UPSC Prelims 2015 Question:

With reference to Indian history, which of the following is/are the essential elementary elements of the feudal system?

1. A very strong centralised political authority and a very weak provincial or local political authority.
2. Emergence of administrative structure based on control and possession of land.
3. Creation of lord-vassal relationship between the feudal lord and his overlord.
   
   

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Explanation: 

• Feudalism, sometimes known as the feudal system or feudality, is a term used in historiography to describe the social, economic, and political circumstances that prevailed in western Europe throughout the early Middle Ages, or the lengthy period from the fifth to the twelfth centuries.
  
  
• They relate to what their creators believed to be the most important and defining features of the early and Middle Ages.
  
  
• Feudalism is a decentralised organisation that arises when central authority cannot perform its functions and when it cannot prevent the rise of local powers. So, statement 1 is not correct.
  
  
• Feudalism was marked by agricultural production around castles and ‘manor houses’, where lords of the manor possessed land that was cultivated by peasants (serfs) who pledged them loyalty, goods and services. These lords in turn pledged their loyalty to greater lords who were ‘vassals’ of kings. So, statement 3 is  correct
  
  
• In this system, the peasants (villeins or serfs) were compelled to live on their lord's land and to pay him homage, labor, and a share of the harvest in exchange for military protection. Indian feudalism is a phrase used to categorize Indian history using a European framework. In India Zamindari System acted as an Indian model of feudalism.  So, statement 2 is correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Early Medieval Period