What do you understand by the term “Agrahara”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Land granted to a Brahmana
An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana. The Brahmana was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king, and was often given the right to collect these dues from the local people. Such land grants, recorded in inscriptions like that of the queen Prabhavati Gupta, have been found in several parts of the country.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| 13-05 S1 23-05 S1* | – | – | – | – |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.4 Land grants and new rural elites … From the early centuries of the Common Era, we find grants of land being made, many of which were recorded in inscriptions. Some of these inscriptions were on stone, but most were on copper plates (Fig. 2.13) which were probably given as a record of the transaction to those who received the land. The records that have survived are generally about grants to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.… An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king, and was often given the right to collect these dues from the local people.” |