The term "gahapati" in Pali texts designated individuals belonging to which categories?

1) Landless agricultural labourers
2) Large landholders
3) Religious scholars
4) Nomadic tribes

2

The correct answer is Option 2 - 2

1) Landless agricultural labourers
2) Large landholders (Answer)
3) Religious scholars
4) Nomadic tribes

In ancient India, there was a growing differentiation amongst people engaged in agriculture – stories, especially within the Buddhist tradition, refer to landless agricultural labourers, small peasants, as well as large landholders. The term gahapati was often used in Pali texts to designate the second and third categories. The large landholders, as well as the village headman (whose position was often hereditary), emerged as powerful figures, and often exercised control over other cultivators.

A gahapati was the owner, master or head of a household, who exercised control over the women, children, slaves and workers who shared a common residence. He was also the owner of the resources – land, animals and other things – that belonged to the household. Sometimes the term was used as a marker of status for men belonging to the urban elite, including wealthy merchants.