What is "mahalwari"

The Mahalwari was a revenue collection system that was introduced by Holt Mackenzie in British India.It was one of the three major land tenure systems implemented by the British in India. The other two systems were the Permanent Settlement of Bengal and the Ryotwari system. During the 1800s, the British tried to establish their control over the administrative machinery of India. The System of Land Revenue acted as a chief source of income of the British. Land was one of the most important source of income for the British. Thus, they used land to control the entire Revenue system, strengthening their economic condition in India.

The word Mahalwari is derived from the Hindi word Mahal , which means house, district, neighbourhood or quarter. This system consisted of landlords or Zamindars claiming to represent entire villages or even groups of villages. Along with the village communities, the landlords were jointly responsible for the payment of the revenues. But, individual responsibility was always there. The land included under this system consisted of all land of the villages, even the forestland, pastures etc.

This system was prevalent in the parts of Uttar Pradesh, the North Western province, parts of Central India and Punjab