Summary Settlement of 1856

Also called: Summary Settlement · Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"

Meaning

The Summary Settlement of 1856 was the first land revenue settlement the British made in Awadh right after they annexed it in 1856. It called the taluqdars (big landholders) "interlopers", took villages away from them, and tried to collect revenue directly from the cultivators. It matters because it turned the taluqdars, and through them the peasants, against British rule. This helps explain why Awadh became the strongest centre of the Revolt of 1857.

Explanation

Background: why the British settled Awadh this way

• Awadh was taken in stages.
• 1801: Wellesley's Subsidiary Alliance (a treaty system he created in 1798) was imposed on Awadh. Under it, the ruler paid for British troops in his state and accepted a British Resident (an officer kept at his court).
• 1851: Lord Dalhousie called Awadh "a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day". The British wanted its land for indigo and cotton, and it was the principal market of Upper India.

• 1856: Awadh was annexed on the plea of misgovernment (bad rule), not under the Doctrine of Lapse. [2]

• The taluqdars were the old power in the countryside.

• A taluqdar was a big landholder who collected revenue from many villages.

• He held forts and kept armed retainers (private soldiers). The biggest taluqdars kept up to 12,000 foot-soldiers.

• Step one after annexation: the British disarmed the taluqdars and destroyed their forts. The Summary Settlement was step two. It went after their land.

Main features of the settlement

• The idea behind it: the British said taluqdars were "interlopers" (outsiders with no real right to the land). They claimed the taluqdars held land "by force and fraud".
• Who got the land: the British removed taluqdars wherever they could. They tried to settle directly with the actual cultivators.
• Villages lost: the taluqdars' share of Awadh's villages fell from 67% to 38%.
• Uneven effect: southern Awadh was hit hardest. Some taluqdars there lost more than half their villages.
• Heavier tax: the settlement overassessed the land, which means it fixed the tax too high. The revenue demand rose by 30–70%.

How it worked in practice: the peasant gained nothing

• On paper it was meant to help the peasant. In practice it hurt him.
• He paid more. The state now asked for 30–70% more revenue than before.
• He lost the taluqdar's "paternal cushion", the informal help the taluqdar gave him like a father figure:
• In bad years a taluqdar would postpone collection.
• He gave loans at festival times (tikai).

• The British officer did neither. He wanted the money on the fixed date.

• The result: the peasant lost his old protector and got a heavier bill. So he had every reason to follow his old taluqdar into revolt.

Results: from settlement to revolt

• The taluqdars rose in revolt. Hanwant Singh, Raja of Kalakankar in southern Awadh, saved a British officer's life. Then he told him: "At one blow you took from me lands… now I march… to Lucknow to try and drive you from the country."
• The anger reached the army. Awadh was the "nursery of the Bengal Army", meaning many sepoys came from there. A sepoy's family had to pay the new revenue demand, so village anger travelled into the army lines.
• One chain of grievances. Annexation and the settlement linked four groups:
• The prince lost his throne and court.
• The taluqdar lost his forts, soldiers and villages.
• The peasant lost his cushion and paid more.

• The sepoy, the peasant's son, was already angry about low pay, hard leave and racial insult.

• A people's revolt. The British officer Forsyth estimated that three-fourths of Awadh's adult males were in rebellion. NCERT calls the Awadh revolt "an expression of popular resistance to an alien order".

• What came after. In 1858 the British again pulled down the taluqdars' forts and disarmed the people of Awadh. [3] After the revolt, by settled textbook accounts, the British changed course. They gave the taluqdars back their lands and treated them as allies.

Time, place and evidence

• When: 1856, right after the annexation of Awadh. Its effects ran into the revolt of 1857–58.
• Where: Awadh (in present-day Uttar Pradesh), with Lucknow as its capital. Southern Awadh was hit hardest.
• Key people:
• Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General 1847–1856, under whom Awadh was annexed. [2]
• Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab, deposed and exiled to Calcutta. [2][3]
• Hanwant Singh, Raja of Kalakankar, a dispossessed taluqdar.

• Forsyth, the British officer who estimated how many people of Awadh were in revolt.

• How we know:

• British official estimates, such as Forsyth's three-fourths figure.
• Speeches recorded by British officers, such as Hanwant Singh's.
• Revenue figures (67% to 38% of villages; 30–70% higher demand), as given in NCERT Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj".

Don't confuse with

• Permanent Settlement (1793, Bengal): it made zamindars the owners and fixed their revenue for ever. The Summary Settlement did the opposite. It pushed the big landholders out and tried to deal with cultivators.
• Doctrine of Lapse: it was Dalhousie's rule for taking states with no natural heir. Awadh was not taken under it. It was annexed for "misgovernment", and the Summary Settlement came after annexation. [2]
• Subsidiary Alliance (imposed on Awadh in 1801): this was a political and military treaty that hollowed out the Nawab's power. The Summary Settlement was a land revenue measure, made after the state itself was taken over.
• Disarming of Awadh (1858): this was the British punishment during the counter-offensive. [3] The Summary Settlement (1856) came before the revolt and was one of its causes.

Prelims Hooks

• Summary Settlement → 1856 → Awadh, made right after annexation.
• Taluqdars' share of Awadh villages: 67% → 38%. Revenue demand rose 30–70%.
• The settlement called taluqdars "interlopers" holding land "by force and fraud".
• Southern Awadh was hit hardest. Hanwant Singh (Raja of Kalakankar) is the taluqdar quoted in NCERT.
• Trap: Awadh was annexed for misgovernment, not under the Doctrine of Lapse. [2]
• Order: Subsidiary Alliance on Awadh (1801) → Dalhousie's "cherry" remark (1851) → annexation and Summary Settlement (1856) → Revolt (1857) → Disarming of Awadh (1858). [3]

Mains Points

• "Pro-peasant" on paper, anti-peasant in practice. The British defended the settlement as freeing cultivators from greedy middlemen. But peasants paid 30–70% more, and they lost the taluqdar's help in bad years (postponed collection, festival loans). This is a strong example for any question on whether colonial land settlements helped the cultivator.
• Why Awadh's revolt was a popular revolt. The settlement hit the taluqdar and the peasant together. Annexation had already hit the Nawab and his court. Because Awadh was the "nursery of the Bengal Army", the sepoy was hit too. Forsyth's estimate that three-fourths of adult males rebelled shows that 1857 in Awadh was a whole society's resistance, not just a sepoy mutiny.
• Continuity and change in British policy. In 1856 the British tried to remove the taluqdars. After the revolt they made them allies again. This shows the Raj learnt that it needed the old landed elite to control the countryside. It is useful for answers on how British policy changed after 1857.

Related concepts

• Annexation of Awadh
• Wajid Ali Shah
• Taluqdar
• Hanwant Singh
• Nursery of the Bengal Army
• Bengal Army
• Sepoy grievances

Read more

• Awadh in revolt: anatomy of a rebellion