Question

The term pahi-kashta refers to which one of the following?
1. Resident cultivators
2. Landless cultivators
3. Non-resident cultivators
4. Peasants with more than 5 acres of land

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Non-resident cultivators

The Correct Answer is Non-resident cultivators.

• Seventeenth-century sources refer to two forms of farmers: khud-kashta and pahi-kashta.
• The former were non-resident farmers who belonged to some other village but were otherwise contractually farming lands.
• People became pahi-kashta either out of the choice-for instance, when income terms in a distant village became more favorable-or out of necessity-compelled, for example, by economic hardship following a famine.
• Cultivation was based on the individual ownership theory. Peasant lands were acquired and sold in the same manner as other owners' properties.