Tax from the land was a major source of revenue for the kings and emperors from ancient times. But the ownership pattern of land had witnessed changes over centuries. During Kingship, land was divided into Jagirs, Jagirs were alloted to Jagirdars, these Jagirdars split the land they got and allocated to sub-ordinate Zamindars. Zamindars made peasants cultivate the land, in-return collected part of their revenue as tax.

Zamindari System

• Zamindari System was introduced by Cornwallis in 1793 through Permanent Settlement Act.
• It was introduced in provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Varanasi.
• Also known as Permanent Settlement System.
• Zamindars were recognized as owner of the lands. Zamindars were given the rights to collect the rent from the peasants.
• The realized amount would be divided into 11 parts. 1/11 of the share belongs to Zamindars and 10/11 of the share belongs to East India Company.

Ryotwari System

• ?This system of land revenue was instituted in the late 18th century by Sir Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras in 1820.
• This was practiced in the Madras and Bombay areas, as well as Assam and Coorg provinces.
• In this system, the peasants or cultivators were regarded as the owners of the land. They had ownership rights, could sell, mortgage or gift the land.
• The taxes were directly collected by the government from the peasants.
• The rates were 50% in dry land and 60% in wetland.
• The rates were high and unlike in the Permanent System, they were open to being increased.
• If they failed to pay the taxes, they were evicted by the government.
• Ryot means peasant cultivators.
• Here there were no middlemen as in the Zamindari system. But, since high taxes had to paid only in cash (no option of paying in kind as before the British) the problem of moneylenders came into the show. They further burdened the peasants with heavy interests.

Mahalwari System

• Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick.
• It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.
• The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System and Ryotwari System.
• In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one or more villages.
• Ownership rights were vested with the peasants.
• The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the taxes.