Q.Read the source given below carefully and answer the questions that follow : In praise of taswir Abu’l Fazl held the art of painting in high esteem : Drawing the likeness of anything is called taswir. His Majesty from his earliest youth, has shown a great predilection for this art, and gives it every encouragement, as he looks upon it as a means both of study and amusement. A very large number of painters have been set to work. Each week, several supervisors and clerks of the imperial workshop submit before the emperor the work done by each artist, and His Majesty gives a reward and increases the monthly salaries of the artists according to the excellence displayed. ... Most excellent painters are now to be found, and masterpieces, worthy of a Bihzad, may be placed at the side of the wonderful works of the European painters who have attained worldwide fame. The minuteness in detail, the general finish and the boldness of execution now observed in pictures are incomparable; even inanimate objects look as if they have life. More than a hundred painters have become famous masters of the art. This is especially true of the Hindu artists. Their pictures surpass our conception of things. Few, indeed, in the whole world are found equal to them. (8.1) How did Mughal paintings exhibit decorative elements ?

Imagine you are making a full meal for a large family all by yourself. You have to chop vegetables, marinate the meat, stir the curry, roll the rotis, and keep an eye on the dessert — all at once. You will likely be slow, exhausted, and might burn the rice. Now imagine a restaurant kitchen: one person only chops, another only stir-fries, a third handles the grill, and a fourth plates the dishes. The food comes out faster, each dish is better, and the chefs do not collapse from exhaustion.

That shift — from one person doing everything to many people doing one specific thing each — is the core of division of labour.

What it means

In economics and commerce, division of labour refers to breaking down the production of a good or service into a series of smaller, specialised tasks, each performed by a different person or group. Instead of one worker making an entire pin from start to finish, one worker cuts the wire, another sharpens the point, a third attaches the head, and a fourth polishes it. Each worker becomes an expert in their tiny step.

The NCERT textbook (Class 11, Business Studies, Chapter 1) introduces this as a key feature of modern large-scale business. It states that division of labour leads to specialisation, which in turn increases efficiency and output.

Why it matters

The power of this idea is not just about speed. It changes the entire nature of work and production.

• Higher productivity: A worker who repeats the same narrow task all day becomes incredibly fast and dexterous at it. They waste no time switching tools or thinking about the next step.
• Better quality: Repetition builds skill. The person who only sharpens pin points will sharpen them more accurately than someone who also has to cut, attach, and polish.
• Lower cost per unit: Because more goods are produced in the same time, the cost of making each individual item falls. This is the foundation of affordable mass production.
• Encourages innovation: A worker focused on one tiny step is more likely to notice a small inefficiency and invent a better tool or method for that specific job. The classic example is Adam Smith's pin factory, where a specialised worker invented a machine to cut wire faster.

A crucial distinction …