A ryot of Mirajgaon complained to the Collector of Ahmednagar that th…

A ryot of Mirajgaon complained to the Collector of Ahmednagar that the sowkars removed his produce, assuring him it would be credited to his account. What did the sowkars actually do?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → They kept no record of it in their books

Option (1) They set it against the land revenue he owed — Incorrect. This mixes up two debts. The produce went into the sowkar's hands, and the petition is about his own loan accounts.

Option (2) They paid for it in clothes and grain at cash rates — Incorrect. The petition reports the opposite: clothes and grain were sold at prices twenty-five or fifty per cent above cash rates.

Option (3) They sold it and gave him a receipt for the sale — Incorrect. The petition complains that the sowkars refused to pass any receipts for the produce they removed.

Option (4) They kept no record of it in their books — Correct. The sowkars promised to credit the produce but made no mention of it in the accounts, so the ryot's debt did not come down.

NCERT (2026-27): “3.6 The experience of injustice …
This is an example of a petition from a ryot of the village of Mirajgaon, Taluka Karjat, to the Collector, Ahmednagar, Deccan Riots Commission: The sowkars (sahukars ) … have of late begun to oppress us. As we cannot earn enough to defray our household expenses, we are actually forced to beg of them to provide us with money, clothes and grain, which we obtain from them not without great difficulty, nor without their compelling us to enter into hard conditions in the bond. Moreover the necessary clothes and grain are not sold to us at cash rates. The prices asked from us are generally twenty-five or fifty per cent more than demanded from customers making ready money payments … The produce of our fields is also taken by the sowkars, who at the time of removing it assure us that it will be credited to our account, but they do not actually make any mention of it in the accounts. They also refuse to pass us any receipts for the produce so removed by them.”