Question

The Mahalwari system was in place during the year __________
A. 1833
B. 1853
C. 1803
D. 1793

Answer 1

Hint:The Mahalwari system was started by Holt Mackenzie which was applied in the states of Punjab, Awadh and Agra, parts of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Complete answer:
The Mahalwari system was in place during the year 1833.
The word ‘mahalwari’ is derived from the hindi word mahal, meaning a house or, by extension, a village. During the 1800s, the British tried to set up their authority over the administrative structure of India.
In the Mahalwari system of revenue collection the land revenue was fixed for the whole village. And the village headman gathered it. The total revenue was then to be splitted into the members of the co-sharing body. The state seized two thirds of revenue of the land and the system was to be made for thirty years. Britishers forced the farmers to pay revenue in cash rather than in kind. The land revenue was increased anonymously to support british wars. System of land revenue acted as a main source of income of the britishers. Therefore they used the land to manipulate the whole revenue system, to strengthen their economic power in India.

The correct answer is option A.

Note:The farmers did not understand the Mahalwari system as they did not have much knowledge about the cash economy and with often droughts and famines, their situation worsened. Hence they had to borrow money from the exploitative traders and money lenders on compound interest which led to never ending indebtedness.