Chapter 3 – Ruling the Countryside Notes

Content Structure

1. The Company Becomes the Diwan
- 1A. Revenue for the Company
- 1B. The need to improve agriculture
- 1C. The Problem
- 1D. A new system is devised
- 1E. The Munro system
- 1F. As was not well
2. Crops for Europe
- 2A. Does colour have a history?
- 2B. Why the demand for Indian indigo?
- 2C. Britain turns to India
- 2D. How was indigo cultivated?
- 2E. The problem with Nij cultivation
- 2F. Indigo on the land of Ryots
3. The “Blue Rebellion” and After

1. The Company Becomes the Diwan

On 12 August 1765, the Mughal emperor made the East India Company the Diwan of Bengal. This event took place in Robert Clive’s tent with only a few Englishmen and Indians as witnesses.

(i) Company’s Role as Diwan

The Company took control of Bengal’s money and land.
It had to collect taxes and manage expenses.
Since it was a trading company, it also had to ensure smooth buying and selling of goods.

(ii) Challenges for the Company

As a foreign ruler, the Company had to act carefully.
It needed to calm local leaders who previously governed Bengal.
These leaders had to be controlled but not completely removed from power.

1A. Revenue for the Company

The Company became the Diwan but still acted as a trader. It wanted more money but did not create a proper tax system. Its main goal was to collect as much tax as possible and buy cotton and silk at very low prices.

(i) Economic Impact

In five years, the Company doubled its purchases in Bengal.
Before 1765, it brought gold and silver from Britain to buy goods.
After 1765, it used Bengal’s tax money instead.

(ii) Bengal’s Economic Decline

Artisans left villages as they were forced to sell goods at low prices.
Farmers could not pay high taxes.
Handicrafts declined, and farming suffered.

(iii) The Great Famine of 1770

A terrible famine struck Bengal in 1770.
Ten million people died—one-third of Bengal’s population was lost.

1B. The need to improve agriculture

Company officials believed farming needed improvement and land investment was necessary. After 20 years of discussion, the Company introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793.

(i) Key Features of the Permanent Settlement

Rajas and taluqdars became zamindars (landowners).
Zamindars’ Role:
- Collect rent from farmers.
- Pay a fixed tax to the Company.
Permanent Tax:
- The tax amount was fixed forever and would never increase.

(ii) Purpose and Benefits

Company’s Goal:
- Ensure a stable income.
- Encourage zamindars to improve the land.
Zamindars’ Benefit:
- If farming produced more crops, they could earn more money since the tax remained the same.

1C. The Problem

(i) Problems with the Permanent Settlement

Zamindars did not improve the land, as expected.
The fixed tax was too high, and many zamindars struggled to pay.
Those who could not pay lost their land, which was sold in auctions by the Company.

(ii) Changes in the Early 1800s

Market prices increased, and farming expanded.
Zamindars earned more, but the Company did not, since the tax was fixed.
Still, zamindars did not develop the land:
- Some had already lost their land.
- Others rented out land and earned money without any effort.

(iii) Farmers’ Struggles

They paid high rent but had no rights to own the land.
Many borrowed money, but if they could not repay, they lost their farms, even after generations of work.

1D. A new system is devised

By the early 1800s, Company officials felt the tax system needed change. They questioned how taxes could stay fixed while the Company needed more money for administration and trade.

(i) Introduction of the Mahalwari Settlement (1822)

In the North Western Provinces of Bengal Presidency (now Uttar Pradesh), Holt Mackenzie introduced a new tax system.
He believed villages were important in north Indian society and should be protected.

(ii) Key Features of the Mahalwari System

Collectors visited villages to:
- Inspect land.
- Measure fields.
- Record local customs and rights.
They estimated the tax for each plot and calculated the total tax for the entire village (mahal).
Unlike the Permanent Settlement, the tax was not fixed forever—it would be revised regularly.
The village headman (not zamindars) was responsible for collecting and paying taxes to the Company.

