Burdwan auction of 1797
Also called: Burdwan estate auction · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
In 1797, several mahals (revenue estates) of the Raja of Burdwan in Bengal were sold at public auction. This happened because he had fallen behind on revenue owed under the Permanent Settlement. The sale looked real, but over 95 per cent of it was fictitious. The buyers were the raja's own servants and agents. So the raja kept control of his lands. The case shows that zamindars looked weak on paper but often survived in practice.
Example
At the 1797 Burdwan auction, many bidders who seemed to be outsiders were really working for the raja. As a result, his zamindari did not pass to strangers.
Don't confuse with
- Sunset Law: the Sunset Law was the rule that put an estate up for auction if revenue was not paid by sunset on the due date. The Burdwan auction was one actual sale that followed this kind of default.