To what extent do you think caste was a factor in influencing social and economic relations in agrarian society?
(i)Cultivators were divided on the basis of their caste and other caste-like distinctions or caste- based distinctions. Thus, among the peasants were many who worked as agricultural labourers (majurs) or worked as manacles. Thus, they were not allowed to live in villages. They resided outside the village and were assigned to do menial tasks and lacked resources. Thus, they were poverty- stricken.
(ii)Caste distinctions had also begun to permeate other communities as well. In Muslim communities menials were like halkhoron (scavengers). A direct relation existed between caste poverty and social status.
(iii)In the seventeenth century Marwar Rajputs are described as peasants and equated with jats. They were given an inferior status in the caste hierarchy.
(iv)Castes like Ahirs, Gujjars and Malis reached and elevated status in the eastern regions.
(v)The pastoral and fishing castes like the Sadgops and Kaivatas acquired the status of peasants.
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Discuss the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.
On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?
Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.
Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.
What were the distinctive features of the Mughal nobility? How was their relationship with the emperor shaped?
Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.
What do you think was the significance of the rituals associated with the mahanavami dibba?
Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.
Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.
Examine how and why rulers tried to establish connections with the traditions of the Nayanars and the sufis.
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.
Assess the role played by women of the imperial household in the Mughal Empire.
Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
Discuss, with examples, the significance of monetary transactions during the period under consideration.
Discuss the major beliefs and practices that characterised Sufism.