Permanent Settlement Research Articles

Iterative Method for Predicting Uneven Bridge Approach Settlement (BAS) Caused by Vehicle Loads

With the development of the transportation, the bridge approach settlement (BAS) received great attention which can result in structure deterioration of the bridge and road, costly maintenance, and hazardous driving conditions. Therefore, accurate prediction of BAS is important. In this paper, a methodology using the iterative procedure is presented to predict the long-term BAS. In this method, the dynamic deviator stress is obtained by a 3D finite element road model and the settlement is calculated by an empirical model with the dynamic deviator stress. Then, the settlement is used as the excitation of the vehicle model for updating the load in the 3D road model. After several iterative calculations, the long-term BAS can be obtained. The comparison between the iterative method and the empirical method is presented. Also the parametric study of the empirical equation is performed. A simplified equation considering the iterative procedure is proposed for engineering practice. Computed results showed that the permanent settlement predicted by the iterative method is larger than that calculated by the empirical method. Also, the parameters of the empirical equation have great effects on the settlement prediction. The applicability of the new empirical equation is also proved.

Between Caregiving and Soldiering: Filipina Non-Citizens and Settler Militarisms in Israel

ABSTRACT While Filipinas often appear in studies of gendered reproductive care, Filipinos appear commonly as militarized labor extending American hegemony. Both sets of Filipinx labor aspire to attaining citizenship and rights to permanent settlement. This article focuses on Filipinas in the Israeli Defense Forces. Filipina IDF recruits have recently appeared in Israeli media in order to reframe Israeli settler militarism as benevolent. Yet these instrumental portrayals build on longer histories of Philippine-Israeli entanglement. By situating two Filipinas’ stories within transnational contexts of humanitarian and reproductive care, we highlight how legacies of U.S. and Israeli settler militarism tether the Philippines to Israel.

Human History and Göbeklitepe

Şanlıurfa is known as the lands of the dawn of civilization and is located in regions so called as “Fertile Crescent” in archeology literature. From primitive religions to monotheistic religions, all religions emerged in this region. The very first agricultural practices were performed in this region and writing was invented also in this region. The male sculpture, so called as “Urfa Man”, came across during the excavations made within the scope of “Balıklıgöl Landscape Project” in 1992 and sent to Urfa Museum, was dated back to circa 10.000 BC and recorded as the oldest naturalistic life-sized sculpture of a human in archeology literature. This sculpture proved that Balıklıgöl and surroundings in Urfa city center were settled toward the end of Paleolithic age about 12.000 years ago (10.000 BC). At the end of this age, humans left the hunter and nomadic lifestyle and passed into permanent settlements, they established the very first villages and initiated agricultural practices for the first time and became producer societies. This age is also known as the age in which primitive religions emerged for the first time. Therefore, Şanlıurfa has a great place in world culture in terms of history of religions, history of agriculture and faith tourism. In archaeological excavations conducted in Göbeklitepe close to city center under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt, the oldest temple of the world belonging to ends of Paleolithic Age dated back to 12.000 years ago (10.000 BC) was explored. Such an exploration proved that Şanlıurfa was the oldest center of the believers in the world. Before Göbekli Tepe, archaeological excavations were conducted in Nevali Çori of Hilvan Town and a square-planned temple of Neolithic Age dated back to 8.500-8.000 BC was explored. Therefore, Nevali Çori led up the Göbeklitepe excavations. In several archeological excavations conducted in Şanlıurfa region, schematic idols to which Chalcolithic and Old Bronze Age Societies worshipped were explored. Several violin-type idols depicting homiform gods explored in Titriş Höyük Necropolis of Bozova Town and exhibited in Şanlıurfa Museum.

Origin and Development of Managed Meadows in Sweden: A Review

This review concerns when and why infield meadows developed, i.e. enclosed land, constructed and managed for production of livestock fodder. Meadows have been associated with ‘stalling’ of livestock, in turn associated with, for example, protection from adverse weather conditions, increasing efficiency of milk and manure production, or changing human-animal relationships. The suggested timing for origin of meadows ranges from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Meadows are embedded in a complex of interactions, including aspects of culture, material conditions and the environment, and these were treated as different components, unfolding over time: harvesting fodder, stalling livestock, milk production, use of manure, crops and permanent fields, fencing systems, tools, and settlements and land ownership. The interpretation is based on Hodder’s entanglement theory. It is concluded that these component’s appearance is distributed over a very long time, from the Neolithic to the first centuries AD, when meadows, viewed as a ‘complete’ system, appeared. People most likely for long knew the advantages of feeding livestock, and the means to achieve this: collecting additional fodder, keep livestock in close quarters, eventually indoors, and collect and distribute manure on crop fields, but the introduction of iron tools during the centuries around AD was the key to develop meadows. Stalling livestock and construction of infield meadows may have been partly decoupled. Although climate change was not a driver behind development of meadows, the agricultural system with meadows and livestock stalling was adaptive during later periods of climate deterioration, and for colonization of northern forests in Sweden.

