Overview
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Prelims 2000 GS-IMatch List I (the land or revenue system) with List II (the state to which it belonged): I. Iqta, II. Jagir, III. Amaram, IV. Mokasa; with A) Marathas, B) Delhi Sultans, C) Mughals, D) Vijayanagara.
- Iqta
- Jagir
- Amaram
- Mokasa
Select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists.
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Anchor on the certain pair, Iqta-Delhi Sultans (I-B); then fit jagir-Mughals (II-C), amaram-Vijayanagara (III-D) and mokasa-Marathas (IV-A).
Trap to watch: Do not tie the iqta to the Mughals (that is the jagir); the iqta is the system of the Delhi Sultans.
Key facts to recall:
- The iqta belonged to the Delhi Sultans.
- The jagir to the Mughals; the amaram to Vijayanagara.
- The mokasa to the Marathas.
Answer signal: I-B, II-C, III-D, IV-A.
- UPSC Prelims 2019 GS-IWith reference to the administration of the Delhi Sultanate, consider the following statements:
- In the revenue administration of the Delhi Sultanate, the in-charge of revenue collection was known as 'Amil'.
- The Iqta system of the Sultans of Delhi was an ancient indigenous institution.
- The office of 'Mir Bakshi' came into existence during the reign of the Khalji Sultans of Delhi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Test each statement: the amil as revenue officer (correct); the iqta as ancient indigenous (wrong, it was Islamic and imported); the Mir Bakshi under the Khaljis (wrong, it was Mughal).
Trap to watch: Do not call the iqta an ancient indigenous institution; it was an Islamic device brought by the Turks. The Mir Bakshi is a Mughal office.
Key facts to recall:
- The amil was the officer of revenue collection.
- The iqta was an Islamic institution, not ancient or indigenous.
- The Mir Bakshi was a Mughal office, not Khalji.
Answer signal: 1 only.
The government of the Delhi Sultanate was the machinery by which a Turkish ruling class held a vast and varied land. At its head stood the Sultan, an absolute monarch; under him the central work was done by the great departments, the diwans, of finance, war, the chancery and religion. The land itself was parcelled into iqtas, grants not of the soil but of its revenue, by which the officers were paid and the troops of the realm were raised. And the army was kept honest by the famous dagh and chehra of Alauddin Khalji, the branding of the horses and the roll of the men. This part covers the Sultan and the diwans, the iqta system, the army, and the exam focus.
The Sultan and the Central Government
The Sultan at the Head of the State
What is the significance of the Sultan's office: he was the keystone of the whole government, an absolute monarch in whom the law, the army and the revenue all met.
At the head of the Sultanate stood the Sultan. He was an absolute monarch, the supreme head of the state, the commander of its armies and the fountain of its justice; in theory he ruled as the deputy of the Caliph, but in practice his word was the law of the land. The strong sultans, like Balban and Alauddin, made the throne the centre of all power.
Yet no man could rule alone. The sultan governed through a body of great officers and through the central departments of state, which carried out his will in the matters of money, war, correspondence and religion. The next sub-section sets out these departments, the diwans of the Sultanate.
The Central Departments, the Diwans
Distinguishing the central departments: the work of the government was divided among the great diwans, each under a minister, who answered to the sultan.
The chief of these was the Diwan-i-Wizarat, the department of finance, headed by the wazir, who managed the revenue and the treasury and was often the first minister of the realm. Beside it stood the Diwan-i-Arz, the military department, under the ariz-i-mumalik, the minister of war.
Two further departments completed the central government: the Diwan-i-Insha, the office of the chancery, which drafted the royal letters and orders, and the Diwan-i-Risalat, the department of religious affairs and appeals, which dealt with the divines and the pious grants. The figure below sets out the four diwans.
The Iqta System
What the Iqta Was
What is the significance of the iqta: it was the very heart of the Sultanate's government, the device by which a state with little cash could pay its officers and raise its army from the land.
The iqta was a grant, not of land, but of the revenue of a piece of land. The sultan assigned a tract to one of his officers, the muqti or wali, who gathered the land revenue from it; out of that revenue he kept his own pay, maintained a body of troops for the sultan, and sent the surplus, called the fawazil, to the central treasury. The everyday collection was done by an officer called the amil.
It must be marked that the iqta was not a European fief. The muqti did not own the land and could not pass it to his heirs; he held it only at the sultan's pleasure, and the sultan could take it back or move him to another iqta at will. The figure below sets out how the iqta worked.
The Iqta over Time
Distinguishing the iqta over time: the system changed across the centuries, growing tighter under the strong sultans and looser, at the last, into a hereditary holding.
