Ruling the countryside

Important terms
1. Permanent settlement - Under this statement it was decided
that the rates of revenue once fixed it would not be changed.
2. Mahal -In British revenue records Mahal is a revenue estate
which may be a village or a group of villages.
3. Ryot - Cultivator ( peasant)
4. Indigo - A plant that produces rich blue colour.
5. Woad - A plant that produces violet and blue colour for dyes.
6. Bigha- A unit of measurement of land.
7. Plantation - A large farm operated by a planter employing
various farms of forced labour. Plantations are associated with
the production of coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, and cotton.
8. Satta - Under the Ryoti system the planters forced the ryots
to sign an agreement called Satta.
9. Slave - A person who is owned by someone else the slave
owner. A Slave has no freedom and is compelled to work for
their master.
10. Countryside - rural areas.
Very short answers
1. Why were Bengal artisans deserting villages?
Ans. Because they were being pressurized to sale their goods to
the company at low prices.
2. Who was William Morris?
A. William Morris was a famous poet and artist of 19th century
Britain. He designed floral cotton print known as Morris cotton
print.
3. Who created Kalamkari print?
Ans. The Weavers of Andhra Pradesh in India created the
Kalamkari print.
4. Who were the gomasthas ?
Ans. Gomasthas were the agents of planters.
5. Who were lathiyals?
Ans. Lathiyals were the lathi-wielding strong men maintained
by the planters.
6. What is common in the two prints Kalamkari print and
Morris cotton print?
Ans. Both use a rich blue colour - commonly known as Indigo.
7. Why did cloth dyers prefer Indigo to woad?
Ans. Because it produces rich blue colour, whereas the dye
from woad was pale and dull.
8. Define Vat and settling Vat.
Ans. Vat - A fermenting or storage vessel.
Settling Vat- The liquid was drained off from the beater Vat and
the sediments, the Indigo pulp was transferred to another Vat
known as settling Vat.
9. What role did women play in the cultivation of Indigo?
Ans. They carried the Indigo plant to Vats.
10. Name the revolt that took place in St Domingue.
Ans. The slave revolt took place in St Domingue in August 1791.
In 1792 French abolished slavery system in French colonies.
11. What marked the beginning of Champaran movement
against the Indigo planters?
Ans. Mahatma Gandhi's visit in 1917 to Champaran marked the
beginning of Champaran movement against the Indigo planters.
12. Name the French missionary who travelled to Caribbean
islands and wrote about the French slave plantations.
Ans. Jean Baptiste Labat.
Short answer type questions.
1. How did Bengal economy fall into deep crisis?
Ans. i) After the company became the Diwan, it began to
increase the revenue to buy fine cotton and Silk.
ii) Before 1765 the company had purchased goods in India by
importing gold and silver from Britain.
iii) Now the revenue collected from Bengal could finance the
purchase of goods for export.This caused huge loss of revenue
for Bengal.
2. What were the consequences of economic crisis faced by
Bengal?
Ans.i) Artisans began to leave their villages since they were
being forced to sell their goods at lower prices.
ii) Peasants were unable to pay the dues that were demanded.
iii) Artisan designed production and Agriculture were declining.
iv) In 1770 terrible famine hit Bengal killing 10 million people.
3. Explain ryotwari system or Munro system.
Ans. i) This system was tried on a small scale by Alexander Read
and Later Thomas Munro the governor of Madras developed
and extended this system all over South India.
ii) In the south, there were no traditional zamindars in the
south.
iii) The settlement was directly made with the cultivators
(ryots) who tilled the land for generations.
iv) Their lands were separately surveyed before the revenue
was fixed.
4. Give a brief description of Mahalwari system.
Ans. i) The Mahalwari system was devised (designed ) by Holt
Mackenzie in the North Western provinces of Bengal.
ii) He felt that the village was an important social institution
and needed to be preserved.
iii) Under his direction, collectors went from village to village,
inspecting and measuring the lands and recording the customs
and the rights of different groups.
iv) The estimated revenue of each Mahal was calculated and
the village headman was given charge of collecting and paying
it to the company.
