalwari Settlement? Who devised it? (2 marks) 3. What was the Ryotwari system? In which part of India was it introduced? (2 marks) 4. What is meant by nij cultivation and ryoti cultivation of indigo? (2 marks) 5. What was the Blue Rebellion? When did it begin? (2 marks) Section B - Calculations and Applications (15 marks) 6. Arrange these events in chronological order with the year of each: Indigo Commission, Diwani of Bengal, Permanent Settlement, Bengal famine, Mahalwari Settlement, Blue Rebellion, Gandhi's visit to Champaran. (3 marks) 7. The Bengal famine of 1770 killed about ten million people, nearly one-third of the population. Estimate the population of Bengal at that time. How many people survived? (3 marks) 8. Under the Permanent Settlement, a zamindar had to pay a fixed revenue of Rs 9,000 a year to the Company. In the first year he collected Rs 10,000 from the ryots, and after 20 years, due to expansion of cultivation, he collected Rs 15,000. Find his share in each case. Why did the Company not benefit from this increase? (3 marks) 9. An indigo planter forced a ryot to grow indigo on 25% of his land. If the ryot had 12 bighas, how many bighas went to indigo? If the planter paid Rs 2 per bigha while rice would have earned Rs 5 per bigha, how much did the ryot lose? (3 marks) 10. Match each person with his role: Lord Cornwallis, Holt Mackenzie, Thomas Munro, Dinabandhu Mitra, Mahatma Gandhi. Roles: (i) wrote the play Nil Darpan (ii) Permanent Settlement (iii) Champaran movement (iv) Mahalwari system (v) Ryotwari system. (3 marks) Section C - Diagrams (10 marks) 11. Draw a comparative chart of the Permanent, Mahalwari and Ryotwari systems, showing who paid revenue, how it was fixed and the region where each applied. (4 marks) 12. Draw a flowchart showing the stages of indigo production from cutting the plant to obtaining dye cakes, including the steeping vat, beater vat and settling vat. (3 marks) 13. On an outline map of India, mark Bengal, Bihar, Champaran, Madras and the North Western Provinces, and show the revenue system followed in each. (3 marks) Section D - Analysis and Higher-order Thinking (15 marks) 14. Explain the problems that arose from the Permanent Settlement for the Company, the zamindars and the ryots. (5 marks) 15. Why did the demand for Indian indigo rise in the late 18th century? Describe the system of ryoti cultivation and explain why ryots hated it. (5 marks) 16. Describe the Blue Rebellion of 1859 and its outcome. Why is it considered an important peasant movement? (5 marks) Instructions: Time allowed 2 hours. Attempt all sections. Support your answers with dates and examples from the chapter.