Midnapore District Company, Raiyats & Zamindars 1760-1885

The book deals with the land revenue administration of the district of Midnapore during 1760 to 1885. It focuses the indepth interaction between the district administration and the Midnapore zamindars on one hand and the raiyats on the other revealing the nature of treatment received by the raiyats from the zamindars and the district administration. The work opens with a mini-census operation conducted by the administration in some selective parganas in order to assess the productivity of the land and the paying capacity of the raiyats as prelude to the introduction of permanent settlement of land revenue in the district after 1793. Based on the primary source-materials available at the District Record Office at Midnapore, State Archives of  West Bengal, Calcutta and the India Office Library (British Library) in London, the work contains the pargana-wise revenue assessment and the time series analysis of the land revenue demand of the district. The book further stress on the effects of the tenancy legislations of the government (1859 and 1885) which ultimately results in augmenting revenue of the government and ensuring the economic security of the zamindars leaving behind the raiyats prone to crimes, as victims of famines and generally in abject poverty and indebtedness all through the life. The wok is a significant contribution to the study of the socio-economics condition of the people of the district during the period under review.