The Sangam texts mention categories of people living in the villages. Identify the categories:
A. Masattuvan
B. Setthis
C. Uzhavar
D. Adimai
E. Vellalar
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → C, D, E only
A. Masattuvan Not a village category. Masattuvan was the Tamil term for successful merchants, who traded along the routes of the subcontinent.
B. Setthis Not a village category. Setthis (with satthavahas) was the Prakrit term for successful merchants.
C. Uzhavar A village category. The Sangam texts call the ploughmen uzhavar.
D. Adimai A village category. The slaves of the villages are called adimai.
E. Vellalar A village category. The large landowners are called vellalar.
NCERT (2026-27): “5.3 Differences in rural society … Early Tamil literature (the Sangam texts) also mentions different categories of people living in the villages – large landowners or vellalar, ploughmen or uzhavar and slaves or adimai. It is likely that these differences were based on differential access to land, labour and some of the new technologies. In such a situation, questions of control over land must have become crucial, as these were often discussed in legal texts. 6.3 Trade in the subcontinent and beyond … Those who traversed these routes included peddlers who probably travelled on foot and merchants who travelled with caravans of bullock carts and pack-animals. Also, there were seafarers, whose ventures were risky but highly profitable. Successful merchants, designated as masattuvan in Tamil and setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit, could become enormously rich.…” |