With reference to medieval India, which one of the following is the correct sequence in ascending order in terms of size?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) Paragana—Sarkar—Suba
In the Mughal administrative set-up a suba (province) was divided into sarkars (districts), and a sarkar into parganas. So from smallest to largest the order is pargana, sarkar, suba.
- ✓ (a) NCERT's account of the Ain-i-Akbari lists the subas with their divisions (sarkars, parganas and mahals) and describes the sarkars as lying below the suba. The pargana is the smaller unit inside a sarkar, so the ascending order is pargana, sarkar, suba.
- ✗ (c) This is the descending order, from the largest unit (suba) to the smallest (pargana).
- ✗ (b) It puts the sarkar below the pargana, but parganas are the sub-divisions of a sarkar.
Remember · Mughal units, big to small: suba (province) > sarkar (district) > pargana > mahal. Ascending: pargana, sarkar, suba.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part II, Chapter 4 “the geographic, topographic and economic profile of all subas and their administrative and fiscal divisions (sarkars, parganas and mahals)”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part II, Chapter 4 “After setting out details at the suba level, the Ain goes on to give a detailed picture of the sarkars below the suba.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·