During the Delhi Sultanate, the terms 'muqaddam' and 'chaudhari' were used for:

During the Delhi Sultanate, the terms "muqaddam" and "chaudhari" (chaudhri) referred to village headmen and local chiefs, who acted as intermediaries between the state and the peasants.

About the muqaddam:

• The muqaddam was the headman of a village.
• He was responsible for collecting the land revenue from the peasants and handing it over to the state.
• He also helped maintain order in the village.
• He received a share of the revenue or some land free of tax as a reward for his services.

About the chaudhari:

• The chaudhari was the head of a "pargana" (a group of villages), and was more powerful than the muqaddam.
• He also helped in the collection of revenue.

About the khut:

The "khut" was another type of rural intermediary, a landholder who collected revenue.

The rural intermediaries:

• These rural intermediaries (khuts, muqaddams and chaudharis) were often powerful and wealthy.
• They enjoyed many privileges: they did not pay taxes themselves, collected extra dues from the peasants, and lived in comfort.
• Barani wrote that the khuts and muqaddams rode fine horses, wore fine clothes, and lived like nobles.

Alauddin Khalji's measures:

• Alauddin Khalji reduced the privileges of these intermediaries.
• He made them pay the same taxes as other cultivators, and took away their extra dues.
• Barani says that they became so poor that their wives had to work in the houses of Muslims.

Other officials:

• "Patwari": the village accountant, who kept records of land and revenue.
• "Amil": a revenue officer.
• "Shiqdar": an official of a shiq (sub-division).

NCERT on the countryside:

NCERT notes that the Sultans had to deal with local chieftains and village headmen, who often had their own armies and resisted the authority of the state.

Under the Mughals:

The zamindars, muqaddams and chaudharis continued to play an important role in revenue collection.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Revenue ministers, judges and army commanders were higher officials of the state.