Discuss whether the term “royal centre” is an appropriate description for the part of the city for which it is used.
Ans.The term “royal centre” is an appropriate description for the part of the city for which it is used because the Royal center had more than 60 temples. Most of these temples were constructed by the ruler of Vijayanagara Empire to express their supremacy. The royal centre had 30 palaces. These were made of perishable material. A brief description of the building of Royal centre are as given below:
(i) One of the most beautiful buildings in the royal centre is the Lotus Mahal. It was named by British travellers in the nineteenth century. While the name is certainly romantic, historians are not quite sure what the building was used for. One suggestion, found in a map drawn by Mackenzie, is that it may have been a council chamber, a place where the king met his advisers.
(ii) Most temples were located in the sacred centre. One of the most spectacular of these is the Hazara Rama Temple. This was probably meant to be used only by the king and his family.
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?
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 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 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.
Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
Identify the elements that went into the making of the Mughal ideal of kingship.
On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?
What were the concerns that shaped Mughal policies and attitudes towards regions outside the subcontinent?
Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
Read any five of the sources included in this chapter and discuss the social and religious ideas that are expressed in them.
What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
What are the problems in using the Ain as a source for reconstructing agrarian history? How do historians deal with this situation?
Assess the role played by women of the imperial household in the Mughal Empire.