Sir.M.Visvesvaraya International School.

History
Chapter-07
British Policies And Their Impact
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What was the Permanent Settlement of Revenue? State its two features.
Ans: In order to bring a fixed income, Lord Cornwallis fixed the land revenue of Bengal and
Bihar on a permanent basis in 1793. This practice came to be known as the Permanent
Settlement. Under it, the zamindar became the owners of the entire land in their zamindari.

➢ Two features of this system of revenue are:

1. The right of ownership was made hereditary and transferable.

2. How was the Ryotwari system different from the Permanent Settlement?

Ans:

Sl.
Permanent Settlement Ryotwari System
No.
Cultivator were the owners of
1. Zamindars were the owners of the land.
the land.
Zamindars kept 1/11th of the revenue for Cultivators paid 50% of total
2.
themselves and paid 10/11th to the government produce to government directly.
It was in practice in Bengal, Bihar, northern It was in practice in South-
3.
districts of Madras, Odisha and Varanasi. Western parts of India.

3. State any three effects of the revenue systems introduced by the British in India.
Ans: The three effects of the revenue systems introduced by the British in India were:

1. A new class of landlords was created. They exploited and tortured the peasants.
2. The peasants suffered as they remained at the mercy of the landlords. They became
poorer.
3. Land became a saleable property. It could be mortgaged. This gave rise to the borrowing
of money on the mortgage of land and the division of land into smaller units.

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 4. How did the British exploit the Indian artisans and weavers?

Ans: The British exploited the Indian artisans and weavers which led to the decline of Indian
handicrafts and cottage industries. The British exploited the Indian artisans and weavers in
following ways:

1. The handloom and cottage industries could not compete with the British industries,
where cloth was cheaper and finer-made by machines.
2. The English never patronised the Indian artists and craftsmen like the Indian princes and
nobles whom they replaced.
3. Duty was not charged on British goods brought into India while high duty was charged
on Indian goods exported to Britain.
4. India became a good market for the sale of British goods at the cost of Indian products,
thus impoverishing Indian artisans.
5. With better means of transport, like the railways, it became easier to supply cheap Indian
raw material for British mills and import finished products. Thus, money went out of the
Indian market and the Indian industries began to decline.

5. What is meant by Drain of wealth? How was India's wealth drained to Great Britain?
Ans: The transfer of wealth from India to England for which India got no proportionate return,
is called the Drain of Wealth.

India's wealth drained to Great Britain in the following ways:

1. High Rate of Land Revenue — Huge Land Revenue was collected by unjust revenue
systems like the Ryotwari system, the Mahalwari systems and Permanent Settlement. A
part of it was transferred to England.
2. Payment to the British Government — In 1767, a law was passed, according to which
a sum of £400 lakhs was to be paid annually to the British government by the Company.
3. Money spent on the British Army — A huge sum of money was spent on the British
army staying in India to fight with Myanmar and Afghanistan. The Indian rulers paid a
heavy price under the Subsidiary system, according to which English army were to stay
in the state to control its administration and man its defence.
4. Payment to the Civil servants — The Civil Servants and company's officials were paid
high salaries. A large part of it was also sent to England
5. Bribes and Gifts — The Company's officials collected wealth through bribes and gifts
given by Indian rulers and businessmen which was sent to England. For example, when
Clive returned to England, he had amassed wealth and property which yielded £40,000
interest every year.
6. Investment — After getting the Diwani of Bengal in 1765, the Company collected huge
revenue from Indian rulers and used it to purchase and export Indian goods to Britain,
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6. What was the traditional education system followed in India before the arrival of
British? State any three reasons which made the British to change the educational policy
in India?
Ans: 1. The education system in India was traditional and unaware of the rapid developments
in the west.
2. Elementary education was quite widespread and imparted in pathshalas to the Hindus
and in maktabs situated in mosques to Muslims.
3. The students were taught to read, write and memorise various religious texts. Higher
education was mostly in Sanskrit for Hindus and Persian for Muslims.
4. Learning was confined to literature, religion, law, philosophy and logic. It did not
promote original thinking and excluded the study of physical and natural sciences.
5. Girls were seldom given education. Only some women from the higher classes had the
privilege of receiving education.
Three reasons which made the British to change the educational policy in India were:

1. To cut the cost of administration by employing educated Indians to manage the large
number of clerical posts in administration and British business concerns.
2. The British believed that educated Indians would help expand the markets for British
manufacturers in India and would also reconcile the people of India to British rule as
western education glorified the British conquerors of India.
3. The Christian missionaries believed that modern western education would help them in
their work.

7. What were the recommendations of the Wood's Despatch of 1854?

Ans: The recommendations of the wood's Despatch of 1854 were the following:

1. It asked the Government of India to take responsibility for the education of the
masses.
2. The medium of instruction should be vernacular languages at the primary level,
followed by Anglo-vernacular (English and local languages) in schools at the middle
and high school levels and through the English medium at College and University
levels.
3. Setting up of universities at Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras
(Chennai).
4. The aim of education in India was to be the diffusion of European languages.

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 8. What was the impact of the introduction of modern western education in India?

Ans: The impact of the introduction of modern western education in India were:

1. It helped the Indians to imbibe a modern, rational, secular, democratic and nationalist
outlook.
2. Western learning encouraged vernacular languages and literary works. The masses
began to have common views, feelings, ideas and aspirations. Large number of
nationalist newspapers were published, the Indian point of view was put forward and the
people were asked to unite and work for national welfare.
3. It exposed the weakness and decay of Indian society and influenced educated Indians to
start socio-religious reform movements. Reformers and scholars like Raja Rammohan
Roy and Swami Vivekananda spread the rich Indian culture to many western countries.
4. Rousseau, Paine, John Stuart Mill and other western thinkers became the political guides
for Indian students of western education. They admired and tried emulating the
nationalist movements of European nations. Mazzini, Garibaldi and Irish nationalist
leaders became their political heroes.
5. It enabled Indians to unfold and revive India's cultural past in the fields of literature,
philosophy, religion, art and archaeology.

Picture Study

Question 1

Study the picture and answer the following questions:

(a) What is depicted in the given picture?

(b) How did the British change the living conditions of those depicted in the picture?
(c) What was the impact of these changes on the Indian economy?
Answer:
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(a) The Picture depicts Impoverished Peasants.
(b) As a result of the revenue systems introduced by the British the peasants became poor.
They became tenants from owners of the land. The landlords exploited and tortured the
peasants. The revenue fixed was very high and the collectors were harsh. They were forced to
pay revenues even if the crops failed for which they depended on money lenders who further
exploited them. Thus we can say that the British worsened the living conditions of peasants.

(c) Following were the impacts of these changes on the Indian economy:

1. It led to the exploitation of artisans and weavers and finally the decline of Indian
handicrafts and cottage industries.
2. A new class of landlords was created who exploited peasants and were loyal to the
British.
3. The peasants became poor and remained at the mercy of the landlords who exploited
them.
4. The main aim of the British was to extract more revenue and transfer India's wealth to
England. The British made the Indian economy subservient to their interests.
5. Land became a saleable property. It could be mortgaged. Due to this the entire structure
of rural society began to break up.