Attempt this previous-year question. The correct option stays hidden until you choose.
Consider the following statements regarding the British policy in Awadh immediately after its annexation in 1856 :
1. The taluqdars were dispossessed of their estates but allowed to retain their arms and forts.
2. A Summary Revenue Settlement was made in 1856 assuming that the taluqdars were outsiders.
3. The British believed in taking revenue directly from the peasants by removing the taluqdars.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Pick an option to check yourself.
Approach: *Analyze the socio-economic and military impacts of the British Summary Settlement of 1856 in Awadh to evaluate the treatment of the taluqdars.*
- **Correct Answer:** (a) 2 and 3 only
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- **Why Statement 1 is incorrect:** Immediately after the annexation of Awadh, the British sought to completely neutralize the military power of the *taluqdars*. The colonial government systematically **confiscated their weapons and dismantled their mud forts**, rather than allowing them to retain them.
- **Why Statement 2 is correct:** The **Summary Settlement of 1856** was driven by the British conviction that the *taluqdars* were merely interlopers or **outsiders** who had acquired their vast estates through force, fraud, or political opportunism during the decline of the Nawabi rule.
- **Why Statement 3 is correct:** Under the influence of Ricardian rent theories, British officials believed that land revenue should be settled **directly with the actual cultivators and peasants**. They expected that removing the intermediary *taluqdars* would eliminate exploitation and significantly increase the tax revenue flowing to the colonial state.
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