Introduction:
The history of mankind is intimately associated with land relationship. The role of the State had been the most controlling factor in augmenting the land resources. In agrarian economy the land is the principal source of government revenue and also the major occupation of the people for subsistence. it holds true even today in modern India. The level of Indian economy is largely decided by the status of land.
Frederic Engels in his classical treaties on 'Origin of Family, Private Property and State', discussed how the land relations activated the social transformation. Individual rights on holding / inheritance of land is a major event of social history. The kind and, the ruling elite were dependent on income from land and so controlled the entire land holding, either directly or indirectly. sometimes the land disputes led to war on a local or regional scale.
Institutions framed rules for systematic distribution of lands. Institutional framework had been differnet on temporal and regional scale. Technology also played a key role in devising modalities for prospective utilization of land initiating cascading effect for social and economic transformation.
Significance of Land:
Land is a fixed asset on the surface of the erth. It can neither be enlarged nor reduced under natural conditions. But the land surface, when subject to human use, may be deteriorated. The deterioration lf land may lead to many maladies, including abandonment of its use for prospective agriculture and other functional uses. Being a fixed asset land deserves regulations for optimum utilisation.
The pressure on land is ever increasing. The population explosion in the later half of the twentieth century has caused several constraints for the utilisation of lands. The experts are recommending appropriate policies for scientific use of lands. For framework of such policies we require relevant information on lands, which are usually available from land records and other sources.
Importance of Land Records:
Land records are of great importance. Land information from the basis for assignment and settlement of land titles, which are subject to legal scrutiny. The holding of land is controlled by statutory laws by the state at a given point of time. The access to land is determined by ownership patterns, based not only on statutory laws, but also on customary laws in many cases. india has a long tradition of customary laws in diverse regions of the country. The land tenure systems were different in different historicl periods, as the form of institutions changed in the historical context. The land tenure systems laws in many cases. India has a long tradition of customary laws in diverse regions of the country. The land tenure systems were different in different historical periods, as the form of institutions changed in the historical context. The land tenure systems also differed from region to region. This holds true even today due to prevalent diversity of the country like India.
The importance of land records was recognized even in the past, as it is today. The state largely depended on land revenues for administrative, military and other necessary expenditure. In a democratic polity there have been more stress in evolving a comprehensive system for land management. At various stages of history the level of technology played a significant role in devising the modalities for land records.
History of Land Records:
Pre-British India:
We have little understanding on land records and tenure system prior to Muslim rule in India. The land belonged to "King" and the property rights of individuals were not specified. Vincent Smith observed, "The native law of India has ordinarily recognized agricultural land as being crown property". (Smith, 1924) The observation by Vincent Smith was also contested. The ARthasashtra (Kautilya) has evidence of the cultivator being able to sell and alienate his land But it also states of the right of the king to replace him in his holding if he fails to pay the rent. This is like a double ownership, as prevalent in British India. In many cases the land also belonged to the community or headman of the village.
Muslim 'rule' in India continued from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. Exception for a few decisions concerning the giving of land as gifts to relatives, generals, or artists, the State's fundamental interest was with assessing, measuring, and collecting the Sovereign's share of the revenue generated from agricultural production. As long as this revenue was collected without much trouble most, though certainly not all, aspects of village life were left to local elites, traditions, and culture. The village had more autonomy in the Mughal period than in the British Raj. The British historian W.H. Moreland defines it as "administrative Philanthropy". (Moreland, 1929).
During the rule of Muslim the kind used to collect tax from the land, but the propriety was vested to the peasant, the tiller of land. "The King's right to levy tax was justified by the fact that he gave his subjects protection: there is no suggestion here of the king's right to eject the peasant from his holding; the peasant's right is based on the same basis as the merchant's right to merchandise; as the payment of a tax did not interfere with the proprietary rights of a merchant, similarly the peasant did not lose his right over holding because he paid a tax." (Quereshi, 1956).
This attitude of the Muslim ruler towards the holding by the peasant was natural, as the Muslim legal system recognized that the cultivator was the owner of the land. The ownership of the land by the peasant was such an established principle in Muslim law that hitherto it had never been questioned.
