Very Short Answer Type Questions

Below is a CBSE Board–ready, NCERT-strict set of 40 Very Short Answer Type Questions (VSAs) for
Class 12 History – Chapter 8: Peasants, Zamindars and the State: Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire.

✔️ Answers are one sentence each
✔️ Content is strictly based on NCERT
✔️ Ideal for quick revision and board exam practice

Very Short Answer Type Questions (1 Sentence Each)

Chapter 8: Peasants, Zamindars and the State

(CBSE Class 12 | NCERT Aligned)

1. What was the backbone of the Mughal economy?
   Answer: Agriculture was the backbone of the Mughal economy.
2. Who were the primary producers in Mughal agrarian society?
   Answer: Peasants or ryots were the primary producers.
3. What term was used for peasants in Mughal India?
   Answer: Peasants were known as ryots.
4. What were zamindars in the Mughal agrarian system?
   Answer: Zamindars were intermediaries between peasants and the state.
5. What was the main source of income for the Mughal state?
   Answer: Land revenue was the main source of income.
6. Name the Mughal emperor who introduced major revenue reforms.
   Answer: Akbar introduced major revenue reforms.
7. What was the zabti system?
   Answer: It was a system of revenue assessment based on average crop yields.
8. Which crops were grown during the kharif season?
   Answer: Crops like rice and cotton were grown during the kharif season.
9. Which crops were grown during the rabi season?
   Answer: Crops like wheat and barley were grown during the rabi season.
10. What were cash crops?
    Answer: Cash crops were grown mainly for sale in markets.
11. Name one cash crop grown in Mughal India.
    Answer: Indigo was an important cash crop.
12. What role did monsoons play in agriculture?
    Answer: Monsoons determined the success of agricultural production.
13. Who was responsible for collecting land revenue?
    Answer: Amils were responsible for collecting land revenue.
14. Who maintained village-level revenue records?
    Answer: Patwaris maintained village-level revenue records.
15. What was the role of qanungos?
    Answer: Qanungos kept records of revenue assessments.
16. What does batai refer to?
    Answer: Batai was a crop-sharing system of revenue collection.
17. What was the kankut system?
    Answer: Kankut assessed revenue by estimating standing crops.
18. What was nasaq?
    Answer: Nasaq was revenue assessment based on past cultivation records.
19. Why were zamindars important to the Mughal state?
    Answer: Zamindars helped collect revenue and maintain local order.
20. What privileges did zamindars enjoy?
    Answer: Zamindars had hereditary rights over land and revenue collection.
21. Where did zamindars usually live?
    Answer: Zamindars lived in fortified houses or small forts.
22. How was peasant society structured?
    Answer: Peasant society was hierarchical and diverse.
23. What difficulties did peasants face?
    Answer: Peasants faced heavy revenue demands and natural calamities.
24. How did peasants respond to excessive taxation?
    Answer: Peasants migrated or resisted revenue collection.
25. What connected villages to markets?
    Answer: Cash crop cultivation connected villages to markets.
26. What was the impact of commercialisation of agriculture?
    Answer: It increased dependence on markets and cash transactions.
27. What was the Mughal state’s attitude towards revenue remission?
    Answer: The state sometimes remitted revenue during crises.
28. What caused frequent famines in Mughal India?
    Answer: Famines were caused by crop failure, war, and over-taxation.
29. Did the Mughal state exercise complete control over villages?
    Answer: No, state control depended on cooperation with zamindars.
30. What role did peasants play in sustaining the empire?
    Answer: Peasants produced surplus that supported the Mughal state.
31. What source provides detailed revenue information of Akbar’s reign?
    Answer: The Ain-i Akbari provides detailed revenue information.
32. Why must Mughal records be read critically?
    Answer: They reflect the official perspective of the state.
33. What determined the amount of revenue assessed?
    Answer: Crop yield, land quality, and cultivation history determined revenue.
34. What was double cropping?
    Answer: It was the practice of growing more than one crop on the same land annually.
35. How did wars affect agrarian society?
    Answer: Wars disrupted cultivation and increased peasant hardship.
36. What was the relationship between zamindars and peasants?
    Answer: It was cooperative as well as exploitative.
37. Who benefited most from the agrarian surplus?
    Answer: The Mughal state and zamindars benefited most.
38. What limited the efficiency of the Mughal agrarian system?
    Answer: Natural disasters and heavy revenue demands limited efficiency.
39. Why is agrarian history important for understanding the Mughal Empire?
    Answer: It explains the economic foundation of Mughal power.
40. What does this chapter mainly help us understand?
    Answer: It helps us understand agrarian relations in Mughal India.