CLASS 8 GEOGRAPHY · NCERT · CH 3: RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE (NCERT CLASS 8 — OUR PASTS III)
NCERT-aligned Class 8 Geography topic. Every item is anchored to a real location on India's map — built for boards (CBSE, ICSE, state) and UPSC aspirants.
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.
Who introduced the Permanent Settlement and when?
Lord CORNWALLIS in 1793 — implemented in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa.
What did it do?
Recognised RAJAS and TALUQDARS as ZAMINDARS who had to collect rent from peasants and pay a FIXED REVENUE to the Company. Revenue was permanently fixed — not to be increased ever.
Why did the Company hope this would work? Why did it fail?
Hoped zamindars would invest in improving the land (since revenue was fixed); instead zamindars chose to rent out and live as absentees. Revenue rates were too HIGH initially → many zamindars defaulted, lost lands at auction.
CORNWALLIS — who + when?
CHARLES CORNWALLIS, 1st MARQUESS CORNWALLIS (1738-1805) — British general + administrator. Best known for: (i) SURRENDERING at YORKTOWN 1781 in American Revolutionary War; (ii) GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA 1786-1793; (iii) Defeated TIPU SULTAN at SRIRANGAPATNAM in the 3rd Anglo-Mysore War 1792 (got half of Mysore + 3 crore rupees); (iv) PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 1793 in Bengal; (v) Returned to India 1805 as Gov-Gen, died at Ghazipur. CORNWALLIS CODE 1793 was a major reform of British Indian administration — separating REVENUE + JUDICIAL functions, creating the COVENANTED CIVIL SERVICE (later ICS).
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT — UNINTENDED consequences?
(i) Many ZAMINDARS could NOT pay fixed revenue → ESTATES auctioned (sunset law). By 1815, ~50% of Bengal zamindari changed hands; (ii) NEW BUYERS were urban merchants + speculators → ABSENTEE LANDLORDISM; (iii) JOTEDARS (rich peasants) became real local power; (iv) Zamindars EXTRACTED HIGH RENT from peasants — SUPER-EXPLOITATION; (v) NO incentive to invest in agriculture (revenue fixed — didn't go to investing landlords); (vi) PEASANT impoverishment + frequent FAMINES. Cornwallis's plan (modeled on English landed aristocracy) FAILED to create a stable productive landed class. Permanent Settlement is a textbook case of policy with bad outcomes.
Who devised the Mahalwari system and where was it implemented?
Holt MACKENZIE in 1822 — implemented in the NORTH WESTERN PROVINCES (today's western UP), parts of Punjab, Central Provinces.
What was a "mahal"?
A village or group of villages — revenue was assessed on the MAHAL collectively; the headman/village community was responsible for collecting and paying.
This topic is part of the NCERT Class 8 History syllabus, 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.
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