Read the passage and answer the questions:
The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. The estates of those who failed to pay were to be auctioned to recover the revenue. The contract was made with the zamindars of Bengal, in order to securing rights of property and permanently fixing the rates of revenue demand. Company intended to look forward to a regular flow of revenue, while entrepreneurs could feel sure of earning a profit from their investment. Officials hoped, it would lead to the emergence of a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners who would have the capital and enterprise to improve agriculture. Nurtured by the British, this class would also be loyal to the Company. Contract was made through the auction and the estates were sold to the highest bidder. Charles Cornwallis was the Governor General of Bengal when the settlement was introduced.
In the given passage, the word 'entrepreneurs' is used for _________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The purchasers of the estates, who bought the estate in the auction after highest bidding.
In the passage, the entrepreneurs are those who would invest in the land. Once the revenue demand was fixed for ever, they could feel sure of earning a profit from their investment, because the state would not take it away by raising its claim. The estates were sold by auction to the highest bidder, so the people who bought them and put their money into them are the entrepreneurs.
Option (1) Traders — Incorrect. The profit the passage speaks of comes from investment in an estate under a fixed revenue demand, not from buying and selling goods.
Option (2) Merchants — Incorrect. The same holds for merchants: the passage ties the entrepreneurs’ profit to the land they held, not to trade.
Option (3) Company’s servants — Incorrect. The fixed demand gave the Company a regular flow of revenue. The entrepreneurs are a different group, who would earn from their own investment in the estates.
Option (4) The purchasers of the estates — Correct. They bought the estates at the auction and, since the revenue they owed was fixed, could expect a profit from what they invested.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.1 An auction in Burdwan … In 1797 there was an auction in Burdwan (presentday Bardhaman). It was a big public event. A number of mahals (estates) held by the Raja of Burdwan were being sold. The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. The estates of those who failed to pay were to be auctioned to recover the revenue. Since the raja had accumulated huge arrears, his estates had been put up for auction. Numerous purchasers came to the auction and the estates were sold to the highest bidder.… 1.2 The problem of unpaid revenue … In introducing the Permanent Settlement, British officials hoped to resolve the problems they had been facing since the conquest of Bengal. By the 1770s, the rural economy in Bengal was in crisis, with recurrent famines and declining agricultural output. Officials felt that agriculture, trade and the revenue resources of the state could all be developed by encouraging investment in agriculture. This could be done by securing rights of property and permanently fixing the rates of revenue demand. If the revenue demand of the state was permanently fixed, then the Company could look forward to a regular flow of revenue, while entrepreneurs could feel sure of earning a profit from their investment, since the state would not siphon it off by increasing its claim. The process, officials hoped, would lead to the emergence of a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners who would have the capital and enterprise to improve agriculture. Nurtured by the British, this class would also be loyal to the Company.…” |