Which of the following options is incorrect in context to why the zamindars of India defaulted on payment of revenue to the Britishers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?

A) The initial demands were very high.
B) This high demand was imposed at a time when the prices of agricultural produce were very high, so the zamindars decided to keep the profit with them.
C) The revenue was invariable, regardless of the harvest, and had to be paid punctually.
D) The Permanent Settlement initially limited the power of the zamindar to collect rent from the ryot and manage his zamindari.

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

Only B

The correct answer is Option 2 - Only B

The incorrect statement is:

B) This high demand was imposed at a time when the prices of agricultural produce were very high, so the zamindars decided to keep the profit with them.

Correct version- This high demand was imposed in the 1790s, a time when the prices of agricultural produce were depressed, making it difficult for the ryots to pay their dues to the zamindar. 

Company officials felt that a fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and, assured of returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates. In the early decades after the Permanent Settlement, however, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated. The reasons for this failure were various.

First: the initial demands were very high. This was because it was felt that if the demand was fixed for all time to come, the Company would never be able to claim a share of increased income from land when prices rose and cultivation expanded. To minimise this anticipated loss, the Company pegged the revenue demand high, arguing that the burden on zamindars would gradually decline as agricultural production expanded and prices rose.

Second: this high demand was imposed in the 1790s, a time when the prices of agricultural produce were depressed, making it difficult for the ryots to pay their dues to the zamindar. If the zamindar could not collect the rent, how could he pay the Company?

Third: the revenue was invariable, regardless of the harvest, and had to be paid punctually. In fact, according to the Sunset Law, if payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari was liable to be auctioned.

Fourth: the Permanent Settlement initially limited the power of the zamindar to collect rent from the ryot and manage his zamindari.