Previous Year Question
With reference to the history of India, consider the following pairs:
Aurang — In-charge of treasury of the State
Banian — Indian agent of the East India Company
Mirasidar — Designated revenue payer to the State
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Pair 1 is incorrect. ‘Aurang’ was not an office denoting the in-charge of the State treasury. Yule and Burnell's historical Anglo-Indian glossary Hobson-Jobson defines Aurung as a place where goods were manufactured or a depot for such goods. During the trading period of the East India Company, the term was particularly applied to factories/centres where Indian piece-goods were produced and purchased on advances. Therefore, Aurang — In-charge of treasury of the State is incorrect.
Pair 2 is correct. A ‘Banian’ was an Indian commercial agent and intermediary working for European and East India Company merchants. William Bolts, in his 1772 work Considerations on India Affairs, described the Banian as the person through whom Englishmen conducted their commercial business; he performed functions such as interpreter, book-keeper, secretary, broker and cash-management.
Pair 3 is also correct. Under the mirasi arrangement of southern India, a Mirasidar was a person possessing hereditary rights in land and was associated with responsibility for rendering the stipulated revenue to the State. The well-known 1812 Fifth Report of the British Parliament on the affairs of the East India Company, as quoted in historical records, recognises the hereditary property of the Mirasidar and records that he rendered a stated proportion of produce to the sovereign as a condition of his tenure. Early Madras revenue records likewise connect the Mirasidar's land rights with payment of Government dues. Therefore, Mirasidar — Designated revenue payer to the State is correct.