ABSTRACT

The British rule in India brought about many changes in the agrarian system in the country. The old agrarian system collapsed and under the new system, the ownership of land was conferred on the Zamindars who tried to exhort as much as they could from the cultivators of land. Very little was left to the peasants after paying to the Zamindar. The income of the peasants was so little that they were at the mercy of the moneylenders who charged exorbitant rate of interest on them and exploit them as much as they possibly could. The courts set up by the British government also favoured the moneylenders against the peasants. Therefore, lot of peasants were extremely miserable. The various peasant movements and uprisings during the 19^th and 20^th centuries were in the nature of a protest against the existing conditions under which their exploitation knew no limits.