Indian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Studies

Colonial Legacies in Indian Agriculture: The Enduring Impact of British Land Revenue Policies

This paper examines the structural transformations induced by British colonial policies in Indian agriculture and the land revenue regime, and traces their enduring legacies in postcolonial India. Beginning with the historical backdrop of colonial conquest and the introduction of new revenue systems, the analysis explores how policies such as the Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari, and Mahalwari systems altered land tenure, agrarian relations, and peasant welfare. The paper interrogates the social consequences of commercialization, indebtedness, land dispossession, famines, and rural inequality, situating strands of the colonial agrarian regime in broader theoretical debates around property rights, institutional persistence, and path dependence. Drawing on empirical studies on district-level outcomes and poverty, as well as comparative institutional research, the essay also examines how colonial land policies continue to influence agricultural productivity and rural inequality in the contemporary period. Finally, the paper reflects on possible trajectories for the future by assessing land reform, agrarian policy, and institutional redesign in India, highlighting both challenges and opportunities for redressing the colonial burden. The analysis argues that British colonial land revenue policy was not merely extractive in the short run, but created durable institutional constraints that shaped India’s agrarian development path well after independence. The concluding remarks emphasise that meaningful reform must address the colonial-inherited distortions in property rights, credit markets, and institutional capacity.