CBSE Class 7 Social Science New Kings And Kingdoms Notes

NEWKINGS AND KINGDOMS

Q1.What are Nagarams?

Associations of traders were known as Nagarams. They also occasionally performed administrative functions in towns.

Q2.Who were Rashtrakutas?

Theywere subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka.

Q3.What are Prashastis?

Prashastis contain details that may not be literally true. But they tell us how rulers wanted to depict themselves – as valiant, victorious warriors.

Q4.Who composed Prashastis?

These were composed by learned Brahmanas, who occasionally helped in the administration. Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates, which were given to those who received the land.

Q5.What was Brahmadeya?

Brahmanas often received land grants or Brahmadeya. As a result, a large number of Brahmana settlements emerged in the Kaveri valley as in other parts of south India.

Q6. How did Rashtrakutas come to power?

In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha (literally, the golden womb). When this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead to the “rebirth” of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.

Q7.Who was Kalhana? What sources did he use to write his accounts?

Unusual for the twelfth century was a long Sanskrit poem containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. It was composed by an author named Kalhana. He used a variety of sources, including inscriptions, documents, eyewitness accounts and earlier histories, to write his account. Unlike the writers of prashastis, he was often critical about rulers and their policies.

Q8.What was Tripartite Struggle?

For centuries, rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties fought for control over Kanauj. Because there were three “parties” in this long drawn conflict, historians often describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.

Q9.Why were temples built by the kings?

The rulers tried to demonstrate their power and resources by building large temples. So, when they attacked one another’s kingdoms, they often chose to target temples, which were sometimes extremely rich.

Q10. Who built the city of Thanjuvur and how?

A minor chiefly family known as the Muttaraiyar held power in the Kaveri delta. They were subordinate to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth century. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.

Q11. Name some of the methods used for irrigation during Chola Empire.

A variety of methods were used for irrigation. In some areas wells were dug. In other places huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater. In delta region, embankments were made to prevent flooding and canals were built to carry water to the fields

Q12 How did Chola temples become the nuclei of settlements?

Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements which grew around them.

• These were centres of craft production. Amongst the crafts associated with temples, the making of bronze images was the most distinctive.

• Temples were also endowed with land by rulers as well as by others. The produce of this land went to maintain all the specialists who worked at the temple and very often lived near it – priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers, etc. In other words, temples were not only places of worship; they were the hub of economic, social and cultural life as well.

Q13 Who were Samantas? What were their functions?

By the seventh century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent. Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or Samantas.

• They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.

• As Samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be Maha- Samanta, Mahamandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so on. Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.

Q14 Write few lines on Chahamanas.

• Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, ruled over the region around Delhi and Ajmer.

• They attempted to expand their control to the west and the east, where they were opposed by the Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western Uttar Pradesh.

The best-known Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), defeated an Afghan ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year, in 1192.

Q15. How the successors of Vijayalaya expanded their kingdom?

• The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring regions and the kingdom grew in size and power.

• The Pandyan and the Pallava territories to the south and north were made part of this kingdom.

• Rajaraja I, considered the most powerful Chola ruler, became king in 985 and expanded control over most of these areas.

• He also reorganised the administration of the empire. Rajaraja’s son Rajendra I continued his policies and even raided the Ganga valley, Sri Lanka and countries of Southeast Asia, developing a navy for these expeditions.

Q16. How was the Brahmadeya administered?

Each Brahmadeya was looked after by an assembly or Sabha of prominent Brahmana landholders.

• The decisions of the assemblies were recorded in detail in inscriptions, often on the stone walls of temples.

• The Sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples, etc.

• Names of those eligible to be members of these committees were written on small tickets of palm leaf and kept in an earthenware pot, from which a young boy was asked to pick the tickets, one by one for each committee.

Q17 How did the agriculture developed in the Chola Empire?

Although agriculture had developed earlier in other parts of Tamil Nadu, it was only from the fifth or sixth century that this area was opened up for large-scale cultivation.

• Forests had to be cleared in some regions; land had to be levelled in other areas.

• In the delta region embankments had to be built to prevent flooding and canals had to be constructed to carry water to the fields. In many areas two crops were grown in a year.

• In many cases it was necessary to water crops artificially. A variety of methods were used for irrigation. In some areas wells were dug. In other places huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater.

Q18. Write a note on Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.

• Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan ruled from 997 to 1030, and extended control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent.

• He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.

• Much of the wealth Mahmud carried away was used to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni.

• He was interested in finding out more about the people he conquered, and entrusted a scholar named al-Biruni to write an account of the subcontinent. This Arabic work, known as the Kitab-al Hind, remains an important source for historians.

• He consulted Sanskrit scholars to prepare this account.

Q19 How were the Sabhas organised?

• All those who wish to become members of the sabha should be owners of land from which land revenue is collected.

• They should have their own homes.

• They should be between 35 and 70 years of age.

• They should have knowledge of the Vedas. They should be well-versed in administrative matters and honest.

• If anyone has been a member of any committee in the last three years, he cannot become a member of another committee.

• Anyone who has not submitted his accounts, as well as those of his relatives, cannot contest the elections.

Q20 Explain the system of administration adopted by the kingdoms ruling during 7th century.

• Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles such as as maharaja- adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) and so on and they often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.

• In each of these states, resources were obtained from the producers, that is, peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans, who were often persuaded or compelled to surrender part of what they produced. Revenue was also collected from traders.

• These resources were used to finance the king’s establishment, for the construction of temples and forts and to fight wars, which were in turn expected to lead to the acquisition of wealth in the form of plunder, and access to land as well as trade routes.

• The functionaries for collecting revenue were generally recruited from influential families, and positions were often hereditary. This was true about the army as well. In many cases, close relatives of the king held these positions.

Q21 Explain the administration of the Chola Empire?

• Settlements of peasants were made with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Groups of such villages formed larger units called nadu. The village council and the nadu had several administrative functions including dispensing justice and collecting taxes.

• Rich peasants of the Vellala caste exercised considerable control over the affairs of the nadu under the supervision of the central Chola government.

• The Chola kings gave some rich landowners titles like muvendavelan (a velan or peasant serving three kings), araiyar (chief), etc. as markers of respect, and entrusted them with important offices of the state at the centre.

• Brahmanas often received land grants or brahmadeya. As a result, a large number of Brahmana settlements emerged in the Kaveri valley as in other parts of south India.

• Each brahmadeya was looked after by an assembly or sabha of prominent Brahmana landholders. The sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples, etc

• Associations of traders known as nagarams also occasionally performed administrative functions in towns.

Please click the link below to download pdf file for CBSE Class 7 Social Science - New Kings and Kingdoms