RYOT, or RAVAT (from the Arabic ra'a, " to pasture ")  , properly a subject, then a tenant of the soil . The word is used throughout India for the general body of cultivators; but it has a special meaning in different provinces . The ryotwari RZHEV tenure is one of the two main revenue systems in India . Where the land revenue is imposed on an individual or community owning an estate, and occupying a position analogous to that of a landlord, the assessment is known as zamindati; and where the land revenue is imposed on individuals who are the actual occupants, the assessment is known as ryotwari . Under zamindari tenure the land is held as independent property; while under ryotwari tenure it is held of the crown in a right of occupancy, which is under British rule both heritable and transferable . The former system prevails in northern and central India, and the latter in Bombay, Madras, Assam and Burma .