Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - II - Chapter An Imperial Capital Vijayanagara NCERT Solutions | What have been the methods used to study

What do you think was the significance of the rituals associated with the mahanavami dibba?

Fig. 7.33 is an illustration of another pillar from the Virupaksha temple. Do you notice any floral motifs? What are the animals shown? Why do you think they are depicted? Describe the human figures shown.

On an outline map of the world, mark approximately Italy, Portugal, Iran and Russia. Trace the routes the travellers mentioned on p.176 would have taken to reach Vijayanagara.

How were the water requirements of Vijayanagara met?

Discuss whether the term “royal centre” is an appropriate description for the part of the city for which it is used.

What impression of the lives of the ordinary people of Vijayanagara can you cull from the various descriptions in the chapter?

What does the architecture of buildings like the Lotus Mahal and elephant stables tell us about the rulers who commissioned them?

What do you think were the advantages and disadvantages of enclosing agricultural land within the fortified area of the city?

What are the architectural traditions that inspired the architects of Vijayanagara? How did they transform these traditions?

Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.

What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?

Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.

Describe the process of manuscript production in the Mughal court.

Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.

To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.

To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?

In what ways would the daily routine and special festivities associated with the Mughal court have conveyed a sense of the power of the emperor?

Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.

Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.

To what extent is it possible to characterise agricultural production in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries as subsistence agriculture? Give reasons for your answer.

Assess the role played by women of the imperial household in the Mughal Empire.

What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew the attention of Bernier?

Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.

Discuss the major beliefs and practices that characterised Sufism.

Identify the elements that went into the making of the Mughal ideal of kingship.

On an outline map of India, plot three major sufi shrines, and three places associated with temples (one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess).

Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out more about their lives and teachings. Prepare a report about the area and the times in which they lived, their major ideas, how we know about them, and why you think they are important.

On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?

Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.