HistoryMedieval India: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

According to the missing lines, how much land made a peasant in Gujar…

The term which Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently used to denote a peasant was raiyat (plural, riaya) or muzarian. In addition, we also encounter the terms kisan or asami. Cultivation was based on the principle of individual ownership. Peasant lands were bought and sold in the same way as the lands of other property owners. Monsoons remained the backbone of Indian agriculture, as they are even today. But there were crops which required additional water. Artificial systems of irrigation had to be devised for this.

According to the missing lines, how much land made a peasant in Gujarat be considered affluent?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → About six acres

In Gujarat a peasant with about six acres was thought affluent. In Bengal, five acres was the upper limit of an average farm and 10 acres made one a rich asami.

NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Peasants and their lands …
Seldom did the average peasant of north India possess more than a pair of bullocks and two ploughs; most possessed even less. In Gujarat peasants possessing about six acres of land were considered to be affluent; in Bengal, on the other hand, five acres was the upper limit of an average peasant farm ; 10 acres would make one a rich asami. Cultivation was based on the principle of individual ownership. Peasant lands were bought and sold in the same way as the lands of other property owners. …”