Tracing Changes through A thousand Years

Q1. True/False

                         i.        We do not find inscriptions for the period after 700. False

                        ii.        The Marathas asserted their political importance during this period. False

                       iii.        Forest-dwellers were sometimes pushed out of their lands with the spread of agricultural settlements. True

                       iv.        Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban controlled Assam, Manipur and Kashmir. False

Q2. Fill in the blanks

                        i.        Archives are places where manuscripts are kept.

                       ii.        Ziyauddin Barani was a fourteenth-century chronicler.

                      iii.        Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee were some of the new crops introduced into the subcontinent during this period.

                      iv.        Several villages were governed by a chieftain.

Q3. What does a Cartographer do?

Ans. A Cartographer makes maps.

Q4. What are the two main sects of Islam?

Ans. The two main sects of Islam are Shia and Sunni.

Q5. Who was Al-Idrisi?

Ans. Al-Idrisi was the Arab geographer who made map in 1154 CE.

Q6. What do you mean by archive?

Ans. Archive is a place where documents and manuscripts are stored.

Q7. Who was called the patron?

Ans. A patron is an influential, wealthy individual who supports another person – an artiste, a craftsperson, a learned man, or a noble.

Q8. Who used the term ‘Hindustan’ for the first time and when?

Ans. Minhaj-i-Siraj, a chronicler used the term ‘Hindustan’ for the first time in the thirteenth century.

Q9. Who were scribes?

Ans. Scribes were the people who copied manuscripts by hand before the invention of automatic printing.

Q10. How did scribes copy down the manuscripts? What was its drawback?

Ans. There was no printing press in those days so scribes copied manuscripts by hand. As scribes copied manuscripts, they also introduced small changes – a word here, a sentence there.

Q11. List some of the technological changes associated with this period.

Ans. Some of the technological changes associated with this period were the Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and firearms in combat.

Q12. What does the term pan-regional empire mean?

Ans. Pan regional empire means empire spanning diverse regions. Dynasties like the Cholas, Khaljis, Tughluqs and Mughals were able to build an empire that was pan-regional.

Q13.Which century marked the beginning of the medieval period? Why?

Ans. The eighth century is taken as the beginning of the medieval period because society, economy, politics, religion and culture underwent many changes during this century.

Q14. What do you know about jati panchayat?

Ans. Jatis framed their own rules and regulations to manage the conduct of their members. These regulations were enforced by an assembly of elders, described in some areas as the jati panchayat.

Q15. What was the extent of Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban's empire?

Ans. Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban's empire stretched from Bengal (Gauda) in the east to Ghazni (Gajjana) in Afghanistan in the west and included all of south India (Dravida).

Q16. How Brahmanas earned lot of respect in the society?

Ans. Their knowledge of Sanskrit texts earned the Brahmanas a lot of respect in society. Their dominant position was consolidated by the support of their patrons – new rulers searching for prestige.

Q17. How do Sunni and Shia Muslims differ?

Ans. There were the Shia Muslims who believed that the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali, was the legitimate leader of the Muslim community, and the Sunni Muslims who accepted the authority of the early leaders (Khalifas) of the community, and the succeeding Khalifas.