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Though the Mahalwari System was a joint village village communities broke down. New social
settlement, the actual rights were not with the classes like the landlord, the trader, the money-
villagers, but with the leading family or group of lender and landed gentry came into prominence.
the village. This group alone took the advantage On the other hand, the poor cultivators, the
of the joint ownership rights, whereas the com- village artisans and the village menial lost their
mon peasantry was practically reduced to the customary ties with the agricultural population
status of tenants, sub-tenants, co-shareres, sub- on the decay of the village communities. These
proprietors and so on. Thus, social and eco- landless became wage earning class. The British
nomic inequalities increased and the conditions revenue system also promoted “commerciali-
of the peasantry deteriorated. It resulted in the sation” of agriculture in the 19th century.
disintegration of the village community. Thus, the DISINTEGRATION OF VILLAGE
Mahalwari System proved socially disastrous and COMMUNITIES
economically ruinous. The land revenue system established by the
British in India led to break up of the ancient
social framework within which the agricultural
population had lived for centuries. The joint
family system and the Panchayat received a
blow. Cooperation was replaced by competition.
The collective life of the village gave way to
individualism. Agriculture production, instead of
catering to the needs of the village population,
started to fulfil the requirements of external
markets. The opening of the village markets to
foreign imports gave a deadly blow to the village
crafts and industries. The village artisans lost
Farmers with Landlord their customary position. Now, these artisans
moved towards agriculture for their survival.
EVALUATION OF THE BRITISH REVENUE
Their movements increased pressure on agricul-
SYSTEM AS A WHOLE
ture and thus lands were fragmented into pieces
The revenue system of British had disastrous
which certainly lowered the production.
effect on India’s agrarian economy. The land-
BACKWARDNESS OF AGRICULTURE
lords created by the British through these settle-
During the pre-British era, a major part of India’s
ments were only rent-receiving absentee busi-
population was dependent on agriculture. The
nessmen who cared more for their rents than for
farming technologies and irrigation facilities
the improvement of agriculture and played the
were not satisfactory. However, agriculture in
role of agents of the foreign political power.
villages was self-sustaining and independent.
Against the guarantee of regular payment of a
fixed amount of land revenue to the government The village communities either purchased or
they purchased the right of extracting whatever consumed the raw materials and articles directly.
Consequently, starvations and famines were rare
they could from the economically weak peas-
if not frequent. Of course, agricultural practices
antry. Under the pressure of these settlements,
remained primitive, but the villages functioned
the old political-economic-social framework of
Social Science-8 32
