In this post we have shared Class 12 History Chapter 9 Peasants, Zamindars And The State Important Question Answers, has all the answers arranged neatly, so you can easily find what you need for the Assam Board HS 2nd Year History Chapter 9 Peasants, Zamindars And The State Question Answer for Upcoming Examinations.
Here, we provide simple and clear answers for Class 12 History Chapter 9 Peasants, Zamindars And The State Important Question Answers, which you can practice anytime. The ASSEB/AHSEC Class 12 History Question Answers are very helpful for HS 2nd Year students as they provide clear and accurate solutions based on the SCERT syllabus. These HS 2nd Year History Important Question Answer (English Medium) based on the Latest Syllabus Published by Assam State Secondary Education Board.
Chapter - 9
Peasants, Zamindars And The State (Agrarian Society And The Mughal Empire c. Sixteenth-Seventeenth Century)
Model questions and Answer for 1: (very short type)
1. Who was called Muqaddam? 1mark (2019)
Ans: The Village headmen were called muqaddam.
2. Who wrote Ain-i-Akbari? 1mark (2018)
Ans: Abul fazl.
3. What was Milkiyat? 1mark (2017)
Ans: Personal lands of Zamindars.
4. What did Jins-e-kamil mean? 1mark (HS 2016, 2024)
Ans: Literally perfect crops. Example cotton and sugarcane.
5. Who was Abul Fazl?
Ans: Court Poet or Historian of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
6. Who were Muzarians?
Ans: Peasants were called muzarian in Persian language.
7. Name the Mughal Emperor who banned tobacco. 1
Ans: Emperor Jahangir banned it.
8. Give name some vegetables from the new World. 1
Ans: Vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were fron the New World i.e. America.
9. Who were called muqaddam or mandal?
Ans: Village headmen were called muqaddam.
10. Who were the mallahzadas?
Ans: Literally, sons of boatmen were called mallahzadas.
11. Name two fishing castes of medieval India. Imark
Ans: Fishing castes like the Sadgops and Kaivartas were well known.
12. Who were the Patwari?
Ans: They were accountant, who maintained the village accounts.
13. Who were the village artisans?
Ans: They were like potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, barbers. even goldsmiths.
14. What was miras or watan?
Ans: The lands which were given by village headmen to artisans. even those lands were hereditary.
15. Who were the Shroff?
Ans: They are like Bankers.
16. Who said "jungles provided a good defence"? 1
Ans: Babur said "jungles provided a good defence".
17. What was mawas? 1mark
Ans: A place of refuge.
18. What was Paragana? 1mark
Ans: Pargana was an administrative subdivision of a Mughal province.
19. What do you mean by Peshkash? 1mark
Ans: Peshkash was a form of tribute collected by the Mughal state.
20. Who composed Bengali poem 'Chandimangala'?
Ans: Mukundaram Chakravorty composed it.
21. Who were called pirs?
Ans: Sufi saints were called Pir.
22. What was Sanad?
Ans: These were an imperial order.
23. What was daftar?
Ans: It was an office.
24. Which Mughal Emperor instructed to prepare annual records of the number of cultivators in each village?
Ans: Emperor Aurangzeb instructed.
25. Who was Giovanni Careri?
Ans: He was an Italian traveller, who passed through India c. 1690.
26. When did Akbarnama was completed? 1mark
Ans: It was completed in 1598.
27. When did the Mughal rule was ended forever? 1
Ans: In 1857. The last Mughal ruler was Bahadur Shah II, he was exiled to Rangoon, Myanmar.
Model questions and Answer for 2 marks :
1. What do you understand by Jama and Hasil? 2 (2019)
Ans: This was a revenue assessment system during Medieval India. The Jama was the assess amount of revenue and Hasil was amount of revenue collected or received.
2. What was Milkiyat? 2marks (2018)
Ans: These were the personal lands of Zamindars. These lands were cultivated by Zamindars with the help of labours. These were free land, no need to pay tax, even they can sell or mortgaged it.
3. What were the technologies used in medieval Indian to increase agricultural production?2marks (2017)
Ans: (i) Though agriculture was labour intensive, peasants dis use technologies that often harnessed cattle energy.
(ii) One example was the wooden plough, which was light and easily assembled with an iron tip or coulter.
