UPSC Prelims 2014 Question:

In Medieval India, the designations 'Mahattara' and 'Pattakila' were used for

Explanation:

• Mahattara were ''representatives of towns or villages”, in the administration of the  Shilahara dynasty ( 765-1215 A.D.), in northern India. In towns and villages local administration was carried on with the help of Committees on which merchants, artisans, and trade guilds were represented. Members of the Committees were called mahājanas. Village headed by the village headman and village accountant whose posts were generally hereditary. He was often assisted by a village elder called grama-Mahajan or grama-mahattara.
  
  
• Pattakila was also the village headman, in western India.
  
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Miscellaneous(hist)