DATED: _ _ / _ _ / 2022

Chapter No. 3
Chapter Name: RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE
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BOOK WORK:
I. Match the following:
Answer:
1. Ryot – Peasants
2. Mahal – Village
3. Nij – Cultivation on planter’s own land
4. Ryoti – Cultivation on ryot’s land
II. Fill in the blanks:
1. Indigo 2. it’s rich blue colour 3. Synthetic dye 4. indigo cultivation

NOTEBOOK WORK
Multiple Choice Questions [MCQs]:
1. Gandhiji visited Champaran:
a) to see the plight of Indigo planters in Champaran
b) to see the progress of Indigo plantation
c) to see the managing system of company
d) to meet the workers of cotton textiles.
Correct Answer: a) to see the plight of Indigo planters in Champaran

2. Given below are two statements labeled as Assertion [A] and reason [R]:
[ A ] : In 1792 France abolished slavery in the French colonies.
[ R ] : The African slaves who worked on the plantations, on the Caribbean islands, rose in rebellion
in 1791, burning the plantations and killing their rich planters.
Select the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
a) Both [A] and [R] are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.
b) Both [A] and [R] are correct but R is not the correct explanation of A.
c) [A] is true but [R] is false.
d) [A] is false but [R] is true.
Correct Answer: a) Both [A] and [R] are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.

3. “He felt that in the south there were no traditional zamindars. The settlement, they argued,
had to be made directly with the cultivators (ryots) who had tilled the land for generations.”
Who is he?
a) Thomas Munro b) Holt Mackenzie
c) Charles Cornwallis d) Robert Clive
Correct Answer: a) Thomas Munro
Answer the following questions:
1. Write three problems which arose with the new Munro System of fixing revenue.
Ans.: The three problems which arose with the new Munro System of fixing revenue were:
a) Peasants were unable to pay the revenue.
b) Ryots fled the countryside.
c) Villages became deserted in many regions.

2. Why were ryots reluctant to grow indigo?

Ans.: Ryots were reluctant to grow indigo because:
a) The planters paid very low price for indigo.
b) The ryots were not at the position to even recover the cost, earning a profit was a far-fetched
idea. This meant that ryots were always under debt.
c) The planters insisted that peasants cultivate indigo on the most fertile part of the land but the
peasants preferred growing rice on the best soil as after the indigo harvest the land could not
be used for sowing rice.

3. How was Mahalwari System different from the Ryotwari System?

Ans.:
Mahalwari System
 Mahalwari system was introduced by Holt
Mackenzie in North India.
 This system had a lot of new features i.e.
very high demand for revenue.
 There was no direct relationship between
government and ryots.
Ryotwari System
 Ryotwari system was introduced by Thomas
Munro, first in Madras then in Bombay.
 This system had many features of the
revenue system of the Mughals.
 There was a direct relationship between
government and ryots or peasants.

4. Describe the main features of the Permanent Settlement.

Ans.: The main features of the Permanent Settlement, introduced by the Governor General Lord
Cornwallis in 1793, were:
a. The amount of revenue was fixed permanently;
b. The revenue was fixed at almost half of the produce;
c. The rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars and were asked to collect rent from the
peasants and pay revenue to the company.
d. It would ensures a regular flow of revenue into the Company’s coffer; and,
e. It would encourage the zamindars to invest in improving the land.
5. What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in
Bengal?
Ans.: The circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in Bengal were:
a. The ryots refused to pay rents to the planters and they also refused to grow indigo.
b. Ryots swore that they would no longer take advances to sow indigo.
c. The ryots became violent and they attacked on the indigo factories.
d. Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted and the gomasthas, the agents of
planters, who came to collect the rent were beaten-up;
e. The local zamindars and village headman also began to favour the indigo ryots. They mobilized
the indigo peasants and fought pitched battles with the lathiyals of planters.

6. What are the two main systems of indigo cultivation?

Ans.: The two main systems of indigo cultivation were:
a) Nij Cultivation, and
b) Ryoti Cultivation
a) Nij Cultivation:
 Within this system the planters produced indigo in lands that they directly controlled.
 They either bought the land or rented it from zamindars and produced indigo by employing
hired labourers.
b) Ryoti Cultivation:
 In this system the planters forced the ryots to sign a contract or an agreement (Satta).
 Those who signed the contract got cash advances from the planters at low rates of interest to
produce indigo.
 The planters provide the seed and the drill, while the cultivators prepare the soil, sowed the
seeds and looked after the crop.

ACTIVITY:
Collect pictures and paste it in your notebook – Rani of Jhansi, Mahadji Sindhia, Haider Ali or Maharaja
Ranjit Singh and write a story or poem or information (on any one).

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