With reference to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period, which one of the following statements is correct?
- (a) It was considered a source of income for the State, a sort of tax paid by the people. ✓ UPSC's answer
- (b) It was totally absent in the Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar regions of the Gupta Empire.
- (c) The forced labourer was entitled to weekly wages.
- (d) The eldest son of the labourer was sent as the forced labourer.
Why the answer is (a)
• Vishti was forced or unpaid labour that the State could demand from its subjects; Gupta-period inscriptions and the Narada and Katyayana Smritis list it among the royal dues, treating it as a form of tax paid in labour rather than money — option (a).
• It was prevalent precisely in Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar (Saurashtra), where land grants mention it, so (b) is wrong.
• Being unpaid, it carried no weekly wages (c), and no rule sent the eldest son specifically (d).
• Hence option (a).
Why the other options are wrong
- (b) It was totally absent in the Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar regions of the Gupta Empire.
- Vishti is recorded in Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar inscriptions.
- (c) The forced labourer was entitled to weekly wages.
- Forced labour was unpaid.
- (d) The eldest son of the labourer was sent as the forced labourer.
- No rule specified the eldest son.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2019, held on 2 June 2019. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.