History of bengal
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274 HISTORY OF BENGAL demad for land is great (4) the personal characteristics of the rye, his surength or weakness is resisting a demand for higher raus: (5) access and liberality in bringing the smlah or the zealadars when they made the original Sca. Though purely Cosmic circumstances like the quality of lands their earness to the lines of communication and trade come ad es were and valec of the produces the degree of the nuensity of pressure of population en land and the resultant changes in the demand for land had much to do with the origin of particular retrases and shequcnt variation is them, their role was considerably affected by a sumber of non-conomic circumstances. Such a role was is many cases whecured leynd rangnition The new principle in regard to chancement of rent consisted in the Ronnie (hy the Real Act X of 1859) of an increase in the value of produce a valid ground for enhancement of rent The existing law that directly related to the question of enhancement of the rate of rent was based on the concept of what was known as the pargana Mirta (prevailing rate of cat). Such a rate was helicved to have hcca existing, though in fact it did not. Zamindars were permitted by law to enhance rent in their states I was below the paramah minth. The new principle, wever, was fotended by Government merely as a guide to Government officers bandling ront suits and not as an absolute determinant of rent. The original draft Rent Bill did not in fact contemplate any such change. Such an omission was not inconsistent with the main plan of the Bill, which attempted merely a unification of the existing rend laws, with a view to giving them a clearer shape, and not any change in the substantive law. This accounts for the retention of the old and archaic concept of the partanah airta The new principle was not arhituly selected. It embodied a real comic change tondency of some commodity prices to rise. The first spectacular rise in prices was caused by the Mutiny, and the rent legislators could not go this exceptional phenomenon. The following is a study of theme of pics of how in Bengal in the period 1861-1885 Average prins of the Counter of arena for a rupee) for sia 4-year periode 1861-64 1865-08 1869-72 1873-76 1877-80 1881-84 1885 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) 26.29 18.6% 22.87 18.9 16.05 21.61 15.18 The rise in prices of rice was particularly rapid in the period 18741887 hecause of the currence of Camines (1874, 1877-1879) and of throu years of vary had crops frea drought and flad (1883-85). Indigo planters were the first to systematically use this principle When the rebellion of the indigo posants faced the planters with the danger of imminent destruction of the whole Indigo Industry, they ACEARIAN RELATIONS BENGAL
decided to use a quick cahacement of rent by the application of this principle as a CHETC ve instrumen Peasants were asked to choose between the continuation of Indigo cultivation and the ability to pay a consider ably enhanced rent. The legality of enhancement on the ground of a nie in the value of produce was nol questioned. hul the undecided on was tbc ex icat of legitimate chancement. The High Court judgment in the case Hills Vs leur Ghase (Hills was a planter of Nadia) of 1862 accepted the Malthusian definition of rent as the hasis of decision, according to which cat was that portion of the value of the whole produce which remains to the owner of the land after all the regoings belonging to its cultivation of whatever kind have been paid, including the pronus of the capital employed, estimated according to the usual and ordinary rate af agricultural capital at the time being such a definition wrote off the customary rights of peasants in regard to their rent. With this potent weapon indige planters struck the chcl peasants. Such an interpretation of the law of 1859 vas son challenged, critics having particularly emphasised the incompatibility of the doctrine of 1862 with the organisation of the PANART Cconomy in Bengal. Another High Court dechion (Thakarani Dua Vs Bisher Mukherji. 1864) substituted the Rule of proportion for this doctrine. The enhanced rent should hear, the Rule laid down to the previous rent the same proportion that the increased gross value of the produce hears to the previous gross value. The direct role of the Rule in the enhancement of rent by zamindars was Bot much significant, mainly hocus of their small success in this in the civil courts, particularly after the Bengal Act VIII of 1889. To win suits in the courts ramindars had to comply with a number formalities. The us of stablishing their came by full legal proof lay entirely on them. Suits WORE Sometimes rejected because evidence on the past history of prices and rent was found inadequate and the notices of enhances were served strictly according to low. As long as revenue officers Vied the enhancement cases a indars was very many suits despite their failure to furnish the Necessary evidence. The Revenge Officers to have catered up the CAS... with the knowledge that, as a rule, prices of produce had nisca very much since 1857 sayl, and that where rous had not been recently revised they were in general for helew the emal competitive rates, bonce they were satished with such evidence was adducible with the wansference of rent cases to be civil courts by the Act VIII of 1869, the position of amindars became a more difficult. The courts, unlike