It was a modified version of the Zamindari settlement, introduced in the Gangetic Valley, the North-West Provinces, some parts of Central India, and the Punjab. The revenue policy was conceptualised by Holt Mackenzie in 1819 and introduced by the British in 1822.
Features:
- This land revenue settlement was to be made village by village or estate (mahal) by the estate with landlords or heads of families who collectively claimed to be the landlords of the village or the estate.
- The settlement under the Mahalwari system was not made permanent. It was revised periodically after 20 to 30 years when the revenue demand was usually raised.
Impacts:
- The British made direct settlements with the village zamindars; thus, the control and status of the erstwhile big taluqdars were undermined.
- The taxes were so high that the proprietorship of land used to pass into the hands of merchants and moneylenders from the village zamindars.
- Thus, the Mahalwari system brought impoverishment to the cultivators of North India, and their resentment was reflected in the popular revolt of 1857.
- The villagers (peasants), taluqdars, and even new zamindars drove off British officials and destroyed their courts and official records.
