Correct Option
The term 'Fawazil' in the Sultanate period denoted the surplus revenue that Iqtadars were required to remit to the central treasury. Under the Iqta system, Iqtadars were assigned specific territories (iqtas) from which they collected revenue. A portion of this revenue was used to maintain their troops and administrative expenses, while any amount collected in excess of these sanctioned expenditures was termed Fawazil and had to be deposited with the Sultan's exchequer. This mechanism ensured financial accountability and augmented the state's resources.
Incorrect Options
- Option 1 (extra payment to the nobles): This is incorrect. Fawazil represented the surplus revenue remitted by Iqtadars to the state treasury, not payments made to nobles.
- Option 2 (revenue assigned in lieu of salary): This describes the fundamental nature of an Iqta itself, where land revenue was assigned to officials as a form of salary or for maintaining troops. Fawazil, however, specifically refers to the excess amount collected by the Iqtadar beyond their sanctioned expenses.
- Option 4 (illegal exactions extracted from the peasants): This is incorrect. Fawazil was a legitimate and institutionalized financial practice within the Iqta system, representing a mandated transfer of surplus revenue to the central government, not an illegal extraction from peasants.