CAPF AC 2021 Q68: Medieval History – Mughal Empire
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (a) 1 only
Explanation
Zabt and kankut in Mughal land revenue
How to think: first be clear what each system was.
Then check the area of zabt under Akbar, and what replaced it later.
| System | Method |
|---|---|
| Zabt (dahsala) | Land measured; cash rates fixed per crop from a ten-year average |
| Kankut | Yield estimated by inspecting the standing crop |
| Batai or ghalla-bakhshi | Actual crop-sharing on the threshing floor or in the field |
| Nasaq | Rough assessment based on past records |
Statement 1 is correct: under Akbar, Raja Todar Mal's zabt system (1580) covered the provinces from Lahore and Multan to Allahabad and Awadh, along with Agra, Delhi and Malwa.
Statement 2 is taken as incorrect: the published keys reject it.
Late seventeenth-century writers such as Malikzada praised crop-sharing as the best method, so zabt is not said to have given way to kankut.
Answer: (a) 1 only.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) CORRECT. Only statement 1 is accepted: zabt covered the area from Punjab to Awadh under Akbar.
- (b) Incorrect. Statement 1 is clearly true, so 2 only cannot be right.
- (c) Incorrect. Published keys do not accept that zabt lost much ground to kankut.
- (d) Incorrect. Statement 1 is a well-known fact about Akbar's revenue system.
Key point
Akbar's dahsala or zabt (1580, Todar Mal): measurement, ten-year average of yield and prices, cash rates (dasturs). It covered Lahore, Multan, Delhi, Agra, Awadh, Allahabad and Malwa. Other methods: kankut (estimate), batai (sharing), nasaq.
Remember
Zabt = measurement, Akbar, Todar Mal, Punjab to Awadh.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up kankut (estimation of yield) with batai (actual sharing of the crop).
- Thinking zabt covered the whole empire; Bengal, Gujarat and the Deccan had other methods.
- Treating statement 2 as a safe textbook line when the published keys reject it.
Exam tip
Educated guess: statement 1 is certain, so only (a) and (c) are possible. Statement 2 makes a sweeping claim (lost much ground) about a whole century, and such sweeping claims are usually the false ones.
Sources
- Satish Chandra, History of Medieval India — Akbar: land revenue administration
- NCERT Class XII History — Themes in Indian History Part II, Chapter 8: Peasants, Zamindars and the State