A student reads the memoirs of a sixteenth-century ruler who came to north India from Central Asia. The ruler was struck by how quickly people in the plains left a town and set up a new settlement somewhere else. He also wrote about how farming was carried on there and how water reached the fields and orchards. The student wants to understand what this account shows about farming in northern India at that time.
Which crops did this ruler find strange because they grew even when no rains fell?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Spring crops
Option (1) Spring crops — Correct. Babur found it strange that spring crops grow even when no rains fall.
Option (2) Autumn crops — Incorrect. Autumn crops, Babur wrote, grow by the downpour of the rains themselves. They depended on the monsoon.
Option (3) Orchard trees — Incorrect. Young orchard trees were given water by buckets or wheels. They needed this help to grow.
Option (4) Both autumn and spring crops — Incorrect. Only spring crops struck Babur as strange. Autumn crops grew on the downpour of the rains.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.3 Irrigation and technology … |