NDA (II) 2025 General Ability Test · Question 78 of 147

Correct — B, Shalabhoga. Among the land categories recorded in Chola inscriptions, shalabhoga was the land set apart for the maintenance of a school. The Cholas granted specific plots to support different institutions, and 'shala' (school) plus 'bhoga' (endowment/enjoyment) marks the land whose produce funded a place of learning.

• (a)Tirunamattukkani — Tirunamattukkani was land gifted to temples (a temple endowment), not land for a school.
• (c)Vellanvagai — Vellanvagai was the land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors — ordinary cultivators' land, not an endowment for a school.
• (d)Pallichhandam — Pallichchhandam was land donated to Jaina institutions, not the land set apart for the maintenance of a school.

Chola-period inscriptions (roughly ninth to thirteenth centuries) classify land by the purpose or holder of its revenue. NCERT lists categories such as vellanvagai (land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors), brahmadeya (land gifted to Brahmanas), shalabhoga (land for the upkeep of a school), devadana and tirunamattukkani (land gifted to temples), and pallichchhandam (land donated to Jaina institutions).

Match the term to the beneficiary: 'shala' means school, so shalabhoga is the school land; temple lands are devadana and tirunamattukkani; peasant land is vellanvagai; and 'palli' (Jaina) points to pallichchhandam. The question asks specifically for the school-maintenance land, which is shalabhoga.

• Shalabhoga — land granted for the maintenance of a school.
• Brahmadeya — tax-free land gifted to Brahmanas; vellanvagai — land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors.
• Devadana and tirunamattukkani — land gifted to temples.
• Pallichchhandam — land donated to Jaina institutions.

• Do not read pallichchhandam as the school land — it is land for Jaina institutions; shalabhoga is the school land.
• Tirunamattukkani and devadana are temple lands, not school lands.

Asked by matching a Chola land category to its beneficiary — school, temple, Brahmana, peasant or Jaina institution.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In Chola inscriptions, brahmadeya refers to

  • (a)Land for a school
  • (b)Tax-free land gifted to Brahmanas
  • (c)Land of peasant proprietors
  • (d)Land gifted to temples

  Answer(b) Tax-free land gifted to Brahmanas.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Chola land category devadana or tirunamattukkani refers to land

  • (a)For Jaina institutions
  • (b)Gifted to temples
  • (c)For a school
  • (d)Of non-Brahmana peasants

  Answer(b) Gifted to temples.