While the same dominant castes were probably also cultivating castes in the pre-colonial period, they were not the direct owners of land. Instead, ruling groups such as the local kings or zamindars (landlords who were also politically powerful in their areas, and usually belonged to Kshatriya or other high castes) controlled the land. … When the British colonised India, in many areas they ruled through these local zamindars. They also granted property rights to the zamindars. Under the British, the zamindars were given more control over land than they had before. Since the colonisers also imposed heavy land revenue (taxes) on agriculture, the zamindars extracted as much produce or money as they could out of the cultivators.
The passage leaves out its closing line on the main result of this system. Which of the following does that line state?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Farm output stagnated or declined for many decades
Option (1) Farm output stagnated or declined for many decades — Correct. The missing line gives the main result of the zamindari system: agricultural production stagnated or declined during much of British rule. Zamindars squeezed the cultivators to meet heavy land revenue, and many peasants fled oppressive landlords.
Option (2) Landless labourers of the lowest castes became bonded workers — Incorrect. Bonded workers of the lowest castes are linked to regions of assured irrigation, such as river deltas, where intensive cultivation needed much labour. That point is about productivity and agrarian structure, so it is not the result of the zamindari system.
Option (3) Many cultivators fell into debt to the moneylenders — Incorrect. Debt to moneylenders is not the result that follows in the passage. The line that follows the heavy revenue demand is about what happened to farm output.
Option (4) Peasants turned to growing cash crops for the colonial market — Incorrect. A shift to cash crops for the colonial market is not the result stated here. The line that follows the heavy revenue demand is about agricultural production, which stagnated or declined.
NCERT (2026-27): “The Colonial Period … |