Mahal – In British revenue records, mahal is a revenue estate which may be a village or a group of villages

1E. The Munro system

In British territories in the South, the Permanent Settlement was replaced by the Ryotwari System.
Captain Alexander Read first tested it in areas captured after the wars with Tipu Sultan.
Later, Thomas Munro improved it, and it was slowly implemented across South India.

Key Features of the Ryotwari System

No zamindars in South India, unlike in the North.
Tax was collected directly from farmers (ryots) who had worked the land for generations.
Each field was carefully measured before deciding the tax amount.
Munro believed the British should act like a caring father, protecting and supporting the farmers.

1F. As was not well

(i) High Taxes on Land

Officials set very high taxes to increase income.
Peasants could not pay and many left their villages.

(ii) Villages Became Empty
Many farmers left their villages so some villages became deserted.

(iii) Failed Expectations
Officials thought peasants would become rich farmers, but this did not happen.

2. Crops for Europe

The British saw that the countryside could provide more than just tax money—it could grow crops for Europe. By the late 1700s, the Company pushed for more farming of opium and indigo. Over the next 150 years, they forced or convinced farmers to grow various crops across India:

Jute in Bengal
Tea in Assam
Sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh
Wheat in Punjab
Cotton in Maharashtra and Punjab
Rice in Madras

The British used different methods to make farmers grow the crops they needed.

2A. Does colour have a history?

Figs. 5 images of cotton prints. It shows a Kalamkari print created by weavers of Andhra Pradesh in India

Figs. 6 images of cotton prints. On the right is a floral cotton print designed and produced by William Morris, a famous poet and artist of nineteenth-century Britain.

There is one thing common in the two prints both use a rich blue colour – commonly called indigo.

The blue colour in these prints came from a plant called indigo. In the 1800s, the blue dye used in Morris prints in Britain was likely made from indigo plants grown in India, which was the biggest supplier of indigo in the world at that time.

2B. Why the demand for Indian indigo?

Indigo grows in hot places and was used in Italy, France, and Britain by the 1200s to dye cloth.
It was rare and expensive, so Europeans used woad, a plant that grew easily in Italy, France, Germany, and Britain.
Woad producers feared indigo and got their governments to ban it, but:
- Indigo made a deep blue colour.
- Woad was pale and dull.
By the 1600s, the ban was lifted, and European countries started growing indigo in their colonies:
- France – Caribbean
- Portugal – Brazil
- England – Jamaica
- Spain – Venezuela
- North America – Indigo plantations

Rising British Demand for Indigo

By the late 1700s, Britain needed more indigo as:
- Factories grew.
- Cotton production increased.
Indigo production in America and the West Indies declined.
Between 1783 and 1789, global indigo production fell by half.
British cloth makers were now desperate for new sources of indigo.

2C. Britain turns to India

As European demand for indigo increased, the East India Company worked to expand indigo farming in India. By the late 1700s, Bengal became the world’s main supplier of indigo.

(i) Rise of Bengal Indigo Trade

In 1788, only 30% of indigo imported to Britain came from India.
By 1810, this increased to 95%.

(ii) Investment in Indigo Farming

As the indigo trade grew, Company agents and officials started investing in indigo farms.
Many left their jobs to start their own indigo businesses.
Scotsmen and Englishmen saw the chance for big profits and came to India as indigo planters.
Those without money could take loans from the Company and new banks to start plantations.

In the eighteenth century, French planters produced indigo and sugar in the French colony of St Domingue in the Caribbean islands. The African slaves who worked on the plantations rose in rebellion in 1791, burning the plantations and killing their rich planters. In 1792, France abolished slavery in the French colonies. These events led to the collapse of the indigo plantations on the Caribbean islands.

Slave – A person who is owned by someone else – the slave owner. A slave has no freedom and is compelled to work for the master.

Bigha – A unit of measurement of land. Before British rule, the size of this area varied
In Bengal, the British standardised it to about one-third of an acre.

2D. How was indigo cultivated?

There were two main ways to grow indigo, Nij and ryoti. In the Nij system, the planter grew indigo on his own land. He either bought the land or rented it from zamindars. The planter then hired workers to plant and harvest indigo.

