21 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWhich term did Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently use to denote a peasant?
(A) muqaddam(B) raiyat(C) amil-guzar(D) sanad - 1 markAccording to Babur’s account in Source 2, how did people in Lahore and Dipalpur irrigate their fields?
(A) by digging new canals every season(B) by a hand-operated pump(C) by carrying water in earthen pots on foot(D) by a wheel geared to a bullock, lifting water in pitchers fixed to a rope - 1 markJins-i kamil, or “perfect crops”, encouraged by the state for their higher revenue, is best exemplified in the chapter by
(A) cotton and sugarcane(B) rice and wheat(C) maize and tobacco(D) millets alone - 1 markThe arrangement later given the name “jajmani system”, describing goods-for-services exchange between artisans and peasant households, was
(A) already the standard term used across the empire in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries(B) invented by Abu’l Fazl in the Ain(C) a term not actually in vogue at the time, applied only later(D) used only for describing revenue collection - 1 markAccording to the Ain, the combined cavalry strength of all the zamindars in Mughal India was approximately
(A) 38,455(B) 384,558(C) 4,277,057(D) 1,863 - 1 markWhich of the following is identified in the chapter as a genuine limitation of the Ain’s quantitative data?
(A) it records no dates of any kind(B) it was collected with perfect, mechanical uniformity from every province(C) data collection was skewed: detailed zamindar caste-composition data is missing for Bengal and Orissa(D) it contains no information about revenue at all
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Nineteenth-century British officials described the Indian village community as a “little republic” of equal, fraternal partners.
Reason (R): Village society was in fact free of caste hierarchy or gender inequality, with resources and labour shared equally among all residents.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The Ain-i Akbari offers uniformly detailed information on the caste composition of zamindars across every Mughal province.
Reason (R): Data collection under the Ain was not uniform; detailed caste-composition information on zamindars does not survive for Bengal and Orissa.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) raiyat (ii) khud-kashta (iii) pahi-kashta (iv) majur
List II: (1) a non-resident cultivator farming land elsewhere on a contractual basis (2) a menial or agricultural labourer (3) the term Indo-Persian sources most frequently used for a peasant (4) a peasant who resided in the village in which he held his lands
(A) i-4, ii-3, iii-2, iv-1(B) i-3, ii-4, iii-1, iv-2(C) i-3, ii-1, iii-4, iv-2(D) i-2, ii-4, iii-1, iv-3 - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) polaj (ii) parauti (iii) chachar (iv) banjar
List II: (1) fallow for three or four years (2) annually cultivated, never left fallow (3) uncultivated for five years or more (4) left fallow temporarily to recover its strength
(A) i-1, ii-2, iii-4, iv-3(B) i-4, ii-1, iii-2, iv-3(C) i-2, ii-1, iii-3, iv-4(D) i-2, ii-4, iii-1, iv-3
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: The Ain-i Akbari’s central purpose was to serve as a neutral historical record, with no political agenda.
Statement II: The Ain aimed to present a vision of Akbar’s empire held together by social harmony under a strong ruling class, in which any revolt was treated as predestined to fail.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markStatement I: Kankut, batai, khet-batai and lang batai were all methods described in the Ain for assessing or collecting land revenue.
Statement II: All four methods required the standing or harvested crop to be physically divided among the parties before any payment could be settled.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markStatement I: Giovanni Careri’s account traces silver flowing from the New World, through Europe, into Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Persia, before reaching India.
Statement II: The Mughal Empire, alongside the Ming and Ottoman empires, achieved political stability that supported vibrant overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following events in chronological order.
1. Aurangzeb orders an annual count of cultivators in every village
2. Akbar completes the Ain-i Akbari
3. Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat
4. The diwani of Bengal is transferred to the East India Company
(A) 2-3-1-4(B) 3-2-1-4(C) 3-1-2-4(D) 1-2-3-4 - 1 markArrange the following in chronological order.
1. Henry Blochmann’s English translation of Volume 1 of the Ain is published in Calcutta
2. The Italian traveller Giovanni Careri passes through India and describes how silver reached it
3. Akbar and his nobles come across tobacco for the first time
4. The Ain-i Akbari is completed in Akbar’s forty-second regnal year
(A) 2-4-3-1(B) 4-2-3-1(C) 3-4-2-1(D) 4-3-2-1
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe Mughal official responsible for supervising the empire’s fiscal system, whose office was called the daftar, was known as the ______.
(A) diwan(B) patwari(C) muqaddam(D) amil-guzar - 1 markZamindars’ personal lands, cultivated for their private use with hired or servile labour and freely sold, bequeathed or mortgaged, were called ______.
(A) milkiyat(B) jama(C) suyurghal(D) naqdi
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markThree of the following are among Akbar’s four categories of land classification (Source 5). Which one is NOT?
