Read the passage and answer the questions:

Cash or Kind?

The Ain on land revenue collection: Let him (the amil-guzar) not make it a practice of taking only in cash but also in kind. The latter is effected in several ways. First, kankut : in the Hindi language kan signifies grain, and kut, estimates ... If any doubts arise, the crops should be cut and estimated in three lots, the good, the middling, and the inferior, and the hesitation removed. Often, too, the land taken by appraisement, gives a sufficiently accurate return. Secondly, batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties. But in this case several intelligent inspectors are required; otherwise, the evil-minded and false are given to deception. Thirdly, khet-batai, when they divide the fields after they are sown. Fourthly, lang batai, after cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home and turns it to profit.

Which Mughal chronicle gives detailed description on land classification and revenue collection?

Ain-i Akbari

The correct answer is Option (3) → Ain-i Akbari

• The Ain-i Akbari, written by Abu’l Fazl in 1598, is the third volume of the Akbarnama.

• It provides detailed accounts of Akbar’s administration, including:

  • Land classification (measurement, productivity, fertility).

  • Revenue collection methods (cash, kind, kankut, batai, khet-batai, lang-batai).

  • Information about military, social, and cultural systems in the empire.