However, the focus on the cultivation of basic staples did not mean that agriculture in medieval India was only for subsistence. We often come across the term jins-i kamil (literally, perfect crops) in our sources. The Mughal state also encouraged peasants to cultivate such crops as they brought in more revenue. Crops such as cotton and sugarcane were jins-i kamil par excellence. Cotton was grown over a great swathe of territory spread over central India and the Deccan plateau, whereas Bengal was famous for its sugar. Such cash crops would also include various sorts of oilseeds (for example, mustard) and lentils. This shows how subsistence and commercial production were closely intertwined in an average peasant's holding.
In the original text, the passage is followed by a sentence about the seventeenth century, which has been left out. Which of the following does that sentence state?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Several new crops from different parts of the world reached India
Option (1) Several crops grown in India reached different parts of the world — Incorrect. The movement ran the other way in this period. The book describes crops coming into India from outside the subcontinent.
Option (2) Several new crops from different parts of the world reached India — Correct. In the seventeenth century several new crops from different parts of the world reached the Indian subcontinent. Maize came via Africa and Spain; tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, pineapple and papaya came from the New World.
Option (3) Several crops grown in Bengal spread to central India and the Deccan — Incorrect. Bengal was famous for its sugar, and cotton grew in central India and the Deccan. The book does not describe crops spreading from Bengal to these regions.
Option (4) Several cash crops, such as cotton and sugarcane, were first brought to India from abroad — Incorrect. Cotton and sugarcane were the jins-i kamil (perfect crops) already grown widely in India. The new arrivals from abroad were crops like maize, potatoes and chillies.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.4 An abundance of crops … “subcontinent. Maize (makka), for example, was introduced into India via Africa and Spain and by the seventeenth century it was being listed as one of the major crops of western India. Vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were introduced from the New World at this time, as were fruits like the pineapple and the papaya.” |