Value Based Questions: Peasants, Zamindars And The State | History Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Q.1. Mention various duties performed by state officials in the 16^th century? 

Ans:
They collect land revenue, measure the lands and keep records etc. 

Q.2. Who was the author of Ain-I Akbari? 

Ans:
Abul Fazl, writer of Ain-I Akbari, he was a famous Persian author, gems of Akber’s court. 

Q.3. Who were Raiyat? How many types of Raiyat? 

Ans:
They were peasants. There are two types of Raiyat - Khud-khasta and Pahi-khasta. Khudkhasta - They were residents of the village in which they held their land. Pahi-khasta - They were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands were else were on a contractual basis. 

Q.4. How many seasons of agriculture according to Ain? 

Ans:
According to Ain-i-Akbari, agriculture was organized around the two major seasonal cycles. The kharif and the rabi. Kharif - rice and jawar. Rabi - wheat and gram. 

Q.5. What was Jins-i-Kamil? 

Ans:
Literally perfect crops. Example - cotton and sugarcane.

Q.6. Describe the functions of panchayat? 

Ans:
(i) Community welfare - Construction of bund or digging the cannel which peasants usually could not afford to do on their own.
(ii) Arrangements against natural calamities, like floods, famine, Droughts etc.
(iii) Regulate rural societies, like marriage and caste.
(iv) To ensure that caste boundaries among the various communities
(v) Punishment - Example - to levy fines and inflict from the community. 

Q.7. Describe Ain-i-Akbari? 

Ans:
(i) Vision of Akbar’s empire.
(ii) Strong ruling class.
(iii) The organization of the court, administration and the army.
(iv) Included detailed revenue, records - with the help of Todarmal tried to reorganize the whole revenue system.
(v) Useful description of agrarian society. 

Q.8. What was the role played by women in agrarian society? 

Ans:
(i) Women worked shoulder to shoulder with men in fields.
(ii) Women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.
(iii) Craft production - such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery and embroidery.
(iv) Some restriction during some days of month - women were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter’s wheel in western India.
(v) Produce children and look after them. 

Q.9. How land revenue was fixed? 

Ans:
(i) It consisted of two stages - Jama and Hasil. Jama was the amount assessed and Hasil the amount collected.
(ii) Both cultivated and cultivable land measured in each province.
(iii) Prepared annual record of the number of cultivators in each village
(iv) Officials were appointed to measure land revenue.
(v) The Dewan, who was responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the empire. 

Q.10. Explain the salient features of zabti system? 

Ans: 
The salient features of zabti system are: 
(i) Measurement of land was compulsory.
(ii) Classification of land: Polaj, Parauti, Chachar, Banjar.
(iii) Calculation of the average products.
(iv) Fixation of state share.
(v) Commutation into cash.
(vi) Collection of land revenue.

Q.11. Read the given passage carefully ad answer the question that follows; 

Ain on land revenue collection. Let him (the amil-guzar) not make it a practice of taking only in cash but also in kind. The latter is effected in several ways. First, kankut: in the Hindi language Kan signifies grain, and kut, estimate. If any doubts arise, the crops should be cut and estimated in three lots, the good, the middling and the inferior and the hesitation removed. Often, too the land taken by appraisement, gives a sufficiently accurate return. Secondly, batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties. But in the case several intelligent inspectors are required; otherwise, the evil-minded and false are given to deception. Thirdly, khet-batai when they divided the fields after they are sown. Fourthly, lang batai; after cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home and turns it to profit.
(a) Explain the term Kankut? 

Ans:
In the Hindi language Kan signifies grain and kut means estimate. 

(b) Explain the system of batai or bhaoli system of land revenue collection? 

Ans:
The crop are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the parties. But in this cash several intelligent inspectors are required, otherwise, the evil minded and false are given to deception.

(c) Explain the system of lang batai?

Ans:
After cutting the grain they from it in heap and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home and turns it to profit. 

(d) Which system of revenue collection, do you think, is better and why? 

Ans:
Long Batai, because they divided equal among them and get profit.

Q.12. Who were zamindars? What were their functions? 

Ans:
Zamindars were the part of rural society, who lived on agricultural production had milkiyat belongs to upper caste. New Zamindars emerged from lower caste.Functions of Zamindars:
(i) Collect revenue.
(ii) Mediate between king and peasant.
(iii) Maintain military.
(iv) Developed agricultural land.
(v) Give money to farmers for agriculture.
(vi) Sell their own agricultural produce.
(vii) Make an arrangement for weekly or fortnightly market in the villages.
(viii) Making arrangement for repairing roads and water sources. 

Q.13. Examine the evidence that suggests that land revenue was important for the Mughal fiscal system.

Ans:
Important of Land Revenue for the Mughal fiscal system: 
(i) Administrative apparatus for land revenue: Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay of the Mughal Empire. It was therefore vital for the state to create an administrative apparatus to ensure control over agricultural production and to fix and collect revenue from across the length and breadth of the rapidly expanding empire.
(ii) To get specific information: The Mughal state tried to first acquire specific information about the extent of the agricultural domain and became a decisive agent in shaping agrarian relations.
(iii) To get specific information: The Mughal state tried to first acquire specific information about the extent of the agricultural lands in the empire and what these lands produced before fixing the burden of taxes on people.
(iv) Two stage of fixing land revenue: The land revenue arrangements and then actual collection.
(v) The jama was the amount assessed as opposed to hasil, the amount collected. In his list of duties of the amil – guzar or revenue collector.
(vi) Cash or kind: Akbar decreed that while he should stive to make cultivators pay in cash, the option of payment in kind was also to be the state was to maximize its claims. The scope of actually realizing these claims was, however, sometimes thwarted by local conditions.
(vii) Measurement of land: Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in the each province. The Ain compiled the aggregates of such lands during akbar/s rule. Efforts to measure lands continued under subsequent emperors. For instance, in 1665 Aurangzeb expressly instructed his revenue officials to prepare annual records of the number of cultivators in each village. Yet not all areas were measured successfully. As we have seen, forests covered huge areas of the subcontinent and thus remained immeasurable.