A teacher in Bengaluru shows her class a chart comparing two ways of ruling. In the first, a northern kingdom of the thirteenth century gave its officers rights over the revenue of an area in place of a cash salary. In the second, a south Indian empire of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries handed territories to military commanders. These commanders collected dues in their areas and kept troops ready for the king. The teacher asks the class to name the southern arrangement and to explain how historians link it with the northern one.
Which of the following describes how historians link the southern system with the earlier northern system?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Many features of the southern arrangement were probably derived from the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate
Option (1) Many features of the southern arrangement were probably derived from the nadu assemblies of the Chola kingdom — Incorrect. The Chola kingdom lay in the far south. The chart's model is a northern kingdom of the thirteenth century.
Option (2) Many features of the southern arrangement were probably derived from the mansabdari system of the Mughal Empire — Incorrect. The Mughal Empire was set up only in the sixteenth century, after the amara-nayaka system had begun. It cannot be the earlier northern model.
Option (3) Many features of the southern arrangement were probably derived from the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate — Correct. Historians think many features of the amara-nayaka system came from the <strong>iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate</strong>. The northern kingdom on the chart is the Delhi Sultanate.
Option (4) Many features of the southern arrangement were probably derived from the samanta system of the Gupta rulers — Incorrect. The Gupta rulers belonged to a much earlier age than the thirteenth-century kingdom on the chart.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.3 The rayas and the nayakas … “The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya. They collected taxes and other dues from peasants, craftspersons and traders in the area. They retained part of the revenue for personal use and for maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses and elephants. These contingents provided the Vijayanagara kings with an effective fighting force with which they brought the entire southern peninsula under their control. Some of the revenue was also used for the maintenance of temples and irrigation works.” |