Class 7 History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms Extra Questions and Answers
Class 7 History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms extra questions and answers available here. Solving class 7 extra questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practicing these extra questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.
New Kings and Kingdoms Class 7 History Extra Questions and Answers
Very Short Extra Questions and Answers
1: Tang dynasty remained in power between the __________ and __________ century.
Answer: 7th and 10th century
2: Name the king related with the Gwalior prashasti
Answer: Nagabhatta
3: The foundation of Rashtrakutas dynasty was laid down by__________.
Answer: Dantidurga
4: Name the dynasty under which the Ellora caves were constructed.
Answer: Rashtrakuta dynasty
5: Name the Chola king who defeated the Rulers of Ganga valley.
Answer: Rajendra- I
6: In which year Prithviraja III defeated Sultan Muhammad Ghori?
Answer: 1191
7: The Rashtrakutas dynasty was founded in the region of__________.
Answer: Deccan
8: Name the river that flowed in the regions of the Chola dynasty.
Answer: Kaveri
9: At the time of Cholas, the tax ‘Vetti’ was levied in the form of_______.
Answer: Forced labour
10: Besides being the hub of social, economic and cultural life, temples were originally places of ______________.
Answer: worship
11: Who was the author of Kitab-ul-Hind?
Answer: Al-Biruni
12: What was the meaning of title of Araiyar given by Chola kings to rich landowners?
Answer: Chief
13: Al-Biruni had keen interest in the __________ and ____________.
Answer: Indian philosophy and science
14: To whom Rashtrakutas were subordinate?
Answer: Chalukyas
15: Name the nagrams who occasionally performed administrative functions in towns.
Answer: association of traders
16: Where was the Tang dynasty established?
Answer: China
17: When was the Tang dynasty established?
Answer: Tang dynasty was established in China in the 7th century and lasted till 10th century
18: Name the Chola ruler who developed Navy.
Answer: Rajendra I
19: Who constructed the temple of Gangaikondacholpuram?
Answer: Rajendra Chola
20: Vijayalaya captured the delta of river Kaveri from the __________.
Answer: Muttaraiyar chiefs
21: The ruler who performed the hiranya-garbha ritual belonged to whose dynasty?
Answer: Rashtrakutas
22: Name a Rashtrakuta Chief who overthrew the Chalukyan over lordship.
Answer: Dantidurga
23: Name a Chalukyan king who performed “Hiranyagarbha” sacrifice.
Answer: Dantidurga
24: Name the founder of the Gurjara- Pratihara dynasty.
Answer: Harichandra
25: Gurjara – Pratihara were________ (Brahmans/ Rajputs).
Answer: Brahmans
26: Name the state where Kadamba Mayurasharman ruled.
Answer: Karnataka
27: The Kadamba dynasty, in Karnataka, was founded in A.D 345 by Mayursharman. True/False
Answer: True
28: In which state the Gujara – Pratihara dynasty was formed?
Answer: Rajasthan
29: The Prashastis were composed by ____________.
Answer: Brahmans
30: The evidence of the land grants were found to be recorded on________ plate
Answer: Copper
31: Kalhana belongs to which place?
Answer: Kashmir
32: Where was the city of Kannauj located?
Answer: Ganga Valley
33: What was the capital of Harshavardhan?
Answer: Kannauj
34: Where does Sultan Mahmud ruled?
Answer: Ghazni
35: Name the place where the temple of Somnath is located.
Answer: Gujarat
36: How was rain water collected in Chola kingdom?
Answer: Huge tank.
37: Name a famous Chola king who raided the Ganga Valley.
Answer: Rajendra I
38: During the rule of the Cholas the term Kadamai was used for ___________.
Answer: Land revenue
39: Vijayalaya belonged to the________ dynasty.
Answer: Chola dynasty
40: Who constructed the big temple at Thanjavur?
Answer: Rajaraja I
41: Rich landlords were given title of Muvendavelan. True/False
Answer: True
42: What was the name of the association of the traders during Chola period?
Answer: Nagarams
43: Name the most powerful Chola ruler.
Answer: Rajaraja I
44. Who wrote Kitab-al-Hind?
Answer: Al-Biruni wrote Kitab-al-Hind.
45. What were known as ur?
Answer: Settlements of peasants were known as ur.
46. What were called nadu?
Answer: Groups of villages formed larger units called nadu.
47. What was called brahmadeya?
Answer: Land gifted to Brahmanas was called brahmadeya.
48. When was Ellora caves built?
Answer: Ellora caves was built Rashtrakuta period.
49. What does araiyar means?
Answer: Araiyar means chief.
50. Which river flowed in the regions of the Chola dynasty?
Answer: Kaveri
51. Who was the founder of Gurjara- Pratihara Harichandra dynasty?
Answer: Gurjara- Pratihara Harichandra
52. Name the state where Kadamba Mayurasharman ruled.
Answer: Karnataka
53. In which state the Gujara – Pratihara dynasty was formed?
Answer: Rajasthan
54. Where is temple of somnath situated?
Answer: Gujarat
55. Where was the Tang dynasty established?
Answer: China
56. Name the Chola ruler who developed Navy.
Answer: Rajendra I
57. Who built Gangaikondacholpuram?
Answer: Rajendra I
58. What is vetti?
Answer: Vetti is a type of tax taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour.
