Taluqdar

Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"

Meaning

A taluqdar was a big landholder who collected revenue from many villages. The word literally means "one who holds a taluq", or a connection. In Awadh he was almost a small king, with his own forts and private soldiers. When the British took away his forts and villages after annexing Awadh in 1856, many taluqdars joined the 1857 revolt. That is why the taluqdar is central to understanding why 1857 was more than a sepoy mutiny.

Explanation

Who the taluqdar was

• Meaning of the word. "Taluq" means a connection. Over time it also came to mean an area of land. A taluqdar was the person who held that land and its revenue rights.
• In Bengal. Under the Permanent Settlement (1793) (a fixed land-revenue deal the Company made with landholders), the Company treated the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal as zamindars (landholders who had to pay a fixed revenue to the state on time).
• In Awadh, before British rule:
• He collected revenue from many villages.
• He held forts.
• He kept armed retainers (private soldiers). The biggest taluqdars kept up to 12,000 foot-soldiers.
• He acted as a protector of his peasants. In bad years he postponed collection of revenue. At festival times he gave loans (tikai).

How the British pulled him down (1856)

• Background. The Subsidiary Alliance was imposed on Awadh in 1801. Under this system the Nawab paid for British troops and had to accept a British Resident (a permanent British officer at his court). Lord Dalhousie called Awadh "a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day" (1851). Awadh was annexed in 1856 on the plea of misgovernment, not under the Doctrine of Lapse. [2]
• Step 1: Taking away his military power.
• The British disarmed the taluqdars.

• They destroyed their forts.

• Step 2: The Summary Settlement of 1856. This was the land settlement made right after annexation.

• The British called taluqdars "interlopers" (outsiders with no real right to the land).
• They said taluqdars held land "by force and fraud".

• So the British tried to cut them out and deal directly with the cultivators.

• Result in numbers:

• The taluqdars' share of Awadh villages fell from 67% to 38%.
• Southern Awadh was hit hardest. Some taluqdars there lost more than half their villages.

Why the peasant followed the taluqdar, not the British

• The British said the settlement would help the peasant. It did not:
• The revenue demand rose by 30–70% (overassessment).
• The British officer did not postpone collection or give festival loans. He wanted his money on the fixed date.

• So the peasant lost his old protector and paid a much bigger bill.

• The sepoy link. Awadh was the "nursery of the Bengal Army", meaning most of its soldiers came from there. The sepoy was the peasant's own son. His family felt the new revenue burden directly.

• One chain of anger. The Nawab lost his throne, the taluqdar lost his forts and villages, the peasant lost his protector, and the sepoy's family suffered. All four rose together.

Results: revolt and repression

• Many taluqdars led their peasants into the revolt of 1857. Hanwant Singh, Raja of Kalakankar in southern Awadh, saved a British officer's life and then told him: "At one blow you took from me lands… now I march… to Lucknow to try and drive you from the country."
• The British officer Forsyth estimated that three-fourths of Awadh's adult males were in rebellion.
• Disarming of Awadh, 1858. As the British took back Awadh, they pulled down the taluqdars' forts and disarmed the people, so that no second rising could happen. [3]
• After the revolt (settled textbook history), the British changed course. They gave many loyal taluqdars back their estates and treated them as allies of the Raj.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Before 1856 (Nawabi Awadh), through annexation in 1856, the revolt of 1857, and the British reconquest of 1858.
• Region: Awadh, especially southern Awadh. In Bengal, the term belongs to the Permanent Settlement of 1793.
• Key people:
• Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General 1847–1856, who annexed Awadh. [2]
• Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab, deposed and exiled to Calcutta. [2][3]
• Hanwant Singh, Raja of Kalakankar, a taluqdar rebel.
• Begum Hazrat Mahal, who crowned her son Birjis Qadr after the battle of Chinhat. [3]

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

• Evidence:

• British land-settlement figures (the fall from 67% to 38% of villages; the 30–70% rise in revenue).
• Hanwant Singh's speech, as quoted in NCERT.
• Forsyth's estimate of three-fourths of adult males in revolt.
• Records on the Disarming of Awadh, 1858. [3]

Don't confuse with

• Zamindar (Bengal, Permanent Settlement 1793): He paid a revenue fixed forever, and many zamindars lost their estates at auction because they could not pay on time. The Awadh taluqdar was pushed out in 1856 by the Summary Settlement, which treated him as an "interloper".
• Jotedar: A rich peasant in rural Bengal who controlled large areas of land at village level. A taluqdar was a big landlord above the villages, with forts and armed men in Awadh.
• Summary Settlement (1856) vs Permanent Settlement (1793): The Permanent Settlement was made with landholders, and Bengal taluqdars were treated as zamindars. The Summary Settlement was made against the Awadh taluqdars and tried to settle directly with cultivators.
• Doctrine of Lapse: Dalhousie did not use it on Awadh. Awadh was annexed on the plea of misgovernment. [2]

Prelims Hooks

• "Taluqdar" literally means one who holds a taluq, or a connection.
• The Summary Settlement of 1856 cut the taluqdars' share of Awadh villages from 67% to 38%. Revenue demand rose by 30–70%.
• The largest Awadh taluqdars kept up to 12,000 foot-soldiers before annexation.
• Hanwant Singh (Raja of Kalakankar) is the taluqdar whose speech ("At one blow you took from me lands…") is quoted in NCERT.
• Order of events: Subsidiary Alliance on Awadh (1801) → "cherry" remark by Dalhousie (1851) → annexation and Summary Settlement (1856) → revolt (1857) → Disarming of Awadh (1858). [3]
• Trap: Awadh was annexed for misgovernment, not under the Doctrine of Lapse. [2]

Mains Points

• The taluqdar connects elite anger and popular anger. The 1856 settlement hit the taluqdar's forts, soldiers and villages. It also took away the peasant's protector and raised his revenue by 30–70%. So landlord and peasant revolted together. Forsyth's estimate that three-fourths of adult males rose shows that Awadh's revolt was "an expression of popular resistance to an alien order", not just a soldiers' mutiny.
• A "pro-peasant" reform that hurt peasants. The British called taluqdars "interlopers" and claimed to free the cultivator. In practice the peasant paid more and lost informal help like postponed collection and festival loans. This is a strong example for any question on whether colonial land settlements helped cultivators.
• Continuity and change in British policy. In 1856 the British treated taluqdars as enemies of good government. In 1858 they crushed them by force. After the revolt they changed course: they restored many estates and made the taluqdars loyal props of the Raj. The British learned to rule through the old landed elite instead of against it.

Related concepts

• Annexation of Awadh
• Wajid Ali Shah
• Summary Settlement of 1856
• Hanwant Singh
• Nursery of the Bengal Army
• Bengal Army
• Sepoy grievances

Read more

• Awadh in revolt: anatomy of a rebellion