A historian studying seventeenth-century Ahmedabad finds that the many merchant bodies of the city were represented together by a single chief of the merchant community. What was this chief called?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Nagarsheth
Option (1) Nagarsheth — Correct. In urban centres like Ahmedabad the mahajans were collectively represented by the chief of the merchant community, the nagarsheth. He stood above the chiefs of the separate groups.
Option (2) Wakil — Incorrect. Wakil was the word for a lawyer, one of the professional classes in towns. A wakil did not head the merchants.
Option (3) Sheth — Incorrect. The sheth was the chief of one mahajan, a merchant body of western India. He headed a single group within a city.
Option (4) Mahajan — Incorrect. Mahajans were the caste-cum-occupational bodies of merchants in western India. The word names the merchant group itself.
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