Agrarian Society and Agricultural Development in Colonial Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Tamil Nadu experienced British rule and the resulting change of land revenue settlements, staterun irrigation and an increasing export economy. Not everyone benefited from these changes. This article examines the impact of the Ryotwari and Zamindari systems, fixed cash assessments, statesponsored irrigation works on the Kaveri and Tamiraparani, and the lure of commercial crops on landholders, tenants and agricultural labor in the Madras Presidency. It examines rural indebtedness and famine and addresses the condition of women in agricultural work.The article argues that colonial agricultural development was double-edged: canals, anicuts and railways enlarged the cultivated and marketed surface of the economy, while rigid revenue demands, dependence on moneylenders and caste-based inequality left the majority of cultivators exposed to risk.