The Bombay Land

Revenue Code 1897

Historical Background
and Reforms
 Land Tenure
• Name given in Common Law
System to the legal regime in
which land is owned by an
individual, who is said to "hold"
the land.

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• Monarch – King – considered to be the
owner of Land.
• All private owners are either its tenants
or sub-tenants.
• The term "tenure" is used to signify
the relationship between tenant and
lord, not the relationship between
tenant and land.
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 Three kinds of Rights..
• Use rights
• Control rights
• Transfer rights

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 Use rights
• Rights to use the land for
– grazing,
– growing subsistence crops,
– gathering minor forestry
products, etc.

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 Control rights:
• Rights to make decisions how the
land should be used including
deciding what crops should be
planted, and to benefit financially
from the sale of crops, etc.

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 Transfer rights:
• Right to
– sell or
– mortgage the land,
– to convey the land to others through
intra-community reallocations,
– to transmit the land to heirs through
inheritance,
– and to reallocate use and control rights.
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 Role of Land Laws / Land
Reform Laws
• Land Reform of Agrarian Reform
involves the changing of laws,
regulations or customs regarding land
ownership.
• Land reform may consist of a
government-initiated or government
sponsored actions relating to
redistribution of Land.
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• Land reform refer to transfer of
ownership from the more powerful to
the less powerful.
• Such as from a relatively small
number of wealthy owners with
extensive land holdings to individual
ownership by those who work the
land.
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• Such transfers of ownership may be
with or without compensation;
compensation may vary from token
amounts to the full value of the land.

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Understanding of Land Tenure..

• Pre-British Period
• British Period
• Post Independence Period

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 Pre-British Period
• Includes..
–Pre Mughal Rule
–Mughal Rule – 13th to 18th
Century.

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• State Interest – Assessment,
Measurement and Collection of
Sovereign Share – Revenue from
Agriculture.
• Land may be given as gifts to –
Relatives, Generals, Artists etc.

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• No interference with Village Life.
• Full autonomy
• Proprietary Rights for land must be
with Peasants.
• Revenue collection – against
providing security and not against
proprietary rights.
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• Revenue Collection method –
Mughal Era.
• Ministers including Raja
Todarmal & Muzaffar Khan -
given task for land revenue

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• Compendium of Land Records
prepared.
• Data Collection from entire country.
• Census Method introduced.
• First Systematic Map created
describing different land holdings.

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• 1571 – Introduction of a Rational
Revenue Assessment based on
survey and land holdings.
• Methods of Measurement including
‘Gaz’ (Yard) and ‘Vigha’ (60 Sq. Y)
introduced.
• Measurement methods improved –
Bamboo instead of Ropes.
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• Classification of Land for
collection of revenue including..
– Fertile Land
– Semi Fertile
– Wasteland

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 British Period
• The British domination over Indian
land started in the 17th century and
by the end of that century the British
rule extended over large areas with
the fall of Various local powers.
• British inherited the institutional
form of agrarian system from the
Mughals.
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• Different Revenue systems were
introduced in various parts of British
India.
• Reason: British annexed different
parts of India in various periods.
• Three Broad revenue systems were
introduced..
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1. Zamindari system
(Landlord Tenure)
2. Ryotwari System
(Cultivators Tenure)
3. Mahalwari System
(Joint Village Tenure)

