Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, rait or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces.
[1] A raiyat was defined as someone who has acquired a right to hold land for the purpose of cultivating it, whether alone or by members of his family, hired servants, or partners.
[7] In March 1859, during the period of Company rule, thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow Indigo.
[8] One of the causes of the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 was the Bihar Rent Committee report of 1879 which sought rights for the raiyat to resist illegal restraint and illegal enhancement, and allowing him to prove and maintain his occupancy rights.
The former system prevailed in northern and central India and the latter in Bombay, Madras, Assam and Burma.