59. Who were known as nagarams?
Answer: Associations of traders were known as nagarams.
60. Who wrote a sanskrit poem about the ruler of Kashmir?
Answer: It was composed by an author named Kalhana.
61. What were the two major cities under the control of the Chahamanas?
Answer: Delhi and Ajmer
62. What was called sabha?
Answer: An assembly of prominent Brahmana landholders who looked after brahmadeya was called sabha.
63. How long did tang dynasty last?
Answer: Tang dynasty remained in power for about 300 years (from the seventh to the tenth centuries)
64. What do you know about periyapuranam?
Answer: Periyapuranam is a twelfth century Tamil work, which informs us about the lives of ordinary men and women.
65. What role did Samantas play in politics?
Answer: They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.
Short Extra Questions and Answers
1. How were brahmanas rewarded by kings?
Answer: Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates, which were given to those who received the land.
2. Who were the parties involved in the tripartite struggle?
Answer: Rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties were the parties involved in the tripartite struggle.
3. What are prashastis?
Answer: Prashatis were inscriptions that were written in praise of someone or something. Usually, they were composed in praise of the rulers.
4. Who was Dantidurga?
Answer: Dantidurga was a Rashtrakuta chief who overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha.
5. What kind of irrigation works were developed in the Tamil region?
Answer: A variety of methods were used for irrigation. In some areas wells were dug. In other places huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater.
6. Who were known as Samantas?
Answer: 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.
7. Why are temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram famous?
Answer: The big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram, built by Rajaraja and Rajendra, are famous for its architectural and sculptural marvels.
8. Who was Prithviraja III?
Answer: The best-known Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year, in 1192.
9. What do you know about “tripartite struggle”?
Answer: Rulers belonging to the Gurjara-Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties fought for control over Kanauj. Because there were three “parties” in this longdrawn conflict, historians often describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.
10. Who was Vijayalaya?
Answer: Vijayalaya belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur. He 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.
11. Why did chola kings give some rich landowners titles like muvendavelan, araiyar, etc.?
Answer: 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.
12. What were claimed as “rent”?
Answer: In each of 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. Sometimes these were claimed as “rent” due to a lord who asserted that he owned the land.
13. Who were responsible to collect the revenue from the people?
Answer: 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.
14. Who performed ritual called hiranya garbha and why?
Answer: 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.
15. Write a short note on brahmadeya.
Answer: The term brahmadeya means land gifted to Brahmanas. Each brahmadeya was looked after by an assembly or sabha of prominent Brahmana landholders. These assemblies worked very efficiently. Their decisions were recorded in detail in inscriptions, often on the stone walls of temples.
16. How the committee members for sabha elected?
Answer: 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.
17. Who was Kalhana? What was he famous for?
Answer: Kalhana was a great poet who composed a long Sanskrit poem containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. 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.
18. How did the Rashtrakutas become powerful?
Answer: Initially Rashtrakutas were subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka. 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.
Long Extra Questions and Answers
1. When they attacked one another’s kingdoms, they often chose to target temples. Give reason.
Answer: Rulers also 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. One of the best known of such rulers is Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan. He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.
2. What were the activities associated with Chola temples?
Answer: Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements which grew around them. These were centres of craft production. 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.
3. Write a short note on Tang dynasty.
Answer: In China, an empire was established under the Tang dynasty, which remained in power for about 300 years (from the seventh to the tenth centuries). Its capital, Xi’an, was one of the largest cities in the world, visited by Turks, Iranians, Indians, Japanese and Koreans. The Tang empire was administered by a bureaucracy recruited through an examination, which was open to all who wished to appear for it. This system of selecting officials remained in place, with some changes, till 1911.
4. How did chola temple become a hub of economic social and cultural life?
Answer: Chola temples often became the nuclei of settlements which grew around them. These were centres of craft production. 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.
5. What were the qualifications necessary to become a member of a committee of the sabha in the Chola Empire?
Answer: The qualifications necessary to become a member of a committee of the sabha in the Chola Empire were:
- They 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.
6. Write a short note on architecture of Chola Period.
Answer: The big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram, built by Rajaraja and Rajendra, are architectural and sculptural marvels. 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. Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world. While most images were of deities, sometimes images were made of devotees as well.
7. Describe several categories of land mentioned in cholas inscriptions.
Answer: Chola inscriptions mention several categories of land.
Vellanvagai – land of non-Brahmana peasant proprietors
Brahmadeya – land gifted to Brahmanas
Shalabhoga – land for the maintenance of a school
Devadana, tirunamattukkani – land gifted to temples
Pallichchhandam – land donated to Jaina institutions
8. What did the new dynasties do to gain acceptance?
Answer: 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. Many of these new kings adopted high-sounding titles such as maharaja adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana-chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) and so on. However, in spite of such claims, they often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.
9. Trace out the emergence of new dynasties.
Answer:
- 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.
- As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be maha-samanta, mahamandaleshvara and so on. Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
- In other cases, men from enterprising families used their military skills to carve out kingdoms.
10. Write a short note on Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan.
Answer: (i) 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.
(ii) He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.
(iii) Much of the wealth Mahmud carried away was used to create a splendid capital city at Ghazni.
(iv) 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.
11. How did the Cholas rise to power?
Answer: 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. 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.