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Government. A policy intended for the amelioration of the conditions of the people means peace and contentment; a bad and inconsiderate policy means disturbance and discontent. It is too familiar for us that at the present day, while the British Government drew freely upon the various resources of India, nearly 40 per cent of the total revenue is derived from the taxes on land. But in the days gone by, when the taxable resources of the country were found to be few, land revenue came up to 75 per cent or more of the gross receipts of the State.
The annals of the history of the world point out a well-known fact, the perennial struggle between two different schools of thought concerning the attitude of the government towards its subject peasant. The one is to be found in the statement forwarded by Cornwallis in his defence of the permanent revenue settlement:" It is immaterial to Government what individual possesses the land, provided he Cultivates it, protects the ryots and pays the public revenue." Here, we should not forget that the "obstinate idealism of Lord Cornwallis", as Dr. Vincent Smith calls it, ignored the fundamental rights of the peasants while turning out to create a system which is all the more worse for them, as expressed in the direct recognition of the zemindar. The other school of thought is to be found crystallized in the memorable statement of Sir Thomas Munro:" We have only to guard the ryots from oppression and they will create the revenue for us." Hence a study of the land revenue system of a country is a necessity if a clear understanding of the significance of a nation's history is desired. Much more so is the case with regard to the
