HistoryMedieval India: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

Which of the following was declared a royal monopoly by the Ahom king…

Which of the following was declared a royal monopoly by the Ahom kings of Assam?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → The capture of wild elephants

Option (1) The capture of wild elephants — Correct. The Ahom kings made the capture of wild elephants a royal monopoly. Elephants mattered to states for their armies.

Option (2) The collection of honey and beeswax — Incorrect. Honey and beeswax were forest products in great demand in trade. No royal monopoly is linked to them.

Option (3) The overland trade with Afghanistan — Incorrect. Overland trade between India and Afghanistan was carried on by tribes like the Lohanis in the Punjab, far from Assam.

Option (4) The export of gum lac — Incorrect. Gum lac became a major overseas export in the seventeenth century. It was a trade item open to traders.

NCERT (2026-27): “4.2 Inroads into forests …
Social factors too wrought changes in the lives of forest dwellers. Like the “big men” of the village community, tribes also had their chieftains. Many tribal chiefs had become zamindars, some even became kings. For this they required to build up an army. They recruited people from their lineage groups or demanded that their fraternity provide military service. Tribes in the Sind region had armies comprising 6,000 cavalry and 7,000 infantry. In Assam, the Ahom kings had their paiks, people who were obliged to render military service in exchange for land. The capture of wild elephants was declared a royal monopoly by the Ahom kings.”