Question

The Ryotwari Settlement was introduced by the British in the ___________.
(A) Bengal Presidency
(B) Madras Presidency
(C) Bombay Presidency
(D) Madras & Bombay Presidencies

Answer 1

Hint- This system had been in operation for about 5 years and consisted of many features of the revenue system of the Mughals. This system was instituted in British India's some parts, one of the three main systems that were used for collecting revenues from the cultivators of agricultural land.

Complete answer:
This system of land revenue had been instituted during the late 18th century by Sir Thomas Munro, who was the Governor of Madras in the year 1820. This was practised in the Madras as well as Bombay areas, including Assam and Coorg provinces also. Under this system, the peasants or cultivators were said to be the land's owners. They also had ownership rights, could sell, mortgage or gift the land. The taxes were directly collected by the government from the peasants. The rates were about 50% in dryland while 60% in the wetland. The rates were high and unlike the Permanent System, they were open to being raised. If they failed in order to pay the taxes, they were evicted by the government. Ryot in general means peasant cultivators. Here there were not any middlemen as in the Zamindari system. But, since high taxes used to be paid only in the form of cash (no option of paying in kind as before the British) the problem of moneylenders came into the show. Afterwards they burdened the peasants with heavy interests.

Thus, option D is the right answer.

Note-
This system had lowered the assessment to one-third of produce. Plus, the government also adopted the provisions of the system very strictly and collected the taxes on a regular basis even in times of famine, flood, drought etc. Thus, this system failed due to practical difficulties.