Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List-I (System/Category) A. Upari B. Pattadar C. Mirasidar D. Inam lands List-II (Description) 1. Peasants directly responsible for the payment of revenue 2. Category of tenancy tenure held under the Marathas 3. Gifts of land or land revenue 4. Co-parcenary title holder and designated revenue payer in southern India Code:
- (a)A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
- (b)A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
- (c)A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
- (d)A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
Correct — A, the code A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3. Two of the pairs are unambiguous and pin down the rest. A Pattadar held a patta, a formal revenue lease, and so was the peasant directly responsible for paying the land revenue, giving B-1. Inam lands were rent-free or reduced-rent grants — gifts of land or of the land revenue on it — giving D-3. That leaves Upari and Mirasidar. Upari was a category of (non-hereditary) tenancy under the Maratha revenue system, so A-2. A Mirasidar was a hereditary co-parcenary title holder and the recognised revenue payer of a village in southern India, so C-4. The full match is therefore A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3.
- (b)A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3 — It correctly ties Upari to Maratha tenancy and Inam to gift lands, but it swaps Pattadar and Mirasidar. The Pattadar is the direct revenue payer (1), not the southern co-parcenary title holder (4).
- (c)A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2 — It wrongly calls Upari a gift of land (3) and makes Inam a Maratha tenancy (2). Inam means a grant or gift, while Upari is a tenancy category, so both of those pairs are reversed.
- (d)A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2 — It gets Pattadar and Mirasidar right, but mislabels Upari as gift land (3) and Inam as Maratha tenancy (2). Inam denotes a gift, not a tenancy, so this pairing fails.
Pre-British and early colonial India used a rich vocabulary of land-revenue and tenancy terms that varied by region. The question tests four of them — two rooted in the Maratha and southern systems (Upari, Mirasidar), one a general term for the revenue-paying cultivator (Pattadar), and one a category of favoured grant (Inam).
The safe way in is to lock the two clear terms first. Pattadar comes from patta, a revenue lease or title deed, so a pattadar is by definition the person liable to pay the revenue. Inam comes from a word for a gift or favour, so inam lands are grants of land or of its revenue, often rent-free. With those fixed to 1 and 3, only the two regional tenures remain — Upari, a Maratha tenancy category, and Mirasidar, the hereditary co-sharing landholder of the south — which slot into 2 and 4.
- A Pattadar held a patta (a revenue lease or title deed) and was directly responsible for paying the land revenue.
- Inam lands were grants of land or land revenue, usually rent-free or on favourable terms, given as a reward or for charitable and religious purposes.
- Upari denoted a non-hereditary category of tenancy under the Maratha revenue system, in contrast with hereditary holders.
- A Mirasidar was a hereditary co-parcenary (co-sharing) title holder and the recognised revenue payer of a village in southern India, under the mirasi tenure.
Anchor on Pattadar (direct payer) and Inam (gift lands); the two regional tenures Upari and Mirasidar then fill 2 and 4.
- Swapping Pattadar (the direct revenue payer) with Mirasidar (the southern co-parcenary holder).
- Reading Inam as a tenancy rather than as a gift or grant of land or revenue.
Asked as a match-the-list question pairing regional land or revenue terms with their definitions.
Match List I (Land system) with List II and select the correct answer. List I: I. Land allotted to big feudal landlords; II. Land allotted to revenue farmers or rent collectors; III. Land allotted to each peasant with the right to sublet, mortgage, transfer, gift or sell; IV. Revenue settlements made at village level. List II: A) Jagirdari System; B) Ryotwari System; C) Mahalwari System; D) Zamindari System
- (a) I-A, II-C, III-B, IV-D
- (b) I-A, II-D, III-B, IV-C
- (c) I-C, II-D, III-A, IV-B
- (d) I-B, II-A, III-C, IV-D
Answer(b) I-A, II-D, III-B, IV-C
Same concept — a match-the-list on Indian land-revenue and tenure systems. It rewards the same skill of tying each label (Jagirdari, Zamindari, Ryotwari, Mahalwari) to its defining feature, with the individual peasant's transferable right marking the Ryotwari system, just as the pattadar marks the direct revenue payer here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the land-revenue vocabulary of India, the term 'Inam' referred to:
- (a)A tax on trade
- (b)A grant of land or land revenue, often rent-free
- (c)A hereditary tenancy under the Marathas
- (d)A survey of village boundaries
Answer(b) A grant of land or land revenue, often rent-free — inam means a gift or favour.
- practice — not a real PYQ
A 'Pattadar' in the revenue system was best described as:
- (a)A rent-free grantee
- (b)A moneylender to the peasants
- (c)The holder of a patta, directly liable for the land revenue
- (d)A village accountant
Answer(c) The holder of a patta, directly liable for the land revenue — the patta was the revenue lease or title deed.