From the options given below, select the main reason for the power an…

The correct answer is Option (3) → Jotedars were located in the villages and exercised direct control over the poor villagers.

Option (1) Jotedars controlled large troops. — Incorrect. Troops were kept by the zamindars, and the Company disbanded even those after the Permanent Settlement. The jotedars’ strength lay in land, local trade and moneylending, not in armed men.

Option (2) Jotedars organised local justice also. — Incorrect. Organising local justice and the local police was a power of the zamindars, and they lost it when their courts were brought under the supervision of the Company’s Collector. It was not the source of the jotedars’ power.

Option (3) Jotedars were located in the villages and exercised direct control over the poor villagers. — Correct. Within the villages, the power of jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars. Unlike zamindars, who often lived in urban areas, jotedars were located in the villages and exercised direct control over a considerable section of poor villagers.

Option (4) Jotedars were supported by the British. — Incorrect. Their power did not come from the British. It came from their position inside the village: they resisted the zamindars’ efforts to raise the jama, kept zamindari officials from doing their duties, mobilised the ryots who depended on them and deliberately delayed the payment of revenue.