What was the relation between revenue demand done by different people or various agencies during the British East India Company period and peasants debt? Write a critical essay on the topic.

(i) Revenue settlement of Bombay Deccan and its effects on peasants debt in 1820s : The first new revenue settlement after the Permanent Settlement of Bengal was made in Bombay Deccan in the 1820s. The revenue that was demanding by the English was very high. Due to pressure of high demand of revenue at many places poor peasants deserted their native villages. They migrated to new area in these regions of poor soil and fluctuating rainfall the problem was particularly accute. When rains failed and harvest were poor they found it not to possible to pay the revenue to the Company. They were forced to take loan from local moneylenders, traders or sahukars.

The Company use to send its own representative for the collection of revenue dues. These collectors incharge of revenue collection were keen on demonstrating and pleasing their superiors. So they went about extracting payment with utmost severity. When someone failed to pay, his crops were seized and a fine was imposed on the whole village.

(ii) Impact of sharp decline in price of agricultural products in 1830s and peasants debt : By the 1830s the problem become more severe. Prices of agricultural products fell sharply after 1832 and did not recover for over a decade and a half. This meant a further decline in peasants income.

(iii) Role of natural calamities in increasing the debt amount of the farmers: The countryside of Bombay Deccan and other areas of Maharashtra were devastated by a famine that struck in the years 1832-34. One-third of the cattle of the Deccan were killed, and half the human population died. Those who survived had no agricultural stocks to see them through the crisis. Unpaid balances of revenue mounted. How did cultivators live through such year ? How did they pay the revenue, who pay their consumption needs, purchase their ploughs and cattle, or get their children married ? Inevitably, they borrowed. Revenue could rarely be paid without a loan from a moneylender.

(iv) Improvement in attitude of Government but new areas emerged for debt (for seeds and lands):

(a) By the mid 1840s there were signs of an economic recovery of sorts. Many British officials had began to realise that the settlements of the 1820s had been harsh. The revenue demanded was exorbitant, the system rigid, and the peasant economy on the verge of collapse. So the revenue demand was moderated to ecourage peasants to expand cultivation.

(b) After 1845 agricultural prices recovered steadily Cultivators were now extending their areas, moving into new areas, and transforming pasture land into cultivated fields.

(c) But to expand cultivation peasants needed more plough and cattle. They needed money to buy seeds and land. For all this they had to taken once again to moneylenders for loans.