Read the passage and answer the questions:
Peasants and Their Land
The term which Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently used to denote a peasant was raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. In addition, we also encounter the terms kisan or asami. Sources of the seventeenth-century refer to two kinds of peasants – khud-kashta and pahi-kashta. The former were residents of the village in which they held their lands. The latter were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis. People became pahi-kashta either out of choice -for example, when terms of revenue in a distant village were more favorable -or out of compulsion-for example, forced by economic distress after a famine. Seldom did the average peasant of northern India possess more than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs: most possessed even less. In Gujarat, peasants possessing about six acres of land were considered to be affluent. In Bengal, on the other hand, five acres were the upper limit of an average peasant farm; 10 acres would make one a rich asami. Cultivation was based on the principle of individual ownership. Peasant lands were bought and sold in the same way as the lands of other property owners. This nineteenth-century description of peasant holdings in the Delhi-Agra region would apply equally to the seventeenth century: the cultivating peasants (asamis), who plough up the fields, make the limits of each field, for identification and demarcation, with borders of (raised) earth, brick and thorn so that thousands of such fields may be counted in a village.
Who were the pahi-kashta peasants?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village
Option (1) Non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village — Correct. The pahi-kashta were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis. People became pahi-kashta by choice, when revenue terms in a distant village were better, or out of compulsion, such as economic distress after a famine.
Option (2) Non-resident cultivators who belonged to the same village — Incorrect. A cultivator who belonged to the same village would be a resident of it, so this description contradicts itself.
Option (3) Residents of the village in which they held their lands — Incorrect. This describes the other kind of peasant, the khud-kashta.
Option (4) Peasants who plough the field regularly — Incorrect. Ploughing the fields was the work of all cultivating peasants (asamis); it does not mark out the pahi-kashta from the khud-kashta.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Peasants and their lands … The term which Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently used to denote a peasant was raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. In addition, we also encounter the terms kisan or asami. Sources of the seventeenth century refer to two kinds of peasants – khud-kashta and pahi-kashta. The former …were residents of the village in which they held their lands. The latter were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis. People became pahi-kashta either out of choice – for example, when terms of revenue in a distant village were more favourable – or out of compulsion – for example, forced by economic distress after a famine.…” |