According to Abul Fazl, the emperor protects the four essences of his subjects. Find out from the options given below, which was NOT included in those four essences.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Children
Abu’l Fazl defined sovereignty as a social contract: the emperor protects the four essences of his subjects – life (jan), property (mal), honour (namus) and faith (din) – and in return demands obedience and a share of resources.
Note: This question is taken from the chapter ‘Kings and Chronicles’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “5.3 Just sovereignty as social contract … Abu’l Fazl defined sovereignty as a social contract: the emperor protects the four essences of his subjects, namely, life (jan), property (mal), honour (namus) and faith (din), and in return demands obedience and a share of resources. Only just sovereigns were thought to be able to honour the contract with power and Divine guidance.” |