Class 7 History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine Extra Questions and Answers
Class 7 History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine 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.
Devotional Paths to the Divine Class 7 History Extra Questions and Answers
Very Short Extra Questions and Answers
1: By the word “MAYA” shankara meant________________.
Answer: Illusion
2: State the language employed by Surdas for his devotional songs.
Answer: Hindi (Avadhi)
3: Who were the Pulaiyar and the Panars?
Answer: Untouchables
4: What was the greatest social impact of the Bhakti Movement on medieval Hindu society?
Answer: equality between high and low castes
5: Name the Bhakti saint who was a great satirist and ridiculed all the institutions of his time.
Answer: Kabir
6: The Sangam literature was compiled in the three assemblies held in __________ under the Pandya rulers.
Answer: Madurai
7: Name the regional language popularised by the Bhakti leader Shankradeva.
Answer: Assamese
8: Sufis were_________.
Answer: Muslim mystics
9: What was the name of holy law developed by Muslim Scholar?
Answer: Shariat
10: Alvars were the worshippers of lord________.
Answer: Vishnu
11: Tevaram was a____________.
Answer: Compilation of songs.
12: Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti belongs to_________.
Answer: Chisti Silsila
13: The idea of Bhakti was first discussed in_____________.
Answer: Bhagvad Gita
14: The practice that was borrowed by the Sufis from Hinduism was practice of a number of yogic exercises as a means of contemplation. True/ False
Answer: True
15: The doctrine of vishishtadvaita was propounded by sankracharya. True/ False
Answer: False
16: Give an example showing that Mirabai rejected the rigidity of caste system.
Answer: Mirabai was a disciple of Ravidas. Ravidas belonged to the society of ‘untouchables’. It shows that Mirabai rejected the rigidity of caste system.
17: Lehna, the successor of Guru Nanak was also called_____.
Answer: Guru Angad
18: What was the language used by Jalaluddin Rumi?
Answer: Persian
19: The earliest form of Tamil literature is known as__________.
Answer: Sangam literature
20: Who finally authenticated Guru Granth Sahib?
Answer: Guru Gobind Singh
21: Bible was translated into German by________.
Answer: Martin Luther
22: Bhakti and Sufi movements came into existence in the_________ century.
Answer: Eighth century
23: Where the temple of lord vitthala is located?
Answer: Pandharpur
24: The method of singing adopted by Sufi saint is known as SAME. True/ False.
Answer: True
25: Guru Arjun was assassinated during the reign of_______.
Answer: Jahangir
26: Name a Sikh community.
Answer: Khalsa community.
27: Kabir’s teachings comprised of small poems which were collected in a small book known as_____________.
Answer: Bijak
28: What is the new name of dharmsala?
Answer: Gurdwara
29: The Sufi Khanqahs had its visitors from royalty, nobility and __________.
Answer: Ordinary people.
30. Who translated the bible into german language?
Answer: Martin Luther
31. What is the new name of dharmsal?
Answer: Gurdwara
32. How many Alvars were there?
Answer: There were 12 Alvars.
33. How many Nayanars were there?
Answer: There were 63 Nayanars.
34. What is Abhang?
Answer: Abhang is a Marathi devotional hymn.
35. What is Langar?
Answer: Langar means common kitchen.
36. Where is the Vitthala temple located?
Answer: Vitthala is a form of Vishnu temple located in Pandharpur.
37. What is Guru Granth Sahib?
Answer: Guru Granth Sahib is the holy scripture of the Sikhs.
38. Who were Sufis?
Answer: Sufis were Muslim mystics.
39. Name any two great Sufis of Central Asia.
Answer: Ghazzali and Rumi
40. What was known as dharmsal?
Answer: The sacred space created by Guru Nanak was known as dharmsal.
41. Who composed Ramcharitmanas?
Answer: Tulsidas composed the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi.
42. Name the holy law developed by Muslim scholars.
Answer: Muslim scholars developed a holy law called Shariat.
43. What is Hagiographies?
Answer: Hagiographies are religious biographies of the Alvars and Nayanars.
44. What are namghars?
Answer: Namghars are houses of recitation and prayer, a practice that continues to date.
