Here we are providing 1 Mark Questions for History Class 12 Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire are the best resource for students which helps in class 12 board exams.

One Mark Questions for History Class 12 Chapter 8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire

Question 1.
Who was Abul Fazl?
Answer:
Abul Fazl was the court historian of Akbar.

Question 2.
Who wrote Ain-i-Akbari ?
Answer:
Abul Fazl wrote Ain-i-Akbari.

Question 3.
Which different names were used for peasants during the Mughal Empire?
Answer:
Raiyat, Kisan, Asami etc.

Question 4.
What are Rabi and Kharif crops?
Answer:
Autumn crops are Kharif crops and Spring crops are Rabi crops.

Question 5.
What was Jins-i-Kamil?
Answer:
Jins-i-Kamil means the perfect crops.

Question 6.
Who headed the Panchayat in the Mughal Empire?
Answer:
The Panchayat was headed by a headman or muqaddam or mandal.

Question 7.
Give one important fuction of Panchayats during the Mughal Empire.
Answer:
To ensure that caste boundaries among the various communities living in the village were upheld.

Question 8.
What was begar?
Answer:
Unpaid labour done by the peasants.

Question 9.
Name few artisans lived in the villages.
Answer:
Potters, Blacksmiths, Carpenters, Barbers, Goldsmiths etc. /

Question 10.
What work did women do in the fields during the Mughal Empire?
Answer:
Sowing, weeding, thrashing and winnowing the harvest.

Question 11.
Who were called Jangli in the Mughal Empire?
Answer:
Forest dwellers were called Jangli in the Mughal Empire. ,

Question 12.
What peshkash was expected from the forest people?
Answer:
They were expected to supply elephants to the empire.

Question 13.
What was a Pargana?
Answer:
Pargana was an administrative subdivision of a Mughal province.

Question 14.
On the basis of which relations, the rural society of 16th and 17th century was organised ?
Answer:
Rural society of 16th and 17th century was made up of small peasants and rich landlords. Both of these were involved in agricultural production and had their right over the share of the produce. As a result, the relationship of cooperation, conflict and competition was created among them. These relationships were the base of organising rural society.

Question 15.
Discuss the four factors that helped in the continuous development of agriculture in India of the Mughal period.
Or
Mention the factors that accounted for the constant expansion of agriculture during 16th and 17th centuries. (C.B.S.E. 2010 (D))
Answer:
These factors were :
(i) Excess of land
(ii) Availability of workers
(iii) Dynamism of farmers
(iv) Development of artificial means of irrigation.

Question 16.
With which community the social existence of peasant was associated during 16th and 17th centuries ? Which were three other constituents of this community ?
Answer:
Social existence of peasant, during 16th and 17th centuries was associated with collective village community. Its three other constituents were—the cultivators, the’ Panchayat and the village headman.

Question 17.
Which people were included in the village Panchayat of the Mughal period ? With which name was the head of Panchayat known ?
Answer:
Village,Panchayat during the Mughal period was an assembly of elders of the village. They were generally important persons of village who had’ hereditary rights over their property.

Question 18.
What does Jins-i-Kamil mean ? Why did the Mughal rule encourage it ?
Answer:
Literally, Jins-i-Kamil means perfect crops. Such crops included cotton and sugarcane besides oilseeds and lentils. The Mughal state encouraged -all the peasants to’grow and cultivate only those crops which brought in more revenue.

Question 19.
Deserting village was considered as an aggressive method in case of no justice given by Panchayat. Why ?
Answer:
In case of conflict between lower caste peasants and state officials or local zamindars, compromises were used. In cases where reconciliation failed, peasants took more drastic form of resistance and that was deserting the village.

Question 20.
Which type of region was Jungle (forest) from the point of view of Mughal empire ?
Answer:
For the Mughal state, the forest or Jungle was a subversive place, a place of refuge or shelter for trouble makers. Once Babur said that “Jungles were those defences behind which the people of the pargana became stubbornly rebellious and; paid no taxes.” v

Question 21.
What were the four means by which the people belonging«*to weaker* sections of society could attain the status of zamihdars ?
Answer:
These means were as follows :
(i) By settlements On new lands
(ii) By transfering of the land ownership
(iii) By the royal orders
(iv) By purchasing the land

Question 22.
Name those four large territorial empires in Asia which had managed to consolidate power and resources during 16th and 17th centuries.
Answer:
(i) The Mughal empire in India
(ii) Ming empire in China
(iii) Safavid empire of Iran
(iv) Ottoman empire in Turkey.

