A research student in Delhi is preparing a project on village life in north India during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. She notes that most people of the time lived in the countryside. In one village, families tilled the soil, sowed seeds and harvested the crop through the year, while landed elites also claimed a part of the harvest. Their dealings ranged from cooperation to open quarrels. She also finds that officials came from outside to measure fields and keep records, and that crops grown for sale tied the village to distant towns.
Why did officials such as revenue assessors, collectors and record keepers seek to control rural society?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → To ensure cultivation and the state's regular share of taxes
Option (1) To settle caste disputes through the village panchayat — Incorrect. Caste disputes were settled by the village panchayat itself. State agents came to the villages for revenue.
Option (2) To ensure cultivation and the state's regular share of taxes — Correct. The state lived on farm income. Its agents controlled villages so that cultivation took place and the state got its regular share of taxes.
Option (3) To fix the prices of crops sold in town markets — Incorrect. Crops sold in markets linked villages to towns. The agents had no role in fixing these prices.
Option (4) To grant revenue-free land to religious scholars — Incorrect. Land grants to scholars were made by the emperor. Assessors and record keepers worked on cultivation and revenue.
NCERT (2026-27): “Peasants, Zamindars and the State arian Society and tthe Mughal Emire . sixteenth - seventeenth centuries) … |