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How did British land-revenue settlements create unrest before the Indian Rebellion of 1857?

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Illustration of De Kantzow defending the treasury at Mainpuri during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, showing a British officer confronting armed sepoys inside a building as tensions rise during the uprising. — Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian sepoys (soldiers) corner a British officer amid their attack on a treasury in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh.

British land-revenue settlements significantly contributed to the unrest preceding the Indian Rebellion of 1857 by causing widespread economic and social dislocation across northern and western India.1

These settlements created tension through several key mechanisms:

Displacement of Classes: In Bengal, the Permanent Settlement of 1793 transformed revenue collectors into landlords, often reducing lesser landholders to tenants-at-will and breaking traditional social links between landholders and cultivators.23
Economic Pressure: Revenue demands were frequently set too high, leading to the sale of estates for arrears. By 1820, it was estimated that over one-third of estates in Bengal had changed hands, often to absentee entrepreneurs, which further alienated the landholding class.3
Social Instability: The new system established property rights in land that prioritized commercial interests, causing significant class changes and setting different groups against one another.21

This systemic disruption created a "suppressed tension" in the countryside, leaving the population resentful and ready to support a revolt when other grievances, such as military and cultural issues, emerged.1