(iii) A drill, pulled by a pair of giant oxen, was used to plant seeds, but broadcasting of seed was the most prevalent method.
4. Why did Abul Fazl describe painting as magical art? 2marks (2017)
Ans: Painting as magical art due to:
(i) The paintings made the inanimate objects look as if they possessed life.
(ii) The production of paintings portraying the emperor, his coun and the people who were part of it, was a source of tension between rulers and representatives of the Muslim orthodoxy, the ulama.
5. Two contributions of women in an agricultural society. 2marks (2015)
Ans: Two contributions of women in an agricultural society are
(i) Artisanal tasks such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery were among the many aspects of production done by the women.
(ii) In Mughal period women and men had to work shoulder to shoulder in the fields. Men tilled and ploughed, while women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.
6. Two functions of Jati Panchayat. 2marks (2015)
Ans: Two functions of Jati Panchayat are-
(i) In Rajasthan jati panchayats arbitrated civil disputes between members of different castes.
(ii) They mediated in contested claims on land, decided whether marriages were performed according to the norms laid dowr by a particular caste group and determined who had ritual precedence in village functions, and so on.
7. What were the four divisions of land during the period of Akbar. (2015)
Ans: The four divisions of land during the period of Akbar-
(i) Polaj (land which was constantly under cultivation and never left fallow),
(ii) Parauti (land which had to be left fallow for a time to enable it to recover fertility),
(iii) Chachar (land which had to be left fallow for three or four years to regain its productivity) and
8. Name the two English translator of Ain-i- Akbari. When did they complete this work? 2marks (2014)
Ans: This book was translated in Calcutta.
(i) Henry Blochmann, translated Volume-1 in 1873
(ii) H.S. Jarrett Volume- II & III completed in 1891 and 1894 accordingly.
9. Who were called Khud Kasta and Pahi Kasta peasants? 2marks (2013)
Ans: These were-
(i) The khud-kashta were residents of the village in which they held their lands.
(ii) The pahi-kashta were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis
10. Mention various duties performed by state officials in the 16th century? 2marks
Ans: They collect land revenue, measure the lands and keep records etc.
11. Explain the system of batai or bhaoli system of land revenue collection? 2 marks
Ans: The crop are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the parties. But in this cash several intelligent inspectors are required, otherwise, the evil minded and false are given to deception.
12. Who were the Amins?
Ans: Amin was an official responsible for ensuring that imperial regulations were carried out in the provinces.
13. What was Jajmani system?
Ans: The zamindars, who remunerated blacksmiths, carpenters, even goldsmiths for their work by paying them a small daily allowance and diet money. This later came to be described as the jajmani system.
14. Explain the system of lang batai?
Ans: After cutting the grain they from it in heaps and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home and turns it to profit.
15. Write briefly about the property and land of peasants.
Ans: Average peasant of north India possessed a pair of bulls and one plough and others possessed two pairs of bulls and two ploughs.; most possessed even less. In Gujarat peasants possessing about six acres of land were considered to be affluent; in Bengal, five acres was the upper limit of an average peasant farm.
16. Why were villages called "little republic"? 2marks
Ans: (i) Some British officials in the nineteenth century saw the village as a "little republic". Because villages were made up of fraternal partners of sharing resources and labour in a collective. However, this was not a sign of rural egalitarianism.
(ii) There was individual ownership of assets and deep in equitics based on caste and gender distinctions.
(iii) A group of powerful individuals decided the affairs of the village, exploited the weaker sections and had the authority to dispense justice.
17. Name two Peasant Uprisings of Assam during the British period.
Ans:- Phulguri uprising also known as 'Phulguri Dhawa"was the first peasant revolt in Assam. The peasants, known in the native as 'Ryots', started the resistance movement, now known as the Pabna revolt (1873-1876), as it started from Yusufshahi Pargana of Pabna, now in Bangladesh.
Model questions and Answer for 3/4 Marks :
1. Discuss the role of women in the agrarian society of medieval India. 4marks (2018)
Ans: The role of women in the agrarian society were-
(i) Women worked shoulder to shoulder with men in fields.
(ii) Women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.
(iii) Craft production such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery and embroidery.
(iv) Some restriction during some days of month - women were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter's wheel in western India.
(v) Produce children and look after them.
