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Q99 (CAPF/2010) History & Culture › Modern India (Pre-1857) › Land revenue settlements Answer Verified

The question is based on the following passage : The permanent settlement vested the land ownership right in the zamindars, who previously enjoyed only revenue collecting rights. Therefore, those who lost out in this settlement were the peasants, who were left at the mercy of the zamindars. The customary occupancy right was ignored and they were reduced to the status of tenants. The provision of patta, or written agreement between the peasant and the zamindar providing a record of the amount of rent to be paid, was rarely followed by the zamindars. Nor was it liked by the peasants who always feared to lose in any formal record of rights and obligations, The burden of high revenue assessment was thus shifted to the peasants, who were often also called upon to pay illegal cesses. The subsequent regulations of 1799 and 1812 gave the zamindars the right to seize property of the tenants in case of non-payment of rent without any permission of a court of law. It is no wonder, therefore, that as a cumulative effect of this support to the coercive power of the zamindars, the condition of the actual cultivators declined under the Permanent Settlement. Patta was a written agreement between the :

Result
Your answer: —  Â·  Correct: A
Explanation

Under the Permanent Settlement of 1793, the 'patta' was intended as a written agreement between the zamindar and the peasant. Its primary purpose was to provide a formal record of the amount of rent the peasant was obligated to pay to the zamindar [t1][t2]. This mechanism was designed to protect tenants from arbitrary rent hikes; however, the passage and historical evidence indicate it was rarely implemented. Zamindars avoided issuing pattas to maintain their coercive power and flexibility in extracting higher rents, while peasants often feared that formalizing their obligations in a written record might lead to further exploitation or loss of customary rights [t2][t3]. The settlement effectively transformed zamindars into land owners and reduced peasants to the status of tenants-at-will, where the lack of patta documentation left them vulnerable to illegal cesses and forcible evictions [c1][c3][t3].

Sources

  1. [1] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 10: Land Reforms in India > 1. Zamindari System (Permanent Settlement) > p. 337
  2. [2] Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 5: Land Reforms > Features: > p. 191
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SIMILAR QUESTIONS

NDA-II · 2015 · Q84 Relevance score: 3.46

Which of the following features of the Permanent Settlement of 1793 is / are correct? 1. The Permanent Settlement vested Land ownership rights in the peasants 2. The Permanent Settlement vested land ownership rights in the Zamindars 3. The Zamindars had to pay a fixed amount of rent by a particular date 4. The Zamindars benefited hugely from the Permanent Settlement while the peasants suffered Select the correct answer using the code given below;

NDA-II · 2014 · Q99 Relevance score: 1.94

Which of the following statements is/are correct about the working of the Permanent Settlement in Bengal? 1. The traditional Zamindars lost their lands. 2. The reason for the Zamindars’ inability to pay up land revenues was that the Ryots defaulted on payment of revenue. 3. A new group of farmers—the Jotedars—became influential. 4. The Collector replaced the Zamindars as the alternative focus of authority. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

CAPF · 2016 · Q88 Relevance score: 1.78

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Permanent Settlement?