Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Question:

According to whom, one of the fundamental differences between Mughal India and Europe was the lack of 'private property in land' in the former.

Options:

Francois Bernier

Ibn Battuta

Al-Biruni

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier

Correct Answer:

Francois Bernier

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (1) → Francois Bernier

According to Francois Bernier, one of the fundamental differences between Mughal India and Europe was the lack of private property in land in the former. He was a firm believer in the virtues of private property, and saw crown ownership of land as being harmful for both the state and its people. He thought that in the Mughal Empire the emperor owned all the land and distributed it among his nobles, and that this had disastrous consequences for the economy and society. This perception was not unique to Bernier, but is found in most travellers’ accounts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.