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Peasants, Zamindars And The State
To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?
(a) Cultivators were a highly heterogeneous group because they were divided on the basis of caste and other caste like distinctions. Thus among the peasants were many who worked as agricultural labourers.
(b) A large proportion of the village people were constrained by their caste being regarded as the modem day Dalits. They were assigned menial tasks and thus were poverty-stricken.
(c) Caste distinctions had also begun to permeate other communities as well. In Muslim communities menials like halkhoron (scavengers) lived outside the villages. A direct relation existed between caste, poverty and social status.
(d) In Marwar in the seventeenth century, Rajputs are mentioned as peasants and equated with Jats who were given an inferior status in the caste hierarchy.
(e) Castes like Ahirs, Gujjars and Malis reached an elevated status in the caste hierarchy because of immense profits generated by cattle-rearing and horticulture. In the eastern regions, the pastoral and fishing castes like the sadgops and Kaivartas acquired the status of peasants.
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Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.
Visit a neighbouring village. Find out how many people live there, which crops are grown, which animals are raised, which artisanal groups reside
there, whether women own land, how the local panchayat functions. Compare this information with what you have learnt about the sixteenth-
seventeenth centuries, noting similarities and differences. Explain both the changes and the continuities that you find.
How were the village artisans compensated by the villagers for their services? Write about any one.
How did the zamindars derive their power during the Mughal period? Mention any two ways.
What was Jati Panchayat? State any two of its functions.
Why had an artificial system of irrigation to be devised in India during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ? Mention one such system.
Define the following terms : Polaj and Parati lands.
Why were women considered an important resource in agrarian society? Mention two reasons.
Mention two factors for enjoying social and economic privileges by the zamindars in the Mughal India.
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