Influence of Rail Pad Stiffness and Axle Loads on Dynamic Responses of Train-track Interaction with Unsupported Sleepers

Increasing the axle load causes track deterioration and permanent settlement of the ballast layer. In the ballasted railway tracks, due to the inevitability of unequal settlements in the ballast layer, part of the rail due to high flexural rigidity will become suspended, which causes the formation of the track with unsupported and partially supported sleepers. This situation increases rail vertical displacement and reactions on adjacent sleepers. Several models have been presented to study the effect of unsupported sleepers on dynamic responses of train-track interaction. In this paper, by applying mathematical model, unsupported and partially supported sleepers have been modeled and equations of motions for train-track interaction were written by assuming nonlinear behavior of rail and wheel contact. Following by solving the equations via numerical integration in the time domain, the effect of axle load and pad stiffness on rail vertical displacement were investigated. Results of the analysis suggested that through increasing the axle load rail displacement increased by 13 % in the unsupported sleeper and from 5 to 10 % in the partially supported sleeper. Also, by increasing the pad stiffness rail displacement decreased from 2 to 13 % in the unsupported sleeper and from 1 to 6 % in the partially supported sleeper.

Du passé colonial au récit national : les sociétés d’histoire au service des États-Unis

This paper considers the role of colonial history and colonial archives in the formation of early national history in the United-States, through a comparison between the Massachusetts Historical Society founded in 1791, and the New York Historical Society, created in 1804. While the New York Society struggled financially to build its colonial archive and to publish it, the Boston institution enjoyed the fruits of a private archive, itself a product of the promotional dimension of colonization and of the institutional requirements of permanent settlement. Settlement also shaped the political outlook of its members, who embraced expansion as the engine of the American enterprise of colonization. When history became professionalized in the late 1880s, and historiography began to look back on the past century for a tradition of scientific history serving the common national interest, the archival and analytical practices of the MHS came again to the fore, attesting to the role of political colonial sources in shaping wide historical interpretations of the meaning of American expansion.

Maize and dietary change in early Peruvian civilization: Isotopic evidence from the Late Preceramic Period/Initial Period site of La Galgada, Peru

The Late Preceramic Period (3000–1700 BCE) and Initial Period (1700–800 BCE) in Peru was a time of emergent social complexity as illustrated by the construction of ceremonial architecture and permanent settlements. A long-standing debate centers on the nature of the subsistence economies that supported this incipient complexity. Though some scholars consider maize to have been an agricultural staple at this time, a growing body of archaeological research indicates that the use of maize spread irregularly throughout Peru and did not become a dietary staple until sometime after c. 800 cal BCE. Using stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of human bone and dentine, together with radiocarbon dating, this study estimates dietary composition, as well as changing subsistence strategies among 32 individuals interred within the ceremonial center of La Galgada (2300–1300 cal BCE). Our data suggests that maize was not a dietary staple in either the Late Preceramic or the Initial (1700–800 cal BCE) Period occupations at La Galgada. Instead the modeled diet (SIAR Mixing Model) suggests a continued reliance on locally available food sources (i.e. primarily C3, legumes and grazing fauna). This finding combined with archaeological evidence indicates that diet remained relatively similar during the site’s occupation. Three radiocarbon dates generated for this study also indicate the re-use of La Galgada as a cemetery during the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (1150–1450 cal CE). Diet during the LIP exhibits a significant change, with a decrease in the proportion of C3 and legumes and an increase in the proportion of meat. This study highlights the utility of mixing models to reconstruct past human diet, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of potential differences in the proportions of food types over time.

