In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur, we have vivid description of rich peasants known as ______________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Jotedars
At the end of the eighteenth century, while many zamindars of Bengal were in crisis, a group of rich peasants was growing stronger in the villages. In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal there is a vivid description of this class, the jotedars. By the early nineteenth century they held vast areas of land, controlled local trade and moneylending, and had much of their land cultivated by sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars), who handed over half the produce.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| 13-05 S2* 23-05 S1* 24-05 S1 | – | – | – | – |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2025-26): “1.4 The rise of the jotedars … While many zamindars were facing a crisis at the end of the eighteenth century, a group of rich peasants were consolidating their position in the villages. In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal we have a vivid description of this class of rich peasants known as jotedars. By the early nineteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land – sometimes as much as several thousand acres. They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) who brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.…” |