We all know that Southern India is about 40% richer than the Indian average in PCI, while UP / BIhar are about 50% poorer than the Indian average. But when did this gap originate? I have a hunch the chasm has its roots in 19th century and in Thomas Munro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Munro,_1st_Baronet
Thomas Munro was appointed the governor of Madras presidency in 1819. And he introduced the Ryotwari system in 1820 - a system where the cultuvators (ryots) (anglicized form of Raitas - a dravidian word) paid the government directly rather than through the Zamindar - a middleman.
In the North, the revenue assessment system retained the Mughal Zamindari paradigm. In fact the British solidified the system further by granting Zamindars more powers and land ownership rights

While in the South, thanks to Munro, there was a shift to the Ryotwari system in 1820
I am not particularly well read on this. So this is more of a musing than a theory. Would be good to hear if there are others who have studied this topic, who feel similarly and think the South North economic divide originated with Munro's legislation.
The great 19th cen thinker John Stuart Mill who worked for several years for the East India Company wrote this about the Ryotwari system (in contrast to the Zamindari and Mahalwari systems of north india -
Ryotwari system is
"the System where every registered holder of land is recognized
as its proprietor, and pays rent directly to the Government"
"He is at liberty to sublet his property, or to transfer it by gift, sale, or mortgage. He cannot be ejected by Government so long as he pays the fixed assessment, and has the option annually of increasing or diminishing his holding, or of entirely abandoning it." (Contd..)
"In unfavourable seasons remissions of assessment are granted for entire or partial loss of produce. The assessment is fixed in money, and does not vary from year to year, ..........nor is any addition made to the assessment for improvements effected at the Ryot's own expense"
"The peasants under this system is virtually a Proprietor on a
simple and perfect title, and has all the benefits of a perpetual lease without its responsibilities, inasmuch as he can at any time throw up his lands, but cannot be ejected so long as he pays his dues"
These are fine words highlighting the virtues of the Ryotwari (or Raiyatwari) system from none other than JS Mill himself.
Though I haven't studied the issue it appears the Ryotwari system incentivized better cultivation and also by making the peasant independent of the control of any middlemen, it also permitted greater mobility and possibly more rural-to-urban migration.
So Today morning I did a thread of mostly idle speculation wondering if Ryotwari vs Zamindari settlement choices had a lasting impact on South vs North economic development paths

(Contd..)
Now I discover a couple of MIT researchers had asked the same question 14 yrs ago and concluded that settlement choices are INDEED a significant variable!

Here's the link
https://economics.mit.edu/files/511 

Feels very good!
Here's what the researchers concude -

"We analyze the colonial land revenue institutions set up by the British in India, and show that differences in historical property rights institutions lead to sustained differences in economic outcomes"
"Areas in which proprietary rights in land were historically given to landlords (zamindars) have significantly lower agricultural investments and productivity in the post-independence period than areas in which these rights were given to cultivators (ryots)"

Hunches are useful!
Table 1 in the paper is useful. Here's an examination of the % of districts in major states in British Raj where the individual cultivator was assessed for revenue directly

BIhar- 0%
Bengal - 0%
MP- 10%
Ori - 32%
UP- 42%
AP- 66%
TN- 75%
Har- 85%
Punjab- 87%
Kar- 100%
Guj- 100%
A postscript : It appears "ryot" derives from the Persian "Raiyat" and is not of Dravidian origin.

Here's an alternative paper (HT: @123456789blaaa) that has a different narrative on the origins of the Raiyatwari system

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/26718768/FOA-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf?sequence=1
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