Which of the following statements are TRUE regarding the rise of 'jotedars' in Bengal?
A. By the early eighteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land.
B. The jotedars controlled local trade as well as money lending.
C. A large part of the jotedars' land was cultivated through adhiyars or bargadars.
D. The adhiyars or bargadars borrowed the jotedars' ploughs and handed 75% of the produce to the jotedars.
E. The power of the jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B, C, E only
A. By the early eighteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land. Incorrect. The jotedars had acquired vast areas of land – sometimes as much as several thousand acres – by the early nineteenth century, not the eighteenth. They were consolidating their position at the end of the eighteenth century, while many zamindars were facing a crisis.
B. The jotedars controlled local trade as well as money lending. Correct. They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region.
C. A large part of the jotedars’ land was cultivated through adhiyars or bargadars. Correct. A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars).
D. The adhiyars or bargadars borrowed the jotedars’ ploughs and handed 75% of the produce to the jotedars. Incorrect. The sharecroppers brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest.
E. The power of the jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars. Correct. Within the villages, the power of jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars. Unlike zamindars, who often lived in urban areas, jotedars lived in the villages and exercised direct control over a considerable section of poor villagers.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.4 The rise of the jotedars … While many zamindars were facing a crisis at the end of the eighteenth century, a group of rich peasants were consolidating their position in the villages. In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal we have a vivid description of this class of rich peasants known as jotedars. By the early nineteenth century, jotedars had acquired vast areas of land – sometimes as much as several thousand acres. They controlled local trade as well as moneylending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region. A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars) who brought their own ploughs, laboured in the field, and handed over half the produce to the jotedars after the harvest. 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.…” |