The permanent settlement had been introduced in 1793 and this had inaugurated a new arrangement in the pattern of landholding in the region. Several intermediaries, like Jotedars were came. These Jotedars in turn used to sublet their land to the bargadars or the share-croppers who cultivated the land and used to pay a part of the produce to the jotedars. The rights of the Bargadars in the piece of land were temporary. The Jotedars, Mahajans and moneylenders who were used to provide credit to the Bargadars/small peasants and exploited to borrowers in the recovery of credit and sometimes takes the land of peasants. Thus the land owning peasants become landless peasants.   In 1943, severe Bengal Famine creates horrible conditions for the Bengal peoples and nearly 3.5 million peasants perished in the Great Bengal Famine.  Alongwith this, the pesants were the main crop producers but due the then prevailed cropsharing practices; they have to pay half of their crop to Jotedars as land rent.  Famine and cropsharing practices, turns the conditions worst of the marginal peasants.  The peasant community of rural Bengal started a movement to reduce the share of Jotedars.  It was called Tebhaga Movement.  It was an independence campaign initiated in Bengal districts of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jalpaigur and Malda by the Kisan Sabha in 1946–47 just after the World War II. The movement was for reduction of share of crop as land rent from half to one third.  The Jotedars were having superior rights over land and the peasants have to pay half of the crop produce as land rent to jotedars.  In many areas the agitations turned violent and it was against the Gandhian ideology of peace agitation/struggle. The landlords fled villages and the land came in the hands of the Kisan Sabha. In 1946, the sharecroppers of Bengal starts paying only one-third share of crop to Jotedars.  The Jotedars got the support of the police to protect their interests. It was the peasant committees, which became a power in the villages and led the peasants. These committees carried out the administration of the villages. Support of the Muslim League and the Congress to  Jotedars successfully suppressed the movement and finally called off in the summer of 1947. Though the movement failed, it had important implications for the entire history of agrarian struggles in India.