The Mughals organised that land revenue system following the footholds of Sher Shah Sur. They found the principal structure of agrarian base well established. The Mughals during the reign of Emperor Akbar, the great Mughal, moderately revised and integrated the system for efficient land revenue collection. They understood that in a dominant agrarian economy the organization of land administration would be more effective. The Mughals introduced the systems of sharing, appraisement and measurement. Emperor Akbar considered such agrarian reforms as important task for his own reasons. The Mughal empire during his reign was expanding and he had to maintain large number of officers for military and administration. Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system and tied the system, with land revenue collections. He was compelled to initite, reforms in administration and land revenue system, otherwise the conditions threatened to be more chaotic.
Akbar's mission was fulfilled by his trusted officers like Raja Todarmal and Muzaffar Khan who effected a major change in the system of revenue collection. Raja Todarmal was instrumental in survey. A compendium of land records was prepared through collection of data from the field and entered in a register. It was really a beginning of systematic land records in India for which the British also owe to the Mughals. The dahshala or 10 year revenue system (Census) was the contribution of RAja Todarmal, who along with Diwan Shah Mansur divided the Mughal empire into 12 provinces, each administered by a governor and a Diwan. On the basis of land survey Raja Todarmal prepared the maps showing different holdings and assessed rents, which probably were the first cadastral maps in India. In 1571 he introduced the rational revenue assessment based on intimately surveyed land holdings. It was a revolutionary task in the context of technological level, then prevalent in India. The contribution was no less worthy in the historical context, when at the same period Mercator in 1969 published his world map, using conformal projection in his chart showing 'waxing latitudes'. Mercator was endowed with expanding horizon of scientific knowledge in Europe in the late 16th century, where Raja Todarmal had many hurdles.
The Mughals applied new techniques for land survey. Firstly, they adopted standard units of measurement. A yard, called a Gaz, was introduced consisting of forty one digits. A bigha was measured as equal to an area sixty yards square. The reform was not only confined in adopting a new scale, but in standardizing the existing ones. The old practice of measuring length with a rope was replaced with bamboo poles. Because the rope used to shrink when it came in contact with moisture. Instead 'Bamboo rods joined together with iron rings were used which were less affected by moisture'. (Abu-L-Fazl (Ed.Beveridge),1939).
The Mughals under the leadership of Raja Todarmal, the revenue and finance minister of Akbar, also instituted the classification of lands for assessment of revenues. The assessment of rent varied for different types of land. Basically the length of the period of cultivation was considered for a land classification. Where a land had been continuously cultivated, it was classified as Polaj land. When it was left uncultivated for a short period to regain fertility it was defined as parauti. When a land was not cultivated for a stretch of three to four years, it was categorized as Chachar. The wastelands, abandoned for cultivation for many years, were called the Banjar. The land revenue was highest for the Polaj lands, as the yields were usually high from such lands. The parauti land when cultivated was charged the same revenue that of Polaj land. The Mughals encouraged the conversion of wastelands into cultivated lands. The Banjar lands, when brought under cultivation, used to pay nominal taxes in the initial years. The Chachar land was treated similarly like the Banjar land. The Mughals were keen to expand cultivated area and extended special concessions to the cultivators for bringing new areas under cultivation. The new areas were shown separately in the statements submitted to the higher authorities. The authorities were vigilant to expand the cultivated land, in no case the cultivated land should be permitted for degradation into chachar and Banjar lands. The land policy of Akbar was peasant's friendly. He introduced the quality assessemnt to ensure enhanced land revenue for his expanding empire. But in no case he overburdened the cultivators. The officers were given farman to protect the crops and interest of the peasants. The peasant society in pre-British India had more autonomy and was adored with respect and admiration.
British India:
The British domination over Indian land started in the seventeenth century and by the end of that century the British rule extended over large areas with the fall of Mughal empire, defeat of the Marathas and subjugation of local powers. The British inherited the institutional form of agrarian system from the Mughals. The British superimposed a system over the existing pattern in tune with British customs and laws relating land. Broadly three principal types of land revenue system were introduced in British India. The basic characteristic of each system was the attempt to incorporate elements of the preceding agrarian structure. The interaction of colonial policy and existing systems produced widely different local results and hybrid forms. it is interesting to note that the techniques used in land surveying in many parts of India even today remain substantially unchanged since their introduction by Raja Todarmal during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Different land revenue systems were introduced in various part of British India, as the British annexed different parts of India in various periods. Let us have an intropection into three broad land revenue systems introduced by the British. These land revenue systems are 1. Zamindari System, 2. Rywotari System and 3. Mahalwari System.
