ITL Public School Social Science Hand out(2016-17) Class VII Subject: HISTORY Instructions For each questions value points are given from the content frame the sentences of your own Highlighted points are value points H- L6: TOWNS, TRADERS AND CRAFTSPERSONS Thanjavur Thanjavur, capital of Cholas. The temple built here is Rajarajeshvara built by King Rajaraja Chola. Besides the temple there are palaces with mandapas or pavilions. Kings hold court in these mandapas, issuing orders to their subordinates. There are also barracks for the army. The town is bustling with markets selling grain, spices, cloth and jewellery. Water supply for the town comes from wells and tanks. Q Describe the town that emerged on the banks of the river Kaveri. Q Why do you think people regarded Thanjavur as a great town? Emergence of Temple Towns Thanjavur is also an example of a temple town. Rulers built temples to demonstrate their devotion to various deities. They also endowed temples with grants of land and money to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals. Pilgrims who flocked to the temples also made donations. Temple authorities used their wealth to finance trade and banking. Gradually a large number of priests, workers, artisans, traders etc etc settled near the temple to cater to its needs and those of the pilgrims. Thus grew temple towns. Q Discuss the growth of temple towns. Q How do you say that Thanjavur was an example of a temple town? Functions performed by Samantas Usually a Samanta or in later times, a zamindar built a fortified palace in or near these towns. They levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade. They sometimes donated the right to collect these taxes to local temples, which had been built by themselves or by rich merchants. These rights were recorded in inscriptions that have survived to this day. Q What was the system followed by the Samanta? Q Discuss the functions performed by the Samantas living in earlier times.
A network of small towns From the 8 th century onwards the subcontinent was dotted with several small towns. These probably emerged from large villages. They usually had a mandapika ( or mandi of later times) to which nearby villagers brought their produce to sell. They also had market streets called haata( haat of later times) lined with shops. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans. Many traders came from far and near to these towns to buy local articles and sell products of distant places like horses, salt, camphor, saffron, betel nut and spices like pepper. Traders formed guilds to protect their interests. There were several such guilds in south India from the eighth century onwards the most famous being the Manigramam and Nanadesi. Q Discuss the economic system followed by several small towns. Architectural splendour of Hampi Hampi is located in the Krishna Tungabhadra basin which formed the nucleus of the Vijayanagara Empire. The magnificient ruins at Hampi reveal a well fortified city. No mortar and cementing agent was used in the construction of walls. Technique followed was to wedge them together by interlocking. The buildings in the royal complex had splendid arches. Domes and pillared halls with niches for holding sculptures. They also had well planned orchards and pleasure gardens with sculptural motifs such as the lotus,corbels Q Explain the distinct features of architecture at Hampi. Q Discuss the architectural splendour of Hampi. A Gateway to the West :Surat Surat in Gujarat was emporium of western trade during the Mughal period and somewhat later. In the seventeenth century the Portugese, Dutch and English had their factories and warehouses in Surat. There were also several retail and wholesale shops selling cotton textiles. The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (zari). The Kathiawad seths or mahajans had huge banking houses at Surat. Surat hundis were honoured in the far off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium. Q Discuss the commercial importance of Surat. Q Define the term Hundi. Decline of Surat
Surat began to decline towards the end of the seventeenth century due to loss of markets and productivity caused by decline of Mughal Empire. Control of the sea routes by the Portugese Competition from Bombay where English East India Company shifted its headquarters. Shivaji plundered Surat twice in 1664 and 1670. Q Discuss the factors that led to the decline of Surat. Masulipatnam The town of Masulipatnam lay on the delta of the Krishna river. Both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control Masulipatnam as it became the most important port on the Andhra coast. The Qutub Shahi rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles and other items to prevent passing of trade into the hands of various East India Companies. Fierce competition among various trading groups made the city populous and prosperous. The fort at Masulipatnam was built by the Dutch. William Methwold, a Factor of the English East India Company in 1620 gave a description of Masulipatnam that it is a small town but populous, ill built and worse situated. It was first a poor fisher town and afterwards the convenience of the road made it a residence for merchants and the Dutch nation frequented this coast. Q Highlight the factors that led to the prosperity of Masulipatnam in the seventeenth century. Q Explain the description of Masulipatnam by a factor of the English East India Company in 1620. Q Define the term factor. Decline of independence of craftspersons This period also saw the decline of the independence of craftspersons. They now began to work on a system of advances which meant they had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weave their own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the Company agents. Q Give reasons for the decline of independence of craftspersons. Philosophy of Shankara H- L8: DEVOTIONAL PATHS TO THE DIVINE Shankara most influential philosopher of India was born in kerela in the eigth century. He believed that there is no difference between the soul of god and the soul of human beings (advocate of doctrine of advaita). The way to salvation was through knowledge. He considered the world around us to be an illusion or maya preached renunciation of the world
Q Who was Shankara? Q Explain the philosophy advocated by Shankara. Virashaiva movement Virashaiva movement initiated by Basavanna and his companions like Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. This movement began in Karnataka in the twelfth century. The virashaivas argued strongly for equality of all human beings. They were against Brahmanical ideas about caste and treatment of women. They were also against all forms of ritual and idol worship. Q Who initiated Virashaiva movement? Q Highlight the aims of Virashaiva Movement. Saints of Maharashtra From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries Maharashtra saw a great number of saint poets like Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram as well as women like Sakhubai and the family of Chokhamela. These saint poets rejected all forms of ritualism and outward display of piety They did not believe in social differences based on birth. In fact they even rejected the idea of renunciation and preferred to live with their families. They believed in humbly serving fellow beings in need. They insisted that Bhakti lay in sharing others pain. Q Name two saint poets of Maharashtra who focused on Vithala form of worship. Q Explain the ideas expressed by the saint poets of Maharashtra. Sufi Saints Sufi Saints advocated the philosophy such as Meditation and chanting of God s name (zikr), showing respect for all religion they believed that one should lead a simple life and keep oneself free from greed they believed that one should show charity towards the poor believed in following a guru(pir) who would show the correct path. Sufi saints advocated the need to come close to God through devotional music. The Sufi masters held their assemblies in their khanqahs or hospices. Often people attributed Sufi masters with miraculous powers and that they could relieve others of their illnesses and troubles. It was also believed that sufi saints could predict the future. Q Discuss the teachings of sufi saints. Q Define the term Hospice. Q What were the common beliefs that people associated with sufi saints? Kabir Kabir was one of the most influential saints. He emphasized faith in god s will. Kabir was against idol worship and performing rituals. He attacked Brahmins and qazis for their superstitions.
