Agriculture taxation was the main source of income for the Company, which had to pay dividends to its investors in Britain. Therefore, the British introduced a number of revenue policies. These revenue policies were as follows:

1. In 1772, the Governor of Bengal, Warren Hastings, introduced a system of revenue farming in the province of Bengal. In this system European District Collectors would 'farm' out the right to collect revenue to the highest bidder.

This system was a total failure and ruined the cultivators because of the arbitrarily high revenue demands.

2. Permanent Settlement: (i) In 1793, Cornwallis introduced this system.

(ii) Under this system, zamindars, who earlier only had the right to collect revenue, were established as the proprietors or owners of land.

(iii) The state's demand for land revenue was permanently fixed, but if the zamindars were unable to pay the full tax on time, their lands would be taken away and auctioned by the state.

(iv) Through this system, the state tried to create an enterprising class of landowners, who would try to improve crop production in their fields to earn profits. Besides, it would be simpler for the state to deal with a limited number of zamindars than with every peasant, and a powerful section of society would become loyal to the British administration.

(v) But this system led to greater impoverishment of the tenant-cultivator because of the burden of high revenue assessment. It also caused great difficulty for zamindars, many of whom were unable to pay the revenue on time and lost their lands. A large number of traditional zamindar houses collapsed.

(vi) This system also encouraged subinfeudation i.e. many layers of intermediaries between the zamindars and cultivators, adding to the woes of the peasantry.

3. Ryotwari System: (i) This system was introduced by Alexander Read in 1792, for the Madras Presidency. The aim of this system was to keep out intermediaries from revenue collection. Later, this system was also introduced in the Bombay Presidency.

(ii) Under this system, revenue was initially collected from each village separately, but later each cultivator or 'ryot' was assessed individually. Thus, peasants, not zamindars, were established as property owners.

(iii) Although this system increased the revenue collected by the state, the assessments were faulty and the peasants overburdened by the taxes. The landed intermediaries continued to flourish.

4. Mahalwari Settlement: (i) This system was introduced in the north and northwest of India after 1822.

(ii) In this system the state made settlements with either the village community or, in some cases, the traditional taluqdar. Each such fiscal unit was called a mahal.

(iii) Under this system, some recognition was given to collective proprietary rights.

 As a result of the revenue policies of the British, agriculture stagnated and peasants almost became tenants at will. They also increased the number of landed intermediaries, and strongly entrenched the figure of the moneylender in the countryside. Landlords and zamindars became an important class and collaborators of British colonial rule.