With reference to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period, which one of the following statements is correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) It was considered a source of income for the State, a sort of tax paid by the people.
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). ·