Class 7 History Chapter 6 Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson Extra Questions and Answers
Class 7 History Chapter 6 Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson 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.
Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson Class 7 History Extra Questions and Answers
Very Short Extra Questions and Answers
1: The “devadasis” perform their dances on the occasion of__________.
Answer: Mahanavmi
2: Where is the ancient capital of Vijayanagara located?
Answer: Krishna-Tungabhadra basin
3: The “panchalas” or “Vishwakarma” community were expert masons. True/ False
Answer: True
4: During the Mughal period, pilgrims sailed for Mecca from the port of ____________.
Answer: Surat
5: Which technique was used to make the Chola bronze statues?
Answer: lost wax technique
6: Rulers built temples to demonstrate their_____.
Answer: devotion
7: Name the city popular as ‘the city of temples’ in the Chola Kingdom.
Answer: Thanjavur
8: What was the other name of “Saliyar” community?
Answer: Kaikkolars
9: What was the occupation of the “Saliyar” community?
Answer: Weaving
10: From where does the Muslim Bohras imported tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver?
Answer: Southeast Asia and China
11: From where does the Bohras of Gujarat brought gold and ivory?
Answer: Africa
12: The Muslim Bohras were the natives of ____________.
Answer: Gujarat
13: Name a city of Rajasthan, where the shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti is situated.
Answer: Ajmer
14: Qutabshahi was the ruling dynasty of ____________.
Answer: Golconda
15: When did Vasco de Gama reached Calicut?
Answer: 1498 A.D.
16: The Bohra community had trade relations with the ports of Red Sea. True/ False
Answer: True
17: In Surat huge banking houses were established by the Kathiawad Seths. True/ False
Answer: True
18: Where does the kings in South India held their courts?
Answer: Mandapas
19: Ajmer was made a capital under the rule of the __________.
Answer: Chauhans
20: Name the trading community which specialized in carrying bulk goods from one place to another.
Answer: Banjaras
21: For what the Surat textiles were famous?
Answer: gold lace borders (zari)
22: The cultivation of spices is mostly done in temperate region. True/ False
Answer: False
23: What was the name of the inlay work in copper and silver of Bidar?
Answer: Bidri
24: Inside the temple of Rajarajeshwar, a structure of Lord Shiva is found in the form of __________.
Answer: Linga
25: Where the temple of Somnath is located?
Answer: Gujarat
26: What was the another name of the city of Vidisha?
Answer: Bhillasvamin
27: During the Chola period, statues for temples were made of___________.
Answer: Bronze
28: Name the place where the famous temple town of tirupati is located.
Answer: Andhra Pradesh
29: Name the regions with whom the “Guilds” of South India mostly traded.
Answer: Southeast Asia and China
30: A tiny hole is made in the clay cover in the lost wax technique to remove wax. True/False
Answer: True
31: What was the purpose of traders association called “Guild”?
Answer: to protect their economic interest.
32: Vrindavan is famous for temple dedicated to which god?
Answer: Lord Krishna
33: Christopher Columbus was a native of___________.
Answer: France
34: For what The “Panchalas” or “Vishwakarma” community was famous?
Answer: Temples
35: Who constructed the Mahanavmi platform?
Answer: Krishnadeva Raya.
36: What was the most important item bought by the European traders?
Answer: Indian cloth
37: Who was the first European traders to settle in India?
Answer: Portuguese
38: Name the trading class that specialized in changing money and hundis.
Answer: Sarrafs
39: Which form of God is represented by The Virupaksha temple?
Answer: Shiva
40: From what material Padma saliyars of Andhra Pradesh wove cloth for gods?
Answer: Lotus Fibre
41: Traders from the various countries settled on the __________.
Answer: western coast
42: Who was Jean Baptist Tavernier?
Answer: diamond merchant, french trader
43: The Marwaris were the natives of Rajasthan. True/False
Answer: true
44: Name the hills which dominated the religious life of people according to the myths?
Answer: The Matanga, the Malyavanta and the Hemkuta hills dominated the religious life of its inhabitants.
45. What was the other name of “Saliyar” community?
Answer: Kaikkolars
46. Who was Christopher Columbus?
Answer: Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer.
47. Who was Jean Baptist Tavernier?
Answer: Jean Baptiste Tavernier was a diamond merchant.
48. What do the ruins of hampi reveal?
Answer: The magnificent ruins at Hampi reveal a well-fortified city.
49. Which technique was used to make the Chola bronze statues?
Answer: Chola bronze statues were made using the “lost wax” technique.
50. From where did Gujarati Traders bring gold and ivory?
Answer: They brought gold and ivory from Africa.
51. When did Vasco de Gama reach Calicut?
Answer: Vasco de Gama reached Calicut in 1498.
Short Extra Questions and Answers
1. What was the capital of the ancient Chola kingdom?
Answer: Thanjavur was the capital of the ancient Chola kingdom.
2. How was water supplied to the city of Thanjavur?
Answer: Water supply for the city of Thanjavur comes from wells and tanks.
