Exercise 1

In the British territories in the South, there was a similar move away from the idea of Permanent Settlement. The new system that was devised came to be known as the ryotwar (or ryotwari ). It was tried on a small scale by Captain Alexander Read in some of the areas that were taken over by the Company after the wars with Tipu Sultan. Subsequently developed by Thomas Munro, this system was gradually extended all over south India.

What was the perspective of Read and Munro regarding revenue settlement in the South during the colonial period?

By the early nineteenth century, many of the Company officials were convinced that the system of revenue had to be changed again. How could revenues be fixed permanently at a time when the Company needed more money to meet its expenses of administration and trade? In the North Western Provinces of the Bengal Presidency (most of this area is now in Uttar Pradesh), an Englishman called Holt Mackenzie devised the new system which came into effect in $1822$.

What was the key feature of Holt Mackenzie's new revenue system, known as the mahalwari settlement?

With reference to the above images which of the following statements best describe the significance of the blue color in the prints and its connection to India?

Analyse how events in the French colony of St Domingue, including the slave rebellion and the abolition of slavery in $1792$ , impacted the indigo plantations and the plantation economy in the Caribbean islands during the eighteenth century with reference to the above image. 

The indigo plant grows primarily in the tropics. By the thirteenth century, Indian indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye cloth. However, only small amounts of Indian indigo reached the European market and its price was very high. European cloth manufacturers therefore had to depend on another plant called woad to make violet and blue dyes.

How did the competition between indigo and woad impact European governments' trade policies, and what were the consequences of this competition on the cultivation of indigo in various parts of the world during the seventeenth century?

There were two main systems of indigo cultivation- nij and ryoti. Within the system of nij cultivation, 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 directly employing hired labourers.

Describe the challenges faced by indigo planters in expanding the nij cultivation system during the colonial period. What were the obstacles they encountered in acquiring fertile lands and mobilising labour for large-scale indigo production?