CLASS 8 · NCERT HISTORY · CH 3: RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE (NCERT CLASS 8 — OUR PASTS III)
Ruling the Countryside 🌾
NCERT-aligned Class 8 History topic from Our Pasts III. Every item is anchored to a real location on India's map — built for boards (CBSE, ICSE, state) and UPSC aspirants.
📚 NCERT TEXTBOOK ALIGNMENT
Class
8 History —
Our Pasts III — Chapter:
Ch 3: Ruling the Countryside (NCERT Class 8 — Our Pasts III).
13LOCATIONS
107QUESTIONS
CLASS 8NCERT LEVEL
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Key locations covered (13)
- Diwani of Bengal — 1765 Treaty of Allahabad — Bihar / Bengal / Odisha
- Permanent Settlement (1793) — Cornwallis & Bengal — Bengal / Bihar / Odisha
- Mahalwari System (1822) — Holt Mackenzie + NW Provinces — UP / Punjab / Central India
- Ryotwari System — Munro + Madras/Bombay — Tamil Nadu / Bombay Deccan
- Indigo Cultivation — Bengal & Bihar — Bengal / Bihar
- Blue Rebellion (1859-60) — Nadia — West Bengal
- Champaran Indigo Movement (1917) — Bihar
- Murshidabad — Bengal Permanent Settlement Hub — West Bengal
- Tirunelveli — Ryotwari Heartland — Tamil Nadu
- Champaran — Indigo Cultivation + Gandhi's First Satyagraha — Bihar
- Champaran Satyagraha — deep — Bihar (Champaran)
- Kheda Satyagraha — deep — Gujarat (Kheda)
- Dandi — Salt March — Gujarat (Navsari)
Sample questions (12 of 107)
When did the Company become Diwan of Bengal?
12 August 1765 — under the TREATY OF ALLAHABAD; Mughal emperor Shah Alam II appointed the Company DIWAN of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
What did "Diwani" empower the Company to do?
Collect REVENUE and decide CIVIL CASES of these provinces — first time the Company became a TERRITORIAL POWER, not just a trader.
Why did Bengal experience massive distress under early Company rule?
Company demanded high revenue without understanding local agrarian conditions; combined with the BENGAL FAMINE OF 1770 — about 1/3 of Bengal's population (~10 million) died.
TREATY OF ALLAHABAD 1765 — what did it grant + significance?
Signed 12 Aug 1765 between ROBERT CLIVE + Mughal emperor SHAH ALAM II. Granted: (i) DIWANI of BENGAL + BIHAR + Orissa to East India Company — the right to COLLECT REVENUE (huge sum, ~Rs 4 crore annually); (ii) Company paid the Emperor an annual TRIBUTE of Rs 26 LAKH; (iii) Bengal Nawab MIR JAFAR's son retained NIZAMAT (administrative powers in name) — but real power lay with Company. This was the LEGAL beginning of British rule in India. Clive set up the famously corrupt "DUAL SYSTEM" — Company collected revenue but Nawab nominally administered — leading to the disastrous BENGAL FAMINE of 1770 which killed ~10 million.
BENGAL FAMINE OF 1770 — causes + scale?
Devastating famine 1769-1773 in BENGAL + Bihar. Killed ~10 MILLION people — 1/3 of the population. CAUSES: (i) FAILED MONSOON 1769; (ii) Company's HIGH revenue demand collected harshly even after crops failed; (iii) PRIVATE TRADE by Company servants HOARDED grain to drive up prices; (iv) BENGAL'S textile industry was being deliberately destroyed by Company tariffs — peasants had less buying power; (v) NO RELIEF efforts. Warren Hastings later admitted "the inhabitants died as quickly as a few thousand of them did during the famine." Historians (esp. UTSA PATNAIK) cite Bengal 1770 as a key example of EARLY COLONIAL EXTRACTION + governance failure.
The Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was granted to the EIC in which year?
1765
Which Mughal Emperor granted Diwani to the East India Company?
Shah Alam II
By acquiring the Diwani, the East India Company became the chief financial administrator of which provinces?
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
Diwani was acquired through which treaty?
Treaty of Allahabad (1765)
Robert Clive concluded the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 — what was his then-designation?
Governor of Bengal (second term)
The Dual System of government in Bengal (1765-72) was abolished by which Governor?
Warren Hastings (1772)
Who introduced the Permanent Settlement and when?
Lord CORNWALLIS in 1793 — implemented in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa.
All 107 questions are available in the interactive map quiz.
About this topic
This topic is part of the NCERT Class 8 History syllabus, specifically the textbook Our Pasts III, drawn from the chapter Ch 3: Ruling the Countryside (NCERT Class 8 — Our Pasts III). Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, Satish Chandra for history; G.C. Leong, Savindra Singh for geography; the UPSC Civil Services prelims + mains syllabus).
Use the interactive India map to learn ruling the countryside the way memory works best — by spatial location. Each pin opens a flashcard. Mark "Knew it" or "Didn't know" to track your mastery over time.
Built with Claude (AI authorship)
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