Mahalwari System

• Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of Lord William Bentick.
• It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.
• The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System (in Bengal Presidency) and Ryotwari System (in Madras and Bombay Presidency).
• It was the last land settlement experimented by the company administration and expected to be an improvement over both the previous working settlements. 
• In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. 
• Each Mahal comprises one or more villages.
• Ownership rights were vested with the peasants.
• The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the taxes. Generally a person known as Lambardar was appointed as Mahal for a particular village.
• The settlement under the Mahalwari operation was directly made with the villages or estates or Mahals by the instruction of the settlement officers, who fixed the rent with the consultation of ‘lambardar’ and the rent to be paid by the cultivating peasants.
• In a simple revenue language, the Mahalwari settlement was famous as a ‘mauzawar’ settlement where ‘mauza’ stands for a village or a unit of assessment. 
• The foundation of entire land revenue assessment and realization in the Mahalwari operated region was based on the records of ‘shajra’ or field map and “khasra” or field register
• Though the Mahalwari system eliminated middlemen between the government and the village community and brought about improvement in irrigation facility, yet its benefit was largely enjoyed by the government.