With reference to the economic history of medieval India, the term 'Araghatta' refers to

Answer: (c) waterwheel used in the irrigation of land

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).

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