Iltutmish set up the iqta as the framework of his rule. Alauddin Khalji, who would suffer no overmighty subject, kept a strict watch on the muqtis, moved them often from one iqta to another, and made them account closely for the revenue. But Firoz Shah Tughlaq let the system slacken and made the iqta hereditary, a comfort to the nobles that weakened the crown. The table below sets out this change.
| Sultan | The Iqta under Him |
|---|---|
| Iltutmish | Set up the iqta as the framework of the Sultanate's rule. |
| Alauddin Khalji | Kept strict control, moved the muqtis often, and made them account. |
| Firoz Shah Tughlaq | Let the iqta become hereditary, a step that weakened the crown. |
The Army of the Sultanate
The Standing Army and the Discipline of the Muster
What is the significance of the army: it was the strength on which the whole Sultanate rested, and its discipline rose and fell with the strength of the sultan.
The army was the sinew of the state. In the early days much of it was raised from the iqtas, each muqti bringing his troops to the sultan's banner; but Alauddin Khalji, needing a great force against the Mongols, raised a large standing army paid in cash from the central treasury, so that it should depend on the crown alone.
He kept it honest by two devices. He had every war-horse branded, the dagh, so that no fine horse could be shown at the muster and a poor one slipped in afterwards; and he kept a written description of every soldier, the chehra, so that no man could send a substitute. Over the whole army stood the ariz-i-mumalik, the minister of war, who held the muster and the pay. The figure below sets out the army and its discipline.
UPSC Relevance and Exam Focus
Where the Government of the Sultanate Fits in the UPSC-CSE Syllabus
This topic belongs to General Studies Paper I: medieval Indian history, and the iqta system, above all its true nature, is one of the most tested institutions of the Sultanate.
The questions most often test the iqta, that it was a revenue assignment and not a fief, the meaning of terms like the fawazil and the amil, and the military reforms of the dagh and chehra.
Several linked points recur and are worth holding in working memory:
- The iqta: A grant of the revenue of land, not a fief; revocable and transferable.
- The muqti: The holder of an iqta, who raised troops and paid the fawazil to the treasury.
- The amil: The officer in charge of the collection of the revenue.
- The dagh and chehra: Alauddin’s branding of horses and descriptive roll of soldiers.
- The diwans: The central departments of finance, war, the chancery and religion.
A 2000 question matched land systems to their states; the iqta belonged to the Delhi Sultans, the jagir to the Mughals, the amaram to Vijayanagara and the mokasa to the Marathas, so the iqta is to be tied firmly to the Sultanate.
A 2019 question held that the amil was indeed the officer of revenue collection, but that the iqta was not an ancient indigenous institution, and that the office of Mir Bakshi belonged to the Mughals, not the Khaljis; so only the first statement was correct. A common trap calls the iqta a fief or an old Indian custom; it was neither.
Prelims MCQ practice
Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.
Q1. The iqta of the Delhi Sultanate is best described as which one of the following?
- A grant of land in full ownership
- A grant of the revenue of land, revocable by the sultan
- A hereditary fief held by birth
- A tax on trade and the markets
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A grant of the revenue of land, revocable by the sultan
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The iqta was a grant of the revenue of a piece of land, not of the land itself, and it was revocable and transferable at the sultan's will; it was not a hereditary fief. Hence option (b).
Q2. The surplus revenue that the holder of an iqta sent to the central treasury was known as which one of the following?
- Kharaj
- Fawazil
- Jizya
- Zakat
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Fawazil
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The fawazil was the surplus revenue, above his own pay and the cost of his troops, that the muqti sent to the central treasury; the kharaj was the land tax itself. Hence option (b).
Q3. With reference to the central departments of the Delhi Sultanate, consider the following statements:
- The Diwan-i-Wizarat was the department of finance, under the wazir.
- The Diwan-i-Arz was the military department, under the ariz-i-mumalik.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. The Diwan-i-Wizarat was the finance department under the wazir, and the Diwan-i-Arz the military department under the ariz-i-mumalik. Hence option (c).
Q4. In the military reforms of Alauddin Khalji, the branding of the war-horses was known as which one of the following?
- Chehra
- Dagh
- Fawazil
- Wizarat
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Dagh
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The dagh was the branding of the war-horses; the chehra was the descriptive roll of the soldiers. Hence option (b).
Q5. The sultan who is said to have made the iqta hereditary, weakening the control of the crown, was which one of the following?
- Iltutmish
- Alauddin Khalji
- Firoz Shah Tughlaq
- Balban
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Explanation.
Option (c) is correct. Firoz Shah Tughlaq let the iqta become hereditary, a step that weakened the crown; Alauddin, by contrast, had kept the muqtis on a tight rein. Hence option (c).
Q6. With reference to the iqta of the Delhi Sultanate, consider the following statements:
- It was a revenue assignment, not a hereditary fief.
- It was an Islamic institution brought to India by the Turks, not an ancient indigenous one.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. The iqta was a revocable revenue assignment, not a fief, and it was an Islamic institution brought by the Turks, not an ancient indigenous Indian one. Hence option (c).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. The administration of the Sultanate rests on the chronicle of Barani and other Persian sources, and the account follows the standard scholarship on the period.
