Madras Presidency - Land

Land

Revenue from land rental as well as an income tax based on the tenant's net profits from their land was the presidency's main source of income.

In ancient times, land appears to have been held in common with an individual unable to sell it without the consent of the other owners, who in most cases were members of the same community. Prior to the arrival of the British, the concept of individual proprietorship of land had already emerged along India's west coast such that the new administration's land revenue system was not markedly different from that of its predecessor. Nevertheless, landlords never sold land without the consent of other members of the community. This communistic property rights system was known as kaniachi among the Vellalars, swastium among the Brahmins and mirasi among Muslims and Christians. In the Tanjore district, all mirasi in the village were vested in a single individual who was called the Ekabhogam. The mirasidars were required to donate a certain amount of money known as mirei to the village administration. They also paid a specified sum to the Government. In return, the mirasidars demanded non-interference by the government in the internal affairs of the villages.

The proprietary system was entirely different in the district of Malabar and the states of Cochin and Travancore where communal ownership of land did not exist. Instead, land was individual property mostly owned by the landowning gentry, to wit the Namboodiri and Nair people, who did not have to pay land-tax and held extensive freeholds of land rented to tenants for agricultural puroposes. In return the Nairs supplied the king with fighting men in times of war while the Namboodhiris managed the upkeep of Hindu temples. These landlords were somewhat self-sufficient and had their own police and judicial systems such that the personal expenses of the Raja were minimal. However, landlords lost their exemption from the taxes on land if they disposed of it meaning that mortgage of land was more common than sale. Individual propreitorship of land was also common in the Telugu-speaking areas of the Presidency. The chieftains of the Telugu-speaking districts had more or less maintained an independent existence for a long time, furnishing the sovereign with armies and equipment in times of war. In return, their right to revenues from land remained unmolested. During the time of the British, most of land in the northern districts of the Presidency were parcelled out among these petty "Rajahs".

Islamic invasions caused minor changes in the land proprietorship system when taxes on Hindu land owners were raised and private owmership of property came down.

When the British took over administration, the centuries-old system of land proprietorship was left intact. The new rulers appointed middlemen to collect revenue for lands which were not under the control of local zamindars. In most cases, these go-betweens ignored the welfare of the farmers and exploited them to the full. A Board of Revenue was established in 1786 to solve the issue but to no avail. At the same time, the zamindari settlement established in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis proved highly successful and was later implemented in the Madras Presidency from 1799 onwards.

However, the Permanent Settlement was not as successful as it had been in Bengal. When the Company did not reach the expected profit levels, a new system known as the "Village Settlement" was implemented between 1804 and 1814 in the districts of Tinnevely, Trichinopoly, Coimbatore, North Arcot and South Arcot. This involved the leasing of land to the principal cultivators, who in turn leased the land to ryots, or peasant farmers. However, as a village settlement had few differences compared to a permanent settlement, it was eventually discarded. In its place came the "Ryotwari Settlement" implemented by Sir Thomas Munro between 1820 and 1827. According to the new system, land was handed over directly to the ryots who paid their rent directly to the government. The land was assessed and paid revenue fixed by the Government This system had a number of advantages as well as disadvantages for the ryots. In 1833, Lord William Bentinck implemented a new system called the "Mahalwari" or village system under which landlords as well as ryots entered into a contract with the Government.

In 1911, the greater part of the land was held by ryots who paid rent directly to the Government. Zamindari estates occupied about 26 million acres (110,000 km2), more than one-quarter of the whole presidency. The peshkash, or tribute, payable to the government in perpetuity was about £330,000 a year. Inams, revenue-free or quit-rent grants of lands made for religious endowments or for services rendered to the state, occupied an aggregate area of nearly 8 million acres (32,000 km2). In 1945–46, there were 20,945,456 acres (84,763.25 km2) of Zamindari estates yielding revenues of Rs. 97,83,167 and 58,904,798 acres (238,379.26 km2) of ryotwari lands which produced Rs. 7,26,65,330. Madras had forest coverage of 15,782 square miles (40,880 km2).

The Land Estates Act of 1908 was passed by the Madras Government in order to protect cultivators in Zamindaris from exploitation. Under the act, ryots were made permanent occupants of the land. However, far from protecting the ryots, the legislation proved to be detrimental to the interests of the cultivators in the Oriya-speaking northern districts of the presidency who were the intended beneficiaries, as it tied the cultivator to his land and landlord with the chains of eternal serfdom. In 1933, an amendment to the Act was introduced by the Raja of Bobbili to curb the rights of zamindars and safeguard the cultivators from exploitation. This act was passed in the legislative council despite strong opposition from the zamindars.