A Review of the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Acts, 1879-1895

The character of money-lending was radically changed some years after the advent of the British rule. Some of these changes affected the agriculturists in various ways. The unrest of the agriculturists collsequent upon these was expressed in the Deccan Riots in 1875. A series of Acts were passed to mitigate the adverse effects of UD~ cted money-lending practices in vogue in 1875. These Acts were mainly intended for the riot affected districts of Poona, Sholapur, Satara and Ahmednagar, then called the Deccan Districts. All these Acts were called the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Acts. This note tries to summarise the main provisions of these Acts.