Consider the following statements:

Assertion (A): The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara empire. The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya.
Reason (R): The contingents of the amara-nayaka provided the Vijayanagara Kings with an effective fighting force.

Choose the correct answer from the code given below:

Correct option is C

The correct option is Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) explains (A).

Information Booster

Both the Assertion (A) and the Reason (R) are historically accurate, and the Reason (R) provides the crucial political and military justification for the creation of the system described in the Assertion (A).

1. Assertion (A): The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara empire. The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern by the raya.
True. The amara-nayaka system was a major innovation, drawing inspiration from the Delhi Sultanate's iqta system.
The raya (King) granted territories (amaram) to military commanders (nayakas) in exchange for military service and revenue collection.

2. Reason (R): The contingents of the amara-nayaka provided the Vijayanagara Kings with an effective fighting force.
True. This describes the primary function and benefit of the system.
The amara-nayakas were required to maintain a stipulated number of soldiers, horses, and elephants (a military contingent) and provide them to the raya whenever needed. This massive, decentralized military force was essential for the expansion and defense of the Vijayanagara empire.

3. Relationship between (A) and (R)
The statements are directly linked:
The system was created (A) because the Kings needed a reliable and powerful military force (R). The political innovation (A) was fundamentally a mechanism to organize and fund the military necessity (R).
Therefore, the Reason (R) explains the Assertion (A).