Match List-I (Development in the Bombay Deccan) with List-II (Time).L…

Match List-I (Development in the Bombay Deccan) with List-II (Time).

List-I	List-II
(A) First revenue settlement made	(I) 1820s
(B) Prices of agricultural products fall sharply	(II) 1832-34
(C) Famine devastates the countryside	(III) After 1832
(D) Officials find alarming peasant indebtedness everywhere	(IV) 1840s

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → A-I, B-III, C-II, D-IV

List-I	List-II	Reason
(A) First revenue settlement made	(I) 1820s	The first revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan was made in the 1820s; its demand was so high that peasants deserted villages.
(B) Prices of agricultural products fall sharply	(III) After 1832	Prices fell sharply after 1832 and did not recover for over fifteen years, cutting peasants' income further.
(C) Famine devastates the countryside	(II) 1832-34	The famine of 1832-34 killed one-third of the cattle and half the people of the Deccan.
(D) Officials find alarming peasant indebtedness everywhere	(IV) 1840s	By the 1840s officials were finding alarming levels of peasant indebtedness everywhere, as unpaid loans piled up.

NCERT (2026-27): “3.3 Revenue demand and peasant debt
The first revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan was made in the 1820s. …”

“By the 1830s the problem became more severe. Prices of agricultural products fell sharply after 1832 and did not recover for over a decade and a half. This meant a further decline in peasants’ income. At the same time the countryside was devastated by a famine that struck in the years 1832-34. One-third of the cattle of the Deccan were killed, and half the human population died. Those who survived had no agricultural stocks to see them through the crisis. Unpaid balances of revenue mounted.”

“How did cultivators live through such years? How did they pay the revenue, procure their consumption needs, purchase their ploughs and cattle, or get their children married?”

“Inevitably, they borrowed. Revenue could rarely be paid without a loan from a moneylender. But once a loan was taken, the ryot found it difficult to pay it back. As debt mounted, and loans remained unpaid, peasants’ dependence on moneylenders increased. They now needed loans even to buy their everyday needs and meet their production expenditure. By the 1840s, officials were finding evidence of alarming levels of peasant indebtedness everywhere.”