2. Why is Ain-i-Akbari regarded as a very important historical document? Mention two of its problem. 4marks (2015)
Ans: Ain-i-Akbari was written by Abul Fazl; the court poet of emperor Akbar.
(i) The Ain was officially sponsored to record detailed information to facilitate Emperor Akbar govern his empire, it was much more than a reproduction of official papers.
(ii) That the manuscript was revised five times by the author would suggest a high degree of caution on the part of Abu'l Fazl and a search for authenticity.
(iii) For instance, oral testimonies were cross-checked and verified before being incorporated as "facts" in the chronicle.
(iv) In the quantitative sections, all numeric data were reproduced in words so as to minimise the chances of subsequent transcriptional errors.
3. Who were Rayat? How many types of Rayat?3marks
Ans: They were peasants. There are two types of Raiyat Khud-khasta and Pahi-khasta. Khud-khasta They were residents of the village in which they held their land. Pahi- khasta They were non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands were eise were on a contractual basis.
4. How many seasons of agriculture according to Ain-i- Akbari?
Ans: According to Ain-i-Akbari, agriculture was organized around the two major seasonal cycles The kharif and the rabi. Kharif rice and jawar. Rabi wheat and gram.
5. How land revenue was fixed? (HS 2024) 4marks
Ans: The land revenue were-
(i) It consisted of two stages Jama and Hasil. Jama was the amount assessed and Hasil the amount collected.
(ii) Both cultivated and cultivable land measured in each province.
(iii) Prepared annual record of the number of cultivators in each village.
(iv) Officials were appointed to measure land revenue.
(v) The Dewan, who was responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the empire.
6. Explain the salient features of zabti system?4marks
Ans: The zabti system was-
(i) Measurement of land was compulsory.
(ii) Classification of land: Polaj, Parauti, Chachar, Banjar.
(iii) Calculation of the average products.
(iv) Fixation of state share.
(v) Commutation into cash.
(vi) Collection of land revenue.
7. Write a note on Jati Panchayat. 4marks
Ans: In addition to the village panchayat each sub-caste or jati in the village had its own jati panchayat.
(i) These panchayats wielded considerable power in rural society.
(ii) In Rajasthan jati panchayats arbitrated civil disputes between members of different castes.
(iii) They mediated in contested claims on land, decided whether marriages were performed according to the norms or not and so on.
(vi) In most cases, except in matters of criminal justice, the state respected the decisions of jati panchayats.
8. What the are problems in using the Ain-i- Akbari as a source for reconstructing agrarian history?4marks
Ans: The limitations of the Ain-i- Akbari were- (i) Although the Ain was officially sponsored to record detailed information to facilitate Emperor Akbar, it was much more than are production of official papers.
(ii) In the quantitative sections, all numeric data were reproduced in words so as to minimise the chances of subsequent transcriptional errors.
(iii) Data were not collected uniformly from all provinces.
(iv) while the fiscal data from the subasis remarkable for its richness, some equally vital parameters such as prices of commodities, and wages of workers from these same areas are not as well documented.
9. What were the methods of collecting land revenue in kind? 4marks
Ans: The methods of collecting land revenue in kind were-
(a) kankut: in the Hindi language Kan signifies grain, and kut, estimate. 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.
(b) batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties.
(c) khet-batai when they divided the fields after they are sown.
(d) 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.
10. Name the goods which were exchanged the paharias with the plain people. 3marks
Ans: These were gold copper lead, honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together). pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith, root, borax. zedoary (a root resembling turmeric) wax, woolen, stuffs. woodenware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of bird).
11. Discuss briefly the early British Uprisings of Assam. (HS 2024)
Ans:- The early British uprisings in Assam were significant in the region's resistance against British colonial rule. Here are some key events:
1. The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826): The conflict between the British East India Company and the Burmese Empire indirectly impacted Assam. During the war, the British aimed to secure Assam to prevent Burmese expansion. The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) ended the war, leading to the British annexation of Assam. This annexation laid the groundwork for subsequent uprisings as the local population resisted foreign rule.
2. The Revolt of Gomdhar Konwar (1828): Shortly after the British annexation, Gomdhar Konwar, a prince of the Ahom dynasty, led a revolt against the British in 1828. This uprising was driven by discontent with British policies and the loss of traditional privileges. Although the revolt was suppressed, it marked the beginning of local resistance to British rule in Assam.
