Which of the following statements are TRUE about the Permanent Settlement?
(A) The Permanent Settlement came into operation in 1773.
(B) The revenue demand was fixed in perpetuity.
(C) The zamindars collected rent from the villages and paid the revenue to the Company.
(D) Failure in the timely payment of revenue led to the confiscation and auction of the estate.
(E) Permanent Settlement was withdrawn within 20 years due to its unpopularity.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) The Permanent Settlement came into operation in 1773. Incorrect. The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The year 1773 is that of the Regulating Act, passed by the British Parliament to regulate the activities of the East India Company.
(B) The revenue demand was fixed in perpetuity. Correct. The rajas and taluqdars of Bengal, now classified as zamindars, had to pay the revenue demand that was fixed in perpetuity, that is, for ever.
(C) The zamindars collected rent from the villages and paid the revenue to the Company. Correct. The zamindar collected rent from the different villages, paid the revenue to the Company and kept the difference as his income.
(D) Failure in the timely payment of revenue led to the confiscation and auction of the estate. Correct. The estates of those who failed to pay were to be auctioned to recover the revenue, as at Burdwan in 1797.
(E) Permanent Settlement was withdrawn within 20 years due to its unpopularity. Incorrect. The settlement was not withdrawn; the very point of it was that the revenue demand was fixed in perpetuity.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 An auction in Burdwan … In 1797 there was an auction in Burdwan (presentday Bardhaman). It was a big public event. A number of mahals (estates) held by the Raja of Burdwan were being sold. The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. The estates of those who failed to pay were to be auctioned to recover the revenue.… 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. In terms of this definition, the zamindar was not a landowner in the village, but a revenue Collector of the state. Zamindars had several (sometimes as many as 400) villages under them. In Company calculations the villages within one zamindari formed one revenue estate. The Company fixed the total demand over the entire estate whose revenue the zamindar contracted to pay. The zamindar collected rent from the different villages, paid the revenue to the Company, and retained the difference as his income.…” |