Which of the following statements about Amaranayakas of Vijayanagara are correct? 1. The Amaranayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the Raya. 2. In lieu of their service and also to maintain their contingents, they were paid in cash. 3. They maintained stipulated contingents and elephants. 4. They used to send tribute to the king annually and personally appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their loyalty. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Correct — B, 1, 3 and 4 only. The amara-nayakas were military commanders to whom the raya assigned territory, and everything else follows from how they were paid. They were not given cash. They collected taxes and dues from the peasants, craftspersons and traders of the area assigned to them, kept part for their own use and for maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses and elephants, and passed the rest on. Statement 2 makes them salaried officers and is the only false one. Statements 3 and 4 name the obligations attached to the grant — the contingent, the annual tribute, and the personal appearance at the royal court with gifts.

• (a)1, 2 and 3 only — Right about the grant and the contingent, but it keeps the cash salary and drops the tribute and the court appearance, which were the visible tests of loyalty.
• (c)2 and 4 only — Retains the one false statement and throws away the definition of the office along with the military obligation.
• (d)1, 2, 3 and 4 — Only the cash payment separates this from the answer. The amara-nayaka drew his income from the land assigned to him, which is what made the office powerful enough to break away later.

The amara-nayaka system was Vijayanagara's principal political innovation and it borrowed from the iqta of the Delhi Sultanate. Rather than a salary from the treasury, an officer received the right to collect revenue from a defined territory called amaram. He held it in return for troops, tribute and attendance at court. Because the income came from land he himself controlled, the arrangement was stable while the centre was strong and dangerous when it weakened.

Statement-based questions on this system almost always turn on the same distinction — a salary versus a revenue assignment. A cash-paid officer depends on the treasury; a revenue-assigned officer stands between the peasant and the state and can, in time, replace it. That is not a theoretical worry: in the seventeenth century several nayakas set up independent kingdoms, Madurai and Tanjavur among them. The remaining three statements are in every standard account, so the item reduces to spotting the words 'paid in cash'.

• The raya granted amaram territory; its holder was the amara-nayaka.
• Revenue taken from peasants, craftspersons and traders paid for the nayaka's household and for his contingent of horses and elephants.
• Tribute went to the king every year and the nayaka attended court in person with gifts.
• The design descends from the Delhi Sultanate's iqta; the Maratha equivalent was mokasa.
• Several nayakas asserted independence in the seventeenth century, notably at Madurai and Tanjavur.

• Reading a revenue assignment as a salary paid from the treasury.
• Assuming that because tribute was annual, the personal court appearance was optional.

A four-statement item in which one word — cash — carries the whole discrimination.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The term amaram in the Vijayanagara empire referred to

  • (a)a territory assigned to a military commander for revenue collection
  • (b)a tax on temple lands
  • (c)a cash salary paid to the royal bodyguard
  • (d)a grant of land to a Brahmana settlement

  Answer(a) a territory assigned to a military commander for revenue collection — the holder of such an assignment was the amara-nayaka.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The amara-nayaka system of Vijayanagara is generally traced to which earlier institution?

  • (a)The mansab of the Mughals
  • (b)The iqta of the Delhi Sultanate
  • (c)The brahmadeya of the Cholas
  • (d)The vishti of the Satavahanas

  Answer(b) The iqta of the Delhi Sultanate — both replaced a cash salary with the right to collect revenue from an assigned area.