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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

“Ryotwari falls into three stages – early, middle and late, and the only description common to all is that it is a mode of settlement with small farmers, so small, indeed, that their average holding is, on recent figures, only about 6½ acres”. Critically examine.

  • UPSC 2013
  • Economic Impact of British Colonial Rule

The Ryotwari system — direct revenue settlement between the state and the individual cultivator, with no zamindar intermediary — evolved considerably in method across the nineteenth century even though its social base remained the small peasant proprietor throughout.

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What the full answer covers

  • Origins: Why Ryotwari Emerged at All
  • The Early Stage (1792–1807): Pilot Assessment under Reed and Munro
  • The Middle Stage (1820s–1855): Systematization without Science
  • The Late Stage (1855 onward): The Scientific Survey Settlement
  • The Constant Thread: Smallness of Holding and Its Meaning

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