Zamindari System:
The Zamindari system was introduced in early British period. The Permanent settlement Act was passed in 1793 and initially introduced in Bengal. The system was also found in large parts of Northern India (except Avdh, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur), Bihar and Orissa. The system was introduced to ensure the revenue receipt of the british colonial power, where a Zamindar was declared the proprietor of land on condition of fixed revenue payments to the British regime. The peasants were turned into tenant farmers and deprived of the land title including other rights and privileges enjoyed during the Mughal period. The Zamindars collected the rents of land through different intermediate collectors. As a result of such practice there had been creation of multilevel ranks of collector under the Zamindar. The peasantry was subject to deprivation of his share in produce from land and relegated to abject poverty. This revenue system accounted for 57 per cent of cultivated area in the country. The Floud commission, inquiring the reasons of the Great Bengal Famine in 1943, recommended the abolition of intermediaries on land interest to the British Government.
Rywotari System:
The Rywotari system was introduced in Madras Presidency in 1792 and in Bombay Presidency in 1817-18. This system recognized the proprietary right of the peasant on land and resembled the revenue system of the Mughal to a great extent. The system covered nearly all the southern states and many western states of India including the erstwhile Central Province (i.e. Madhya Pradesh). Even the princely states of Jaipur and Jodhpur had this category of revenue system, as it existed during the Mughal period. However, the pockets of Zamindri prevailed within the Rywotari regions, particularly in the princely states and the areas governed by the feudal lords. The Rywotari system covered nearly 38 per cent of the cultivated area in India.
Mahalwari System:
The Mahalwari system was introduced between 1840 and 1850. In this system the entire village constituted revenue settlement as collective unit. The peasants paid the revenue share of whole village in proportion accoding to their individual holdings. The system covered the erstwhile Punjab, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, and the princely stated of Avdh and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. The System was not extensive and included only 5 per cent of the cultivated land in India.
Of the three systems the Rywotari resembled the Mughal revenue system, wherein the proprietary rights of the cultivators had been recognized. This system is considered to be most convenient and appropriate instrument for social development. However, the British legislation institutionalised the transfer of land and created the abse of land-market, which was almost absent in the Mughal period. The legislation enacted during 1850s in Rywotari and Mahalwari areas enabled moneylenders to recover debts from the mortagaged land holdings. It caused serious impact on transfer of land from the holding of cultivator to non-cultivator. "As a result, rural society in Rywotari and Mahalwari areas was polarised into landlords and rich peasants versus tenants and agricultural labourers, and the distribution of land became highly unequal". (The Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1924-25).
An interesting study has been made on agricultural growth rate relating to types of tenure system prevailing in vrious states. The study reveals that the former Rywotari and Mahalwari areas of Southern and Western India have achieved higher rates of agricultural growth than the former Zamindari areas of Northern and Eastern India. However, the exception is the state of West Bengal. West bengal has surpassed all the states in all categories of land tenure system except Punjab. This has been possible in implementing land reforms with the pro-active role of Panchayats. In Punjab higher growth rate has been the outcome of Green Revolution. The following table will show the results.
| Typology of States by Tenure System and Agricultural Growth Rate |
| Tenure System / State
Zamindari (57 Per cent) | Average Annual Growth Rate (Percent) | |
| Uttar Pradesh (Except Avdh & Agra) | 1.9 | |
| Bihar | 1.5 | |
| Orissa | 2.6 | |
| West Bengal | 4.4 | |
| Rajasthan | 1.1 | |
| Andhra Pradesh | ---- | |
| Rywotari (38 Per cent) | . | |
| Karnataka | 2.7 | |
| Gujarat | 2.0 | |
| Tamiln Nadu | 1.6 | |
| Kerala | 0.7 | |
| Maharashtra | 2.7 | |
| Madhya Pradesh (60 Per cent area) | 1.6 | |
| Andhra Pradesh (except Telangana) | 2.7 | |
| Assam | 0.4 | |
| Rajasthan(only Jaipur & Jodhpur) | ---- | |
| Mahalwari (5 Per cent) | ---- | |
| Rajasthan(only Jaipur & Jodhpur) | ---- | |
| Punjab | 4.5 | |
| Haryana | 2.4 | |
| Madhya Pradesh (40 Per cent) | 1.6 | |
| Orissa ( 9 per cent ) | ---- | |
| Uttar Pradesh (only Avdh & Agra) | ---- | |
| All India | 2.1 | |