5. Give two problems which arose with the new Munro
system of fixing revenue.
Ans. i) revenue officials fixed too high revenue and peasants
were unable to pay it.
ii) Ryots fled the countryside and villages became deserted in
many regions.
6. Why was the Indigo Commission set up by the government?
what were its findings and suggestions?
Ans. i) The government set up the Indigo Commission to
enquire into the system of Indigo production.
ii) The commission held the planters guilty and criticized them
for the oppressive methods they used with farmers.
iii) It declared that Indigo production was not profitable for the
ryots.
iv ) The commission asked the ryots to fulfill their existing
contracts and told them to refuse to grow Indigo in future.
7. Why did the Indigo cultivators decided to Rebel? How did
they show their anger?
Ans. The conditions under which the Indigo cultivators had to
work was intensely oppressive.Finally thay decided that not to
grow Indigo. They became United and rebelled.They shown
their anger in following manners.
i) They refused to pay rent to the planters and attacked on
Indigo factories.
ii) Women fought with pots and pans and kitchen equipments.
iii) The gomasthas, agents of planters were beaten up when
they came to collect rent.
Long answer type questions
1. How was the Indigo cultivated under the ryoti system?
Ans. i) Under the ryoti system, the planters forced the
cultivators to sign a contract known as Satta.
ii) Those who signed the contracts got advance from the
planters to produce Indigo.
iii) But the loan committed the ryot to cultivate Indigo on at
least 25% of the area under his land.
iii) The planters provided the seeds and drill, while the
cultivators prepared the soil, sowed the seeds and looked after
crops.
iv) When the crop was delivered to the planters after the
harvest, a new loan was given to the ryot and the cycle
(process) Started again.
2. What was nij cultivation? What were the problems with it?
Ans. Nij cultivation: Under this system the planter produced
Indigo in lands that he directly controlled.He either bought the
land or rented it from other Zamindars and produced Indigo by
labours. It had some problems.
i) Indigo could be cultivated only on fertile lands and these
were already densely populated.
ii) Labour was not easily available as they were busy with the
rice cultivation.
iii) It also required many ploughs, bullocks at the same time
labour, plough and bullocks were busy on price fields. The
planters therefore reluctant to expand the area under nij
cultivation till the late 19th century.
3. Describe different stages of production of Indigo.
Ans. i) After the harvest, woman carried Indigo to the factory.
The leaves were soaked in warm water for several hours in
steeper vat.
ii) When the plants fermented the liquid was boiled and the
bubbled. Now rotten leaves were taken out and liquid was
drained into another vat known as bearer vat.
iii) The solution was stirred and beaten with the peddles, when
liquid turned into blue colour, lime water was added to the Vat.
iv) Gradually, the Indigo settled as flakes in the bottom and
clear liquid rose up.
v) This liquid was drained off and Indigo pulp was transferred to
another vat known as settling vat and then pressed and dried
for sale.
4. What was the terms of permanent settlement? What
problems did it pose?
Ans. i) By the terms of permanent settlement,the Zamindars
were asked to collect the rent from the peasants and pay to the
company.
ii) The amount to be paid was fixed permanently.
iii) It was noticed that the zamindars were not investing in the
improvement of land as the revenue had been fixed so high.
iv) In villages the system proved that oppressive for the
cultivators. The rent they paid to zamindars was high and their
right on land was insecure.
v) To pay the rent, peasants had to take loan from the money
lenders. When they failed to pay rent, they were evicted from
the land they had cultivated for generations.
5. By the end of the 18th century the demand for Indian
Indigo grew further.What were the reasons behind it ?
Ans. i) This was the time when Britain industrialization began.
ii) As a result its cotton production expanded, creating huge
demand for cloth dyes.
iii) While the demand for Indigo increased, its existing supplies
from the West Indies and America collapsed.
iv) Cloth dyers in Britain now began to look for new sources of
Indigo supply.

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