SCERT AP Board 8th Class Social Solutions 10th Lesson Landlords and Tenants under the British and the Nizam Textbook Questions and Answers.
AP State Syllabus 8th Class Social Studies Solutions 10th Lesson Landlords and Tenants under the British and the Nizam
8th Class Social Studies 10th Lesson Landlords and Tenants under the British and the Nizam Textbook Questions and Answers
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Question 1.
Make simple questions based on each section of the chapter (Landlords and Tenants under the British and the Nizam) and ask one another. Check if the answers are correct.
Answer:
- What is Khudkasht?
Answer:
It means self-cultivated land. - Who introduced the Permanent Settlement of Tax and when?
Answer:
Cornwallis introduced this in 1793. - What happened if the Zamindars could not pay the tax?
Answer:
They became defaulters. - What are ‘ceded’ districts?
Answer:
Bellary, Ananthapur, Kurnool and Kadapa. - Who built the Prakasam Barrage?
Answer:
Sir Arthur Cotton. - Based on how many years, the Ryotwari war fixed?
Answer:
20, 30 years. - When was the American Civil War started?
Answer:
In 1861. - What was the forced labour without payment called?
Answer:
Vetti - What were the forms of income did the Zamindars expect from farmers?
Answer:
Ghee, milk, vegetables, gur, grass/straw, cowdung cakes etc. - With what did they compensate the old landlords in Hyderabad state?
Answer:
They paid ‘Rusum’, an annual payment. - Write an example for severe famine.
Answer:
Ganjam Famine. - Write the names of any two peasant movements.
Answer:
The Deccan riots of 1860s, Rampa fituries, Moppila agitations etc.
Question 2.
Compare the condition of tenant farmers before freedom and farmers of today. What differences and similarities do you find?
Differences:
Sometimes the tenant farmers could not pay the rent and deserted the lands. They borrowed loans from moneylenders. If they could not repay their loans on time, the moneylenders went to court to get their land auctioned to recover the loan money. The rent was 3 to 7 times more than its revenue.
The farmers of today are fixing and paying rents in a proper method. In time of need they borrow money from the banks.
Similarities:
Their conditions are pitiable in both periods. The owners of the lords are not working for the developmental activities. The cultivators are becoming permanent debtors.
Question 3.
During the freedom movement, the zamindars normally supported the British. Can you explain why?
Answer:
The policies of zamindars created a gap between them and their people. They earned more assets in the British reign. So they normally supported the British during the freedom movement.
Question 4.
What role did the moneylenders play in the lives of the peasants? In what way do you were they think supported by the British government?
Answer:
Farmers borrowed loans many times from moneylenders to pay revenues. If they could not repay their loans on time, the moneylenders also went to court to get their land auctioned to recover the loan money.
Due to this British rule, for collecting land revenue, many peasants fell into deep debt trap. The moneylenders became richer and richer as more and more peasants came under their grip.
The British government did not show any interest in the welfare of the farmers as it showed in collecting revenue. Thus the moneylenders were supported by the British.
Question 5.
What were the similarities and differences between the Doras and the Zamindars of Awadh?
Answer:
Differences :
- Doras were under the Nizam’s rule. Zamindars were under the British rule.
- Doras paid revenue collection to Nizam, but Zamindars paid to the British.
- Doras illtreated their tenants and farmers, Zamindars made them suffer only economically.
Similarities :
- Both suffered the peasantry.
- Both had large fields.
- They were independent in others’ rule.
Question 6.
What kind of measures did the British take to improve agriculture? Did it have the desired impact? Give your reasons.
Answer:
Some British administrators believed that it is the duty of the government to invest in large scale irrigation works. They built anicuts and canals. They recognised the ownership of the land. They fixed the revenue per acre by taking the yield, prices, market conditions, crops etc., into consideration.
