British Paramountcy and Revenue Reform

The Subsidiary Alliance System (1817–18)

Between 1817 and 1818, virtually all Rajputana states signed Subsidiary Alliance treaties with the British East India Company. These treaties had direct revenue implications:

• States were required to maintain British Resident Political Agents at their capitals
• The cost of the Resident's establishment was charged to the state
• States could no longer conduct external warfare — reducing the military justification for the jagir system

The British did not immediately reform internal revenue administration, preferring to work through existing rulers. However, British Residents began documenting revenue practices and submitting critical reports that slowly built the case for reform.

Settlement Operations

From the 1870s onward, the British introduced formal Settlement Operations in major Rajputana states, modelled on procedures used in British India's North-Western Provinces. The key objectives were:

1. Replace customary and arbitrary assessment with written, legally binding records
2. Establish field-by-field measurement and classification
3. Create a formal cadre of settlement officers subordinate to British-supervised state administrations

State-by-State Settlements

Marwar Settlement (1891–95): Conducted by A.P. Nicholson under the authority of the Jodhpur Durbar. Nicholson's settlement introduced:

• Systematic field measurement using Gunter's chain
• Written patta issuance to cultivators specifying their revenue obligations
• Classification of Marwar lands into 8 soil grades (with corresponding revenue rates)
• A Settlement Register that became the legal foundation for all subsequent land administration

Jaipur Settlement: The Jaipur state conducted its revenue settlement under British supervision in the 1880s–1900s period, integrating the existing patwari records with new field measurements. The Jaipur state had already moved toward more regularised revenue administration in the late 18th century under Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh (r. 1778–1803).

Mewar (Udaipur) Settlement: Mewar was the last major state to undergo formal settlement, partly because of its proud tradition of autonomy. The Mewar Revenue Settlement of the early 20th century retained more customary features than the Marwar or Jaipur settlements.

British-Period Administrative Changes

The Subsidiary Alliance era introduced new administrative concepts into Rajput states.

Separation of executive, judicial, and revenue functions: Pre-British Rajput administration merged these functions in the faujdar. British-supervised reform gradually separated them, creating distinct revenue courts (Nazim adalats) and establishing the principle that revenue disputes should be adjudicated by separate officers.

Kamdar and Tahsildar reforms: The traditional Kamdars — state revenue collectors — were replaced or supplemented by a new Tahsildar cadre trained in British-style record-keeping. The tahsildar's jurisdiction (tahsil) became the standard sub-district unit replacing the pargana in most Rajputana states by the 1920s–1930s.

Record-of-Rights (ROR): The introduction of the formal Record of Rights — a consolidated village record combining khasra, khatauni, and cultivator-rights statements — was perhaps the single most transformative administrative change. It gave cultivators documentary proof of their tenancy, which could be used to resist arbitrary ejection by jagirdars. The Rajputana states resisted universal ROR implementation; the British pushed it through as a condition for continued administrative cooperation.

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