Match List I with List II

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(A)-(IV), (B)-(I), (C)-(II), (D)-(III)

The correct answer is Option (2) → (A)-(IV), (B)-(I), (C)-(II), (D)-(III)

The matches between List - I and List - II are as follows:

(A) Gahapati - (IV) Owner/head of household
(B) Vellalar - (I) Large landowner
(C) Uzhavar - (II) Ploughmen
(D) Adimai - (III) Slave

A "gahapati" referred to the head or master of a household who wielded authority over the individuals living in the same residence, such as women, children, slaves, and workers. Additionally, the gahapati owned the household's resources, which encompassed land, animals, and other belongings. In certain contexts, this term denoted the status of men belonging to the urban elite, including affluent merchants.

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.