Land Revenue Systems — Definition

Definition

Land revenue systems were arrangements through which the colonial state assessed and collected its claim on agricultural production. They differed in the person or group liable, the unit assessed and whether the demand could be revised.

The Permanent Settlement worked through recognised zamindars with a fixed state demand; ryotwari generally assessed individual cultivators; mahalwari used a village or estate unit. These administrative forms did not by themselves determine whether cultivators prospered.

Revenue pressure interacted with harvests, prices, credit and local power. State revenue must also be distinguished from rent paid to an intermediary, because fixing one did not automatically fix the other.