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Q13 (IAS/2017) History & Culture › Modern India (Pre-1857) › Land revenue settlements Official Key

Who among the following was/were associated with the introduction of Ryotwari Settlement in India during the British rule ? 1. Lord Cornwallis 2. Alexander Read 3. Thomas Munro Select the correct answer using.the code given below :

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: C
Explanation

The Ryotwari settlement was introduced by Thomas Munro and Alexander Reed in Bombay and Madras Presidencies in 1820.[2] Read established the ryotwari settlement in the districts of Baramahal and gradually extended it to other parts of the province of Madras.[3] Thomas Munro conceived the idea of Ryotwari Settlement[4] while working as a collector in various districts. In these areas, there were no zamindars and Land revenue settlement was made directly with the peasants called Ryots, thus no intermediaries were involved.[1]

Lord Cornwallis, on the other hand, was not associated with the Ryotwari system. Read was appointed by Lord Cornwallis as the in charge of Baramahal and Salem[5], but Cornwallis himself is famously associated with the Permanent Settlement (Zamindari system) in Bengal, not the Ryotwari Settlement. Therefore, only Alexander Read (statement 2) and Thomas Munro (statement 3) were associated with the introduction of Ryotwari Settlement, making option C correct.

Sources
  1. [1] Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 5: Land Reforms > Ryotwari Settlement: > p. 191
  2. [2] Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 5: Land Reforms > Ryotwari Settlement: > p. 191
  3. [4] History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > 17.2 Land Tenures: Permanent Settlement and Ryotwari Settlement > p. 266
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. Who among the following was/were associated with the introduction of Ryotwari Settlement in India during the British rule ? 1. Lord Cornw…
At a glance
Origin: Books + Current Affairs Fairness: Moderate fairness Books / CA: 6.7/10 · 3.3/10
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This is a classic 'Sitter' question found in every standard Modern History textbook (Spectrum, NCERT). It tests the fundamental distinction between the three land revenue systems. If you get this wrong, you are losing marks that 90% of serious candidates will secure.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Was Lord Cornwallis associated with the introduction of the Ryotwari Settlement in India during British rule?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 4/5
"when Read appointed by Lord Cornwallis as the in charge of Baramahal and Salem"
Why this source?
  • Explicitly names the appointment linking a person (Read) to Lord Cornwallis in the Baramahal/Salem area.
  • Establishes Cornwallis' direct administrative action (appointment) of the officer who later worked on revenue matters.
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"Read established the ryotwari settlement in the districts of Baramahal and gradually extended it to other parts of the province of Madras."
Why this source?
  • States that Read established the ryotwari settlement in Baramahal and extended it in Madras Presidency.
  • Connects the officer (Read) appointed earlier to the actual introduction/implementation of the Ryotwari system.
Web source
Presence: 3/5
"Lord Cornwallis discovered that the civil servants possessed no knowledge of the local languages ... He resolved to employ able military officers who possessed a competent knowledge of the local languages and experience in the management of revenue."
Why this source?
  • Describes Cornwallis' revenue-administration initiative to employ able officers with local knowledge for revenue management.
  • Provides context for why Cornwallis would appoint officers (like Read) who implemented revenue systems such as Ryotwari.

Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 5: Land Reforms > Lord Cornwallis, Governor General of Bengal (1786 – 1793) and the Permanent Settlement of Revenue Administration: > p. 190
Strength: 5/5
“Since the earlier system introduced by Hastings proved defective for the peasants and the Company both, Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in 1793 which continued in India till India achieved its freedom. Its chief aim was to impart stability to the revenue system. He did exhaustive survey of the past records and on the basis of past 10 years, he fixed how much revenue can be collected from the entire land and fixed the amount to be collected for future years.”
Why relevant

States that Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal in 1793, linking Cornwallis specifically to a different major land-revenue system.

How to extend

A student could compare the geographical/administrative scope of the Permanent Settlement (Bengal, Bihar, Odisha) with regions where Ryotwari was used to see if Cornwallis' actions overlap with Ryotwari areas.

Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 5: Land Reforms > Ryotwari Settlement: > p. 191
Strength: 5/5
“The Ryotwari settlement was introduced by Thomas Munro and Alexander Reed in Bombay and Madras Presidencies in 1820. In these areas, there were no zamindars and Land revenue settlement was made directly with the peasants called Ryots, thus no intermediaries were involved.”
Why relevant

Explicitly attributes the Ryotwari settlement to Thomas Munro and Alexander Reed and dates its introduction in Bombay and Madras Presidencies (1820).

How to extend

Use the date and the named agents to check chronological and personal overlap with Cornwallis' tenure (1786–1793) to assess association plausibility.

History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > 17.2 Land Tenures: Permanent Settlement and Ryotwari Settlement > p. 266
Strength: 4/5
“In districts where mirasi rights existed, the mirasdar was made responsible for the rent collections. In districts where the mirasi rights did not exist, an arrangement was made with the village headman. This system failed due to various reasons such as bad monsoons, low price of grains and the short period of lease. By 1814 the Court of Directors had decided to introduce the ryotwari system. This was a system formulated by Governor Thomas Munro. Under this system the ryot, an Anglicization by the British in India of the Arabic word ra'iyah, meaning a peasant or cultivator, was the proprietor and tax payer of the land.”
Why relevant

Notes that by 1814 the Court of Directors decided to introduce the ryotwari system and that it was formulated by Governor Thomas Munro, reinforcing a post-Cornwallis development and a clear originator.

How to extend

Combine this with Cornwallis' period as Governor-General to test whether Cornwallis could have initiated a system decided upon after his tenure.

Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 5: The Structure of the Government and the Economic Policies of the British Empire in India, 1757—1857 > Land Revenue Policy > p. 104
Strength: 4/5
“Another group of landlords was created all over India when the Government started the practice of giving land to persons who had rendered faithful service to the foreign rulers. Ryotwari Settlement: The establishment of British rule in South and South-Western India brought new problems of land settlement. The officials believed that in these regions there were no zamindars with large estates with whom settlement of land revenue could be made, and that the introduction of the zamindari system would upset the existing state of affairs. Many Madras officials led by Reed and Munro recommended that settlement should therefore be made directly with the actual cultivators.”
Why relevant

Explains the rationale for Ryotwari in South and South-Western India where officials believed large zamindars did not exist, and that Reed and Munro recommended settlements directly with cultivators.

How to extend

Map the regional logic (Madras/Bombay vs Bengal) to see that the Ryotwari's target regions differ from Cornwallis' Permanent Settlement area, suggesting different administrators.

History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 17: Effects of British Rule > To acquaint oneself with the knowledge of > p. 264
Strength: 4/5
“• British East India Company's emergence as a territorial power • Failure of dual government established by Robert Clive and assumption of direct responsibility of the Company under Regulating Act of 1773 • Cornwallis' Permanent Settlement in Bengal and Thomas Munro's Ryotwari System in Madras Presidency • Wellesley's Subsidiary Alliance and Dalhousie's Doctrine of Lapse leading to annexation of ▄ more number of Indian territories without war • The Company government's relationship with Drain of Wealth theory of Dadabhai Naoroji”
Why relevant

Presents a concise list pairing 'Cornwallis' Permanent Settlement in Bengal' and 'Thomas Munro's Ryotwari System in Madras Presidency', treating them as distinct reforms by different persons.

How to extend

Use this contrasted listing as a quick heuristic: if textbooks attribute Ryotwari to Munro and Permanent Settlement to Cornwallis, then attribution of Ryotwari to Cornwallis is unlikely and can be checked further.

Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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