Rise of jotedar

While so many zamindars were facing a crisis in end of the 18th century (during the British East India Company), the group of rich peasants were consolidating their position in villages known as jotedars. In the report of survey conducted by Francis Buchanan we come to know about the Dinazpur District of North Bengal. In this report we get a detailed description of jotedars.

Position as a landholder : By the early 19th century the rich class peasants or jotedars had acquired vastarea of land sometimes as much as several thousand acres.
As a trader and moneylender : The position of the jotedars should not big estimated only by huge areas of the land. They had establish their control on local trade as well as money lending business. They use to exercise immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region.
A large part of land of the jotedars was cultivated through share-croppers (they were called adhiars or bargadars) who brought their own plough, laboured in the field and handed over half the produce to jotedars after harvest.