RAS question
The Permanent Settlement (1793) was applied to which regions?
Correct answer: (B) Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and later parts of Madras and Varanasi.
The Permanent Settlement of 1793 was applied chiefly in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and was later extended to parts of Madras, including the Northern Circars, and the Varanasi division.
Explanation
The Permanent Settlement was not a pan-India land-revenue arrangement; it had a defined territorial base. The core area was Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, where the system made zamindars the recognised landholders for revenue purposes. The NIOS lesson links the system with the loss of peasant rights, noting that it did not recognise the hereditary rights of peasants on land. The later extensions covered parts of Madras, especially the Northern Circars, and the Varanasi division. That limited spread is why the correct option names these regions together and why the figure is only about 19 percent of British Indian territory.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Only North India is too broad and also misses the southern extension to parts of Madras, especially the Northern Circars.
- (C) Only Bengal is too narrow because the core application also covered Bihar and Orissa, with later extensions beyond them.
- (D) All of India is wrong because the system covered only about 19 percent of British Indian territory, not every province.
Concept
This tests the Modern Indian History theme of British land-revenue settlements and their regional spread. It recurs in RAS because questions often contrast Permanent Settlement with Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems by area, revenue logic and impact on peasants.