What were the main features of the British Land Revenue Policy? Analyze its impact on the peasantry in Assam

Following the Treaty of Yandabo (1826), the British replaced the labor-based Ahom Paik system with a colonial land revenue policy aimed at maximizing cash collection.

Main Features:

• Monetization: Mandatory payment of revenue in cash instead of produce or labor.
• Land Classification: Land was surveyed and classified (e.g., Basti, Rupit, Faringati) with varying tax rates.
• Mauzadari System: Appointment of Mauzadars as intermediaries for revenue collection.
• Periodic Increases: Frequent and arbitrary hikes in revenue rates (e.g., 1868 and 1893).
• Wasteland Rules: Liberal grants to tea planters while taxing the local peasantry heavily.

Impact on Peasantry:

• Indebtedness: Peasants, lacking cash, were forced to borrow from moneylenders (Mahajans/Kayas), leading to a cycle of debt and land alienation.
• Agrarian Distress: High revenue demands during natural calamities (floods/epidemics) led to extreme poverty.
• Rise of Peasant Resistance: The oppressive policy gave birth to the Raij-Mel (people’s assemblies), culminating in historic uprisings like the Phulaguri Dhawa (1861) and the Patharughat Satyagraha (1894).
• Marginalization: While the tea industry flourished under “Wasteland Rules,” the indigenous rice-cultivating peasantry was pushed into subsistence.

Conclusion: The British land revenue policy transformed Assam’s self-sufficient economy into a colonial appendage, where the peasantry bore the cost of imperial expansion.