Identify the term used for the headman who headed the ‘panchayat’ in the agrarian society during the Mughal empire?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Mandal
The Mughal village community had three parts: the cultivators, the panchayat and the village headman. The panchayat was an assembly of the village elders, and it was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or mandal. He was chosen by the elders, with the approval of the zamindar, and his chief job was to supervise the preparation of the village accounts.
The other options are related words: the patwari was the accountant of the panchayat who helped the headman; the amin was an official who saw that imperial regulations were carried out in the provinces; majur were the agricultural labourers.
NCERT (2025-26): “2. The Village Community … We have seen that peasants held their lands in individual ownership. At the same time they belonged to a collective village community as far as many aspects of their social existence were concerned. There were three constituents of this community – the cultivators, the panchayat, and the village headman (muqaddam or mandal).… 2.2 Panchayats and headmen … The village panchayat was an assembly of elders, usually important people of the village with hereditary rights over their property. In mixed-caste villages, the panchayat was usually a heterogeneous body. An oligarchy, the panchayat represented various castes and communities in the village, though the village menial-cum-agricultural worker was unlikely to be represented there. The decisions made by these panchayats were binding on the members. The panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or mandal. Some sources suggest that the headman was chosen through the consensus of the village elders, and that this choice had to be ratified by the zamindar. Headmen held office as long as they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders, failing which they could be dismissed by them. The chief function of the headman was to supervise the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant or patwari of the panchayat.…” |