Which one of the following statements about the 'Amara-Nayaka' system is not correct?
- A.The Amara-Nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire.
- B.The Amara-Nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the Raya.
- C.The Amara-Nayakas collected taxes and retained part of the revenue for personal use and for maintaining their contingents.
- D.The territories held by the Amara-Nayakas were hereditary and were therefore non-transferrable.
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D. The territories of the amara-nayakas were not hereditary; the Vijayanagara kings transferred them from one place to another from time to time.
The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire and drew in part on the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate. The amara-nayakas were military commanders to whom the Raya gave territories, called amaram, to govern. They collected taxes and dues from peasants, craftspersons and traders, kept part of the revenue for themselves and for maintaining a fixed body of horses and elephants, and supplied that force to the king. They sent tribute every year and appeared at the royal court with gifts. Transfers were the king's way of keeping them under control. In the seventeenth century many of these nayakas set up independent kingdoms.
A is correct: historians describe the system as Vijayanagara's chief political innovation.
B is correct: they were military chiefs given territory by the Raya.
C is correct: they kept part of the revenue for their own use and their troops.
Exam tip: Vijayanagara amara-nayaka is like the Sultanate iqta — a transferable military-revenue grant, not a hereditary one.
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