HistoryMedieval India: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

"Having cleared the forest, they established markets. Hearing the sou…

"Having cleared the forest, they established markets. Hearing the sound of the axe, tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring." These lines come from which of the following texts?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Chandimangala

Option (1) Ain-i Akbari — Incorrect. The Ain-i Akbari is Abu'l Fazl's prose account of Akbar's empire. It describes trade between the hills and the plains of Awadh.

Option (2) Akbar Nama — Incorrect. The Akbar Nama is Abu'l Fazl's history of Akbar's reign, written as a court chronicle in prose.

Option (3) Baburnama — Incorrect. The Baburnama is Babur's own memoir, written in Turkish.

Option (4) Chandimangala — Correct. Chandimangala is a sixteenth-century Bengali poem by Mukundaram Chakrabarti. Its hero Kalaketu clears forests to set up a kingdom, and markets follow.

NCERT (2026-27): “4.2 Inroads into forests …
This is an excerpt from a sixteenth-century Bengali poem, Chandimangala, composed by Mukundaram Chakrabarti. The hero of the poem, Kalaketu, set up a kingdom by clearing forests: Hearing the news, outsiders came from various lands. Kalaketu then bought and distributed among them Heavy knives, axes, battle-axes and pikes. From the north came the Das (people) One hundred of them advanced. They were struck with wonder on seeing Kalaketu Who distributed betel-nut to each of them. From the south came the harvesters Five hundred of them under one organiser. From the west came Zafar Mian, Together with twenty-two thousand men. Sulaimani beads in their hands They chanted the names of their pir and paighambar (Prophet). Having cleared the forest They established markets. Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners Ate and entered the forest. Hearing the sound of the axe, Tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring.”