Ryot

Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hired labour.

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. It also referred to succession rights.

Etymology

Ryot originates from the Hindi word ra`īyat and the Arabic word ra`īyah, translated as "flock" or "peasants", in turn originating from the word ra`ā, meaning "pasture".

Classifications

Under the Mughal system of land control there were two types of raiyats: khudkasta and paikasta. The khudkasta raiyats were permanent resident cultivators of the village. Their rights in land were heritable according to Muslim and Hindu laws of succession. The other type of raiyats was called paikasta. They did not cultivate land on a permanent basis in any particular mauza (lowest revenue plus village settlement unit), but instead moved from mauza to mauza and engaged themselves for a crop season. In terms of revenue, the paikasta raiyats were generally paid a much lower rate of rent than the khudkashta raiyats. The dividend to the khudkasta, who thus became an absentee owner, came from hard bargaining. Pahikasht raiyats were a subgroup of peasants who cultivated the land away from the area where they resided.

RYOT

RYOT is an American media company founded in 2012. The company is most known for its eponymous website, a news source that connects each story to a related, cause-based action (donating to a related non-profit, signing a petition, registering to vote, etc). RYOT.org also gives a portion of all the site's ad revenue to non-profits. In addition to its popular news site, the media group also contains multiple subcategories, including RYOT Creative, RYOT Films, and RYOT Foundation.

Background

Bryn Mooser and David Darg, the two co-founders of RYOT, met in Haiti during the weeks after the earthquake of January 2010. Both were in the country doing humanitarian work, Mooser with Artists for Peace and Justice, to build a school, and Darg with Operation Blessing, to build water and sanitation systems. After working alongside each other and becoming friends, Mooser and Darg had the idea to create a baseball league for the young boys of the Tabarre neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.

Soon after, Mooser and Darg returned home to America and launched RYOT News.