East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950

The East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 (also known as the East Pakistan Estate Acquisition Act 1950) was a law passed by the newly formed democratic Government of East Bengal in the Dominion of Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). The bill was drafted on 31 March 1948 during the early years of Pakistan and passed on 16 May 1951. Before passage of the legislature, landed revenue laws of Bengal consisted of the Permanent Settlement Regulations of 1793 and the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885.

The 1793 legislature created a landed aristocracy (see: Zamindars of Bengal) which was supposed to be loyal to the British Empire. The Act of 1885 defined the rights and liabilities of the peasants (ryats) in relation to their superior lords (Zamindars). After the fall of the British rule in 1948, the law abolished the Zamindari system in the region, after which the lands of the state were under the federal government. It was seen as a democratic move to a people's state rather than a feudal class system. India adopted a similar law in 1953 in the Constitution of India. In modern Pakistan, such reforms were never carried out, which is why the effects of feudalism has perpetrated national politics and governance.

During the times of the Middle kingdoms of India rent was called rajasva (the King's share). The king's men used to collect rajasva from his subjects according to law, and none could be evicted if rajasva was paid regularly. Later, the Hindu 'rajasva' became 'jama' during Muslim rule of the Mughal Empire. However, the spirit of rajasva and jama remained the same. The cultivators had customary rights in land which the sovereign honoured, as long as they paid revenue to the rulers. These revenues were supplied to the zamindars, officials of the empire, who created the feudalistic nobility. During the mughal era (specifically during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb), the mansabdari system, the military nobility evolved into the aristocratic landed zamindari system.

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