question_answer

'After introducing the Permannent Settlement in Bengal, the zamindars regularly failed to pay the land revenue demand'. Examine the causes and consequences of it.

Or

'A chain of grievances in Awadh linked the prince, taluqdars, peasants and sepoys to join hands in the revolt of 1857 against the British.' Examine the statement.

 

Answer:

Fifth report was a series of reports submitted about the working and administration of East India Company in India. This report was presented in British Parliament in 1813. It was significant because it gave clear picture of what happened in rural Bengal in the late 18th century. This report had invaluable evidence.

According to this report:

(a) The condition of the Zamindars was deteriorating and their lands were auctioned from time to time.

(b) They were facing poverty due to the collapse of Zamindari system.

(c) They could not repay or pay back the revenue.

(d) The Zamindars were losing their land at regular time of intervals.

(e) In a situation to pay back their loan, their zamindari was auctioned.

(f) They were not always displaced from their land. By manipulating, they used to retain their zamindari.

(g) It criticised the maladministration of the company.

(h) It exaggerated the downfall of zamindari system.

Or

In 1856, Awadh was annexed and its king Wajid Alt Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta. Annexation by the British had created disaffection but nowhere more so than in Awadh. The British had thought that Wajid AH Shah was an unpopular ruler. They were wholly mistaken he was very popular amongst his public. When he left his beloved Lucknow, thousands of his subjects followed him to Kanpur. British officers believed that by removing the taluqdars they would be able to settle the land with the actual cultivators of the soil and thus reduce the exploitation of the peasants and increase the amount of revenue coming to the state. In practice, this did not happen, revenue inflows to the state increased but the burden on the peasants did not decline. Officials discovered that large areas of Awadh had actually been over-assessed; the increase of revenue demand in some places was from 30 to 70 per cent.

Similarly, the fears of sepoys about the cartridge and the loss of caste and religion were also quickly communicated to the villagers of Awadh. As were stories of verbal and physical abuse that the sepoys suffered at the hands of the white officers. This link between the sepoys and the rural world was important. When the sepoys mutinied, they were quickly joined by their brotherhood from the villages. The mutiny became a rebellion.

A chain of grievances linked prince, taluqdar, peasant and sepoy. A whole mixture emotions and issues, traditions and loyalties worked themselves out in the revolt of 1857.