Before the cultivation they made necessary advances to the ryots to purchase seeds, implements, bullocks and to repair old wells or dig new ones. This proved very effective and that year saw a bumper crop and good revenue collection. So I think their approach was right.
Question 7.
How did the Ryotwari settlement also give rise to landlordism?
Answer:
Even in the Ryotwari areas the land revenue was fixed at a very high level. Unlike in the Zamindari areas it was fixed for twenty to thirty years. After expiry of the tenure period the revenue was revised, taking the changed conditions into consideration. The land revenue was so high that in the beginning it had to be collected by force. Soon however as prices rose faster than the land revenue and the ryots found it more profitable to employ tenants to cultivate their lands and receive rent from them.
Soon the Ryotwari area too was full of landlords who rented out their lands to helpless tenants for very high rents. The tenants had to pay rent that was three to seven times more than the land revenue paid by the ryots to the government. (That is if a ryot paid Rs.100/- as land revenue for a piece of land to the government, he was able to get Rs. 300/- to 700/- from the tenants for the same land.) As a result they too did not have any interest in investing in improving agriculture, but only in renting it out at higher and higher rates.
Thus the Ryotwari settlement also gave rise to landlordism.
Question 8.
Why were famines caused under British rule? Do you think it was because of failure of rains or floods?
Answer:
The rains and floods caused one or two famines during the British rule. Most of the famines occurred due to their dictatorial rule. They exported food grains in the famines. They had no interference when the merchants created artificial scarcity by hoarding food grains. They didn’t work for the welfare of the people in India. So the famines were caused.
Question 9.
In what way can a government help to prevent famines even in times of crop failure?
Answer:
A government can help even in times of crop failure :
- by supplying agricultural products from the areas of surplus.
- by providing water facilities.
- by postponing the E.M.Is of their loans.
- by drying and storing the surplus crop.
Question 10.
Imagine that you are giving a representation to a British Government Enquiry committee. Write down the grievances of tenant farmers in the form of an appeal.
Answer:
Memorandum
13-07-1845.
Sir,
Being Indians, we are ashamed of paying more rents for our own lands. Peasants, landlords and zamindars are not interested in any developmental activities. So we have no irrigation facilities and others. We are not able to get even common yield. The revenue system introduced by the British government is not favourable to us. The rents are increasing day by day. At present they are seven times more than the revenue. Our assets are ready to be auctioned. So we request you to handle the situation carefully keeping all these things in view. Once again we request you to improve our living standards.
Thanking you,
Yours obediently,
Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers Association
Question 11.
Locate the following in the given India map.
- Ganjam
- Awadh
- Hyderabad
- River Godavari
Answer:
Question 12.
Read the paragraph under the heading ‘Countless Collections, Cesses and Payments’ and answer the following:
How are we paying the taxes nowadays?
Answer:
Now-a-days we are paying some taxes directly govt, through its related department. Some other taxes are paid indirectly.
Project
Question 1.
Make teams of five students and interview five elders of the village to know about how things were during the British days. At least two of them should be women, and at least one person should be from the artisans. Talk to them at length and prepare detailed reports about what they have to say.
Report
Answer:
Britishers developed India according to their needs. They were selfish in this attitude. Some people supported and some opposed them. During the colonial period some gained some lost. We were treated as second class civilians in our own motherland. Women were uplifted with the introduction of women education, abolition of child marriages and widow re-marriages. But the handicrafts were suppressed. The introduction of motors and machines caused this. They are still in the same situation. On the whole the British rule caused mixed results.
Question 2.
Find out about famines in your area. What did people do in those times?
Answer:
Our area is located in Chittoor district. There is a great famine in recent year. It is caused due to lack of rainfall and crop failure. In these times people are migrated due to lack of rainfall and crop failure to urban areas in search of livelihood. These people mostly worked as daily – wage labourers, watchmen in colonies, apartments and shops. Some of them also engaged in granite and construction industry on the city’s outskirts.
Question 3.
Find out about families that migrated to distant places like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia from your area.