3. The Phulaguri Dhawa (1861): The Phulaguri uprising was a significant peasant revolt in the Nagaon district of Assam. It was sparked by the British imposition of taxes on betel nut and pan leaf cultivation, which were vital to the local economy. The revolt saw local peasants clashing with British forces, and although it was ultimately quashed, it highlighted the widespread discontent with British economic policies.
These early uprisings in Assam were characterized by local leaders and peasants resisting British colonial policies, setting the stage for continued resistance in the region.
Model questions and Answer for 5 Marks :
1. Write short notes on the system of irrigation during the Mughal period. 5marks (2016)
Ans: The system of irrigation during the Mughal period was-
(i) The three factors that accounted for the constant expansion of agriculture were the abundance of land, available labour and the mobility of peasants.
(ii) Since the primary purpose of agriculture is to feed people. basic staples such as rice, wheat or millets were the most frequently cultivated crops.
(iii) Monsoons remained the backbone of Indian agriculture, as they are even today. But there were crops which required additional water.
(iv) Artificial systems of irrigation had to be devised for this.
(v) In northern India the state undertook digging of new canals and also repaired old ones like the shahnahr in the Punjab during Shah Jahan's reign.
2. Describe the functions of panchayat?
Ans: The functions of panchayat were-
(i) Community welfare Construction of bund or digging the cannel which peasants usually could not afford to do on their own.
(ii) Arrangements against natural calamities, like floods, famine. Droughts etc.
(iii) Regulate rural societies, like marriage and caste.
(iv) To ensure that caste boundaries among the various communities.
(v) Punishment - Example to levy fines and inflict from the community.
3. Describe Ain-i-Akbari? 5marks
Ans: The objectives of the Ain-i-Akbari were-
(i) Vision of Akbar's empire.
(ii) Strong ruling class.
(iii) The organization of the court, administration and the army.
(iv) Included detailed revenue, records with the help of Todarmal tried to reorganized the hole revenue system.
(v) Useful description of agrarian society.
4. Who were Zamindars? What were their functions?5
Ans: Zamindars were the part of rural society, who lived on agricultural production had milkiyat belongs to upper caste. New Zamindars emerged from lower caste.
Functions of Zamindars:
(i) Collect revenue.
(ii) Midiate between king and peasant.
(iii) Maintain military.
(iv) Developed agricultural land.
(v) Give money to farmers for agriculture.
(vi) Sell their own agricultural produce.
(vii) Make an arrangement for weekly or fortnightly market in the villages.
(viii) Making arrangement for repairing roads and water sources.
5. Discuss the sources to know about the agrarian society under the Mughals. 5marks
Ans: Major source for the agrarian history of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are chronicles and documents from the Mughal court.
(i) One of the most important chronicles was the Ain-i Akbari authored by Akbar's court historian Abu'l Fazl.
(ii) The detailed revenue records from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
(iii) Further, the extensive records of the East India Company provide us with useful descriptions of agrarian relations in eastern India.
(iv) All these sources record instances of conflicts between peasants, zamindars and the state. In the process they give us an insight into peasants' perception of and their expectations of fairness from the state.
6. Agricultural production involved the intensive participation and initiative of the peasantry. How did this affect the structure of agrarian relations in Mughal society?
Ans: Caste and the rural milieu :
(i) Despite the abundance of cultivable land, certain caste groups were assigned menial tasks and thus relegated to poverty. Such groups comprised a large section of the village population.
(ii) In Muslim communities' menials like the halal khoran, those who cut meat were housed outside the boundaries of the village; similarly, the mallahzadas, boatmen in Bihar were comparable to slaves.
(iii) There was a direct correlation between caste, poverty and social status at the lower strata of society.
(iv) In Marwar, Rajputs are mentioned as peasants, sharing the same space with Jats, who were accorded a lower status in the caste hierarchy.
(v) In the castern regions, intermediate pastoral and fishing castes like the Sadgops and Kaivartas acquired the status of peasants.
7. Discuss the power and functions of the Powers and functions of Panchayats and headmen.
Ans: (i) The village panchayat was an assembly of elders. The panchayat represented various castes and communities in the village so it is called an oligarchy.
(ii) The panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or mandal. Headmen held office as longas they enjoyed the confidence of the village elders.
(iii) The chief function of the headman was to supervise the preparation of village accounts, assisted by the accountant or patwari of the panchayat.
