Read the passage and answer the questions:
"In introducing Permanent Settlement, the British officials hoped that with the revenue demand of the state being permanently fixed would lead to regular flow of revenue and earn profit. This would lead to the emergence of a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners who would be nurtured by the British and will be loyal to the East India Company. If the revenue failed, the estates were to be auctioned."
Identify the other names used for 'Jotedars' in various parts of Bengal.
A. Adhiyars
B. Haoladars
C. Mandals
D. Gantidars
E. Taluqdars
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B, C, D only
A. Adhiyars Incorrect. Adhiyars were not jotedars. They were the sharecroppers (also called bargadars) who cultivated a large part of the jotedars’ land with their own ploughs and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.
B. Haoladars Correct. Rich peasants and village headmen were rising in many parts of Bengal; in some places they were called haoladars.
C. Mandals Correct. Elsewhere they were known as gantidars or mandals.
D. Gantidars Correct. Gantidars is the other name given in the same line for these powerful rich peasants.
E. Taluqdars Incorrect. Taluqdars were not rich peasants of the village. The Permanent Settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal, who were then classified as zamindars and had to pay the fixed revenue demand.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue … After a prolonged debate amongst Company officials, the Permanent Settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal. They were now classified as zamindars, and they had to pay the revenue demand that was fixed in perpetuity.… 1.4 The rise of the jotedars … By the early nineteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land – sometimes as much as several thousand acres. They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) who brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest. Within the villages, the power of jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars. Unlike zamindars who often lived in urban areas, jotedars were located in the villages and exercised direct control over a considerable section of poor villagers. They fiercely resisted efforts by zamindars to increase the jama of the village, prevented zamindari officials from executing their duties, mobilised ryots who were dependent on them, and deliberately delayed payments of revenue to the zamindar. In fact, when the estates of the zamindars were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment, jotedars were often amongst the purchasers. The jotedars were most powerful in North Bengal, although rich peasants and village headmen were emerging as commanding figures in the countryside in other parts of Bengal as well. In some places they were called haoladars, elsewhere they were known as gantidars or mandals. Their rise inevitably weakened zamindari authority.…” |