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 best identifies the southern arrangement shown on the chart?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The amara-nayaka system
Option (1) The amara-nayaka system — Correct. In Vijayanagara, the raya gave territories to military commanders who collected dues and kept troops. This <strong>amara-nayaka system</strong> was a <strong>major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire</strong>.
Option (2) The mansabdari system — Incorrect. The mansabdari system was the ranking system of Mughal nobles in north India, set up long after the Vijayanagara arrangement began.
Option (3) The jagirdari system — Incorrect. Jagirs were revenue assignments given to Mughal nobles in north India.
Option (4) The samanta system — Incorrect. Samantas were subordinate chiefs of early kingdoms in north and central India, centuries before Vijayanagara.
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.” |