In a north Indian village of the seventeenth century, the elders of the panchayat kept a store of money. The village headman and the patwari kept an account of what came into it and what went out. One season, a party of officials arrived and stayed for some days, and the elders met the costs of entertaining them from this store. Later that year, part of the store was spent for the good of the whole village.
From where did a village panchayat of this period derive such funds?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool
Option (1) Grants from the zamindar for the upkeep of the village — Incorrect. The zamindar ratified the choice of headman; the panchayat's money came from the villagers themselves.
Option (2) Contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool — Correct. The panchayat derived its funds from <strong>contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool</strong>.
Option (3) A share of the revenue that the headman collected from cultivators — Incorrect. Land revenue was owed to the state. The headman supervised the village accounts that recorded it.
Option (4) Rent paid by traders for using the village grounds — Incorrect. The panchayat's money came from individual contributions, and rent from traders was no part of it.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 Panchayats and headmen … |