Administration

Sher Shah Suri is remembered for strengthening roads, sarais and communication, and for introducing a well-organised silver rupiya. These measures helped administration, trade and revenue collection. Village self-rule, the Navratna court and temple architecture are not the reforms most specifically associated with his rule.

Sher Shah improved the long route commonly associated with the Sarak-i-Azam, later known as the Grand Trunk Road. It connected important centres across northern India, and roadside sarais, wells and trees supported travellers, traders and officials. Rajpath is a modern Delhi avenue, while the other choices do not name the route chiefly linked with his reform.

Sher Shah Suri is widely credited with standardising the silver rupiya as a regular coin of the monetary system. A more uniform weight and monetary organisation helped taxation and commerce, and later rulers continued and modified the system. Babur, Jahangir and Balban are important rulers, but this particular currency reform is chiefly associated with Sher Shah.

Raja Todar Mal was a leading revenue official under Akbar and is associated with land measurement, classification and systematic assessment of agricultural revenue. The zabt system sought to make assessment more regular, though its operation varied by region. Naval construction, painting style and Sufi music were not the administrative fields for which Todar Mal is chiefly known.

Chahalgani, or the ‘Group of Forty’, referred to a powerful circle of Turkish nobles created during the early Delhi Sultanate, especially associated with Iltutmish. These nobles influenced succession and court politics after his death. Mughal painters, Maratha ministers and Bhakti saints belonged to different institutions and periods, so option A is correct.

The Persian-Arabic term amir generally denoted a commander, high officer or noble in the political structure of the Sultanate. Amirs could hold military and administrative authority and participate in court politics. An ordinary peasant, temple priest or sailor occupied a different social or occupational position, so option A is the appropriate answer.

Ulema were Muslim religious scholars who studied and interpreted religious law, theology and related learning. In some Sultanate contexts they advised rulers or served as judges and teachers, although their influence varied. Road building, naval warfare and village assemblies were different administrative or social activities, so religious scholarship in A is correct.