Lord Cornwallis - Permanent Settlement

Permanent Settlement

In 1776, Philip Francis, a member of Hastings' council, recommended a permanent settlement in land revenue. In the end, Lord Cornwallis was sent as governor general with instructions that the land revenue settlements with the zamindars be made permanent. Lord Cornwallis set up a committee consisting of himself, Sir John Shore, and James Grant to examine the issue. Cornwallis, himself a member of the landed aristocracy of Britain, favoured giving the right of ownership to the zamindars, who, he hoped, would improve the land as English landlords did. Also, the number of cultivators being too large, it was seen to be simpler to collect the revenue from the smaller number of zamindars. So, every piece of land in the areas where the permanent settlement was promulgated became a part of some zamindari or other. 

The Permanent Settlement or Zamindari System covered around 19 per cent of the territory under British rule. Introduced in Bengal and Bihar, it was extended to Orissa, Banaras and northern Madras. 

Features of Permanent Settlement

1. The zamindars were given proprietary rights over their land. 

2. In 1790, a ten-years settlement of tax to be paid was made with the zamindars, and in 1793, the settlement was made permanent. 

3. A fixed tax on the land had to be paid by the zamindar, and the revenue was to be collected by him from the cultivators who had now become tenants. 

4. The zamindar was allowed to keep one-tenth to one-eleventh of the revenue and give the rest to the Company government. 

5. The zamindar, as the owner of the land, could sell, mortgage, or transfer it; his heirs could inherit the land along with rights and liabilities. But, under the 'sunset clause' introduced in 1794, if the tax due was not paid by sunset of a certain date, the zamindari would be taken over by the government and auctioned, and the rights would be transferred to the new owner. 

6. Regulations made in 1793, 1799, and 1812 empowered the zamindar to seize the tenants' property if the rent had not been paid and , for this, he did not need the permission of any court of law.

Disadvantages of Permanent Settlement

1. The revenue was fixed at a very high rate, leaving many of the zamindari with very little or no margin for shortfalls in times of flood, drought, or other calamity. This resulted in the takeover and sale of many zamindari in the years following the permanent settlement. Absentee-landlordism grew as merchants and government officials, besides other zamindars, brought these lands. 

2. The high rates forced many zamindars to divide up their estates into small lots of land called patni taluq and rent them out permanently to holders on the promise that they would pay a fixed rent . Thus began the process of subinfeudation. 

3. Under the settlement, zamindars were required to issue written agreements to each cultivator, specifying what tenant was to pay. However, no such agreements were made; the result was that the peasants were at the mercy of the zamindars to be exploited and harassed for more rent, driving the cultivators into the clutch of moneylenders. The peasantry was reduced to serfdom. 

4. The zamindars did nothing to improve the land or agricultural system, concentrating only on the extraction of rent. 

5. From the government's point of view, there was no way of increasing the tax, so the revenue could not increase to meet the growing expenses of the Company which was trying to expand its base through wars.