(iv) The panchayat derived its funds from contributions made by individuals to a common financial pool. These funds were used for defraying the costs of entertaining revenue officials, expenses for community welfare activities.
(v) One important function of the panchayat was to ensure that caste boundaries among the various communities inhabiting the village were upheld. In eastern India all marriages were held in the presence of the mandal.
(vi) Panchayats also had the authority to levy fines and inflict more serious forms of punishment like expulsion from the community.
8. Critically discuss the role and position of women in agrarian society under Mughal rule. 5marks
Ans: (i)In Mughal period women and men had to work shoulder to shoulder in the fields. Men tilled and ploughed, while women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.
(ii) Biases related to women's biological functions did continue. Menstruating women, for instance, were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter's wheel in western India, or enter the groves where betel-leaves were grown.
(iii) Artisanal tasks such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery were among the many aspects of production done by the women.
(iv) Women were considered an important resource in agrarian society also because they were child bearers in a society which dependents on labour.
(v) Hindu and Muslim women inherited zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage. Women zamindars were known in eighteenth-century Bengal.
9. Discuss the role of Zamindars in society.
Ans: Role of The Zamindars in rural society: (i) Zamindars, who were landed proprietors who also enjoyed certain social and economic privileges by virtue of their superior status in rural society.
(ii) The zamindars held extensive personal lands termed milkiyat, meaning property. Milkiyat lands were cultivated for the private use of zamindars, often with the help of hired labour. The zamindars could sell or donate these lands at will.
(iii) Zamindars also derived their power from the state that they could often collect revenue on behalf of the state. They had control over military resources was another source of power.
(iv) Abul Fazl's account indicates that most of the Zamindars were from an "upper-caste", Brahmana or Rajput.
(v) Zamindars spearheaded the colonisation of agricultural land, and helped in settling cultivators by providing them with the means of cultivation, including cash loans.
(vi) In addition, zamindars sold the produce from their milkiyat lands. There is evidence to show that zamindars often established markets to which peasants also came to sell their produce.
10. Give an account on the Revenue system under the Mughlas. 5marks
Ans: The Revenue system under the Mughlas was-
(i) Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay of the Mughal Empire. It was therefore vital for the state to create an administrative system to ensure control over agricultural production, and to fix and collect revenue from across the empire.
(ii) This system included the office of the diwan who was ( responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the empire.
(iii) The land revenue arrangements consisted of two stages first, assessment and then actual collection. The jama was the amount assessed and hasil, the amount collected.
(iv) Akbar ordered amil-guzaror revenue collector that he should strive to make cultivators pay in cash, the option of payment in kind was also to be kept open.
(v) Both cultivated and cultivable lands were measured in each province. Efforts to measure lands continued under subsequent emperors.
11. Write a note on silver flow to Mughal Empire. Smarks
Ans: The Mughal Empire was the large territorial empires in Asia among the Ming (China), Safavid (Iran) and Ottoman (Turkey) empires that had managed to consolidate power and resources during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
(i) The political stability achieved by all these empires helped create vibrant networks of overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.
(ii) Voyages of discovery and the opening up of the New World (America)resulted in a massive expansion of India's trade with Europe.
(iii) An expanding trade brought in huge amounts of silver bullion into India to pay for goods procured from India. This was good for India because it did not have natural resources of silver.
(iv) As a result, the period between the 16th and 17th centuries was also marked by a remarkable stability in the availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupyain India.
(v) Italian traveller, Giovanni Careri, (1690), provides a graphic account about the way silver travelled across the globe to reach India.
12. Give a crtical account on the Ain-i-Akbari. 5marks
Ans: (i) The Ain-i Akbari was the culmination of a large historical, administrative project of classification undertaken by Abul Fazl at the order of Emperor Akbar. It was completed in 1598 after having gone through five revisions.
(ii) The Ain was part of a larger project of history writing commissioned by Akbar. This history, known as the Akbar Nama,
(iii) The first two provided a historical narrative. The Ain-i Akbari, the third book, was organized as a compendium of imperial regulations and a gazetteer of the empire.
(iv) The Ain is made up of five books (daftars), of which the first three books describe the administration.
(v) The first book, called manzil-abadi, concerns the imperial ( household and its maintenance.
