History

Colonialism and the Countryside

Question:

What explains the anger of Deccan ryots against the moneylenders?

Answer:

The main reasons for the anger of Ryots against moneylenders are as follows:
1.In rural India it was traditional rule that the interest will always remain less than the principal amount. However, in many cases interest payable was more than the principal itself. In one case the interest was Rs 2000 against principal amount of Rs100.
2.No receipt was paid in case of payment of loan partly or fully. This opened the scope of manipulation by the moneylenders.
3.Ryots complained about forging of documents and other fraudulent activity by the moneylenders.
4.Ryots believed that moneylenders were insensitive to them and made an arrogant and exploitative lot.

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Colonialism and the Countryside

Q 1.

What are the problems of using the official sources in writing about the history of peasants.

Q 2.

How did the American Civil War affect the lives of the ryots in India ?

Q 3.

Why were so many Zamindaris auctioned after the Permanent settlement?

Q 4.

What explains the anger of Deccan ryots against the moneylenders?

Q 5.

Why did the Santhals rebel against British rule ?

Q 6.

Why did the Santhals rebel against British rule ?

Q 7.

On an outline map of the subcontinent, mark out the areas described in this chapter. Find out whether there were other areas where the Permanent Settlement and the ryotwari system were prevalent and plot these on the map as well.

Q 8.

How did Zamindars manage to retain control over their zamindaris?

Q 9.

In what way was the livelihood of Paharias different from that of Santhals?

Q 10.

Why was jotedar a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal ?

Q 11.

How did the Paharias respond to the coming of outsiders?