Answer:
Ours is a Village in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. Once many people worked in our fields. But many of them went to Saudi and Kuwait for household and industrial works. They earned good incomes there and increased their assets here. We can say that the rich people in our area are mostly the migrated ones.
8th Class Social Studies 10th Lesson Landlords and Tenants under the British and the Nizam InText Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Did the Zamindar own all the lands of the villages in the Mughal times? (Textbook Page No. 111)
Answer:
No. They owned some of the village lands. They had the power to collect revenue from the villagers. Rest of the land was owned by peasants and others.
Question 2.
What did the Zamindars do for the Mughal government and what did they get in return? (Textbook Page No. 111)
Answer:
The Zamindars collected the revenue from the peasantry on behalf of Mughal emperors. In return they received a share of revenue collected. Sometimes they also had right to collect some small local taxes.
Question 3.
How the changes would have affected the position of the farmers who tilled the land for several generations? (Textbook Page No. 113)
Answer:
- This settlement inadvertently converted all the peasants into the tenants.
- Since rent collected was much higher than the revenue, the cultivators could not pay and sometimes deserted the lands. These were the affects.
Question 4.
What is the difference between revenue and rent? (Textbook Page No. 113)
Answer:
Revenue: Tax on land which is paid to the zamindars or government.
Rent: Amount paid to the owners of the land for using and cultivating it.
Question 5.
In what ways did the government invest in agriculture during the early British rule? Do you think it could have been done by farmers themselves? (Textbook Page No. 115)
Answer:
- The Britishers made necessary advances to the ryots to purchase seeds, implements, bullocks and to repair old wells or dig new ones.
- They constructed anicuts & canals.
It could not have been done by farmers themselves.
Question 6.
How did the land revenue lead to peasants losing their lands to the money lenders? What would the money lenders have done with the land? (Textbook Page No. 114)
Answer:
The peasants were forced to work on the zamindars’ fields and many peasants could not cultivate their own fields properly. They could not improve their fields. Their plight can be seen in a government report written in 1878. The report says that the peasants do not try to dig well on their lands or irrigate it, nor do they try to bund their fields or dig drains or use fertilisers. “They do nothing to improve their land because they fear they can be evicted from their land at any time. If they improve their farming, the zamindar immediately increases the share he takes from them. But the zamindars also prevent the peasants from improving their fields because they are afraid that the peasants would then start asserting their rights over the land.”
Question 7.
In what forms did the zamindars take away the produce of the tenants? (Textbook Page No. 118)
Answer:
- The peasants were forced to do ‘Vetti’ in the lands of zamindars.
- The zamindars also tried to extract as much money as they could from the peasants under a variety of pretexts.
- The peasants also had to regularly supply ghee, milk, vegetables, gur, straw, cow dung cakes etc., free of cost to zamindar’s house.
Thus they paid in form of labour, cash and kind.
Question 8.
How did the position of the revenue collectors change in the Nizam state? (Textbook Page No. 119)
Answer:
In the Hyderabad State under the Nizam rule there were many forms of subordinate chieftaincies like Jagirdars, Samsthanamdars and Inamdars which ruled like independent chiefs. They collected revenue from the lands under them, and gave a small part to the Nizam as ‘peshkash’ and kept the remaining with them. They were also responsible for the administration of their areas.
The large landlordsrwere called ‘Doras’. The Doras lived in large fortified houses called ‘gadi’ and had a large retinue of servants and soldiers. They had vast lands cultivated by tenants and also lands directly cultivated with forced labour. They acted as village money lenders too. They also had judicial powers over the entire village. They settled all village disputes and were usually partisan towards the upper castes.
Thus their position was raised to higher cadre.
Question 9.
How was a ‘dora’ different from an ordinary landlord? (Textbook Page No. 119)
Answer:
The large landlords were called Doras. They had a large retinue of servants and soldiers. Ordinary landlords were under the control of these ‘doras’. Landlords should follow the orders of ‘Doras’. This is the difference between them.
