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The Permanent Settlement — also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal ((ベンガル語: ) ''Chirosthayi Bandobasto(চিরস্থায়ী বন্দোবস্ত)'') — was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire Empire and the political realities of the Indian countryside. It was concluded in 1793, by the Company administration headed by Charles, Earl Cornwallis. It formed one part of a larger body of legislation enacted known as the Cornwallis Code. The other two systems prevalent in India were The Ryotwari System and The Mahalwari System. ==Background== Earlier ''zamindars'' in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha had been functionaries who held the right to collect revenue on behalf of the Mughal emperor and his representative or ''diwan'' in Bengal. The diwan supervised the zamindars to ensure that they were neither lax nor overly stringent. When the East India Company was awarded the diwani or overlordship of Bengal by the empire following the Battle of Buxar in 1764, it found itself short of trained administrators, especially those familiar with local custom and law. As a result, landholders were unsupervised or they reported to corrupt and indolent officials. The result was that revenues were extracted without regard for future income or local welfare. Following the devastating famine of 1770, which was partially caused by this short-sightedness, Company officials in Calcutta better understood the importance of oversight of revenue officials. They failed to consider the question of incentivisation; hence Warren Hastings, then governor-general, introduced a system of five-yearly inspections and temporary tax farmers. Many of those appointed as tax farmers absconded with as much revenue as they could during the time period between inspections. Parliament took note of the disastrous consequences of the system, and in 1784 British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger directed the Calcutta administration to alter it immediately. In 1786 Charles Cornwallis was sent out to India to reform the company's practices. In 1786 the East India Company Court of Directors first proposed a permanent settlement for Bengal, changing the policy then being followed by Calcutta, which was attempting to increase taxation of zamindars. Between 1786 and 1790, the new Governor-General Lord Cornwallis and Sir John Shore (later Governor-General) entered a heated debate over whether or not to introduce a permanent settlement with the zamindars. Shore argued that the native zamindars would not trust the permanent settlement to be permanent, and that it would take time before they realised it was genuine. Cornwallis believed that they would immediately accept it and begin investing in improving their land. In 1790 the Court of Directors issued a ten-year (Decennial) settlement to the zamindars, which was made permanent in 1793. By the Permanent Settlement Act of 1793, the Zamindars power of keeping the armed forces were taken back and they remained just the tax collectors of the land. The power of Zamindars were considerably weakened as they were not allowed to hold any court as it was brought under the supervision of Collector appointed by the company. British officials believed that investing in the land would improve the economy. They did not want to take direct control of local administration in villages because of several reasons.They did not want to annoy those people who had traditionally enjoyed power and prestige in the village. In order to keep powerful people happy and to collect better revenue, Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement. As per permanent system, rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars. The zamindars were supposed to collect the land revenue from the peasants. As per the permanent settlement: #The rate of revenue was not to be increased ever in the future. #The company officials believed that this would give some motivations to zamindars to invest in the land. #Zamindars would be assured of long-term returns of continuous flow of revenue. #It also created a new social class of land-lords who were loyal to the British. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「permanent settlement」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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