The British imposed heavy land revenue systems in India after gaining Diwani rights in 1765. These systems became the primary source of colonial income but devastated peasants, altered agriculture, and reshaped India’s rural economy.

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• Land revenue = tax on agricultural production
• British depended on land tax as main income source
• Farmers bore cost of Company wars and administration
• Excessive taxation caused frequent famines, land abandonment
• Permanent Settlement (1793) fixed revenue with zamindars
• Ryotwari (1820) gave ownership to peasants, but high taxes
• Mahalwari (1822) based on villages as revenue units
• Other systems: Taluqdari, Malguzari
• Shift from food crops to cash crops worsened food shortage
• Rising debt, moneylenders exploited peasants
• Handicraft industry declined as peasants lost income
• Led to inequality, rural poverty, repeated famines