मध्यकालीन भारत के आर्थिक इतिहास के संदर्भ में शब्द ‘अरघट्टा (Araghatta)’ किसे निरूपित करता है?
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With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term 'Araghatta' refers to
(a) bonded labour · (b) land grants made to military officers · (c) waterwheel used in the irrigation of land · (d) wasteland converted to cultivated land
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (c) भूमि की सिंचाई के लिए प्रयुक्त जलचक्र (वाटर-व्हील)
Araghatta is a waterwheel used to lift water so that fields can be irrigated: a Government of India water-sector publication lists water wheels (araghatta) among the means of lifting water for irrigation in Kashmir. It names a piece of irrigation technology, not a labour system, a land grant or a category of land.
- ✓ (c) A Government of India water-sector publication (Ministry of Jal Shakti) records that, in the elaborate irrigation system of Kashmir, water wheels (araghatta) were used to lift water from the Jhelum.
- ✗ (b) Grants of territory to military commanders describe systems such as the iqta of the Delhi Sultanate (territories assigned to nobles to collect taxes and maintain the army) and the amara-nayaka system of Vijayanagara (military commanders given territories to govern), as NCERT records, not the araghatta.
- ✗ (d) Araghatta does not mean reclaimed wasteland; it is a machine for lifting water, not a type of land.
Remember · Araghatta means a waterwheel used to lift water for irrigation (a Government of India publication records water wheels, araghatta, lifting water from the Jhelum).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Mobilising Technology for Sustainability: Drinking Water (Ministry of Jal Shakti, Jal Jeevan Mission) ↗ “Water wheels (araghatta) were used to lift water from the Jhelum.”
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 2 “One instrument of the administration was the iqta system, in which territories were assigned to nobles (iqtadars) to collect taxes which, minus expenses, were supposed to go to the Sultan's treasury”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part II, Chapter 3 “The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·