In the early 1790s, a Company official in Calcutta is drafting a note on the new revenue system for Bengal. He points out that once the demand on each estate is fixed for all time, the Company will gain nothing in future when prices rise and cultivation expands. He wants the settlement to protect the Company against this expected loss. The note must be approved by the head of the government in Bengal, a senior officer who had earlier commanded British forces in a war across the Atlantic.
Who was the head of the government in Bengal described in the passage, under whom the Permanent Settlement was introduced?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Charles Cornwallis
Option (1) Warren Hastings — Incorrect. Warren Hastings governed Bengal earlier, in the 1770s and 1780s. He had not commanded British forces in America.
Option (2) Lord Wellesley — Incorrect. Lord Wellesley came to India later, in 1798, after the Permanent Settlement was already in force.
Option (3) Lord Dalhousie — Incorrect. Lord Dalhousie was Governor General in the middle of the nineteenth century, long after 1793.
Option (4) Charles Cornwallis — Correct. Charles Cornwallis commanded British forces during the American War of Independence. He was Governor General of Bengal when the Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793.
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