Modern India / Land Revenue Systems — UPSC Mains Model Answer

Introduced by Cornwallis, it fixed land revenue in perpetuity with Zamindars, who became de facto proprietors. A strict 'Sunset Law' mandated that Zamindars failing to deposit revenue by the fixed date would lose their Zamindari through auction. This created revenue certainty for the colonial state but rendered peasants entirely dependent on Zamindars with no state protection.

Introduced primarily in Madras and Bombay Presidencies, the Ryotwari system established a direct settlement between the state and individual cultivators (ryots), bypassing intermediaries. Unlike the Permanent Settlement, revenue was periodically revised. However, the system did not systematically exempt peasants from payment during bad harvests or natural calamities — revenue demands remained rigid, pushing indebted ryots toward moneylenders and land alienation.

Both systems prioritised revenue extraction over agricultural investment. The Permanent Settlement discouraged Zamindars from improving land since profits were theirs but so were risks. Ryotwari areas witnessed recurrent famines partly because revenue pressure persisted regardless of crop failure, exposing structural indifference to peasant vulnerability.

Post-independence land reforms — abolition of Zamindari, tenancy protection, and land ceilings — directly responded to distortions created by colonial revenue systems. The experience underscores that revenue policy divorced from agrarian welfare generates systemic inequality and rural fragility.