3. How did temple authorities use their wealth?
Answer: Temple authorities used their wealth to finance trade and banking.
4. What is bell metal?
Answer: Bell metal contains a greater proportion of tin than other kinds of bronze.
5. Name two famous guilds of south India from the eighth century onwards.
Answer: Manigramam and Nanadesi
6. How did European gain control of the sea route?
Answer: European Companies used their naval power to gain control of the sea trade.
7. What is emporium?
Answer: Emporium is a place where goods from diverse production centres are bought and sold.
8. Name the regions with whom the “guilds” of South India mostly traded.
Answer: These guilds traded extensively both within the peninsula and with Southeast Asia and China.
9. Who lived in the “Black Towns” in cities such as Madras?
Answer: Merchants and artisans (such as weavers) lived in the “Black Towns” in cities such as Madras.
10. What is Bidri?
Answer: The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for their inlay work in copper and silver that it came to be called Bidri.
11. Why has Surat called the gate to mecca?
Answer: Surat has also been called the gate to Mecca because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
12. What were the textiles of Surat famous for?
Answer: The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in West Asia, Africa and Europe.
13. What was the significance of Surat hundis?
Answer: Surat hundis were honoured in the far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium.
14. Where is Hampi located?
Answer: Hampi is located in the Krishna-Tungabhadra basin, which formed the nucleus of the Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 1336.
15. Name the spices which became part of European cooking.
Answer: Spices grown in tropical climates (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger, etc.) became an important part of European cooking.
16. Why did the rulers endow temples with grants of land and money?
Answer: They endowed temples with grants of land and money to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals.
17. From where did the Gujarati Traders imported spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver?
Answer: Gujarati Traders imported spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from Southeast Asia and China.
18. Why both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control Masulipatnam?
Answer: Both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control Masulipatnam as it became the most important port on the Andhra coast.
19. Write some important temple towns.
Answer: Thanjavur, Bhillasvamin (Bhilsa or Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh), and Somnath in Gujarat, Kanchipuram, Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
20. What is hundi?
Answer: Hundi is a note recording a deposit made by a person. The amount deposited can be claimed in another place by presenting the record of the deposit.
21. What do temple town represent?
Answer: Temple towns represent a very important pattern of urbanisation, the process by which cities develop. Rulers built temples to demonstrate their devotion to various deities.
22. Who tried to play off Dutch and English against each other and why?
Answer: As the Mughals began to extend their power to Golconda their representative, the governor Mir Jumla who was also a merchant, began to play off the Dutch and the English against each other.
23. What attracted European traders to India?
Answer: Spices grown in tropical climates (pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger, etc.) became an important part of European cooking, and cotton cloth was very attractive. This eventually drew European traders to India.
24. Write a brief note about Murshidabad.
Answer: Murshidabad (West Bengal) on the banks of the Bhagirathi, which rose to prominence as a centre for silks and became the capital of Bengal in 1704, declined in the course of the century as the weavers faced competition from cheap mill-made cloth from England.
25. What kind of market did the small towns have?
Answer: 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 hatta (haat of later times) lined with shops. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans such as potters, oil pressers, sugar makers, toddy makers, smiths, stonemasons, etc.
Long Extra Questions and Answers
1. What was the system of advances? How did it affect the life of Weavers?
Answer: Crafts persons began to work on a system of advances which meant that they had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the Company agents.
2. What was the role of a samanta or a zamindar?
Answer: 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 and 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.
3. What would a traveller visiting a medieval town expect to find?
Answer: This would depend on what kind of a town it was – a temple town, an administrative centre, a commercial town or a port town to name just some possibilities. In fact, many towns combined several functions – they were administrative centres, temple towns, as well as centres of commercial activities and craft production.
4. How did the system of advances snatch the freedom of the weavers?
Answer: Indian textile designs became increasingly refined. However, this period also saw the decline of the independence of craftspersons. They now began to work on a system of advances which meant that they had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the Company agents.
5. What were the reasons for the decline of Surat?
Answer: However, Surat began to decline towards the end of the seventeenth century. This was because of many factors:
- The loss of markets and productivity because of the decline of the Mughal Empire.
- Control of the sea routes by the Portuguese and competition from Bombay (present-day Mumbai) where the English East India Company shifted its headquarters in 1668.
6. How important were craftspersons for the building and maintenance of temples?
Answer: Craftspersons were important for the building and maintenance of temples:
- The Panchalas or Vishwakarma community, consisting of goldsmiths, bronzesmiths, blacksmiths, masons and carpenters, were essential to the building of temples.
- Similarly, weavers such as the Saliyar or Kaikkolars emerged as prosperous communities, making donations to temples.
7. Why do you think towns grew around temples?
Answer: 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. settled near the temple to cater to its needs and those of the pilgrims. Thus grew temple towns.
8. Pilgrimage centres also slowly developed into townships. Explain
Answer: Pilgrimage centres also slowly developed into townships. Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh) and Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu) are examples of two such towns. Ajmer (Rajasthan) was the capital of the Chauhan kings in the twelfth century and later became the suba headquarters under the Mughals. It provides an excellent example of religious coexistence. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, the celebrated Sufi saint who settled there in the twelfth century, attracted devotees from all creeds. Near Ajmer is a lake, Pushkar, which has attracted pilgrims from ancient times.