45. Which is the earliest example of Tamil literature, composed during the early centuries of the Common Era?
Answer: Sangam literature
Short Extra Questions and Answers
1. Name the two sets of compilations of Nayanar’s songs.
Answer: There are two sets of compilations of their songs – Tevaram and Tiruvacakam.
2. What does khanqah or hospice mean?
Answer: Khanqah or hospice means house of rest for travellers, especially one kept by a religious order.
3. Who were the followers of Baba Guru Nanak?
Answer: His followers belonged to a number of castes but traders, agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen predominated.
4. Who was Jalaluddin Rumi?
Answer: Jalaluddin Rumi was a great thirteenth-century Sufi poet from Iran who wrote in Persian.
5. Who initiated Virashaiva movement?
Answer: Virashaiva movement was initiated by Basavanna and his companions like Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi.
6. Name the compositions of Surdas which express his devotion?
Answer: Surdas was an ardent devotee of Krishna. His compositions, compiled in the Sursagara, Surasaravali and Sahitya Lahari, express his devotion.
7. Why did the Mughal emperor Jahangir order the execution of Guru Aijan in 1606?
Answer: The Mughal emperor Jahangir looked upon them as a potential threat and he ordered the execution of Guru Arjan in 1606.
8. What did the terms ‘nam’, ‘dan’ and ‘isnan’ mean?
Answer: Guru Nanak used the terms nam, dan and isnan for the essence of his teaching, which actually meant right worship, welfare of others and purity of conduct.
9. Who was Ramanuja?
Answer: Ramanuja, born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century, was deeply influenced by the Alvars. According to him the best means of attaining salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu.
10. To whom did Baba Guru Nanak appoint as his successor?
Answer: Before his death in 1539, Guru Nanak appointed one of his followers as his successor. His name was Lehna but he came to be known as Guru Angad, signifying that he was a part of Guru Nanak himself.
11. Why do you think many teachers rejected prevalent religious beliefs and practices?
Answer: Many teachers rejected prevalent religious beliefs and practices because such beliefs advocated ritualism, outward display of piety and social differences based on birth.
12. What do you know about Shankaradeva?
Answer: Shankaradeva of Assam (late fifteenth century) emphasised devotion to Vishnu, and composed poems and plays in Assamese. He began the practice of setting up namghars or houses of recitation and prayer, a practice that continues to date.
13. How did Khalsa Panth emerge?
Answer: The Sikh movement began to get politicized in the seventeenth century, a development which culminated in the institution of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The community of the Sikhs, called the Khalsa Panth, became a political entity.
14. Why do you think ordinary people preserved the memory of Mirabai?
Answer: Mirabai was devoted to Krishna and composed innumerable bhajans expressing her intense devotion. Her songs also openly challenged the norms of the “upper” castes and became popular with the masses and were handed down orally from generation to generation.
15. How Chola and Pandya kings contributed for the growth of the Bhakti movement?
Answer: Between the tenth and twelfth centuries the Chola and Pandya kings built elaborate temples around many of the shrines visited by the saint-poets, strengthening the links between the bhakti tradition and temple worship.
16. What were the teachings of the saints of Maharashtra?
Answer: These saints rejected all forms of ritualism, outward display of piety and social differences based on birth. In fact they even rejected the idea of renunciation and preferred to live with their families, earning their livelihood like any other person, while humbly serving fellow human beings in need.
17. For either the Virashaivas or the saints of Maharashtra, discuss their attitude towards caste.
Answer: The Virashaivas argued strongly for the equality of all human beings and against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the treatment of women. Saint of Maharashtra rejected all forms of ritualism, outward display of piety and social differences based on birth.
18. What did Ramanuja propound?
Answer: According to him the best means of attaining salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu. Vishnu in His grace helps the devotee to attain the bliss of union with Him. He propounded the doctrine of Vishishtadvaita or qualified oneness in that the soul even when united with the Supreme God remained distinct.
19. Who was Kabir? How do we know about him?
Answer: He was one of the most influential saints. He was brought up in a family of Muslim julahas or weavers settled in or near the city of Benares (Varanasi). We have little reliable information about his life. 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.
