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Mahalwari System

The Mahalwari System was one of the major land tenure systems implemented by the British in India before independence. It was introduced in 1822 and spread to various regions. Under this system, revenue was collected from farmers by village leaders on behalf of the whole village. It had aspects of both the Zamindari and Ryotwari Systems. While it increased government income, it placed a heavy burden on peasants and led to the decline of agriculture during the late colonial period.

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225 views

Mahalwari System

The Mahalwari System was one of the major land tenure systems implemented by the British in India before independence. It was introduced in 1822 and spread to various regions. Under this system, revenue was collected from farmers by village leaders on behalf of the whole village. It had aspects of both the Zamindari and Ryotwari Systems. While it increased government income, it placed a heavy burden on peasants and led to the decline of agriculture during the late colonial period.

Uploaded by

kumardeyapurba
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mahalwari System UPSC Notes

Mahalwari System was one of the three major types of land tenure systems prevailing in India
before Independence. The other two systems were the Zamindari System and The Ryotwari
System. The difference between these three systems was only the land revenue and mode of
payment. Britishers came to India with the goal of earning money by collecting taxes and doing
trade. That’s why the British Government implemented the three types of land revenue systems
namely Zamindari, Ryotwari, and Mahalwari System.

Mahalwari System Notes for UPSC covers all the important facts about the topics along with the
relevance of the topic in the IAS Exam. The Zamindari System was introduced by Lord
Cornwallis, and this system had high revenue. Zamindars who weren’t able to pay it lost their
Zamindari. On the other hand, the Ryotwari System was introduced by Sir Thomas Munro, and
in this system, cultivators were the owner of the land and had all the ownership rights. The
Maganwari System was introduced by the Government of Lod William Bentinck. In this post, we
will be covering Mahalwari System UPSC in-depth.

What is the Mahalwari System?

The Mahalwari System was introduced by the Englishman Holt Mackenzie in the year 1822 in
the North-Western Provinces of Bengal. Later it was popularized by Lord William Bentick in
Agra and Awadg and with time extended to Central Province, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley,
North-West Frontier, etc of British India.

Mahalwari System was a little modified version of the Zamindari System. It had provisions of
both the Ryotwari System and the Zamindari System. Under this system, the revenue was
collected from farmers by the village leader on the behalf of the whole village.

Features of Mahalwari System


• Under the Mahalwari System, the land was segmented into Mahals and accounted for one
of more villages.
• The revenue was fixed for the Mahal as per the crop production assessment. So the
Mahalwari system was periodically revised.
• Every individual farmer had their share in that fixed revenue, and the collection of the
revenue was operated by the village leader or village head under the Mahalwari system.
• The state had a 66% share of the rental value, and the settlement was done for a period of
30 years. After the implementation of this system, the income of the government
increased.
Drawbacks of Mahalwari System
Mahalwari System was the revised system of the earlier two systems and it had the following
drawbacks.
• According to this system, the farmers had to pay revenue even in the condition of
drought.
• The survey was based on faulty assumptions that opened a space for corruption and
manipulations.
• At times the company used to spend more on the collection than the collected revenue.
• If the farmers failed to pay revenue then the land was seized by the money leaders.
• Mahalwari System failed later due to its incomplete policies.

Mahalwari System’s Impact on the Socio-Economic Condition of


Peasant
• Near the end of the colonial period, the burden on the peasant of interest payments was
high, and the rent and debt were around 14,200 million.
• The zamindars gave loans to the laborers or farmers and asked for free labor in return.
Due to this the farmers or the laborers could as for wages.
• The upper cast had control of the land. The rich farmers were able to invest in seeds,
fertilizers, and other farming resources. While the lower cast people suffered a lot as they
didn’t get agricultural support.
• Due to all these reasons, agriculture started to show signs of decline during the last
declaration of colonialism.
• Most of the farmers were hardly left with money to invest again in agriculture. Most of
their income went into paying taxes.

Mahalwari System UPSC


Mahalwari System is an important topic of modern history, and questions from this topic are
asked in both UPSC Prelims and Mains. Candidates must focus on Mahalwari System UPSC to
fetch optimum marks from the Modern History section. Here are some sample questions from
Mahalwari System in both Prelims and Mains exams.

Topics of UPSC Mains GS Paper 1 Sample prelims questions


With reference to Mahalwari System, consider the following statements.

• Peasants were directly responsible for the payment of land revenue. Zamindars were not
involved.
• The peasant might sell or mortgage their land at any time.
• The system was established in the United Provinces' western region, Punjab, and parts of
the Central Provinces.
A- 1 and 2

B- 1 and 3

C- 2 and 3

D- All

Correct - C , Zamindar was a revenue collecting intermediary between peasants and the
government.

Mains- What were the Land revenue settlements by the Britishers in India? Discuss its impact on
Indian Peasants

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