9. Write a short note on “lost wax” technique.
Answer: Chola bronze statues were made using the “lost wax” technique.
- First, an image was made of wax. This was covered with clay and allowed to dry.
- Next it was heated, and a tiny hole was made in the clay cover. The molten wax was drained out through this hole.
- Then molten metal was poured into the clay mould through the hole. Once the metal cooled and solidified, the clay cover was carefully removed, and the image was cleaned and polished.
10. How was the architecture of Hampi distinctive?
Answer: Architecture of Hampi was distinctive in several ways:
- The Hampi was a well-fortified city. No mortar or cementing agent was used in the construction of these walls and the 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 and corbels.
11. Why did people from distant lands visit Surat?
Answer: People from distant lands visited Surat because of the following reason:
- Surat was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz.
- Surat has also been called the gate to Mecca because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
- The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in West Asia, Africa and Europe.
- The state built numerous rest-houses to take care of the needs of people from all over the world who came to the city. There were magnificent buildings and innumerable pleasure parks.
12. Describe the trading community of the medieval period.
Answer: There were many kinds of traders. These included the Banjaras. Several traders, especially horse traders, formed associations, with headmen who negotiated on their behalf with warriors who bought horses. There were also communities like the Chettiars and the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the principal trading groups of the country. Gujarati traders, including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras, traded extensively with the ports of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Southeast Asia and China. The towns on the west coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders.
13. In what ways was craft production in cities like Calcutta different from that in cities like Thanjavur?
Answer: Craft persons of Calcutta began to work on a system of advances which meant that they had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. They had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the Company agents.
Craft persons of Thanjavur were independent. They had the liberty of selling their own cloth or crafts. The Saliya weavers of Thanjavur and the nearby town of Uraiyur produce cloth for flags to be used in the temple festival, fine cottons for the king and nobility and coarse cotton for the masses. The sthapatis or sculptors make exquisite bronze idols and tall, ornamental bell metal lamps.
15. Write a note about network of small towns that emerged after eighth century onward.
Answer: From the eighth century onwards the subcontinent was dotted with several small towns.
(i) Small towns probably emerged from large villages. They usually had a mandapika (or mandi of later times) to which nearby villagers brought their produce to sell.
(ii) They also had market streets called hatta lined with shops. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans such as potters, oil pressers, sugar makers, toddy makers, smiths, stonemasons, etc.
(iii) While some traders lived in the town, others travelled from town to town. Many 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.
16. Explain why Surat was the gateway for trade with West.
Answer: Surat was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz. The city was cosmopolitan and people of all castes and creeds lived there. In the seventeenth century the Portuguese, Dutch and English had their factories and warehouses at Surat. According to the English chronicler Ovington who wrote an account of the port in 1689, on average a hundred ships of different countries could be found anchored at the port at any given time. There were also several retail and wholesale shops selling cotton textiles. The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in West Asia, Africa and Europe. The state built numerous rest-houses to take care of the needs of people from all over the world who came to the city.
17. How was Hampi in its heyday in the 15-16th centuries? When did it fall to ruin?
Answer: In its heyday in the fifteenth sixteenth centuries, Hampi bustled with commercial and cultural activities.
(i) Moors (a name used collectively for Muslim merchants), Chettis and agents of European traders such as the Portuguese, thronged the markets of Hampi.
(ii) Temples were the hub of cultural activities and devadasis (temple dancers) performed before the deity, royalty and masses in the many-pillared halls in the Virupaksha (a form of Shiva) temple.
(iii) The Mahanavami festival, known today as Navaratri in the south, was one of the most important festivals celebrated at Hampi.
Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccani Sultans – the rulers of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Bidar.
18. Why did Masulipatnam become prosperous and popular?
Answer: The town of Masulipatnam or Machlipatnam (literally, fish port town) lay on the delta of the Krishna river.
(i) In the seventeenth century it was a centre of intense activity. Both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control Masulipatnam as it became the most important port on the Andhra coast.
(ii) The Qutb Shahi rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other items to prevent the trade passing completely into the hands of the various East India Companies.
(iii) Fierce competition among various trading groups – the Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu Komati Chettis, and European traders – made the city populous and prosperous.
19. Describe the town Thanjavur.
Or
Why do you think people regarded Thanjavur as a great town?
Answer: People regarded Thanjavur as a great town because of the following reasons:
(i) Thanjavur was the capital of the Cholas.The perennial river Kaveri flows near this beautiful town. One hears the bells of the Rajarajeshvara temple built by King Rajaraja Chola.
(ii) The townspeople are all praise for its architect Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perunthachchan who has proudly carved his name on the temple wall. Inside is a massive Shiva linga.
(iii) 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.
(iv) The town is bustling with markets selling grain, spices, cloth and jewellery. Water supply for the town comes from wells and tanks.