Question 23.
Abul Fazl, the writer of Ain-i-Akbari, had a high degree of caution in writing his book. Give two arguments.
Answer:
(i) He revised the manuscript five times.
(ii) He verified the oral testimonies and verified as well as cross-checked them from various facts and sources. He left no stone unturned to check the authenticity of the oral testimonies.

Question 24.
Discuss any two limitations of Ain-i- Akbari.
Answer:
These limitations are as follows :
(i) There were errors in totalling. They might be due to slips of arithmetic or transcription.
(ii) There was no uniform collection of data from all the provinces.

Question 25.
Why were women considered an important resource in agrarian society? Mention two reasons. (C.B.S.E. 2009 (D))
Answer:
(i) Women worked shoulder to shoulder with men in the fields.
(ii) Men tilled and ploughed the fields and on the other hand, women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.

Question 26.
Mention two factors for enjoying social and economic privileges by the Zamindars in the Mughal India. (C.B.S.E. 2009 (D))
Answer:
(i) Caste was one of the factors that accounted for elevated status of Zamindars.
(ii) Zamindars performed certain services (Khidmat) for the State.
Banjar Land : It was also a type of land which was uncultivated for five years and more.

Question 27.
Mention two main purposes of Ain-i- Akbari. (C.B.S.E. 2009 (O.D.))
Answer:
(i) The main purpose of Ain-i-Akbari was to record information about the people and society during the Mughal regime.
(ii) Another purpose of Ain-i-Akbari was to give detailed accounts of the organisation of the court, administration and army.

Question 28.
Who headed the Panchayats during seventeenth century ? How was he chosen ? (C.B.S.E. 2008 (O.D.))
Answer:
The panchayats during seventeenth century were headed by a head man known as muquaddam or mandal. Some sources suggest that the headman was chosen through the consensus of the village elders and that this choice had to be ratified by the zamindars.

Question 29.
Mention the major crop of Western India during 17th century. How did it come to India ? (C.B.S.E. 2010 (O.D.))
Answer:
Maize (makka) was the major crop of Western India during 17th century. During the 17th century, several new crops from different parts of the world reached the Indian sub-continent via Africa and Spain.

Question 30.
Why were the forest dwellers termed Jungli ? Give any two reasons ? (C.B.S.E. 2010 (O.D.))
Answer:
(i) This word was used for the people whose livelihood came from forest products. Forests were the means of their livelihood.
(ii) These people moved from one place to another.

Question 31.
What does the third part of the Ain, ‘Mulk Abadi’ deal with ? (C.B.S.E. 2010 (O.D.))
Answer:
Mulk Abadi gives detailed information about fiscal aspects and revenue rates of centre and states. Twelve provinces are also mentioned in it. It shows a very detailed and interesting picture of the agrarian society of north India.

Question 32.
How were the village artisans compensated by the villagers for their services ? Write about any one. (C.B.S.E. 2010 (D))
Answer:
Village artisans were compensated by the villagers by giving them one part of their produce or were given one piece of waste land kept with them.

Question 33.
How did the Zamindars derive their power during the Mughal period ? Mention any two ways. (C.B.S.E. 2010 (D))
Answer:
(i) Caste was one factor which accounted for the higher status of Zamindars. Another factor was that they performed certain services for the state.
(ii) The Zamindars held extensive personal lands termed milkiyat meaning property.

Question 34.
Mention any two steps taken by the Mughals to create the revenue as an administrative apparatus. (C.B.S.E. 2013 (O.D.))
Answer:
(i) This apparatus included the office of the diwan who was responsible for supervising the fiscal system of the empire.
(ii) Revenue officials and record keepers penetrated the agricultural domain and became a decisive agent in shaping agrarian relations.

Question 35.
Mention two factors that brought a stability in the silver currency during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (C.B.S.E.2013 (O.D.))
Answer:
An expanding trade of Asia with other regions brought in huge amounts of silver bullion into Asia to pay for goods procured from India. A large part of that bullion gravitated towards India. As a result, this period saw a great stability in the silver currency.

Question 36.
Explain the sources of revenue of village Panchayats during the Mughal rule in India. (C.B.S.E. 2018)
Answer:
During the Mughal rule in India, the Panchayati derived its funds from contributions made by individuals to’ a common financial base, levying fines, agricultural taxes etc.