the eve officers, did not sun with the pion that prices had rhes, but relied exclusively the ordinary rules of evidence, Rules regarding the process of serving cabanccmant Botices were made much more rigid. "The zamindars na found that a largo proportion of their suits were defeated by preliminary hjection, and even when they did reach a trial on the merits, so difficult wait to supply such evidence would satisfy the certs, the most without exception the cues toke down HISTORY OF BENGAL It was a the Goverment estales-Tuskhali (Bakargan. Jelamuta and MN mula (Midnapur) ete-that the Rule was mostly applied, which however, Mesitated special legislating. The enforcement of the c anard ries of al was a difficult job for reveaue officers and we shall see later. caused widespread K ance. The initial failure of zamindars is getting ront rates enhanced through civil coorusled here to rely on either a systematic falsificate of the village Natwari papers and perjury the exercise of some rive methods for the calicca of an enhanced rentrale without my w of the legal machinery An alkmpt to chanced rentrate on the ground of the so-called parada nie, which was mostly fictities. Ied invariably to similar usequences. In I ches the institution of rent sults in the civil courts was a mere relence, and was really intended as a continous harassment of p ats, that they would ultimately give in. All these affected agrarian rotations and the nature of rou a well. The result of the organised falschood. perjury and Cereine was to heighten the Witcres of focling het een zamindars and pasants and to deepen mutual distrust and saspicion phenomenon which suruck all the Government officers investigating the origins of agrarian unrest. As for rent rates, they were increasingly hecoming di ed from c armic circumstances, and their sizc tended to he determined by the relative success of rainders in the use of non-legal and illegal means What led the ramindars to enhance rent? Is explaining this mom contemporaries, including some Government officers with anti-ramindari Nus, emphasised what they called personal despotism of ramindars and cutiraly and objective circumstances. The whole enhancement process, involving much nercion for peasant and causing them immense distress my he described as despotle. But it would be wrong to say that the drive for enhancement se derived from vypoukluman mature Zamindan proceeded to enhance rent because in most cases such an chancement was de vida economic necessity, hecuse they hadly coded a ddition to their income. We do not mean that real leaded to Me sinary where this necesity did a cast. It is vadaiahlethal zamindars wicies ershanedre because they laew it was perfectly legal for them 10 do and a h use of any urgent economic seeds. Two particular circumstances prompled a ready exercise of this pure legal night by ramindan Find the symptoms of increasing resistance of peasants to the payment of illegal ENCA, most of which had been paid for generation before. persuaded zamindars to chance the rule of rent in order to maintain the existing level of their inerme. Secondly, spore bension that the new rent lav velde dreadful measure, reducing or completely slimia tag their authority to the villages and fixing the retratos once lor crer, led many panicky zamindars lo chance cal fer possible before the day of d e came. Preasing censonic needs were powerful motives hehind the drive for enhancing rent. A pertinent theme of a number of the writen by AORARIAN RELATIONS IN BENGAL 20 s
a phenomenon particularly important in Biharoorly creased the aggregate cost of management. The imposition is razamindars of Now taxes and cesses , for instances, income tax, road ceas, Public Work es, chowkidari Lan, municipal tax etc.-further added to the cost where they did not succeed in shifting their incidence on to peasants. Whatever the CROAN, zamindars with a very few exceptions were not enterprising enough 10 lavest their resources in the new trade and industry, nor in the improve ment of agriculture in their estates. Zamiadar vader these circimstances had to rely more and more on driving a larger income from land. Where an extcasion of cultivation did not provide it, the caly means open to them was to enhancement of their ryots All evidence confirms the general feeling of the cratemporaries that rents had risen in the period under review. There were exceptions. For instance, assical enquiry in 1872-73 in Rangpur brought out the fact that the chanceacht of rent in roccal years had been very small Glezier, Omiciating Magistrate and Collector of Rangpur, thus cherved: 'Act X (of 1859) has not been worked so as to result in any goneral increase of Real and more ou be no doubt that in this district the you have in a much large degree than the zemiadars participated in the profits anising from the increased value of produce. In the sence of detailed statistics we cannot conclude whether zamindars pecfered a larger number of awas to the more cospicuous process of legal enhancement It is, however, difficult to quantify the phenomenon of the enhancement of rent for the whole of Bengal Discussions over the various Rent Bills (IRRO-85) Enceraged attempts al such quantification Finuca . Deputy Collector of Gaya, who had already established his reputation for his skill i landling agricultural statistics, thus estimated the extent of the enhance Yüklə 34 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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