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
|
|
