Railway
According to NCERT, the first revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan, made after the Company took over the region from the Peshwa, came into operation in the:
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Answer: Option D — 1820s
Detailed Solution
According to NCERT, the first revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan was made in the 1820s, after the English East India Company took over the region from the Peshwa (1818).
NCERT on the first settlement:
- NCERT notes that the revenue system introduced in the Bombay Deccan came to be known as the ryotwari settlement.
- Unlike the Bengal system, the revenue was directly settled with the ryot (cultivator).
- The average income from different types of soil was estimated, the revenue-paying capacity of the ryot was assessed, and a proportion of it was fixed as the share of the state.
- The lands were resurveyed every 30 years and the revenue rates increased accordingly; so the revenue demand was no longer permanent.
The problems of the first settlement:
- NCERT notes that the revenue demand was very high.
- In many places, peasants deserted their villages and migrated to new regions.
- Where soils were poor and rainfall fluctuating, the problem was particularly acute.
- When rains failed and harvests were poor, peasants found it impossible to pay the revenue.
- However, the collectors were keen to demonstrate their efficiency and pressed for its payment, and harsh measures were used.
- When someone failed to pay, his crops were seized and a fine was imposed on the whole village.
- By 1832, the countryside was devastated by famine and the area was hit by a cholera epidemic.
The new settlement:
- NCERT notes that a new settlement was introduced in the 1840s, with a more moderate revenue demand.
- This, along with a rise in prices, allowed peasants to extend cultivation.
- However, the peasants increasingly depended on moneylenders for loans to pay the revenue and meet their needs.
Results:
The growing indebtedness of the peasants and their loss of land to moneylenders led to the peasant uprising of the 1870s in the Deccan.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The 1790s, 1850s and 1880s were not the decade of the first settlement.
Quick tip
Remember: first revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan = 1820s (ryotwari; very high demand; peasants deserted villages; NCERT); a more moderate settlement followed in the 1840s.
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British Acts & Policies — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of British Acts & Policies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the constitutional and administrative acts passed during British rule, from the Regulating Act of 1773 and Pitt's India Act of 1784 to the Charter Acts, the Indian Councils Acts, the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935, and the Indian Independence Act of 1947, along with British economic, land revenue and education policies. Exam questions usually ask what a particular act introduced: the Indian Councils Act 1909 introduced separate electorates for Muslims, the Government of India Act 1919 brought dyarchy to the provinces, and the 1935 Act provided for a federation and provincial autonomy. Land revenue systems (Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari and Mahalwari) and education milestones such as Wood's Despatch (1854) are also tested. Practise the British acts and policies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.