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NIOS Class 12 History Chapter 8 India Between AD 750–1200
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India Between AD 750–1200
Chapter: 8
HISTORY
TEXT BOOK QUESTIONS AND THEIR ANSWERS
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.1
Q.1. Name the three dynasties which participated in the ‘‘Tripartite Struggle’. Give the names of at least one ruler of each of these dynasties.
Ans:
| Dynasties | Rulers |
| (a) Gurjara-Pratiharas | (a) Nagabhatta |
| (b) Palas | (b) Gopala |
| (c) Rashtrakutas | (c) Krishna I |
Q.2. What was the cause of conflict between the three powers during AD 750–1000?
Ans: To maintain control over Kannauj.
Q.3. Who was the Pratihara ruler who received praise from the Arab scholar?
Ans: Mihira Bhoja.
Q.4. Who founded the Vikramasila University?
Ans: Dharmapala.
Q.5. Which religion was patronized and promoted by the Pala kings?
Ans: Buddhism.
Q.6. Which Chola king acquired the title ‘Gangaikonda’ and why?
Ans: Rajendra I acquired the title Gangaikonda’ as he was the conqueror of Ganga.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.2
Q.1. What do you understand by a decentralized political system ? How was it harmful for the polity of north India during the early medieval period?
Ans: Decentralized political system is a system in which a king being main authority at top but he shares his rule with other small chiefs (Samantas). Whenever there was a weak king at the top, they would assert their independence leading to the breakup of the empire.
Q.2. Which of the kingdom gave importance to village assemblies? What were the village assemblies called?
Ans: Cholas gave importance to village assemblies. Village assemblies were called as Sabha and Ur.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.3
Q.1. What was the main factor for the growth of Rajput class?
Ans: Extension of agricultural activities in Rajasthan was the main factor for the growth of Rajput class.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.4
Q.1. What was the style of architecture followed in northern India?
Ans: Nagara.
Q.2. What is the most important contribution of Cholas to the art of sculpture.
Ans: Bronze image of Nataraja.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 8.5
Q.1. Which kingdom in Southeast Asia had close relations with India during 9th-11th century AD?
Ans: Java, Sumatra and Malay (Malaysia).
Q.2. Mention the two important temples in Southeast Asia. Whom were they dedicated to?
Ans: (i) Angkorvat temple in Cambodia dedicated to Vishnu.
(ii) Temple at Borobudur in Java, dedicated to Buddha.
TERMINAL EXERCISE
Q.1. Name the dynasty that rose to great heights in the history of south India between the 10th and 12th centuries. List some of the important achievements of the rulers of this dynasty.
Ans: (i) In south India, the Chola kings founded a mighty empire during AD 1000-AD 1200.
(ii) The Cholas came to power after overthrowing the authority of the Pallavas in south India.
(iii) The Chola dynasty was founded by Vijayalaya but the real architects of the glory of the dynasty were Rajaraja I (AD 985–AD 1014) and his son Rajendra I (AD 1014–AD 1044)
Important achievements of the Chola rulers: (i) The Chola kings made a successful use of their navy and conquered not only Maldives and Lakshadweep Islands but also Sri Lanka. They also defeated the kings of Malaya and Java and Sumatra.
(ii) One of the greatest contributions of Rajaraja I was the constitution of the famous temple known as Rajarajeshwara or Brihadeshwara temple, dedicated to Shiva at Tanjore.
(iii) Rajaraja I also ordered a survey of land for better collection of land revenue in his empire.
(iv) The Rajendra I carried his arms up to–Ganga in Bengal after defeating the Pala king, Mahipala. To commemorate this victory he founded a new capital called Gangaikonda- cholapuram and acquired for himself the title ‘Gangaikonda’ (conqueror of Ganga).
(v) Rajendra I was a great patron of learning and was known as Pandita-chola.
Q.2. Name any three dynasties which were involved in the Tripartite struggle.
Ans: Gurjara – Pratihara dynasty, Pala dynasty and Rashtrakuta dynasty.
Q.3. Why did the Rajputs need to seek ways of legitimising their royal authority in the eyes of the subject population?
Ans: (i) In order to acquire legitimacy and authenticity to their newly acquired position in the eyes of their subjects, the Rajputs invited brahmanas from Gangetic and other regions to perform for them royal rituals and ceremonies and in return gave them land and other things as fee, i.e., Dakshina.
(ii) They also made brahmanas write about their illustrious ancestry linking them with Lord Rama (of the solar race) and Lord Krishna (of the lunar race) to claim a dignified position of a warrior class.
