Impact of British Rule on Village as a Self-sufficient Community
The impact of British rule on the people meant the government's impact on the village. In the pre-British era, the village communities represented economic stability resting on a balanced system of agriculture, village industry and local trade. The laws of demand and supply operated in a natural manner, and general happiness prevailed. However, the British rule unleashed far-reaching changes in agriculturally based Indian village structure. Excessive land revenue demands proved counterproductive.
Right from the beginning of their relationship with India, the British, who had come as traders and had become rulers and administrators, had disrupted the economy, polity, and society. Once the British gained power, they introduced many changes, some of the spheres are –
Economy:
The British policies towards agriculture and industry were mainly aimed at their benefit. This resulted in the commercialization of agriculture and the ruin of traditional Indian industries.
Polity:
Various Acts passed during the British rule had positive and negative outcomes. However, the most significant result of the new laws was the enforcement of British authority over the Indian mainland. New laws like the Regulating Act of 1773, Pitts India Act of 1784, various Charter Acts, etc., led to constitutional development. Various changes were introduced in the administration – particularly the revenue administration, civil services, police, army, and judicial services.
Society:
British policies towards education, language and culture significantly transformed Indian society. While the positive changes were welcomed by Indian society, the oppressive measures resulted in revolts and rebellions.
The British profoundly changed the nature of property and land rights across the entire nation with the alterations in the spheres. In the past, land ownership rights were not proprietary but rather overlapped. At that time, persons from high castes often owned property, while members of low castes had variable rights to occupancy and crop-sharing, as determined by customary practices. As a result, large tracts of land stopped being farmed, and famines started to loom over the people. Numerous land-revenue regimes, including Zamindari, Mahalwari, and Ryotwari, were consequently introduced.
Permanent Settlement (Zamindari):
The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General of India at that time. By the terms of the settlement, the Rajas and Talukdars were recognized as Zamindars. They were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the Company. The amount to be paid was fixed permanently it was not to be increased ever in future.
Mahalwari settlement:
The company needed more money, but the permanently fixed revenues couldn’t help them in this regard. So, in the North-Western Provinces of the Bengal Presidency (most of this area is now in Uttar Pradesh), an Englishman called Holt Mackenzie devised the new system, which came into effect in 1822 and later was reviewed under Lord William Bentinck in 1833. He felt that the village was an important social institution. Under his directions, collectors went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields, and recording the customs and rights of different groups. The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added to calculate the revenue each village (mahal) had to pay. This demand was to be revised periodically, not permanently fixed. The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the Company was given to the village headman, rather than the zamindar. This system came to be known as the Mahalwari settlement.
Ryotwari / Munro System:
A land revenue system known as the Ryotwari System was first implemented in British India’s southern region to replace Permanent Settlement. Thomas Munro introduced the Ryotwari Land Revenue System, which allowed the collection of money from farmers. The Ryotwari settlement allowed the government to receive direct payments from cultivators, also known as “ryot.” In the latter part of the 18th century, Ryotwari Settlement was established, and the system allowed peasants to have authority over their holdings.
The impact of the British Government on the Indian people was enormous and long-lasting but it was extensive, somewhat much more on the rural people and rural society, with the coming of the British, the existing systems changed, which proved detrimental to both the agriculture-based structure of the Indian villages and also the condition of the peasantry. The Indian Rural society had to deal with long-lasting poverty, famines and the stagnant situation of agriculture as a result of all the changes.
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