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 1. Zamindari system
• Lord Cornwallis is considered to be
the father of Zamindari system in India.
• Under this system, the land was held by
a person who was responsible for the
payment of land revenue.
• They could acquire the land mostly free
of charge from the government during
the British rule and it is called estate.
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• Landlords never cultivated the land they
owned and rented them out to the
cultivators.
• In this system between the actual state
and the tiller there grew an intermediary
who was interested in the land only to
the extent of extraction of exorbitant rent.
• Covered about 57% Country
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 2. Ryotwari System
• Took Birth in Madras Presidency in 1792
and in Bombay Presidency in 1817-18
• Proprietary Rights of Peasant over Land.
• Responsibility to pay revenue to
Government was of the cultivators himself
and not of any intermediary.
• Ryot (Cultivators) have full rights over
land regarding Sale, Transfer, Lease etc.
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• Could not be evicted as long as they
pay land revenue.
• System covered nearly all southern
and western states of India.
• Even states of Jaipur and Jodhpur also
had this category of revenue system.
• Covered about 38% of Cultivated area in
India
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 3. Mahalwari System
• Introduced by William Bentinck in
Agra and Oudh, latter extended to
other states.
• Entire Village considered as collective
Unit.
• Village Communities held joint
responsibility to make payment of land
revenue.
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• Amongst these three, Ryotwari
System resembles Mughal
Revenue system.
• Considered to be most
convenient and appropriate
instrument for social
development.
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• British legislations institutionalized transfer
of land which created abuse of land market.
• Legislations enacted during 1850s in Ryotwari
and Mahalwari areas enabled moneylenders
to recover debts from mortgage and land
holdings.
• It caused serious impact on transfer of land
from holding of cultivators to non cultivators.

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• As a result society in these areas
polarised into landlords and rich
peasants versus tenants and
agricultural labourers.
• Distribution of Land became
highly unequal.

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 Results..
• Exploitation of Farmers,
Cultivators
• Agricultural Growth rate in
Ryotwari and Mahalwari Areas
remained higher than areas
having Zamindari System.

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• Productivity in agriculture is
mainly dependent on two sets of
factors, they are
– Technological and
– Institutional.

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• Technological factors are the uses of
agricultural inputs and methods such
as improved seeds, fertilizers,
improved ploughs, tractors,
harvesters, irrigations etc.
• All these factors help to raise
productivity, even if no land reforms
are introduced.
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• The institutional reforms include the
redistribution of land ownership in
favor of the cultivating classes so as
to provide them a sense of
participation in rural life, improving
the size of farms, providing security of
tenure, regulation of rent etc.

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• Also these institutional factors,
such as the existence of feudal
relations, small size of farms, sub-
division and fragmentation,
insecurity of tenancy rights, high
rents, etc. help the peasantry to
raise production.
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 Scope of Land Reforms
• Land reforms in general and
tenancy reforms in particular aim at
redistributing ownership holding
from the view point of social justice,
and reorganizing operational
holdings from the viewpoint of
optimum utilization of land.
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• The entire concept aims at the abolition
of intermediaries and bringing the actual
cultivator in direct contact with the state.
• The provisions of security of tenancy
and rent regulation provide a
Reasonable atmosphere in which the
agriculturist feels sure of reaping the
fruits of his labour
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 Tenancy Reforms
• Term refers to the reforming of
defective structure of land holdings
and a planned and institutional
organization of the relation between
Man and Land.
• Agriculture System that existed at time
of independence consisted several
defects including Tenancy.
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• Tenancy – Insecurity of tenure and high
rates charged by landlords.
• Reforms aimed at..
– Eliminating all the forms of exploitation and
social injustice within agrarian system.
– To provide security for tillers of the soil.
– To remove such impediments to increase
agricultural production as arise from agrarian
structure inherited from the past.
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• One of the major aspects of the land
reforms in India has been the
Tenancy Reform.
• Broadly, Three categories of Tenants
were available

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 Tenants..
1. Occupancy Tenants
2. Tenants at will
3. Sub Tenants.

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 1. Occupancy Tenants
• One Who enjoys permanent and
heritable rights on the land.
• They had security of Tenure and
could claim compensation from
landlords for any improvement
affected on the land.

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 2. Tenants at will
• One who did not have security of
tenure and could be evicted from
the land whenever landlord so
desire.
• No security of Tenure and also
may be compelled to pay
exorbitant rent to the landlords.
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 3. Sub Tenants
• One who were appointed by
occupancy Tenants.

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 Defects in Tenancy
• Insecurity of Tenure
• Rack-Renting
• Lack of Incentives to actual
cultivators.

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• Informal – Oral Tenancy has continued
to exist till today.
• Tenancy without legal sanctions and
permissions or without any written
agreements.
• Extracts higher rents from tenants.
• Convenient devise of landlords for
nullifying tenancy reforms.
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Some of the measures of Tenancy
Reforms..
• Regulation of Rent
• Security of Tenure
• Ownership Rights
• Zamindari Abolition

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