Read the passage and answer the questions:
The Ain-i Akbari of Abu'l Fazl
The Ain-i Akbari was the culmination of a large historical and administrative project of classification undertaken by Abu'l Fazl at the order of Emperor Akbar. It was completed in 1598, the forty-second regnal year of the emperor, after having gone through five revisions. The Ain was part of a larger project of history writing commissioned by Akbar. This history, known as the Akbar Nama, comprises three books. The first two provide a historical narrative. The Ain-i-Akbari, the third book, was organized as a compendium of imperial regulations and a gazette of the empire. The Ain is made up of five books (daftars), of which the first three books describe the administration. The first book, called manzil-abadi, concerns the imperial household and its maintenance. The second book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil administration and the establishment of servants. This book includes notices and short biographical sketches of imperial officials (mansabdars), learned men, poets and artists. The third book, mulk-abadi, is the one which deals with the fiscal side of the empire and provides rich quantitative information on revenue rates, followed by the “Account of the Twelve Provinces”. This section has detailed statistical information, which includes the geographic, topographic and economic profile of all subas and their administrative and fiscal divisions (sarkars, parganas and mahals), total measured area, and assessed revenue (jama).
Identify the book which covers the military and civil administration?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Sipah-Abadi
The passage says that the Ain is made up of five books. Its second book, the sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil administration and the establishment of servants, along with short sketches of imperial officials (mansabdars), learned men, poets and artists.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Peasants, Zamindars and the State’, almost word for word, from the section on the Ain-i Akbari. A chapter's sections on its sources are worth reading closely; NTA lifts whole passages from them.
NCERT (2025-26): “8. The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami … The Ain is made up of five books (daftars), of which the first three books describe the administration. The first book, called manzil-abadi, concerns the imperial household and its maintenance. The second book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil administration and the establishment of servants. This book includes notices and short biographical sketches of imperial officials (mansabdars), learned men, poets and artists. The third book, mulk-abadi, is the one which deals with the fiscal side of the empire and provides rich quantitative information on revenue rates, followed by the ‘Account of the Twelve Provinces’.…” |