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• Besides these, permanent settlement and company reduced the power of
Zamindars. Sometimes ryots and village headman-jotedar deliberately delayed the
payments.

Limitations Imposed on Zamindars by the Company:

• Zamindars were important for the company but it also wanted to control and
regulate them, subdue their authority and restrict their autonomy.
• Thus, the zamindars’ troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished and their
‘cutcheries’ (courts) brought under the supervision of a collector appointed by the
company.
• Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and local police.
• Over time zamindars were severely restricted and their powers were seized.

The Rise of The Jotedars in Villages:

• The group of prosperous farmers were popularly known as jotedars. Jotedars
were a class of rich peasants.
• They acquired vast areas of land, controlled trade, money lending and exercise
immense- power over the poorer cultivators. Their land was cultivated through
share cropper known as adhiyars or bargadars.
• Within village the power of jotedars was more effective than that of Zamindars.
They fiercely resisted the efforts of Jama to increase the Jama of village and
prevented zamindari official from executing their duties.
• Sometimes they also purchased the auctioned property of zamindar. Joiedar
played an important role in weakening of zamindari system.

The Resistance of the Zamindars:

• To prevent the weakening of their authority, zamindar took series of steps-like
fictitious sale or transferring of property to female- member of family, manipulated
the auctions, withhelding revenue deliberately, threating or intimidating the people
outside their zamindari, if they try to bought an estate.

The Fifth Report and its Impact on Zamindars:

• It was the fifth of a series of report on administration and activities of East India
Company in India. It was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813.
• British Parliament forced the company to produce regular report on the
administration of India and appointed committees to enquire into the affairs of the
company. It became the basis of intense parliamentary debates on the nature of
East India Company’s rule in India.
• Fifth report has shaped our conception of what happened in rural Bengal during
that period and evidence contained in the 5th report are very important.