Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched? 1. Permanent Settlement : Lord Cornwallis 2. Ryotwari Settlement : Thomas Munro 3. Mahalwari Settlement : Holt Mackenzie Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 only
- (b)1 and 2 only
- (c)2 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Correct — D, 1, 2 and 3. Every pairing here is the standard one. Cornwallis carried the Permanent Settlement through in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1793, fixing the state's demand on the zamindars for ever. Thomas Munro, first as an administrator in the ceded districts and later as Governor of Madras, built the ryotwari settlement, under which the state dealt directly with the cultivating ryot and took the revenue from him without an intermediary. Holt Mackenzie's minute of 1819, given effect by Regulation VII of 1822, produced the mahalwari settlement of the North-Western Provinces, where the mahal or village estate was assessed as a unit and its proprietary body held jointly liable.
- (a)1 only — Cornwallis is right, but rejecting Munro and Mackenzie rejects two attributions that are quite as well established as his.
- (b)1 and 2 only — Correct as far as it goes. The mahalwari pairing is sound as well — Holt Mackenzie was the Secretary in the Territorial Department whose 1819 minute set out the scheme, refined later under William Bentinck.
- (c)2 and 3 only — Drops the most famous pair of the three. The Permanent Settlement is inseparable from Cornwallis, who pushed it through against the advice of several of his own officials.
The Company tried three answers to a single question — from whom should the land revenue be taken. The Permanent Settlement took it from a zamindar and fixed the amount for ever, betting that security of tenure would make him invest. Ryotwari took it from the cultivator directly, after survey and assessment, and revised it periodically. Mahalwari took it from the village as a body. Each choice created a different rural class structure, which is why the three names recur in questions about agrarian distress a century later.
The safest way through a matching item like this is to fix the geography first. Cornwallis and the Permanent Settlement belong to Bengal; Munro and ryotwari to Madras, with Alexander Read alongside him in the Baramahal; Mackenzie and mahalwari to the North-Western Provinces and later the Punjab. Once the three regions are separated the pairs cannot be confused, and no option that drops a pair survives.
- Permanent Settlement, 1793, under Cornwallis, in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa; default in payment meant the estate was put up for sale.
- Ryotwari, associated with Thomas Munro and Alexander Read in Madras, made the ryot both proprietor and payer, with assessment following survey.
- Mahalwari came from Holt Mackenzie's minute of 1819 and Regulation VII of 1822, assessing the mahal with joint village liability.
- Munro was Governor of Madras from 1820 to 1827 and argued the ryotwari case against the Bengal model.
- The mahalwari scheme was overhauled under William Bentinck by Regulation IX of 1833, which lightened the demand.
Separate the three by region first — Bengal, Madras, the North-Western Provinces — and the names cannot cross over.
- Pairing the Permanent Settlement with Warren Hastings, who ran the earlier revenue-farming experiments but not the 1793 settlement.
- Treating mahalwari as a variant of ryotwari because both were revised periodically; the payer is different.
A three-pair matching item where all three are correct, so the trap is the candidate who expects at least one to be planted wrong.
With reference to Ryotwari Settlement, consider the following statements: 1. The rent was paid directly by the peasants to the Government. 2. The Government gave Pattas to the Ryots. 3. The lands were surveyed and assessed before being taxed. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3
- (d) None
Answer(c) 1, 2 and 3
The second pair of this item expanded into its own question. Direct payment by the ryot, a patta issued to him, and assessment only after survey are the three marks of the system Munro built.
Which one of the following statements with regard to ryotwari settlement is not correct?
- (a) In southern and western India, the ryotwari settlement was adopted.
- (b) Ryotwari was in principle a direct contract between the ryot and the state.
- (c) It means a tax contract valid for usually 30 years.
- (d) In principle, it strengthened the former elite, the zamindars and weakened the peasantry.
Answer(d) In principle, it strengthened the former elite, the zamindars and weakened the peasantry.
The same system tested from its intention. Ryotwari was designed to cut the intermediary out, so the statement that it strengthened the zamindars is the one that fails — the mirror image of pairing it with Munro here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under which land revenue system was the village estate assessed as a unit with its proprietors jointly liable?
- (a)Permanent Settlement
- (b)Ryotwari Settlement
- (c)Mahalwari Settlement
- (d)Talukdari Settlement
Answer(c) Mahalwari Settlement — the mahal, or village estate, was the unit of assessment in the North-Western Provinces.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Thomas Munro is chiefly associated with the introduction of the ryotwari settlement in which presidency?
- (a)Bengal
- (b)Madras
- (c)Bombay
- (d)Awadh
Answer(b) Madras — Munro worked in the ceded districts and later served as Governor of Madras from 1820 to 1827.