Ryotwari system was introduced in Ceded district as an experiment and it was

successful. During 1799 to 1818, many territories were conquered by the

British. In 1799, Mysore was conquered. In 1801, Carnatic was conquered and
Madras province was created subsequently in the same year. In 1818, Maratha
territories were subjugated and Bombay presidency was created. All these
newly acquired territories were introduced with the Ryotwari System.
Thomas Munro was an advocate fought to introduce this new Ryotwari
System, he quoted certain historical reasons like Zabti System, etc as well for
the same.In Ryotwari System the ownership rights were handed over to the
peasants. British Government would collect taxes directly from the peasants.
Analysis of the Ryotwari System:The system was pro-peasant, since there was
no exploitation of the peasants. Peasants were the owners, theoretically the
system was meritorious than the Zamindari System. But, in practical this
system was not appreciable. Ryotwari System was introduced in such
provinces where peasants were poor, and famines were high. The revenue
rates of Ryotwari System were as follows; It was 50%, where the lands were
dry and 60% in irrigated land. Apart from this never any remissions were
given to the peasants even during the famines.The revenue officials were
highly corrupt. High assessments than the original use to be marked and there
was no system of appeal over this. Money lenders on the other hand exploited
the peasants. According to the contemporary reports, Rural indebtedness is
very high in the regions where ryotwari system was implemented.

Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of Warren

Hastings. It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra,
Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India. The places where Mahalwari
system was introduced approximately covers 29% of their holdings. The
feature of Mahalwari sysatem was that it has got many provisions of both the
Zamindari System and Ryotwari System. the land was divided into estates.
The estates were called as Mahal. Each Mahal comprises a village. If villages
are too small, then two or three villages were merged and converted into a
Mahal.The assessment was done for the entire Mahal and a fixed revenue was
collected.The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the
taxes.Ownership rights were vested with the peasants.Moneylenders
involvement was a de-merit. They were ruthless towards the peasants. The
British use to collect high revenues.Impact of Mahalwari System:
Since the government revised the revenue periodically, the peasants had not
much benefit of elimination of middlemen between the government and the
village.