Match List-I with List-II:
| List-I Terms | List-II Meanings | ||
| (A) | Jotedars | (I) | Sharecroppers |
| (B) | Bargadars | (II) | Revenue Collector |
| (C) | Zamindars | (III) | Peasants |
| (D) | Ryot or Raiyat | (IV) | Rich Peasants |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A)-(IV), (B)-(I), (C)-(II), (D)-(III)
(A) Jotedars — this matches (IV) Rich Peasants. Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district describes the class of rich peasants known as jotedars, who by the early nineteenth century had acquired vast areas of land.
(B) Bargadars — this matches (I) Sharecroppers. A large part of the jotedars’ land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars), who handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.
(C) Zamindars — this matches (II) Revenue Collector. Under the Permanent Settlement, the zamindar was not a landowner in the village but a revenue collector of the state: he collected rent from his villages, paid the revenue to the Company and kept the difference as his income.
(D) Ryot or Raiyat — this matches (III) Peasants. Ryot is the way the term raiyat, used to designate peasants, was spelt in British records.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.4 The rise of the jotedars … In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal we have a vivid description of this class of rich peasants known as jotedars. By the early nineteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land – sometimes as much as several thousand acres. They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) who brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.… 1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue … In terms of this definition, the zamindar was not a landowner in the village, but a revenue Collector of the state. Zamindars had several (sometimes as many as 400) villages under them. In Company calculations the villages within one zamindari formed one revenue estate. The Company fixed the total demand over the entire estate whose revenue the zamindar contracted to pay. The zamindar collected rent from the different villages, paid the revenue to the Company, and retained the difference as his income.… Ryot is the way the term raiyat, used to designate peasants (Chapter 8), was spelt in British records. Ryots in Bengal did not always cultivate the land directly, but leased it out to under-ryots.” |