DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i02.007

Pages: 391-396

Land revenue or land tax remained the primary source of revenue for all Governments or Empires in India, ranging from ancient to the modern period. It has been universally accepted, in the contents of history, that principal authority of the State was entitled to collect a portion of the agricultural produce from the cultivators in lieu of protection of their lives and property and to meet the common expenses of the community. During sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Akbar and other ambitious rulers streamlined the land revenue administration for the prosperity and progress of the Empire. The dissolution of the existing land systems became inevitable with the foundation of the British administration. However, between the process of destruction and that of construction, there was an inevitable gap of time when innovations were carried out. With territorial expansion in India, the British faced the question from whom to settle with for the land revenue, whether revenue be taken directly from individual cultivators or contracts be made with intermediaries, etc. In addition to the demand of high land revenue, rural indebtedness and commercialization of agriculture led to the pauperization of poor peasants. The land revenue policy made the Company administration stable and its economy healthy. In contrast, it left the peasants in deplorable condition and ultimately broke the economic backbone of India.