Limitation Law of 1859
Also called: Limitation Act 1859 · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
The Limitation Law of 1859 was a British law. It made loan bonds between moneylenders and ryots (peasants) valid for only three years. The goal was to stop interest from piling up over many years. Moneylenders found a way around it. Every three years they made the ryot sign a fresh bond, and the unpaid interest was added to the principal (the original loan). The law, meant to protect peasants, ended up trapping them deeper in debt.
Example
In their petitions, ryots of the Bombay Deccan complained that moneylenders forced them to sign new bonds again and again. This bitterness helped spark the Deccan Riots of 1875.
Don't confuse with
- Punjab Land Alienation Act 1900: this law stopped peasants' land from passing to moneylenders. The 1859 law only limited how long a loan bond stayed valid.
Related concepts
- David Ricardo
- Ricardian theory of rent
- Rentier
- Bombay Deccan
- Thomas Munro
- Ryotwari system
- Temporary settlement
- Mahalwari system
- Malguzar
- Deccan famine of 1832-34