Split Households, Family Migration and Urban Settlement: Findings from China’s 2015 National Floating Population Survey

For decades, China’s rural migrants have split their households between their rural origins and urban work locations. While the hukou system continues to be a barrier to urban settlement, research has also underscored split households as a migrant strategy that spans the rural and urban boundary, questioning if sustained migration will eventually result in permanent urban settlement. Common split-household arrangements include sole migration, where the spouse and children are left behind, and couple migration, where both spouses are migrants, leaving behind their children. More recently, nuclear family migration involving both the spouse and children has been on the rise. Based on a 2015 nationally representative “floating population” survey, this article compares sole migrants, couple migrants, and family migrants in order to examine which migrants choose which household arrangements, including whether specific household arrangements are more associated with settlement intention than others. Our analysis also reveals differences between work-related migrants and family-related migrants. The findings highlight demographic, gender, economic, employment, and destination differences among the different types of migrant household arrangements, pointing to family migration as a likely indicator of permanent settlement. The increase of family migration over time signals to urban governments an increased urgency to address their needs as not only temporary dwellers but more permanent residents.

Antislavery and Imperialism: The British Suppression of the Slave Trade and the Opening of Fernando Po, 1827–1829

AbstractThis article chronicles the construction of the first permanent foreign settlement on the West African island of Fernando Po (today called Bioko) as part of the British effort to suppress the slave trade in the 1820s. The settlement ended centuries of relative isolation by the indigenous Bubi who hitherto had successfully navigated between occasional trade with outsiders and repelling slave traders. Although British plans ultimately failed, the settlement remained, as did a large portion of the settlers. This article argues that the disruptive power of suppression created the conditions for a colonial shift toward integration of the island into the larger Euro–West African world. While the settlement's influence grew in the short term through its successful leveraging of economic and military resources, it was the landing of liberated slaves that would have the greatest long-term significance, and highlights the (often unintentional) connection between antislavery and imperialism.

Doing Family in “Times of Migration”: Care Temporalities and Gender Politics in Southeast Asia

The prevailing labor migration regime in Asia is underpinned by rotating-door principles of enforced transience, where low-wage migrant labor gains admission into host nation-states based on short-term, time-limited contracts and where family reunification and permanent settlement at destination are explicitly prohibited. In this context, we ask how migrant-sending families in Southeast Asian “source” countries—Indonesia and the Philippines—sustain family life in the long-term absence of one or both parents (often mothers). Through temporal concepts of rhythm, rupture, and reversal, we focus on how temporal modalities of care for left-behind children intersect with gendered power geometries in animating transnational family politics around care. First, by paying heed to the structuring effects of rhythm on social life, we show how routinized care rhythms built around mothers as caregivers have a normalizing and naturalizing effect on the conduct of social life and commonplace understanding of family well-being. Second, we explore the potential rupture to care rhythms triggered by the migration of mothers turned breadwinners and the extent to which gendered care regimes are either conserved, reconstituted, or disrupted in everyday patterns and practices of care. Third, we examine the circumstances under which gender role reversal becomes enduring, gains legitimacy among a range of poly care rhythms, or is quickly undone with the return migration of mothers in homecoming. The analysis is based primarily on research on Indonesian and Filipino rural households conducted in 2017 using paired life story interviews with children and their parental or nonparental adult caregivers.

Rammohun Roy: His contribution to the making of India

Rammohun Roy was the first Indian to use the English language to communicate his views on religious, social, and political issues. He also was possibly the first to make Bengali prose his vehicle to communicate his message. The essential message he wished to convey was that of rationalism and of an anxiety to convey Western advances in knowledge, especially science, to his fellow countrymen. He thus preferred English to Sanskrit education. His fight against sati was based not only on a call for humanity but also on a reform of traditional Hinduism and improvement of the position of women. His knowledge of Arabic and Persian made him appreciate the monotheistic message of Islam, which he also saw in ancient Hinduism, notably the Upanishads. Despite his own position as a large landholder, he wished to protect peasants from oppression and argued that rents payable by peasants should also be fixed at a low figure, just as the tax imposed on the landlord had been fixed under the Permanent Settlement.

Public health aspects of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains in sheep and goats of Bakhtiari pastoral tribe, Iran.

Nomadic populations do not have permanent settlements as they move their livestock between grazing areas in different seasons; such movements may have great impact on dissemination of food-borne pathogens in various regions. The aim of this study was to characterize Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains as a food-borne pathogen in sheep and goats of Bakhtiari pastoral tribe in Iran. In the present study, 72 fecal samples were obtained from 26 sheep and 46 goats. First, all recovered E. coli isolates were screened for stx gene. After detection of stx-positive isolates, the virulence genes including stx1, stx2, eae, ehly, saa, astA, subAB, terD, and the genetic markers of O Island 57 (Z2098 and Z2099) were investigated. Also fifteen important STEC O-serogroups were determined using PCR assays. Results showed that 27 animals (27/72; 37.5%) carried STEC strains including 16/26 (61.6%) sheep and 11/46 (23.9%) goats. All STECs were eae-negative but 81.4% (22/27) were positive for saa. The most prevalent virulence profile was stx1/stx2/ehly/saa/subAB (37%; 10/27). Most STECs (24/27) were positive for at least one of the selected OI-57 markers. The O91 (n = 6), O5 (n = 3), O113 (n = 1), O128 (n = 1), and O104 (n = 1) were the detected O-serogroups in this study. It is concluded that such moving animal populations could have public health concerns which have to be addressed in the future.

The Sedentary Process and the Evolution of Energy Consumption in Eight Native American Dwellings: Analyzing Sustainability in Traditional Architecture

According to the research developed by André Leroi-Gourhan in 1964, entitled “Gesture and speech”, the evolution of human beings during Prehistory was linked to the search for work efficiency. As time passed, man designed increasingly complex tools whose production implied a decreasing amount of energy. The aim of the present research was to determine if this evolution, which occurred in parallel to the sedentary process, also affected architecture, specifically if it can be detected on traditional dwellings, particularly in those built by the Native American Indians during the pre-Columbian period. Due to their great diversity, since both nomad and sedentary models can be found among them, and to the available information about their morphology and technical characteristics, these models offer a unique opportunity to study the consequences of this process for architecture. In order to achieve it, an alternative parameter that can be determined for any type of building was designed. It allows us to establish the amount of energy an envelope is equal to. The results obtained suggest that the efficiency of the dwellings decreased as this process went forward, but this pattern changed in its last step, when agriculture appeared and permanent settlements started to be built. Besides, statistical graphs were used in order to show graphically the relationship between it, the climate, the morphology of the dwellings and their technical characteristics.

Collapse of dispersal trait diversity across a long‐term chronosequence reveals a strong negative impact of frugivore extinctions on forest resilience

Abstract Understanding how seed dispersal disruption may alter plant community diversity and dynamics over a large temporal scale remains a challenge. Here, we use a long‐term chronosequence to compare changes in the richness and composition of different dispersal trait assemblages in communities established before and after human colonization in the Mascarene archipelago. Our study was located on Réunion on the slopes of the Piton de la Fournaise which is one of the most active volcanoes worldwide. We analysed 151 vegetation surveys on lava flows dated between 1401 AD and 1956 AD and in tropical rainforests established on older substrata. We defined five classes of substratum age, according to the well‐known chronology of native frugivore defaunation: ‘old substrata’ and [1401, 1665[ when frugivores were abundant and diverse before permanent human settlement; [1665, 1800[ when large‐bodied frugivore populations were strongly reduced; [1800, 1900[ when large‐bodied frugivores went extinct and small‐bodied frugivores were still abundant; [1900, 1956] decline in the populations of small‐bodied frugivores. Based on dispersal traits, we categorized 146 native woody species as anemochorous, small fleshy‐fruited or large fleshy‐fruited, i.e. plant of which fruit could not theoretically be dispersed by extant frugivores. Changes in dispersal trait diversity strongly correlated with the chronology of defaunation. Species‐rich communities settled before human colonization was strongly dominated by fleshy‐fruited species. Large fleshy‐fruited plants in the oldest communities settled after human colonization declined markedly and almost disappeared after 1800. The richness of small fleshy‐fruited plants decreased less rapidly across the chronosequence, with medium levels on [1665, 1800[ and [1800, 1900[ lava flows and low levels on [1900, 1956] lava flows. Conversely, the richness of anemochorous plants remained unchanged. Communities settled before human colonization had a similar composition. Fleshy‐fruited assemblages showed strong species loss across the chronosequence, while anemochorous assemblages showed strong species turnover, which was probably due to lower dispersal limitation. Synthesis. Our results provide the first insights into the tremendous impact that frugivore extinction has on plant colonization dynamics over 300 years. The dramatic loss of fleshy‐fruited plant diversity on historical lava flows highlights the irreplaceable dispersal role played by frugivores, especially large‐bodied species. The conservation of plant–animal mutualistic interactions is invaluable and refaunation efforts need to be undertaken in areas where frugivores have been extirpated.

Um estudo sobre o processo de ocupação do Parque Oeste Industrial a partir das reportagens veiculadas na imprensa

Este trabalho apresenta uma análise a partir de um levantamento das notícias publicadas pelos jornais O Popular e Diário da Manhã, referentes à maior desocupação urbana de Goiás, ocorrida em 2004, na região do Parque Oeste Industrial, em uma grande área urbana particular. A ocupação, que se iniciou em 2004, chegou a abrigar 4 mil famílias e a sua desocupação, amplamente coberta pela mídia, foi realizada pela Policia Militar de Goiás, com registros de violência. Após a desocupação as famílias foram levadas para ginásios esportivos e depois em uma área provisória no Setor Grajaú (onde viviam em barracos de lona), até o assentamento definitivo no Residencial Real Conquista, construído para abrigá-las e que só ficou completo em 2014 (e que também faz parte do nosso estudo). O estudo busca saber se a imprensa goiana, financiada pelo poder estadual, poderia ser espaço adequado para a expressão daqueles moradores provisoriamente ali instalados, bem como qual foi o seu grau de influência no desfecho do caso. Este trabalho busca, assim, propor reflexões e diagnósticos sobre o processo de ocupação urbana e o acesso à moradia em Goiânia visando contribuir para políticas públicas voltadas para a melhoria das condições de moradia da população.

Visions of a Martian future

As we look beyond our terrestrial boundary to a multi-planetary future for humankind, it becomes paramount to anticipate the challenges of various human factors on the most likely scenario for this future: permanent human settlement of Mars. Even if technical hurdles are circumvented to provide adequate resources for basic physiological and psychological needs, Homo sapiens will not survive on an alien planet if a dysfunctional psyche prohibits the utilization of these resources. No matter how far we soar into the stars, our psychologies for future generations will be forever tethered to the totality of our surroundings. By shaping our environment toward survival and welfare during the voyage to Mars and in a Martian colony, we indirectly shape our psyches and prepare them for a mission of unprecedented alienation and duration. Once on Mars, human factors such as leadership structure, social organization and code of conduct, group size, gender balance, developmental cycle, mobility, length of stay and the ecological settings and type and manner of subsistence, will create a novel Martian culture. The degree that settlers are severed from the Earth will affect how radically foreign this culture will be when compared with cultures on Earth.

The Global Refugee Crisis: Pathway for a More Humanitarian Solution

The global refugee crisis reveals refugees and other forcibly displaced persons (FDP) are uniquely vulnerable consumers on a dynamic pathway precipitated by trigger events that have disrupted or fractured marketing systems requisite for safety and well-being, resulting in dangerous journeys to temporary or permanent settlements. The Syrian Conflict is introduced to contextualize the challenges along the pathway and to show that a more Humanitarian Marketing System, spanning time, space and other systems, brings opportunities for governments, NGOs and businesses to cooperate and to provide FDP with resources, which enhance connectedness, reduce vulnerabilities and suffering, illuminate good practices and enable FDP to flourish when resettled. The authors discuss research-opportunities to facilitate further understanding, to develop and repair marketing systems, and to enhance the well-being of FDP and other stakeholders of the crisis.

"From Such Beginnings, Much May Be Expected"

"From Such Beginnings, Much May Be Expected" Brandon C. Downing (bio) In The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, David McCullough provides his version of how the West was won. He starts with a group of Revolutionary War veterans from New England led by Rufus Putnam, Manasseh Cutler, and Benjamin Tupper who founded the Ohio Company of Associates to secure land purchases in the Northwest Territory. Like all pioneer stories, their story was not an easy one. This was late eighteenth-century America where the advancing line of Euro-American settlement barely crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Compared to the thriving and well-developed eastern seaboard, the backcountry had "no roads. … no bridges, no towns, churches, schools, stores, or way-side taverns. … not one permanent legal settlement" (7). If the travelers survived the journey to the Ohio Country, then an uncountable number of trees of enormous size had to be cleared, houses had to be built, sustenance had to be obtained, and fields had to be sown and crops harvested. On top of the hard labor, settlers had to be vigilant against possible Indian attack; bears, wolves, and panthers lurking in the woods; and the harshness of the climate. Their success in overcoming these numerous obstacles enabled them to establish the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory—Marietta, Ohio—in 1788. McCullough is a good storyteller, and he succeeds in presenting the different personalities of the various settlers and the trials they had to endure to travel, build, and live in "their infant city." He illustrates the hardships endured by so many suffering from "Ohio fever" in their efforts to get from Massachusetts to the frontier. One couple, Ephraim and Leah Cutler, lost two children to illness: their one-year-old son, Hezekiah, and just a few days later their seven-year-old daughter, Mary. Even if one did survive the [End Page 173] journey, the realities of frontier life did not provide much certainty. Many residents suffered tremendously during the winter of the "Starving Year" (1789): measles took the lives of several children and smallpox took even more lives later that season. Not all was bad. McCullough also weaves in individual highlights such as the first wedding of the Northwest Territory between Rowena Tupper and Winthrop Sargent; the great escape of John Mathews from an Indian attack (sans trousers); and the building of Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett's opulent mansion by the notable and selftrained architect, Joseph Barker. Even during bleak times, when the settlers were confined to Campus Martius during the Northwest Indian War, they "enliven[ed] the off-hours within the stockade [with] a variety of games and sporting events—foot races, boxing matches" (117). These personal accounts provide a good description of what frontier life was like in the Ohio valley, and McCullough's ability to portray a vivid scene of so many individuals and families in one narrative is a testament to good, regional history. Despite the title, McCullough's book is not about the American West as one might imagine it. Instead, he primarily focuses on the individuals who founded, developed, and progressed the city of Marietta. This, however, is a good place to start because Marietta represented what the federal government envisioned the West to be—organized. Much of this organization was laid out in the Land Ordinance of 1785. In order to avoid lawsuits over property boundaries, collect taxes to pay for the Revolutionary War, and to satisfy land bounties to veterans, the land purchased by the Ohio Company of Associates would be divided into square townships six miles in length with thirty-six square miles in total. These organized township grids were similar to those found in New England. If the Land Ordinance was the form, then the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was the function as it established a territorial government and a method for admitting territories into states. The more recognizable provisions of this ordinance included the outlawing of slavery, reserving land for schools, ensuring trial by jury, and guaranteeing religious freedom. It was these articles that McCullough claims to be the "American ideals" the first pioneers of Ohio brought with them to...

Property and Sovereignty: Creating, Destroying and Resurrecting Property Rights in British India (1600 - 1800)

This paper, the first in a series of three papers, constitutes the first systematic legal attempt since the late nineteenth century to describe the changing configuration of property rights of zamindars (landlords) and ryots or raiyats (peasants) relative to the English East India Company in colonial India over a period of two hundred years from 1600 to 1800. This period begins with the Company’s first arrival in India to the court of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in 1600 as merely a trading company. It ends with the introduction of the Permanent Settlement in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis, the Governor General of Bengal in 1793, pursuant to the Company’s exercise of sovereign authority over the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. As described in the paper, during this period of great political upheaval, scandal, and intrigue, as the East India Company gradually transitioned from a monopoly trading company to a conquering and then an administering power, Company officials, including the Governor General, and later the Supreme Council of Bengal, created, destroyed, and resurrected property rights of landlords and tenant cultivators. Following a series of experiments with land revenue administration and the lives of zamindars and raiyats, with the sole objective of maximising revenue for the East India Company, Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement of Land Revenue in 1793, which completely destroyed the rights of peasant cultivators in favour of zamindars, and wreaked great injustice and misery upon the people of Bengal. It would take nearly seventy years for British government to begin to reverse this injustice through tenancy protection legislation enacted in 1859, and this reversal in law would only be completed following land reforms introduced by provincial governments post India’s independence in 1947. These later developments will be the subject of the next two papers in this series.

Faraizi Movement and Zamindars of Nineteenth Century Bengal: The Story of a Peasant Movement

The British colonial rule in Bengal had a very ominous impact on the people of the region as a whole. The introduction of a new land tenure system, known as the Permanent Settlement, and the creation of an all-powerful zamindar class particularly affected the interests of the peasants of Bengal. Under the new system, the government demand on the zamindars was fixed in perpetuity, but there was no legal restriction on the zamindars to enhance their share from the peasants. The peasants, consequently, became vulnerable to irregular rent increases and oppressions by the zamindars. The Faraizi movement, organized initially in the nineteenth century to reform the Muslim society, soon assumed the character of agrarian movement. In order to protect the poor peasants, the Faraizis soon became radical and challenged the zamindars. As majority of the peasants of the region, where this movement was launched, were Muslims and their zamindars mostly Hindus, the Faraizis used Islamic symbols to mobilize the Muslim masses. Thus, religion and economy intertwined in shaping such a protest movement in pre-industrial Bengal.