| The mahalwari system, devised by Holt Mackenzie, came into effect in 1822, in the North Western provinces of the Bengal Presidency. | The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. |
| It was devised as an alternative to the Permanent Settlement. | It was aimed at ensuring stable revenue for the East India Company. |
| The village headmen were in charge of collecting revenue. | The rajas and taluqdarswere in charge of collecting revenue. |
| The revenue amount was not fixed, and was to be revised periodically. The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added up to calculate the revenue that each village or mahal had to pay. | The revenue amount was fixed and was never to be increased in the future. |