SSC CGL History · Modern India
Company Conquest and Land Revenue
How the East India Company won Bengal and then the rest of India, the three ways it collected land revenue, and the nationalist case that its rule drained India's wealth.
Why this matters
Twenty questions in the bank: nine from the 2023 shifts, eight from the 2024 shifts and three from the 2025 shifts, 14 of them EASY. SSC asks almost every one as a match of a name to a policy: which Governor-General devised which policy, which settlement ran in which province, who first wrote of the drain. Learn each policy with its maker and the trap is gone.
Concept 1 of 3: Battles and annexation policies
Definition
In time order:
- Murshid Quli Khan made Bengal virtually independent of the Mughals from 1717 and moved its capital to Murshidabad.
- Plassey (1757): Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah. It is taken as the start of British political power in India.
- Buxar (1764): Major Hector Munro defeated three allies together: Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The Treaty of Allahabad (1765) then gave the Company the Diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
- Ring-fence policy: Warren Hastings defended the Company's lands by protecting neighbouring states such as Awadh as buffer states.
- Subsidiary Alliance (1798): Lord Wellesley. The ruler kept a British force paid for by him, accepted a British Resident at his court and made no war or alliance without British consent. The Nizam of Hyderabad accepted first.
- Doctrine of Lapse: Lord Dalhousie (1848 to 1856). A dependent state whose ruler died without a natural heir passed to the Company: Satara (1848), Jhansi and Nagpur among them.
- James Rennell, asked by Clive, drew the first map of Hindustan.
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Modern India · Company Conquest and Land Revenue
Wellesley and Dalhousie swapped
Clive did not fight at Buxar
Concept 2 of 3: Land revenue settlements
Definition
The three systems:
- Permanent Settlement (Zamindari), 1793, Lord Cornwallis: in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The zamindar paid a revenue fixed for ever.
- Ryotwari, Thomas Munro and Alexander Read: mainly in Madras and Bombay. The ryot (cultivator) paid the government directly. Its assessment followed David Ricardo's theory of rent.
- Mahalwari, Holt Mackenzie (1822): in the North-Western Provinces, Punjab and the Central Provinces. The village (mahal) as a whole was assessed.
| System | Who paid | Where | Name to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Settlement (1793) | Zamindar, fixed amount | Bengal, Bihar, Orissa | Lord CornwallisQ |
| Ryotwari | The cultivator, directly | Madras, Bombay | Thomas Munro, Alexander Read |
| Mahalwari (1822) | The village as a whole | North-West, Punjab, Central Provinces | Holt Mackenzie |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Modern India · Company Conquest and Land Revenue
Cornwallis, not Wellesley or Curzon
Ryotwari is south and west, Mahalwari is north
Concept 3 of 3: The drain of wealth and early industry
Definition
The facts:
- Before modern industry, India's chief exports were cotton and silk fabrics.
- Dadabhai Naoroji was the first nationalist to set out the drain theory, in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901, built on his papers from 1867). R. C. Dutt carried it forward in The Economic History of India.
- The drain went through the home charges: salaries, pensions and interest paid in England out of Indian revenue.
- Modern industry under British rule: the first cotton mill at Bombay (1854), the first jute mill at Rishra near Calcutta (1855), and the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur (1907).
| Fact | Year | Name or place |
|---|---|---|
| Poverty and Un-British Rule in India | 1901 | Dadabhai NaorojiQ |
| The Economic History of India | 1902 | R. C. Dutt |
| First cotton mill | 1854 | Bombay |
| First jute mill | 1855 | Rishra, near Calcutta |
| Tata Iron and Steel Company | 1907 | Jamshedpur |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 3 · Modern India · Company Conquest and Land Revenue
Naoroji first, Dutt later
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Land revenue settlements3 rows
| System | Who paid | Where | Name to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Settlement (1793) | Zamindar, fixed amount | Bengal, Bihar, Orissa | Lord CornwallisQ |
| Ryotwari | The cultivator, directly | Madras, Bombay | Thomas Munro, Alexander Read |
| Mahalwari (1822) | The village as a whole | North-West, Punjab, Central Provinces | Holt Mackenzie |
The drain of wealth and early industry5 rows
| Fact | Year | Name or place |
|---|---|---|
| Poverty and Un-British Rule in India | 1901 | Dadabhai NaorojiQ |
| The Economic History of India | 1902 | R. C. Dutt |
| First cotton mill | 1854 | Bombay |
| First jute mill | 1855 | Rishra, near Calcutta |
| Tata Iron and Steel Company | 1907 | Jamshedpur |
Watch out for (5)
- Wellesley and Dalhousie swapped→ Battles and annexation policies
- Clive did not fight at Buxar→ Battles and annexation policies
- Cornwallis, not Wellesley or Curzon→ Land revenue settlements
- Ryotwari is south and west, Mahalwari is north→ Land revenue settlements
- Naoroji first, Dutt later→ The drain of wealth and early industry
Test yourself on Modern India
20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.