Patta and qabuliyat
Also called: Patta, Qabuliyat, Pottah · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
A patta was a written paper given to a cultivator. It recorded the land he held and the rent he had to pay. A qabuliyat was the matching paper signed by the cultivator, accepting those terms. Together, the two papers formed a land agreement. In colonial Bengal, these deeds were supposed to protect ryots from unfair rent demands.
Example
Under Cornwallis's Permanent Settlement of 1793, zamindars were expected to give pattas to their ryots. The patta stated each ryot's land and rent. In practice, zamindars often did not issue them properly, so many ryots had little written proof of their rights.
Don't confuse with
- Benami: buying property in someone else's name to hide the real owner. A patta is an open written record of who holds land and what rent they owe.