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Predicted Questions with Model Answers
Q1 (5 marks — 50 words)
Explain the tripartite land classification system (Jagir, Khalisa, Bhom) of Rajputana.
Model Answer (EN): Rajput-era Rajasthan divided land into three categories: Jagir — land assigned to nobles and military chiefs in exchange for military service and revenue management; Khalisa — crown land under direct state administration generating revenue for the ruler; and Bhom — hereditary village land held by Bhomia Rajputs with customary occupancy rights. This tripartite system underpinned the feudal political economy until 1952 jagirdari abolition.
Q2 (5 marks — 50 words)
What was the Dahsala system of Todar Mal and how did it influence Rajputana's revenue administration?
Model Answer (EN): Emperor Akbar's finance minister Todar Mal implemented the Ain-i-Dahsala (1580 CE) — a ten-year average of crop yields used to fix revenue assessments. He classified land into four categories: Polaj (annually cultivated), Parauti (periodically fallow), Chachar (three-year fallow), and Banjar (waste). This system, introduced in the Ajmer Subah covering Rajputana, replaced arbitrary assessments with a predictable, documented revenue framework, influencing later British Settlement Operations.
Q3 (5 marks — 50 words)
Write a note on the role of the Patwari in Rajasthan's revenue administration.
Model Answer (EN): The Patwari (village revenue recorder) was the critical base-level functionary in Rajasthan's revenue hierarchy, responsible for maintaining Khasra (field-by-field crop records) and Khatauni (cultivator-wise land registers). Originating in the Mughal-era administrative tradition, patwaris provided data for Nainsi's Vigat (1664 CE) and later British Settlement Operations (formalised by A.P. Nicholson's Marwar settlement, 1891–95). Rajasthan's Apna Khata portal (2016) has largely digitalised traditional patwari functions.
Q4 (5 marks — 50 words)
Discuss Begar as a form of feudal exploitation in Rajasthan's revenue system.
Model Answer (EN): Begar (forced unpaid labour) was the most exploitative feature of Rajasthan's jagirdari system. Jagirdars compelled lower-caste cultivators and tribals to carry loads, tend animals, and do construction without payment. Alongside Lags-Baags (miscellaneous cesses for life events), it created a debt-trap that prevented peasant mobility. Begar directly triggered the Bijolia Movement (1897–1941), Begun Movement (1921), and Eki Movement (1921), finally abolished under the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955.
Q5 (10 marks — 150 words)
Trace the evolution of Rajasthan's revenue administration from the Rajput feudal period through Mughal influence to British Settlement Operations and post-independence land reforms.
Model Answer (EN): Rajasthan's revenue administration evolved across four distinct phases, each responding to changing political authority.
The Rajput feudal phase (6th–18th century) operated through the Jagir-Khalisa-Bhom tripartite system. Jagirdars held assigned land from princes in exchange for military service; revenue collection was customary, undocumented, and subject to arbitrary lags-baags (miscellaneous cesses). The administrative hierarchy — Diwan → Faujdar → Hakim → Patwari → Chaudhary — ensured revenue extraction from cultivators with minimal legal protection. Begar (unpaid forced labour) supplemented monetary extraction. The Rekh system in Marwar standardised assessment; Nainsi's Vigat (1664 CE) provided the first systematic revenue-administrative documentation.
The Mughal influence phase (16th–17th century) introduced Todar Mal's Ain-i-Dahsala (1580 CE) in the Ajmer Subah — a 10-year average yield system replacing arbitrary annual assessment. Land was classified as Polaj, Parauti, Chachar, and Banjar. Zabt (crop measurement) was adopted in eastern Rajasthan (Amber/Jaipur). Mansabdari replaced the purely feudal military obligation.
The British paramountcy phase (1818–1947) introduced Settlement Operations from the 1870s. A.P. Nicholson's Marwar Settlement (1891–95) created the first written cadastral survey, documenting field boundaries and cultivator rights systematically. Colonel Tod's Annals (1829, 1832) remain indispensable primary documentation of pre-British customs.
Post-independence reform dismantled the system entirely. The Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act, 1952, abolished 16,000+ jagirs and conferred occupancy rights on cultivators. The Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955, and Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956, completed the transformation to a modern, equalitarian revenue system — formalised digitally through Apna Khata (2016) covering 2.3 crore records.
Q6 (10 marks — 150 words)
Critically examine the impact of British paramountcy on Rajputana's traditional administrative and revenue systems.
Model Answer (EN): British paramountcy over Rajputana (formalised through Subsidiary Alliance treaties, 1817–18) introduced fundamental changes to the traditional administrative and revenue systems — simultaneously modernising certain aspects while preserving others for political reasons.
Administratively, the British established the Rajputana Agency (headquartered at Mount Abu, later Ajmer) with Political Agents in each major state. This created a parallel British oversight structure above the Rajput administrative hierarchy without dismantling it. The Rajput rulers retained internal autonomy — judicial, revenue, and police powers — but foreign policy and military actions required British approval under Paramountcy doctrine.
In revenue administration, the British introduced Settlement Operations from the 1870s — a systematic, documented cadastral survey approach replacing customary oral assessment. A.P. Nicholson's Marwar Settlement (1891–95) was the first such formal survey. Colonel James Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829, 1832) became the foundational British documentation of traditional revenue customs and jagirdari tenure.
Critically, British paramountcy had contradictory effects: it introduced legal documentation and predictability into revenue collection (a modernising effect) but simultaneously preserved — and even reinforced — the jagirdari system as a tool of political stability. The British chose not to reform agrarian exploitation because jagirdars provided a loyal collaborating class. This deliberate preservation of the feudal structure directly contributed to peasant agitations (Bijolia 1897–1941, Begun 1921, Eki 1921) that challenged both jagirdari and British authority. The post-independence reforms (Jagirdari Abolition Act 1952) completed the process British paramountcy had intentionally left unfinished.