Prelims 2019 · Q10
Hardगुप्त काल के दौरान भारत में बलात् श्रम (विष्टि) के संदर्भ में, निम्नलिखित में से कौन-सा कथन सही है?
Read this question in English
With reference to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) It was considered a source of income for the State, a sort of tax paid by the people. · (b) It was totally absent in the Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar regions of the Gupta Empire. · (c) The forced labourer was entitled to weekly wages. · (d) The eldest son of the labourer was sent as the forced labourer.
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (a) इसे राज्य के लिए आय का एक स्रोत, जनता द्वारा दिया जाने वाला एक प्रकार का कर, माना जाता था।
Vishti was unpaid labour that subjects owed to the state. Gupta-age accounts list it among the king's rights and contributions, so it worked as a tax paid in labour, and land grants could pass such dues on to the grantee. Being unpaid, it carried no weekly wages, and the sources describe it as a burden on villagers in general rather than confining it to particular regions.
- ✓ (a) Compulsory unpaid labour was a claim of the state on its subjects: the king had a right to vishti along with bali and other contributions, in effect a tax paid in labour. Grants of the period show the king's dues being handed over to the donee along with the land.
- ✗ (b) Sources on the Gupta age describe vishti as imposed on villagers generally and do not limit it to particular regions, so a claim that it was 'totally absent' in Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar has no support.
- ✗ (c) Vishti was unpaid labour by definition, so the forced labourer had no entitlement to weekly wages.
Remember · Vishti = forced, unpaid labour owed to the state in the Gupta age, counted among royal dues (a tax in labour); grants could transfer it to donees.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- IGNOU eGyanKosh (Govt of India central university), History of India c. 300-1206, Unit 2: Economy, Society, Culture (Gupta revenue) ↗ · reference work “The King had a right to forced labour (Vishthi), Bali and many other types of contributions. … the practice of imposing vishti (unpaid labour) was also in vogue”
- NIOS (Ministry of Education), Senior Secondary History, Lesson 7: The Guptas and their Successors ↗ · reference work “The villagers were also subjected to forced labour (vishti).”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king, and was often given the right to collect these dues from the local people.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “exempt from (the obligation to provide) grass, (animal) hides as seats, and charcoal (to touring royal officers)”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·