Match the following in the context of people and objects in ancient times and…

Concept:

In ancient Indian history, technical terms fall into distinct categories — geographical identifications, guild/organizational names, artefact types, and agrarian social classes. Correctly matching such terms requires first placing each term in its own category, then recalling its specific referent within that category.

Application:

• Barygaza — the ancient port city on the Gujarat coast recorded by Greco-Roman sources such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea; it is identified with modern Bharuch, so (a) pairs with (ii).

• Shrenis — organized associations of craftspersons and merchants that regulated production and trade and often functioned as guild-banks in early historic India, so (b) pairs with (iv).

• Arretine ware — a distinctive stamped, red-glazed Roman pottery whose presence at Indian coastal sites is used as archaeological evidence of Indo-Roman trade, so (c) pairs with (i).

• Grihapatis — the term for substantial landholding cultivators, i.e. independent farmers/householders who controlled land and labour in the agrarian economy, so (d) pairs with (iii).

Cross-check:

• The combination (a)-(ii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(iii), (d)-(i) swaps the artefact-type referent with the agrarian-class referent: Arretine ware is a pottery style, not a class of farmers, and grihapatis is a class of cultivators, not a pottery style.

• The combination (a)-(iv), (b)-(iii), (c)-(i), (d)-(ii) swaps the geographic identification with the guild-organization referent: Barygaza is a port city, not an association of craftspersons, and shrenis is a guild, not a class of cultivators.

• The combination (a)-(i), (b)-(ii), (c)-(iv), (d)-(iii) shifts the referents of the first three terms in a cycle: Barygaza (a port city) takes the pottery description, Shrenis (a guild) takes the place identification, and Arretine ware (a pottery type) takes the guild description.

Hence the fully correct combination is (a)-(ii), (b)-(iv), (c)-(i), (d)-(iii).