RAS question
Alauddin Khilji fixed the land revenue at what fraction of the produce?
Correct answer: (C) One-half (50%).
Alauddin Khalji fixed the land revenue on cultivation at about one-half, or 50 per cent, of the peasant's produce.
Explanation
Alauddin Khalji's revenue policy brought the assessment and collection of land revenue under direct state control. NCERT states that his administrators measured land, maintained careful accounts, and imposed a tax on cultivation amounting to about 50 per cent of the peasant's produce. The standard answer is one-half of the produce, not a lower customary share. This demand was part of a wider tightening of rural control: house tax and cattle tax were imposed, and the privileges and grants of the rural aristocracy were abolished. The point to remember is the scale and centralisation of the demand: the Sultanate state, not local chieftains, fixed and collected a heavy revenue share.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) One-fourth is too low; NCERT fixes the tax on cultivation under Alauddin Khalji at about 50 per cent of the peasant's produce.
- (B) Two-thirds overstates the demand; the cultivation tax was about one-half, not roughly 66 per cent.
- (D) One-third does not match the stated assessment, because Alauddin Khalji's cultivation tax was about 50 per cent of produce.
Concept
This tests Delhi Sultanate agrarian administration, especially how Alauddin Khalji centralised revenue assessment and weakened local intermediaries. It recurs in RAS because medieval fiscal reforms link political control, military needs, and rural society.