AgricultureEast India Company rule
Ryotwari system adopted in Madras Presidency
· Chennai
Under Thomas Munro the ryotwari land revenue system, dealing directly with cultivators, became the main settlement in Madras.
The ryotwari system was a land revenue system under which the government dealt directly with individual cultivators (ryots) rather than through zamindars. It is associated with Thomas Munro, who had developed it in the Baramahal and the Ceded Districts and extended it after becoming Governor of Madras in 1820. Each holding was assessed for revenue, and the cultivator was recognised as the occupant responsible for payment. The rates were high, and Munro gradually reduced the demand from one half to about one third of the gross produce. Ryotwari became the dominant land tenure in most Tamil districts for the rest of colonial rule.
