Mahalwari system

what was ?  

 The term Mahalwari is derived from the word Mahal which means estate, house or district.

It is a form of land revenue collection system by the British.

 starting date 

The government of Lord William Bentinck, the then governor general of India during the period 1828 - 1835 introduced the Mahalwari system in India.

इसको आगरा और अवध में शुरुआत किया गया था और इसके बाद फिर पंजाब तक इसको एक्सीडेंट कर दिया गया ।

- The Mahalwari system was introduced in 1822 by Holt Mackenzie. Later, the system was reformed during the period of William Bentick (1833).

-Mahalwari system was the primary land revenue system in North-West india.

- The Mahalwari system was introduced in the North West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic valley, Central Province, etc.

 This system had elements both from Zamindari as well as Ryotwari systems.

- Under the Mahalwari system, the land revenue was collected from the farmers by the village headmen मुखिया on behalf of the whole village (and not the zamindar).

- The entire village was converted into one bigger unit called ‘Mahal’ and was treated as one unit for the payment of land revenue.

- The revenue under the Mahalwari system was to be revised periodically and not fixed permanently. एक निश्चित राशि नहीं देना है । खेत के हिसाब से देना है। 

- The revenue was collected by the village headman or the village leaders and the ownership rights rested with the peasants / farmer only. 

- The state share of the revenue

was sixty-six percent of the rental value and

 

the settlement was agreed for thirty years. 

The Mahalwari system laid down/ to give up  the concept of average rents for different classes and types of soils.

loss 

 Firstly, land became a product for tax generation.

 Land became like a private property which never was considered before as one.

 The farmers resorted to growing cash crops instead of food crops because of prevalent high taxes. 

This caused famines and food shortages.

 Also, since taxes were to be paid in cash, farmers became indebted to moneylenders and the latter became the land owners.

 This also led to farmers becoming bonded labourers. 

 when India achieved independence, seventy-five percent of the land was held by only seven percent of villagers who were zamindars only.

The Company officials decided to change the system of revenue. Holt Mackenzie devised the new system which came into effect in 1822. 

Under his directions, collectors went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields, and recording the customs and rights of different groups. 

The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added up to calculate the revenue that each village (mahal) had to pay.