Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - II - Chapter An Imperial Capital Vijayanagara NCERT Solutions | How were the water requirements of Vijay

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.

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 have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?

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.

On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.

What were the distinctive features of the Mughal nobility? How was their relationship with the emperor shaped?

Discuss, with examples, the distinctive features of Mughal chronicles.

Discuss the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.

Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.

Describe the process of manuscript production in the Mughal court.

Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.

To what extent do you think the visual material presented in this chapter corresponds with Abu’l Fazl’s description of the taswir (Source 1)?

Describe the role played by women in agricultural production.

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