Who were Polygars of South India?

The correct answer is C, territorial administrators and military governors. Polygars (palaiyakkarars) were chieftains who held defined territories called palayams, granted by the Vijayanagara rulers and later the Nayaks of Madurai. In return, they collected revenue, kept law and order, and maintained armed troops for the central power. Their role combined civil administration with military duty, which is exactly what option C says.

• A (ordinary zamindars): Zamindars were revenue intermediaries. The Polygar's defining feature was a military service obligation on top of territorial control, which an ordinary zamindar did not necessarily have.
• B (mahajans): Mahajans were moneylenders or merchant-financiers, with no territorial or military role.
• D (newly enriched traders): Traders were not landed military chiefs. Polygars were rooted in land and arms.

Core concept: the Polygar system is a case of decentralised military-territorial power in the Deccan and far south. For Mains, it helps explain the 1799 Polygar revolt, led by Veerapandiya Kattabomman of Panchalankurichi, and how British revenue settlements and the disarming of local militias dismantled this system in the Madras Presidency.

Trap: Aspirants treat Polygars as simply another type of zamindar because both were landed intermediaries. The key discriminator is the military obligation attached to the territory.