2E. The problem with Nij cultivation

Nij indigo farming faced many difficulties.
Indigo needed fertile land, but these lands were already used by peasants.
Planters needed large farms but could only get small, scattered plots.

(i) Land and Labour Issues

Planters tried to rent land near their factories and force peasants to leave, but this led to conflicts.
Finding workers was difficult:
- Indigo farming needed many workers, but peasants were busy growing rice.
- Large farms needed many ploughs and bullocks.
- One bigha of land needed two ploughs, so a 1,000 bigha farm needed 2,000 ploughs.
- Planters could not afford enough ploughs, and peasants needed theirs for rice farming.

(ii) Shift to Ryoti Farming

Due to these problems, planters did not expand Nij farming.
By the late 1800s, less than 25% of indigo farms used the Nij system.
Most planters switched to the Ryoti system instead.

2F. Indigo on the land of Ryots

In the Ryoti system, planters forced farmers (Ryots) to sign a contract called a Satta. Sometimes, they pressured village headmen to sign the contract on behalf of farmers.

(i) Terms of the Contract

Farmers who signed the contract received a loan from the planters at low interest.
In return, they had to grow indigo on at least 25% of their land.
The planter provided seeds and a drill.
Farmers were responsible for:
- Preparing the soil.
- Planting the seeds.
- Taking care of the crop until harvest.

(ii) Indigo Processing

Fermentation:
- Leaves were soaked in warm water in a fermenting vat for several hours.
- As they fermented, the liquid bubbled and boiled.
- The rotten leaves were removed, and the liquid was drained into a lower vat called the beater vat.
Colour Change and Indigo Formation:
- The liquid was stirred with paddles until it changed from green to blue.
- Lime water was added, causing indigo flakes to form.
- The clear liquid was drained off, leaving indigo pulp.
Final Processing:
- The pulp was moved to a settling vat, then pressed and dried for sale.

(iii) Problems Faced by Peasants

After harvest, peasants took new loans, creating a cycle of debt.
At first, the loans seemed helpful, but they soon realized the system was unfair.
They were paid very little for indigo and remained trapped in debt.
Planters forced them to grow indigo on the best land, which they wanted for rice farming.
Indigo’s deep roots drained the soil, making it bad for future rice cultivation.

3. The “Blue Rebellion” and After

In March 1859, thousands of ryots (farmers) in Bengal refused to grow indigo.

The rebellion spread as ryots:
- Stopped paying rent.
- Attacked indigo factories.
- Fought using swords, spears, bows, and arrows.
Women also joined, using pots, pans, and kitchen tools as weapons.
Planters’ agents (Gomasthas) were beaten, and those working for planters were socially boycotted.
Ryots pledged not to take loans or be bullied by planters’ strongmen (Lathiyals).

(i) Why the Ryots Felt Strong in 1859

Zamindars (landowners) and village headmen supported them.
Village headmen, who were forced to sign contracts, helped ryots fight back.
Some zamindars encouraged resistance because they were angry at planters taking land on long leases.
Ryots believed the British government would support them.

(ii) British Response

After the 1857 Revolt, the British feared another rebellion.
In 1859, the Lieutenant Governor visited the indigo areas, making farmers believe the government was on their side.
In Barasat, magistrate Ashley Eden announced that farmers could not be forced to grow indigo.
A rumour spread that Queen Victoria had banned indigo farming, increasing the rebellion.
Intellectuals from Calcutta wrote about the farmers’ suffering and planters’ cruelty.

(iii) The Indigo Commission (1860)

The British government sent soldiers to protect the planters.
They also set up the Indigo Commission to investigate.
The Commission found:
- Planters are guilty of forcing farmers to grow indigo.
- Indigo farming was not profitable for farmers.

(iv) Commission’s Decision

Farmers had to complete their current contracts.
But they could refuse to grow indigo in the future.

(v) Aftermath

Indigo farming in Bengal declined, and planters moved to Bihar.
In the late 1800s, synthetic dyes reduced the demand for natural indigo.
In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran to see the suffering of indigo farmers, leading to the Champaran Movement against planters.