At rent collection time, the zamindar's officer to whom Kalu pays his…

A student is reading East India Company records from Bengal written around 1800. The word ryot appears again and again. In one record, a man called Kalu holds about twenty bighas of land in a village of Burdwan. He tills a part of it with his family. The remaining fields he lets out to two other villagers, who pay him a fixed sum each year for their use. Kalu in turn pays his own dues to the zamindar's officer.

At rent collection time, the zamindar's officer to whom Kalu pays his dues would usually have been which person?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → The amlah

Option (1) The amlah — Correct. In Bengal, the officer of the zamindar who came to the village to collect rent was usually the amlah. Kalu pays his dues to this man.

Option (2) The mandal — Incorrect. Mandals were village headmen, counted among the rich ryots. They were often glad to see the zamindar in trouble, so they did not collect his rent.

Option (3) The jotedar — Incorrect. Jotedars were rich ryots in the village. They often delayed payment themselves, so they did not collect rent for the zamindar.

Option (4) The Collector — Incorrect. The Collector was an official appointed by the Company to supervise the zamindars. His collectorate became a rival centre of authority that restricted the zamindar.

NCERT (2026-27): “1.3 Why zamindars defaulted on payments …
At the time of rent collection, an officer of the zamindar, usually the amlah, came around to the village. But rent collection was a perennial problem. Sometimes bad harvests and low prices made payment of dues difficult for the ryots. At other times ryots deliberately delayed payment. Rich ryots and village headmen – jotedars and mandals – were only too happy to see the zamindar in trouble. The zamindar could therefore not easily assert his power over them. Zamindars could prosecute defaulters, but the judicial process was long drawn. In Burdwan alone there were over 30,000 pending suits for arrears of rent payment in 1798.”