Medieval Administration and Economy Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The correct statement is that it has rich statistical details about diverse aspects of Akbar's administration.

The Ain-i Akbari is the third volume of Abul Fazl's three-volume history of Akbar's reign, the Akbar Nama. It deals with Akbar's administration, household, army, revenues and the geography of his empire, and gives rich statistical detail on crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.

It is the third volume, not the first. The first two volumes deal with Akbar's ancestors and record the events of his reign. It was written by Abul Fazl, not Mirza Hakim, who was Akbar's half-brother.

Answer: C

Akbar gave watan jagirs to the Sisodiya Rajputs.

The Sisodiya Rajputs of Mewar resisted Mughal authority for a long time. When they were finally defeated, the Mughals treated them honourably and returned their own homelands (watan) to them as assignments, known as watan jagirs. Unlike ordinary jagirs, which were transferable, a watan jagir let a chief keep his hereditary territory while serving the empire. This was part of Akbar's policy of winning over the Rajput rulers.

The Sikhs and the Marathas emerged as powers against the Mughals much later, and 'Indian Muslims' is not a group of chiefs to whom this arrangement applied.

Answer: B

The system was called Zabt.

Under Akbar, Todar Mal carried out a careful survey of crop yields, prices and areas cultivated over a ten-year period (1570-1580). On this basis each province was divided into revenue circles, each with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops. This revenue system was known as zabt.

A jagir was a revenue assignment given to a mansabdar in place of salary. Zat was the numerical rank that fixed a mansabdar's position and salary. Iqta was the land-revenue assignment of the Delhi Sultanate. None is the crop-wise schedule of rates.

Answer: A

The correct order is 1, 2, 3, 4.

1. Jahandar Shah: 1712-1713.
2. Farrukhsiyar: 1713-1719, who overthrew Jahandar Shah with the help of the Sayyid brothers.
3. Ahmad Shah: 1748-1754.
4. Alamgir II: 1754-1759, who replaced Ahmad Shah.

Farrukhsiyar killed and succeeded Jahandar Shah, so any order putting him first is wrong, and Ahmad Shah was deposed in favour of Alamgir II, so Alamgir II comes last.

Answer: A

Under the Mughals the region was known as Kukra.

Mughal records, including the Ain-i-Akbari, call the Chotanagpur region Kukra or Khukra, a name linked to the diamonds found in its rivers that attracted Mughal attention.

Atavi (forest country) is the name used in the Ashokan and Gupta-era sources, and Aranya is a general Sanskrit word for forest. Vananchal is a modern name that was proposed for the new state at the time of its formation, not a Mughal-era one.

Answer: D

The answer is Perso-Arabic, Turko-Mongol - Indian Elements.

Historians describe the government of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals as a composite structure: Perso-Arabic ideas of kingship and administration, Turko-Mongol (Central Asian) traditions such as the military ranking of nobles, and Indian elements, especially in revenue collection and local administration, which continued older practices.

Options naming only the Perso-Arabic or only the Turko-Mongol element, or both of them without the Indian contribution, leave out part of the fusion.

Answer: D

The answer is that Statement (I) is incorrect but Statement (II) is correct.

In the Mughal agrarian system the zamindars were not owners of all the land in their area. They were intermediaries with hereditary rights (the paper prints 'lights') over the land and a share of its produce, and they collected revenue on behalf of the state. The land itself was cultivated by the peasants (raiyats), who had their own rights of occupancy.

Statement (II) gives this picture correctly, so Statement (I), which makes them owners of all the land, is the incorrect one, and the options calling it correct are ruled out.

Answer: B

The terms refer to two types of peasants, residents and non-residents (migrants).

In Mughal India the khud-kashta were resident cultivators who tilled land in the village where they lived and held it on hereditary terms. The pahi-kashta were non-resident cultivators who came from other villages, often seasonally or because of better terms, and cultivated land on contract.

The terms describe classes of peasants, not revenue systems, irrigation tools or tax officials, so the other options are wrong.

Answer: B

The correct match is A-(1), B-(3), C-(2), D-(4).

• Khutba: the sermon read in the name of the ruler at Friday prayers.
• Sijda: prostration before the monarch, introduced by Balban.
• Iqta: assignment of land revenue in the Delhi Sultanate.
• Tanka: the silver coin introduced by Iltutmish.

The option A-(1), B-(3), C-(4), D-(2) swaps iqta and tanka, and the other two misplace khutba and sijda.

Answer: B

Akbar sent Shahbaz Khan Kambu.

In 1585 Akbar ordered his general Shahbaz Khan Kamboh to attack Kokrah (Khukhra), the Nagvanshi kingdom of Chotanagpur, whose ruler Madhu Singh had refused Mughal overlordship. Madhu Singh was forced to submit and pay tribute.

Jahangir and Shahjahan were later Mughal emperors, not Akbar's generals in 1585, and Ibrahim Khan led a later Mughal campaign under Jahangir.