With refence to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period,which one of the following statements is correct?

1. A

   It was considered a source of income for the State, a sort of tax paid by the people.

   (a) Vishti as a source of income for the State, a sort of tax. Gupta-period inscriptions list vishti (forced unpaid labour) among dues the state and donees could claim, like a labour tax. That reading is the official key.

2. B

   It was totally absent in the Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar region of the Gupta Empire.

   (b) Totally absent in Madhya Pradesh and Kathiawar. Vishti is in fact attested in those regions of the Gupta world, so absence is not the key.

3. C

   The forced labourer was entitled to weekly wages

   (c) Entitled to weekly wages. Forced labour of this type was unpaid corvée, not a waged weekly service, so this is not the key.

4. D

   The eldest son of the labourers was sent as the forced labourer

   (d) Eldest son sent as the forced labourer. No such primogeniture rule is the Gupta vishti definition, so this is not the key.

Summary. Official key is (a). Vishti in Gupta records is unpaid forced labour treated as a state due — a labour tax alongside grain and cash claims. It is documented in central Indian and Kathiawar grants, not absent there, and it was not a waged or eldest-son levy. Honour the stored letter (a).