20. What purpose did khanqahs serve?
Answer: The Sufi masters held their assemblies in their khanqahs or hospices. Devotees of all descriptions including members of the royalty and nobility, and ordinary people flocked to these khanqahs. They discussed spiritual matters, sought the blessings of the saints in solving their worldly problems, or simply attended the music and dance sessions.
21. Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis.
Answer: They advocated renunciation of the world. To them the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality and the realisation of oneness with it. To achieve this they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation.
22. Why did people turn to the teachings of the Buddha or the Jainas during the medieval period?
Answer: The belief that social privileges came from birth in a “noble” family or a “high” caste was the subject of many learned texts. Many people were uneasy with such ideas and turned to the teachings of the Buddha or the Jainas according to which it was possible to overcome social differences and break the cycle of rebirth through personal effort.
Long Extra Questions and Answers
1. “Mirabai rejected the rigidity of caste system.” Discuss
Answer: Mirabai was a Rajput princess married into the royal family of Mewar in the sixteenth century. Mirabai became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint from a caste considered “untouchable”. She was devoted to Krishna and composed innumerable bhajans expressing her intense devotion. Her songs also openly challenged the norms of the “upper” castes and became popular with the masses in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
2. Why Mughal emperor Jahangir looked upon Sikh community as a potential threat?
Answer: By the beginning of the seventeenth century the town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had developed around the central Gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple). It was virtually self-governing and modern historians refer to the early seventeenth century Sikh community as ‘a state within the state’. The Mughal emperor Jahangir looked upon them as a potential threat.
3. What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How did he express these?
Answer: Kabir’s teachings were based on a complete, indeed vehement, rejection of the major religious traditions. His teachings openly ridiculed all forms of external worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam, the pre-eminence of the priestly classes and the caste system. Kabir believed in a formless Supreme God and preached that the only path to salvation was through bhakti or devotion. He expressed these in verses called sakhis and pads.
4. Who were the Nayanars and Alvars?
Answer: There were 63 Nayanars, who belonged to different caste backgrounds such as potters, “untouchable” workers, peasants, hunters, soldiers, Brahmanas and chiefs. The best known among them were Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavasagar. There are two sets of compilations of their songs – Tevaram and Tiruvacakam.
There were 12 Alvars, who came from equally divergent backgrounds, the best known being Periyalvar, his daughter Andal, Tondaradippodi Alvar and Nammalvar. Their songs were compiled in the Divya Prabandham.
5. Write a short note on Shankara.
Answer: Shankara, one of the most influential philosophers of India, was born in Kerala in the eighth century. He was an advocate of Advaita or the doctrine of the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme God which is the Ultimate Reality. He taught that Brahman, the only or Ultimate Reality, was formless and without any attributes. He considered the world around us to be an illusion or maya, and preached renunciation of the world and adoption of the path of knowledge to understand the true nature of Brahman and attain salvation.
6. What were the major teachings of Baba Guru Nanak?
Answer: (i) He emphasized the importance of the worship of one God.
(ii) He insisted that caste, creed or gender was irrelevant for attaining liberation. His idea of liberation was not that of a state of inert bliss but rather the pursuit of active life with a strong sense of social commitment.
(iii) He himself used the terms nam, dan and isnan for the essence of his teaching, which actually meant right worship, welfare of others and purity of conduct.
(iv) His teachings underline the importance of right belief and worship, honest living, and helping others.
7. What were the major beliefs and practices of the Sufis?
Answer: Major beliefs and practices of the Sufis are:
(i) Sufis were Muslim mystics. They rejected outward religiosity and emphasised love and devotion to God and compassion towards all fellow human beings.
(ii) The Sufis often rejected the elaborate rituals and codes of behavior demanded by Muslim religious scholars.
(iii) They sought union with God much as a lover seeks his beloved with a disregard for the world. Sufis too believed that the heart can be trained to look at the world in a different way.
(iv) They developed elaborate methods of training using zikr (chanting of a name or sacred formula), contemplation, sama (singing), raqs (dancing), discussion of parables, breath control, etc. under the guidance of a master or pir.