Question 10.
Do you think the Zamindars would have helped the independent cultivators in any way? Give reasons for your answer. (Textbook Page No. 112)
Answer:
Zamindars were acted as mediaters during Mughal period and helped the cultivators. But during the British they didn’t help the cultivators. As a result in the long run, the zamindars also suffered and became defaulters. Numerous zamindaris were sold off at auctions organised by the East India Company. Anyone who failed to pay the revenue, lost his zamindari.
Question 11.
How do you think it was possible for the zamindars to keep increasing their incomes without increasing investment in the land? (Textbook Page No. 114)
Answer:
The prices of grains in the market rose and cultivation slowly expanded. This meant an increase in the income of the zamindars but no gain for the Company as it could not increase the revenue demand that had been fixed permanently. Even then the zamindars did not have an interest in improving the land. Some had lost their lands in the earlier years of the settlement; others now saw the possibility of earning without the trouble and risk of investment. As long as the zamindars could give out the land to tenants and get rent, they were not interested in improving the land.
Question 12.
Who do you think would have benefited from the Ryotwari Settlement – the farmers, the landlords or the British? Give reasons. (Textbook Page No. 116)
Answer:
The landlords would have benefited from the Ryotwari settlement.
Reasons:
- There was an increase in the number of landlords in the Ryotwari area.
- They showed much interest in giving their lands on rents rather than cultivation.
Question 13.
Compare these actual outcomes with what you had predicted. How similar or different was it? (Textbook Page No. 116)
Answer:
I think that the conditions of the cultivators may get improved with the Ryotwari system. But my prediction goes on wrong. Farmers became as landlords and the tenants as coolies.
Question 14.
Why do you think the ryots not invest in improving agriculture or extending agriculture? (Textbook Page No. 116)
Answer:
The prices rose faster than the land revenue and the ryots found it more profitable to employ tenants to cultivate their lands and receive rent from them. So they did not invest in improving agriculture or extending agriculture.
Question 15.
Imagine and describe the condition of the landless tenants of the ryots. (Textbook Page No. 116)
Answer:
The landless tenants had to pay the revenue and the rent many times more than their yield. They had no chance to develop their fields or to invest on it. They had to approach moneylenders to meet their expenditure. If they could not repay their loans on time, the moneylenders also had to go to court to get their land auctioned to recover the loan money.
The agricultural prices were determined by the international market. As a result the tenants had to bear more losses. If they cultivated cash crops, it would have resulted in scarcity of food. As a result, they had to desert the lands. Many people migrated to South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji and other distant places as coolies during ‘Ganjam Famine’.
Question 16.
Discuss the changes in the lives of traditional crafts persons and village artists. (Textbook Page No. 118)
Answer:
Traditional crafts persons are adding technology to their tradition. As the prices are high, there is no demand for their products. Village artists had enjoyed the encouragement of the Kings and Zamindars. Now they lack it. So their lives are in worse condition.
Question 17.
Why do you think it was necessary to defeat the palegars before the Ryotwari Se ttlement could be introduced? (Textbook Page No. 115)
Answer:
Palegars resisted the imposition of British rule and indulged in constant war and looting. They had armed followers. Identifying the orizinal land owners was very difficult. So they should be subdued first. I think law and order should be restored before the Ryotwari settlement.
Question 18.
If you live in the ‘Ceded Districts’, find out about the palegars who fought with the British. (Textbook Page No. 115)
Answer:
Mahy wars were broken out between Palegars and the British from 1798 to 1805. First war was fought between Veerapandya and the British in 1799. Second main war was fought between a group of Palegars and the British. After a long andexpensive campaign-the-British finally defeated the revolting Palegars of whom many were beheaded and hanged while others were deported to the Andaman Islands. Of the Palegars who submitted to the British some of them granted Zamindari status, which had only tax collection rights and disarmed them completely.
