Bengal Tenancy Act 1885
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 set out the rights of tenants and zamindars in Bengal. It gave occupancy rights to ryots who had held land in a village for twelve years. Occupancy rights meant they could not easily be thrown off the land. The Act also limited how much zamindars could raise rents. The British passed it partly because of peasant unrest, such as the Pabna revolt of 1873. It was one of the first steps to protect cultivators under the zamindari system.
Example
In Pabna district in eastern Bengal, peasants joined together in the 1870s against high rents and evictions by zamindars. Unrest like this pushed the government to pass the 1885 Act.
Don't confuse with
- Permanent Settlement (1793): the Permanent Settlement fixed the revenue that zamindars paid the state. It did nothing to protect the ryots. The 1885 Act was about protecting tenants from zamindars.