The Mughal state built an administrative apparatus, including the office of the diwan, to control agricultural production across its expanding territory. Which of these best explains why it needed such an apparatus?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay of the empire
Option (1) The buying and selling of zamindaris sped up monetisation in the countryside — Incorrect. Brisk sale of zamindaris spread the use of money in villages. It describes a change in rural trade and gives no reason for building revenue offices.
Option (2) Zamindars often received peasant support in uprisings against the state — Incorrect. Peasant support for zamindars in uprisings shows a bond of patronage between them. It gives no reason for the state to set up revenue offices.
Option (3) Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay of the empire — Correct. Land revenue was the <strong>main source of the empire's income</strong>. So the state needed officials and records to fix and collect it everywhere.
Option (4) Forests covered huge areas of the subcontinent and stayed unmeasured — Incorrect. Unmeasured forests show a limit of Mughal land measurement. They came after the effort to measure land and give no reason for it.
NCERT (2026-27): “6. Land Revenue System |