He laid stress on purity of character and conduct and leading a life dedicated to bhakti. He also preached ahimsa and asked people not to kill animals for food. He gave importance to guru. We get to know of his ideas from a vast collection of verses called sakhis and pads said to have been composed by him and sung by wandering bhajan singers. Some of these were later collected and preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, Panch Vani and Bijak. Q Discuss the philosophy of Kabir. Q Name any two books that contain ideas of Kabir. Guru Nanak Guru Nanak was born at Talwandi. Guru Nanak became popular among his followers due to his teachings such as Nam Japo or meditate. Kirt Karo or work hard and earn livelihood by honest means. Vand Chhako or Share your earnings with less fortunate. He emphasized worship of one God (Ik Onkar). He rejected caste differences and preached equality and thus started the practice of langar. A Guru he said can lead people on to the path of bhakti. He was against idol worship and performing rituals. Q Discuss the teachings of the first Sikh Guru. H- L10: EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POLITICAL FORMATIONS The Crisis of the Mughal Empire Mughal Empire faced crisis caused by a number of factors towards the end of the seventeenth century. Aurangzeb depleted military and financial resources of his empire by fighting a long war in the Deccan. It became increasingly difficult for later Mughal Emperors to keep a check on powerful mansabdars. The Governors established independent kingdoms in different areas. Mounting taxes led to Peasants and zamindari rebellions. Nadir Shah, sacked and plundered the city of Delhi in 1739 and took away immense amounts of wealth. This invasion was followed by series of plundering raids by the Afghan ruler,ahmad Shah Abdali, who invaded north India five times between 1748 and 1761.The empire was further weakened by the competition amongst different groups of nobles. Q Discuss the factors that led to the decline of Mughal Empire. Emergence of New States Broadly speaking the states of the eighteenth century can be divided into three overlapping groups. States that were old Mughal provinces like Awadh founded by Saadat Khan, Bengal founded by Murshid Quli Khan and Hyderabad founded by Nizam ul mulk Asaf Jah. Although extremely
powerful and quite independent the rulers of these states did not break their formal ties with the Mughal emperor. States that had enjoyed considerable independence under the Mughals as watan jagirs. These included several Rajput principalities. The last group included states under the control of Marathas, Sikhs and others like the Jats. These were of different sizes and had seized their independence from the Mughals after a long drawn armed struggle. Q Explain the emergence of independent regional states and their features. Awadh under Saadat Khan Saadat Khan tried to reduce Mughal influence in Awadh region by reducing number of office holders (jagirdars) appointed by the Mughals. He also reduced size of jagirs and appointed his own loyal servants to vacant positions. The accounts of jagirdars were checked to prevent cheating and the revenues of all districts were reassessed by officials appointed by the Nawab s court. He seized a number of Rajput zamindaris and the agriculturally fertile lands of the Afghans of Rohilkhand. Q Enumerate the steps taken by Saadat Khan to reduce Mughal influence in Awadh. Bengal under Murshid Quli Khan In an effort to reduce Mughal influence in Bengal Murshid Quli Khan transferred all Mughal jagirdars to Orissa and ordered a major reassessment of the revenues of Bengal. Revenue was collected in cash with strictness from all zamindars. As a result many zamindars had to borrow money from bankers and moneylenders. Those unable to pay were forced to sell their lands to larger zamindars. Q Highlight the steps taken by Murshid Quli Khan to decrease Mughal influence in Bengal. Marathas Shivaji carved out a stable Maratha kingdom with the support of powerful warrior families. Shivaji was not only a fearless soldier but also a successful administrator. Shivaji had a council of eight ministers to advice him. Shivaji collected two taxes called chauth and sardeshmukhi. Shivaji had a navy to guard the coast. The infantry and cavalry were the main divisions of the army. He appointed special officers to look after forts. Shivaji s soldiers were well trained and highly disciplined. Q Discuss the role of Shivaji in establishing and strengthening the Maratha Empire. Q Define the following terms-chauth, Sardeshmukhi.