(vi) The second book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and civil administration and the establishment of servants.
(vii) The third book, mulk-abadi, is the one which deals with the fiscal side of the empire and provides rich quantitative information on revenue rates, administrative and fiscal divisions, total measured area, and assessed revenue (jama). Read the passage carefully and answer the following:
1. CASH OR KIND (2017)
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, estimate. 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 the case several intelligent inspectors are required; otherwise, the evil-minded and false are given to deception. Thirdly, khet-batai when they divided 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.
(i) Who were the Amil-guzars?
Ans: They were revenue collectors.
(ii) What was the medium of land revenue collection? 1
Ans: The medium of land revenue collection was cash and kind.
(iii) What were the methods of collecting land revenue in kind? 4marks
Ans: The methods of collecting land revenue in kind were-
(e) kankut: in the Hindi language Kan signifies grain, and kut, estimate. 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.
(f) batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties.
(g) khet-batai when they divided the fields after they are sown.
(h) 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.
(iv) Which system of revenue collection, do you think, is better and why? 1mark
Ans: Long Batai, because they divided equal among themselves and get profit.
2. TRADE BETWEEN HILL TRIBES AND THE PLAINS (2019, 2013)
This is how Abul Fazl describes the transaction between the hill tribes and ther plains in the suba of Awadh:
From the northern mountains quantities of goods are carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of goats such as gold copper lead, musk tails of the kuttas (the Yak), honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together), pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper,.. majith (a plant producing red dye) root, borax, zedoary (a root resembling turmeric) wax, woolen, stuffs, woodenware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of bird) and other articles. In exchange they carry back white and coloured clothes, amber salt, asafetida, ornaments, glass and earthen ware.
(ii) What was the medium of land revenue collection? 1
Ans: The medium of land revenue collection was cash and kind.
(iii) What were the methods of collecting land revenue in kind? (HS 2024) 4marks
Ans: The methods of collecting land revenue in kind were-
(e) kankut: in the Hindi language Kan signifies grain, and kut, estimate. 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.
(f) batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties.
(g) khet-batai when they divided the fields after they are sown.
(h) 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.
(iv) Which system of revenue collection, do you think, is better and why? 1mark
Ans: Long Batai, because they divided equal among themselves and get profit.
2. TRADE BETWEEN HILL TRIBES AND THE PLAINS (2019, 2013)
This is how Abul Fazl describes the transaction between the hill tribes and ther plains in the suba of Awadh:
From the northern mountains quantities of goods are carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of goats such as gold copper lead, musk tails of the kuttas (the Yak), honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together), pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper,.. majith (a plant producing red dye) root, borax, zedoary (a root resembling turmeric) wax, woolen, stuffs, woodenware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of bird) and other articles. In exchange they carry back white and coloured clothes, amber salt, asafetida, ornaments, glass and earthen ware.
(i) List the items for trade. 2marks
Ans: These were gold copper lead, honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together), pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith, root, borax, zedoary (a root resembling turmeric) wax, woolen, stuffs, wooden ware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of bird).
(ii) Identify majjith and find out why there was demand for it? 2marks
Ans: Majith was a plant producing red dye. It had demand to coloured clothes.
(iii) What were the modes of transport used for this trade?
Ans: The goods were carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of goats.
Write a brief note on the reign of Suhungmung Dihingia Raja. (HS 2024)
Ans:- Suhungmung Dihingia Raja, also known as Swargadeo Dihingia Raja, was a significant ruler of the Ahom Kingdom in Assam, reigning from 1497 to 1539. He is notable for expanding the kingdom and consolidating its power. During his reign, the Ahom Kingdom achieved considerable military success, notably against the Chutiya and Kachari kingdoms, which expanded its territory and influence.
Suhungmung introduced several administrative reforms, enhancing the efficiency and stability of the kingdom. One of his key contributions was the reorganization of the Paik system, which was a labor and military service system crucial for the kingdom's administration and defense.
Furthermore, Suhungmung was instrumental in incorporating various tribal communities into the Ahom fold, fostering a more integrated and cohesive state. His reign marked a period of cultural and economic prosperity, with significant developments in architecture, literature, and agriculture.
Overall, Suhungmung Dihingia Raja's reign was a transformative period for the Ahom Kingdom, setting the foundation for its future growth and dominance in the region.
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