Which one of the following is not correct for grama-bhojaka?

Concept: The NCERT account of ancient Indian villages describes a category of village-level functionaries called gramabhojakas — headmen who typically held large, often hereditary, landholdings. A gramabhojaka combined economic, fiscal, and administrative authority at the village level: he employed slaves and hired labourers to work his land, helped the king collect village taxes, and also exercised local judicial and policing functions to settle disputes and maintain order.

Application: Check each statement about the grama-bhojaka against this historical record, one at a time.

• Position usually held by men of the same family for generations: matches the record — the position was typically hereditary.

• Kept slaves and hired workers to cultivate his land: matches the record — as a large landholder he depended on such labour.

• Was often used by the king to collect village taxes: matches the record — tax collection was one of his recognised fiscal duties.

• Did not function as a judge and policeman: contradicts the record — a gramabhojaka also exercised local judicial and policing functions within the village.

Cross-check: three of the statements — hereditary succession, the use of slave and hired labour, and tax collection for the king — line up with the gramabhojaka's attested economic-cum-administrative role; only the statement denying his judicial and policing role reverses that pattern, which is why it is the one that is 'not correct'.

Result: the statement claiming he did not function as a judge and policeman is the incorrect one, since gramabhojakas did carry out these judicial and policing duties in their villages.