About Mahalwari

The word Mahalwari was derived from the Indian term Mahal that refers to the house. In a more extended manner, the Mahals were considered the districts in this specific land revenue system of colonised India. Based on this specific information, the current study will explain the Mahalwari system and its features in the discussion section. In addition, by whom the Mahalwari system was developed will be explained in the study as well. 

An Overview of the Mahalwari System 

Before the establishment of this new land revenue system, the Government of the British Raj introduced the Mahalwari system in the central province along with the frontier of the North-West part of India. These particular provinces of India included the states such as Punjab, Agra, Gangetic valley and many more. In this system, the villages were composed of one or more Mahals. In accordance with the system, the entire village was considered a single unit that had the responsibility of a taxpayer. 

Who Introduced the Mahalwari System 

In the year 1822, the Mahalwari system was introduced to colonised India with an intention of protecting the autonomy of the system of tax collection. In the initial stage, Holt Mackenzi introduced the Mahalwari system. Later on, William Bentick reformed this particular land revenue system, in the year 1833. In this system, the rights of the landowners were vested with the cultivators. As per the records, the amount that has been paid by the farmers or the head of the villages to the British government was too high for the farmers in general. 

Difference between the Mahalwari System and Permanent Settlement

Various distinctive aspects were found in the two different land revenue systems of colonised India. One of them is that the Permanent system was developed and reordered by Lord Cornwallis. On the contrary, Holt Mackenzie started the Mahalwari system. Another distinctive feature is in the Permanent system, the tax amount was fixed by the agreement whereas the tax amount was different for the different Mahals in the Mahalwari system. The amount payable as a tax to the British Raj was finalised by a settlement that happened between village heads and the government of the British raj. Zamindars were the collectors of tax in the Permanent system but in Mahalwari, the headman of the village had the responsibility of collecting taxes. 

Main Features of the Mahalwari System

The features of the Mahalwari system was mentioned in the below section:

• The collectors of the taxes went to every village in order to measure lands based on which the amount of tax would be decided
• Based on the measurement of the lands done by the tax collectors, the estimation of the revenue was calculated that was added up to the total estimation of the tax amount
• The revenue amount of this particular system was not a fixed one as it varied from the different measurements of the land

Development of the Mahalwari System 

As per the records, the Mahalwari system covered more than 30 percent of the country during the British administration. As the East India Company controlled the two particular contemporary regions, the primary key reason for establishing this particular land revenue system is to gain more profit in the respect of the Company. In the settlement that was done with the farmers in accordance with a joint lease, the rent was set to the rate of 95%. This high revenue was almost impossible for the farmers to provide to the British Raj. 

Mahalwari System: Problems

One of the main reasons behind the failure of this land revenue system was that the entire system of the land measurement was conducted based on assumption. This particular phenomenon has created a high chance of incorporating corruption and manipulation into the system. In addition, the collected expenditure of the East India Company sometimes exceeded the real amount of the tax and made the system a failure. For these identified problems, after a period, the British government even after being reformed once abolished this system. 

Conclusion 

The present study has included an overview of the Mahalwari system where the settlement of paying the revenue was conducted with the estates. On the other hand, in this study, as the system states, different types of processes of collecting tax and the different amounts of payment were considered one of the main disadvantages of the system. Along with these explanations, the study has further included the discussion of the development of the Mahalwari system in the context of British colonised India.