How do historians divide the past into periods? Do they face any problems in doing so?
Historians splits the past into different periods on the basis of continuity as well as economic and social factors to featurise the major elements of various different moments of the past. This continuity is based on- coins, inscriptions, architecture , textual records etc.
- The historians faced various problems because time itself reflects changes in the social and economic, organization, in the persistence and transformation of ideas and beliefs too.
- Therefore, describing the entire period as one historical unit is not without having any problems.
- Modernity also carries a sense of material progress and intellectual advancement. But they had to face the troubles in doing so as discontinuity did exist. Textual records increased heavily.
What are the difficulties historians face in using manuscripts?
In what ways has the meaning of the term “Hindustan” changed over the centuries?
Fill in the blanks:
(a) Archives are places where ——————— are kept.
(b) —————— was a fourteenth-century chronicler.
(c) ——, ———, ———, ——— and ——— were some of the new crops introduced into the subcontinent during this period.
What does the term pan-regional empire mean?
State whether true or false:
(a) We do not find inscriptions for the period after 700.
(b) The Marathas asserted their political importance during this period.
(c) Forest-dwellers were sometimes pushed out of their lands with the spread of agricultural settlements.
(d) Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban controlled Assam, Manipur and Kashmir.
How were the affairs of jatis regulated?
What were some of the major religious developments during this period?
List some of the technological changes associated with this period.
Who was considered a “foreigner” in the past?
Match the following:
Gurjara-Pratiharas Western Deccan
Rashtrakutas Bengal
Palas Gujarat and Rajasthan
Cholas Tamil Nadu
Which ruler first established his or her capital at Delhi?
Match the following:
mansab Marwar
Mongol governor
Sisodiya Rajput Uzbeg
Rathor Rajput Mewar
Nur Jahan rank
subadar Jahangir
How is the “trabeate” principle of architecture different from the “arcuate”?
Fill in the blanks:
(a) The Rajarajeshvara temple was built in ———.
(b) Ajmer is associated with the Sufi saint ————.
(c) Hampi was the capital of the ———— Empire.
(d) The Dutch established a settlement at ———— in Andhra Pradesh.
Match the following:
garh khel
tanda chaurasi
labourer caravan
clan Garha Katanga
Sib Singh Ahom state
Durgawati paik
The Buddha namghar
Shankaradeva worship of Vishnu
Nizamuddin Auliya questioned social differences
Nayanars Sufi saint
Alvars worship of Shiva
Anantavarman Kerala
Jagannatha Bengal
Mahodayapuram Orissa
Lilatilakam Kangra
Mangalakavya Puri
Miniature Kerala
Match the following:
subadar a revenue farmer
faujdar a high noble
ijaradar provincial governor
misl Maratha peasant warriors
chauth a Mughal military commander
kunbis a band of Sikh warriors
umara tax levied by the Marathas
Who were the parties involved in the “tripartite struggle”?
Who were the major patrons of Kathak?
Why did the Mughals emphasise their Timurid and not their Mongol descent?
How was the administration of the Ahom state organised?
Were the Banjaras important for the economy?
State whether true or false:
(a) Nadir Shah invaded Bengal.
(b) Sawai Raja Jai Singh was the ruler of Indore.
(c) Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.
(d) Poona became the capital of the Marathas in the eighteenth century.
What were the offices held by Sa‘adat Khan?
Peasants were vital for the economy of the Mughal Empire. Do you think that they are as important today? Has the gap in the income between the rich and the poor in India changed a great deal from the period of the Mughals?
Why were the Delhi Sultans interested in cutting down forests? Does deforestation occur for the same reasons today?
What is pietra-dura?
What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How did he express these?