CUET Preparation Today
Which of the following terms are used for 'peasants' in Indo-Persian sources? A. Raiyat Choose the correct answer from the options given below: |
A, B only B, C only A, C only C, D only |
A, B only |
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, B only A. Raiyat (Indo-Persian term used to denote a peasant) 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. |
