Answer:
In the early nineteenth Century, jotedars were a class of rich peasants. They acquired vast areas of land and controlled local trade as well as money lending. Thus exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. A large part of their land was cultivated through share croppers who brought their own ploughs, labourers in die field, and handed over half the produce to jotedars after the harvest. Within the villages, the power of jotedars was more effective than that of Zamindars because the Zamindars who often lived in Urban areas whereas the jotedars were located in the villages and exercised direct control over a considerable section of poor villagers. Jotedars forcefully resisted efforts by zamindars to increase the Jama of the village, prevented zamindars officials from executing their duties, mobilised ryots, who were dependent on them, and deliberately delayed payments of revenue to zamindar. When the estates of die zamindars were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment, jotedars were often the purchasers. Zamindars could prosecute defaulters; bur the judicial process was long drawn so they, did not involve in legal battles. The jotedars were most powerful in North Bengal. Therefore in the village, jotedars were more powerful than Zamindars.
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