In a north Indian village of the seventeenth century, the elders of the panchayat kept a store of money. The village headman and the patwari kept an account of what came into it and what went out. One season, a party of officials arrived and stayed for some days, and the elders met the costs of entertaining them from this store. Later that year, part of the store was spent for the good of the whole village.
Whose visits were such entertainment costs usually met for?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Revenue officials who visited the village from time to time
Option (1) Mughal army officers marching through the area — Incorrect. Army officers on the march were not the visitors this fund was kept for; the panchayat's pool met the costs of officials who came for revenue work.
Option (2) Officers of the jagirdar inspecting his assignment — Incorrect. A jagirdar held the revenue of his assignment, but the panchayat fund is described as meeting the costs of revenue officials who visited the village from time to time. Inspection visits by a jagirdar's officers are not among its stated uses.
Option (3) Revenue officials who visited the village from time to time — Correct. The panchayat's <strong>common financial pool</strong>, built from individual contributions, met the <strong>costs of entertaining revenue officials</strong> who visited the village from time to time.
Option (4) Officials of the qazi's court hearing village disputes — Incorrect. The fund paid for visiting revenue officials, community welfare and works like a bund or canal. Officials of a qazi's court are not among these uses.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 Panchayats and headmen … |