Read the passage and answer the question:
The revenue was not realised with punctuality, and lands to a considerable extent were periodically exposed to sale by auction. In the native year 1203 corresponding with 1796-97, the land advertised for sale comprehended a jumma or assessment of sicca rupees 28,70,061, the extent of land actually sold bore a jumma or assessment of 14,18,756, and the amount of purchase money sicca rupees 17,90,416. In 1204, corresponding with 1797-98, the land advertised was for sicca rupees 26,66,191, the quantity sold was for sicca rupees 22,74,076, and the purchase money sicca rupees 21,47,580. Among the defaulters were some of the oldest families of the country. Such were the rajahs of Nuddea, Rajeshaye, Bishenpore, (all districts of Bengal), .... and others, the dismemberment of whose estates at the end of each succeeding year, threatened them with poverty and ruin, and in some instances presented difficulties to the revenue officers, in their efforts to preserve undiminished the amount of public assessment.
Reports like Fifth Report were produced because:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Fifth Report was the method by the British Parliament to regulate and control the East India Company rules.
Option (1) It was an annual practice. — Incorrect. The reports were not a yearly routine of the Company. They were forced on the Company by the British Parliament, which wanted to check how it was ruling India.
Option (2) Fifth Report was the method by the British Parliament to regulate and control the East India Company rules. — Correct. Company misrule and the greed of its officials were hotly debated in Britain. So the British Parliament passed a series of Acts in the late eighteenth century to regulate and control Company rule in India. It forced the Company to produce regular reports on the administration of India and appointed committees to enquire into its affairs. The Fifth Report was one such report, produced by a Select Committee.
Option (3) Fifth Report was produced to highlight the achievements of the East India Company rule. — Incorrect. The report did the opposite. Intent on criticising the maladministration of the Company, it even exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power.
Option (4) Fifth Report was produced to record details of peasants. — Incorrect. Its appendices did reproduce petitions of ryots, but recording the details of peasants was not the reason for the report. It reported on the administration and activities of the Company.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.6 The Fifth Report … The British Parliament passed a series of Acts in the late eighteenth century to regulate and control Company rule in India. It forced the Company to produce regular reports on the administration of India and appointed committees to enquire into the affairs of the Company. The Fifth Report was one such report produced by a Select Committee. It became the basis of intense parliamentary debates on the nature of the East India Company’s rule in India. 1.6 The Fifth Report … They indicate that, intent on criticising the maladministration of the company, the Fifth Report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power, as also overestimated the scale on which zamindars were losing their land.…” |