The Delhi Sultanate

Answer: (d) traders

Banjaras were nomadic traders who moved grain and other goods by caravan on pack animals, especially bullocks. Sultan Alauddin Khalji used them to bring grain to city markets, and under the Mughals they supplied grain to armies on campaign.

• ✓ (d) NCERT calls the Banjaras the most important trader-nomads of the period. Alauddin Khalji used them to carry grain to city markets, and Jahangir's memoirs mention them selling grain from their bullocks in towns.
• ✗ (a) They were not settled farmers; they moved with their caravans from place to place.
• ✗ (b) They carried food grain for the Mughal army, but as suppliers and carriers, not as fighters.
• ✗ (c) Weaving was the work of other artisan communities; the Banjaras carried goods between regions.

Remember · Banjaras were the main trader-nomads of medieval India, moving grain and goods in caravans on pack animals such as bullocks.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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).

📘 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)

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). Permalink · Report an error