Q.4. Trace the process that led to the ‘samantas’ becoming an integral feature of the political structures of kingdoms in the early mediaeval period.
Ans: (i) In this period the structure of the state was a decentralised political system. It was a system in which there was a king as the main authority at the top, but he shared his rule with other small chiefs called feudatories or the samantas.
(ii) Basically, Samanta was a king who had been defeated but his kingdom had been restored to him but with the condition that he will continue to accept the overlordship of the conquering king and also pay regular tribute to him in cash or kind. He was also bounded to help with military assistance in times of need.
(iii) As these chief enjoyed freedom of administration over their regions they were quite powerful. These chiefs could always be a threat to the overlord, and whenever there was a weak king at the top, they would assert their independence – leading to the breakup of the empire.
Q.5. Examine the changes that occurred in the society and economy during the early mediaeval period.
Ans: (i) The early mediaeval period was marked by many social and economic changes. Socially, an important phenomenon of this period was the proliferation in the number of castes.
(ii) One of the reasons for it was the inclusion of newer groups into brahmanical society.
(iii) As the number of land grants increased, new areas were brought under cultivation. It made local tribal people leave hunting as their main profession and take up agriculture. They were then transformed into peasants and assimilated into society as shudras.
(iv) The land grants in fact resulted in movement and migration of Brahmanas to different internal areas where they were able to introduce and enforce their brahmanical social values.
(v) The land grants also led to the increase in the number of Kayastha class.The Kayasthas were basically scribes and they specialised in drafting and writing land grant documents. Naturally, with increase in the number of land grants their importance was also increased.
(vi) During this period a new class of people called the Rajputs rose in prominence. The Rajputs included Chahmanas, Paramaras, Pratiharas, Chandellas etc.
Economic Changes: (i) Economically, the first phase, i.e., AD 750–AD 1000, is believed to be one of decline. It is evident from the absence of coins for exchange and the decayed condition of towns in northern India.
(ii) But in the second phase after AD 1000, trade activities revived. New gold coins were issued. There are also numerous references to trade goods and towns.
(iii) There seem to be two main reasons for it. One, there was increase in agricultural activities on account of land grants in fresh areas. It led to surplus production of goods for exchange. And second, the Arab traders had emerged on the coastal areas of India as important players in international sea trade.
(iv) The Arabs had acquired a foothold in Sind in AD 712 and later, gradually, they set-up their settlements all along the sea from Arabia to China. These settlements served as important channels for the sale and purchase of Indian goods, and thus helped in the growth of Indian external trade.
(v) In south India, the Chola kings maintained close commercial contact with southeast Asia (Malaya, Indonesia etc.) and China.
Q.6. Trace the major cultural achievements during the early mediaeval period.
Ans: Cultural achievements during the early mediaeval period:
(i) The new regional kingdoms led to the emergence of new regional cultural zones such as Bengal and Orissa in the north, Gujarat and Maharashtra in central India as well as Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the south.
(ii) The various art forms, languages, literature etc. that form an important part of our regional cultures today, took their shape around this period. Most of the languages such as Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi, etc., that are spoken in the northern, central and eastern parts of India are some examples.
(iii) The rich literature produced in these languages began to replace the earlier monopoly of Sanskrit literature. However, Sanskrit still remained a position of importance among the elites as a language of learning.
(iv) Three types of temple architecture evolved during this period. These were the Nagara, Dravida and Vesara styles. The characteristic feature of the Nagara style of temples was the lofty tower or spire called the Shikhara. Some examples of Nagara style of architecture in the Lingaraja temple at Bhubaneswar, the sun temple at Konark and the Kandariya Mahadeva temple at Khajuraho.
(v) The Dravidian style of architecture is found in south, India. It reached the height of its glory under the rule of the Chola kings. Some of the important characteristics of this style are the garbhagriha, the vimanas, the mandapa and the gopurams. The garbhagriha was the inner sanctum that housed the chief – deity to whom the temple was dedicated. The vimanas were the various storeys built on the garbhagriha. The mandapa was a hall with numerous carved pillars, placed before the garbhagriha. The gopurams were the lofty gates along the high walls that enclosed the entire temple complex. An important example of this style is the Brihadeshwara temple built by Chole king Rajaraja at Tanjore.
(vi) The Vesara temples represented a mixed style. These were mostly built under the patronage of the Chalukyas and are found at Pattadakal near Badami (Karnataka).
(vii) There was also great improvement in the art of making sculptures in this period. An important contribution of Chola artists in this respect was the bronze images of Nataraja. These images represent Siva in his cosmic dance and are unmatched in their rhythm and balance.