Question 19.
Who ultimately profited from production for export market and why? (Textbook Page No. 117)
Answer:
Peasants very often borrowed money from moneylenders in order to pay land revenue. As usually the peasants borrowed money from them for the production so as to do export market. As the demand was reduced, they incurred losses. They suffered a lot as they could not earn enough to pay back the loans they had taken. The moneylenders became richer and richer as more and more peasants came under their grip.
Question 20.
Have you heard of any similar rapid rise or decline in prices of any agricultural produce in our own times? Find out about its impact on the farmers. (Textbook Page No. 117)
Answer:
In recent past, there was an increase in the prices of rice and red gram. Later they were reduced by the government. Peasants grew some crops thinking of high profits. If the demand fell, they would get losses that year.
Question 21.
Why do you think the zamindars kept the soldiers and small forts? (Textbook Page No. 112)
Answer:
Zamindars had some villages under their control. They were the mediators between the rulers and the ruled. They had much income also. So they lived in small forts. To protect their people from thefts and attacks, to collect revenues they needed soldiers. So they maintained them.
Question 22.
Who do you think gained the most from the ‘Permanent Settlement’- the British Government, the zamindars or the peasants? Give your reasons. (Textbook Page No. 113)
Answer:
The Zamindars gained most from the ‘Permanent settlement’.
Reasons:
- The zamindars paid only 10% of prefixed revenue. They did not pay the surplus collection to the British.
- Peasants had to pay more revenue. Those who could not pay the revenue, lost their land. They changed as tenant farmers.
Question 23.
In what ways did the zamindari system fail in the objectives with which the British had introduced it? (Textbook Page No. 114)
Answer:
- Zamindars did not develop the lands.
- They did not invest on lands.
- Land revenue is very high.
- There were no exceptions at the time of famines and crop failures.
- East India Company frequently changed the zamindars in auctions.
- The Zamindars were interested in their earning but not in constructive ideas and works.
- Some landlords and moneylenders got profited.
Due to these reasons the Zamindari system failed in the objectives.
Question 24.
When the ‘Permanent Settlement’ was introduced, there was no detailed lanjd survey. Why do you think was it needed for the ‘Ryotwari Settlement’? (Textbook Page No. 115)
Answer:
As the Zamindars were middlemen, the Britishers could not get proper income. Peasants suffered a lot from lack of developmental activities. So the British planned to collect revenue directly from the peasants by providing various facilities. So the detailed land survey is needed for the ‘Ryotwari Settlement’.
Question 25.
Why did the high revenue rates prevent zamindars and farmers from improving agriculture? (Textbook Page No. 117)
Answer:
As they paid heavy rates of rents and revenue from their income, they were not able to improve agriculture. They used the remaining amounts for their household purposes.
Question 26.
Why did the war in America lead to increase in prices of cotton in India? (Textbook Page No. 117)
Answer:
In 1861, there was Civil war in America and British factories turned to India for supply of cotton. As a result cotton prices soared high.
Question 27.
Why do you think the peasants were not willing to invest in their lands? (Textbook Page No. 118)
Answer:
They had no funds to invest in their lands. They had fear that they could be evicted from their land at anytime. If they improved their forming, the Zamindars immediately increased the share he took from them. But the Zamindars also prevented the peasants from improving their fields because they were afraid that the peasants would then start asserting their rights over the land.
Question 28.
Among all forms of exploitation, the peasants hated ‘vetti’ the most? Can you explain why? (Textbook Page No. 119)
Answer:
During the colonial period the peasants were forced to do ‘vetti’ on the personal land of the landlords. The soldiers would even catch peasants walking on the road and force them to do vetti in the zamindar’s fields.
- Many peasants could not cultivate their own fields properly.
- They could not improve their fields.
- They could not earn incomes.
- This was an inhumane activity.
So the peasants hated ‘vetti’.