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Colonialism And The Countryside
Why did the Fifth Report become the basis of intense debate in England? Explain.
The Fifth Report was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813.
(i) It was the fifth of a series of reports on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India.
(ii) Often referred to as the Fifth Report, it ran into 1002 pages, of which over 800 pages were appendices that reproduced petitions of zamindars and ryots, reports of collectors from different districts, statistical tables on revenue returns, and notes on the revenue and judicial administration of Bengal and Madras (present-day Tamil Nadu) written by officials.
(iii) It contained information about Company’s misrule and maladministration, Incidents of greed and corruption of Company officials were discussed.
(iv) It exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power in Bengal.
(v) It overestimated the scale on which zamindars were losing their lands.
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Why was the jotedar a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal?
How did zamindars manage to retain control over their zamindaris?
How did the Paharias respond to the coming of outsiders?
Why did the Santhals rebel against British rule?
Why were many zamindaris auctioned after the Permanent Settlement?
In what way was the livelihood of the Paharias different from that of the Santhals?
How did the American Civil War affect the lives of ryots in India?
What are the problems of using official sources in writing about the history of peasants?
On an outline map of the subcontinent, mark out the areas described in this chapter. Find out whether there were other areas where the Permanent Settlement and the Ryotwari system were prevalent and plot these on the map as well.
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