Meera, a history student, is studying land records of Bengal from the years after the Permanent Settlement of 1793. In an old revenue file she finds long lists of estates put up for sale when their holders fell behind on payments. A Company letter in the same file explains what officials expected the new settlement to achieve in the countryside. She also notes that many great landholders in these papers carry a royal title, and she finds a later photograph of a grand mansion built by one such family. She now tries to connect these sources with what she has read about Bengal in the early years of Company rule.
The Company letter Meera reads shows what officials hoped the settlement would create in rural Bengal. Which class did they hope would emerge?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners
Option (1) A class of salaried revenue officers paid by the Company — Incorrect. The Company did not want salaried officers to run the land. It wanted men of property who would invest their own capital in farming.
Option (2) A class of jotedars lending money to the villages — Incorrect. Jotedars were rich peasants who later rose in the villages. The settlement was not planned to create them, and moneylending was not its aim.
Option (3) A class of ryots paying revenue directly to the state — Incorrect. Paying revenue directly to the state belongs to a different system. The Permanent Settlement was made with the zamindars of Bengal.
Option (4) A class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners — Correct. Officials hoped for a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners with the capital and enterprise to improve agriculture. Such a class, helped by the British, would also be loyal to the Company.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue … |