Ryot

Ryot or Ravat (from an Arabic word raiyat, which originates from ra'a] meaning etymologically, 'a herd at pasture' and 'subjects' in a collective sense, properly a subject, then a tenant of the soil. The word ryot is used throughout India for the general body of cultivators; but it has a special meaning in different provinces.

Under the Mughal system of land control there were two types of raiyats - khudkasta and paikasta. The khudkasta raiyats were permanent resident cultivators of the village. Their rights in land were heritable according to Muslim and Hindu laws of succession. The other type of raiyats was called paikasta. They did not cultivate land on a permanent basis in any particular mauza (lowest revenue plus village settlement unit), but instead moved from mauza to mauza and engaged themselves for a crop season. In terms of revenue the paikasta raiyats generally paid a much lower rate of rent than the khudkashta raiyats. The dividend to the khudkasta, who thus became an absentee owner, came from hard bargaining. [ [http://banglapedia.net/HT/R_0056.HTM "Raiyat", "Banglapedia"] ]

The ryotwari or ryotwary tenure is one of the two main revenue systems in India. Where the land revenue is imposed on an individual or community owning an estate, and occupying a position analogous to that of a landlord, the assessment is known as zamindari; and where the land revenue is imposed on individuals who are the actual occupants, the assessment is known as ryotwari. Under zamindari tenure the land is held as independent property; while under ryotwari tenure it is held of the crown in a right of occupancy, which is under British rule both heritable and transferable by the ryots. The former system prevails in northern and central India, and the latter in Bombay, Madras, Assam and Burma.

References

*1911