HistoryMedieval India: Through the Eyes of Travellers

Which of the following pairs of a rural group in the sixteenth and se…

Which of the following pairs of a rural group in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and its description is correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Smaller peasant - Could barely produce for his subsistence

Option (1) Big zamindars - Used hired labour and engaged in commodity production — Incorrect. Hired labour and commodity production marked the big peasant. Big zamindars stood at the top, with superior rights in land.

Option (2) Smaller peasant - Used hired labour and engaged in commodity production — Incorrect. This describes the big peasant. The smaller peasant had no surplus to sell or labour to hire.

Option (3) Big peasant - Enjoyed superior rights in land — Incorrect. Superior rights in land belonged to the big zamindars. The big peasant used hired labour and produced for the market.

Option (4) Smaller peasant - Could barely produce for his subsistence — Correct. Rural society was sharply divided. The smaller peasant stood low on this scale and could barely produce enough to live on.

NCERT (2026-27): “6.1 The question of landownership …
In fact, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, rural society was characterised by considerable social and economic differentiation. At one end of the spectrum were the big zamindars, who enjoyed superior rights in land and, at the other, the “untouchable” landless”

“labourers. In between was the big peasant, who used hired labour and engaged in commodity production, and the smaller peasant who could barely produce for his subsistence.”