Revision summary
Components were intermediary abolition, tenancy, ceilings, and redistribution. Abolition worked most; ceilings worked least. Barga shows tenancy can shift bargaining when recorded. Rural inequality changed shape toward rich peasants, not toward the landless. Caste-land overlap limited the egalitarian promise.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD ZA[Zamindari abolition] --> RP[Rich peasant] TN[Tenancy] --> MX[Mixed record] CL[Ceilings] --> WK[Weak redistribution]
Conclusion
- Effective against a colonial rentier form. Limited against proprietary caste agrarian power.
Land reforms curbed the zamindar layer and legalised many tenants. They did not equalise the rural poor. Effectiveness is high on intermediaries, low on labour and ceilings.
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Informal and reverse tenancy returned with machines and migration.
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