Zerat refers to a land ownership

Land tenure

Land tenure is the name given, particularly in common law systems, to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land . The sovereign monarch, known as The Crown, held land in its own right. All private owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants...

 system in early colonial India

Colonial India

Colonial India refers to areas of the Indian Subcontinent under the control of European colonial powers, through trade and conquest. The first European power to arrive in India was the army of Alexander the Great in 327–326 BC. The satraps he established in the north west of the subcontinent...

. The zerat system was particularly common in Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 and Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

. It refers to the private land of the landlord, which would often be cultivated by peasants. Zerat was mainly responsible for a change in traditional forms of agricultural organization in some parts of India, replacing the ryot

Ryot

Ryot was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hired labour...

 system. It produced a strain on the peasant economy, despite peasants being free to grow their own crops.

In indigo

Indigo

Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...

 cultivation practiced by planters in Bihar and Bengal, the rayat and zerat were common practices which represented two labour hiring processes. The ryot (or raiyat) ("peasant") was a small land holder who took financial support from the planter and in return had to come to a written understanding to turn over the produce from his land to the planter at a predetermined amount.

Zerat cultivation, which is direct cultivation by the planter, however, was an exclusive practice of the planter in which he hired labour to work on his fields to grow crops of his choice. 'Zerat' literally means “the Zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

s private land, demesne

Demesne

In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...

”, which had a direct impact on the peasants. The ploy of the planter in demesne was to encroach the land of the peasant and eventually claim it as his own and expand his control over the peasantry as a Zamindar.

In the Magistrate of Durbhanga's Administration Report for the year 1876–77, he reports that indigo cultivation in Bengal is divided into three methods that planters refer to as "tirhut". These are characterized as systems of tenure and conditions of indigo cultivation. The first of these, "zerat", is used if the land is in the planter's sole possession, and the ryot employed to work the land is a hired labourer. The term "assamiviar" is relevant when the land is in the rayat's possession and he is compelled (being the planter's tenant) to grow indigo on it at fixed rates. Lastly, the term "khooshgee" is appropriate when the rayat, under no compulsion, grows the plant as a remunerative crop. Sometimes referred to as "compulsory labour", expropriated

Eminent domain

Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...

peasants made up the largest group of the zerat labour force.

The ryot option was preferred by the planter, as his involvement was limited only to finance the cultivation and not pay for any other costs of labour and other inputs required to raise the crop or even loss of crop, particularly in indigo cultivation. The risk was entirely that of the peasant, who at times of loss of crop suffered losses and was even unable to cover the loan taken from the planter. The basic difference in the Zerat system was the planter had not only to pay for the labour costs but also bear all risks involved with raising the crop, and as such he did not prefer this option.