(A) polaj(B) chachar(C) milkiyat(D) banjar
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
“In Hindustan hamlets and villages, towns indeed, are depopulated and set up in a moment! If the people of a large town, one inhabited for years even, flee from it, they do it in such a way that not a sign or trace of them remains in a day and a half. On the other hand, if they fix their eyes on a place to settle, they need not dig water courses because their crops are all rain-grown, and as the population of Hindustan is unlimited it swarms in. They make a tank or a well; they need not build houses or set up walls … khas-grass abounds, wood is unlimited, huts are made, and straightaway there is a village or a town!”
— Babur, Babur Nama (Source 1)
— Babur, Babur Nama (Source 1)
- 1 markAccording to this passage, what happens to a large town’s people once they decide to flee it, in Babur’s account?
(A) they take years to disperse completely(B) not a sign or trace of them remains after a day and a half(C) they leave their crops behind for the next settlers(D) the buildings remain standing indefinitely
Passage
“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.”
— Ain-i Akbari (Source 6)
— Ain-i Akbari (Source 6)
- 1 markAccording to this passage, why did the batai method of revenue collection require “several intelligent inspectors”?
(A) to prevent the evil-minded and false from practising deception during the division of the crop(B) to translate the Hindi revenue terms into Persian(C) to guard the village granary from theft(D) to ensure the revenue was collected only in cash
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Bengal, according to the Ain, produced 50 varieties of rice alone.
(ii) Agra, per the Ain, produced more crop varieties across both seasons than Delhi.
(A) only (i) is true(B) both are true(C) only (ii) is true(D) both are false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (B) The term Indo-Persian sources used most frequently for a peasant was raiyat (plural riaya) or muzarian; kisan and asami also appear.
- (D) Babur described a wheel turned by a bullock, with pitchers fixed along two long ropes, emptying into a trough that watered the fields.
- (A) Cotton and sugarcane were jins-i kamil par excellence, cotton across central India and the Deccan, sugar in Bengal, though oilseeds and lentils also counted as cash crops.
- (C) This later came to be described as the jajmani system, though the chapter is explicit that the term itself was not in vogue in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
- (B) The Ain records the zamindars’ combined military strength as 384,558 cavalry, 4,277,057 infantry, 1,863 elephants, 4,260 cannons and 4,500 boats.
- (C) Data was not collected uniformly from all provinces; for instance, detailed caste-composition information on zamindars is not available for Bengal and Orissa, and the Ain’s price and wage data come mainly from around Agra.
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is true: some British officials genuinely described the village this way. R is false: the chapter is explicit that this was not a sign of rural egalitarianism, there was individual ownership of assets and deep inequities of caste and gender.
- (D) A is false: coverage was skewed, not uniform. R is true and is exactly why A is false, so the answer is that A is false but R is true.
Match the Following
- (B) Raiyat (plural riaya) was the term Indo-Persian sources most frequently used for a peasant (i-3); khud-kashta peasants were residents of the village in which they held their lands (ii-4); pahi-kashta were non-resident cultivators who cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis (iii-1); majur were those who worked as menials or agricultural labourers (iv-2).
- (D) Polaj was annually cultivated and never fallow, parauti was left fallow temporarily to recover, chachar had lain fallow three or four years, and banjar was uncultivated for five years or more.
Statement-Based Questions
- (D) Statement I is false: the Ain was far from neutral. Statement II is true and describes its actual central purpose, which is exactly why Statement I is false.
- (C) Statement I is true. Statement II is false: kankut only estimates the standing crop (cut and assessed in three lots); khet-batai divides the fields after sowing; only batai and lang batai physically divide the harvested crop.
- (B) Both statements are true, but Statement II describes general overland Asian trade stability rather than explaining Careri’s specific silver route from the New World through Turkey and Persia to India.
Chronological Ordering
- (B) Babur’s victory at Panipat was in 1526, the Ain was completed in 1598, Aurangzeb’s order came in 1665, and the diwani of Bengal was transferred in 1765: the order is 3-2-1-4.
- (D) The Ain was completed in 1598 (4), Akbar and his nobles first came across tobacco in 1604 (3), Careri passed through India c. 1690 (2), and Blochmann’s translation was published in Calcutta in 1873 (1): the order is 4-3-2-1.
Fill in the Blanks
- (A) The office (daftar) of the diwan was responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the empire.
- (A) Milkiyat, meaning “property”, was the term for zamindars’ extensive personal lands.
Odd One Out
- (C) Milkiyat is a zamindar’s personal property, not one of Akbar’s four land-classification categories (polaj, parauti, chachar, banjar).
Passage-Based Questions
- (B) Babur wrote that if the people of a large town flee, “not a sign or trace of them remains in a day and a half.”
- (A) The passage states that without several intelligent inspectors present, “the evil-minded and false are given to deception” during the division of the harvested crop.
True / False
- (A) Statement (i) is true. Statement (ii) is false: the Ain records Agra at 39 varieties, fewer than Delhi’s 43.
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