With reference to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period, which one of the following statements is correct?

Describes provincial and district administrative structure (deshas/bhuktis, uparikas, vishyapatis) showing the Guptas appointed local officers to control regions.

A student could check whether these local officers were known elsewhere to levy corvée or compulsory services, and therefore infer the likelihood of vishti being practised in Madhya Pradesh (Malwa/Mekala) and Kathiawar when under Gupta administration.

Explains agrarian structures, punishments for crop damage, and role of religious endowments in cultivating land, indicating state and institutional involvement in rural labour relations.

One could compare these agrarian controls with known mechanisms for extracting labour (e.g., corvée), to evaluate whether similar coercive labour practices like vishti might have existed regionally.

States that feudalism began to take root and that the feudal system put people in some form of hardship during the Gupta period.

Using general knowledge that feudalization often involves obligations of service and labour, a student could hypothesize that forced labour practices may have been present in feudalized regions such as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar.

Notes military campaigns and the conquest of Malwa and Gujarat by contemporary rulers, indicating that these regions (part of present-day Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar/Gujarat) were contested and sometimes under Gupta influence.

Knowing these regions were under Gupta control at times, a student could investigate local inscriptions or administrative records from Malwa and Gujarat to look for references to forced labour or corvée practices.

Says Gupta kings consolidated power through land grants and matrimonial alliances, highlighting land grant policy as a tool of governance.

Since land grants elsewhere often changed labour obligations (granting land could exempt certain services or transfer labour rights), a student could examine whether grants in Madhya Pradesh or Kathiawar created or abolished obligations like vishti.

Defines 'begar' as compulsory work without remuneration and describes 'forced labour' as work compelled against a person's will, including economically compelled underpayment.

A student could compare the definition of begar/forced labour with the term 'Vishti' from other sources to infer whether Vishti was likely unpaid or underpaid.

States that money was used, borrowed and loaned in Gupta times and that many gold coins were issued, indicating an active monetary economy.

Combine this with knowledge that a monetized economy can support regular wage payments to test if labour (including Vishti) might have been compensated.

Describes large-scale mining and metallurgy and the prominence of blacksmiths, implying significant organized labour requirements in the period.

A student could ask whether large organized industries typically used paid labour versus compulsory corvée and seek primary inscriptions/accounts naming Vishti in mining contexts.

Prompts examination of land classification, tenures and the role of guilds in the Gupta period, pointing to institutional arrangements that could determine labour remuneration.

Use this to investigate whether guild records or land-tenure documents mention payment practices for labourers like Vishti (wage vs. unpaid service).

Notes prolonged peace, economic strength and state support for culture/science during the Gupta 'classical age', suggesting fiscal capacity to remunerate workers.

A student could weigh the state's fiscal ability to pay against known practices (e.g., begar) to assess plausibility of regular wages for forced labourers.

This source lists 'land classification and land tenures' as a topic discussed for the Gupta period, implying the texts treat agrarian arrangements and obligations.

A student could consult standard summaries of Gupta land-tenure systems (e.g., royal grants, rent-in-kind, corvée) to see if a forced-labour practice assigning eldest sons is recorded.

The snippet emphasises prolonged peace, economic stability, and state support for scholars/artisans, indicating a functioning economy that relied on organized labour arrangements.

Use this to check whether stable economies typically formalise hereditary labour obligations (compare with known corvée systems) to assess plausibility of a Vishti-like practice.

Discussion of flourishing mining and metallurgy and importance of agriculturists suggests sizeable skilled and unskilled labour forces and organized occupational roles in the period.

A student might investigate whether labour for mines/metalworks was supplied by coerced/assigned family members (eldest-son obligations) in contemporary inscriptions or texts.

Mentions 'Feudalism: The social formation of feudalism was the characteristic of the medieval society in India,' pointing to changing social formations and labour obligations across periods.

Compare timelines: if feudal labour obligations arose later, that may weaken claims of a specific eldest-son forced-labour practice in the Gupta era; consult periodisation to test timing.

Describes how colonial-era indentured labour and slavery differed and were documented, offering a contrast that highlights the need for documentary evidence to identify labour practices.

Use the contrast to argue that to accept a claim about Gupta forced-labour, one should seek similarly explicit documentary or inscriptional evidence from the Gupta period rather than later analogies.