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UPSC CDS I 2016

Sultanate Administrative Systems

Authentic Past Paper Standard Evaluation

Iqta in medieval India meant

Solution & Analysis

Answer: B

Concept To sustain a massive military without a modern cash economy, the Delhi Sultans adopted the Persian Iqta system, which decentralized revenue collection and military mobilization.

Explanation An Iqta was a land revenue assignment given to an officer (Muqti or Iqtadar) in lieu of a cash salary. The officer was responsible for collecting the tax, maintaining a specified number of troops, and ensuring local administration.

Logical Breakup
Logic 1: Option B is correct. It was not ownership of land, but the right to collect revenue from it.
Logic 2: This system allowed the state to manage vast territories without direct central intervention at the village level, provided the Iqtadars remained loyal to the Sultan.

Active Recall

Question

What was the role of the Muqti in the Iqta system?

Answer

The Muqti collected revenue, paid his soldiers from it, and remitted the surplus (fawazil) to the central treasury.

Core Insight

The Iqta system was a tool of 'military-fiscal' management that prevented the rise of a landed hereditary aristocracy in the early Sultanate.

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