The term raiyat originates from an Arabic word raiyat [from ra'a] meaning etymologically, 'a herd at pasture' and 'subjects' in collective sense. Raiyat a nomenclature used customarily and legally for the peasantry of Bengal during the Mughal and British periods, but in its widest sense, also used for subjects of the state and of the ruling classes. The term seems to have been used first in the Todar Mall settlement (1582) and since then it was in currency until the term expired legally and practically on the enactment of the East Bengal Estate Acquisition Act of 1950 under which the raiyats got a new legal nomenclature, malik.

“Raiyat” means a person who, by virtue of section 44 or otherwise has acquired a right to hold land directly under the Government mainly for the purpose of cultivating it by himself or by members of his family or by, or with the aid of, servants or labourers or with the aid of partners or bargadars, and includes also the successors-in-interest of persons who have acquired such a right. [Section 82(2) of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 (E. B. Act XXII of 1951)]