Very Short Answer Type Question
1. What do temple towns represent? [Imp.]
Answer: Temple towns represent a very important pattern of urbanisation.
2. Why did the rulers endow temples with grants of land and money?
Answer: They did so in order to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals.
3. How did pilgrims contribute to the temples?
Answer: They made donations.
4. What is bronze?
Answer: Bronze is an alloy that contains copper and tin.
5. What is bell metal?
Answer: Bell metal contains a greater proportion of tin than other kinds of bronze. This produces a bell like sound,
6. How did temple authorities use their wealth?
Answer: They used their wealth to finance trade and banking,
7. What did the Indian traders bring from Africa?
Answer: They brought gold and ivory from Africa.
8. Name a few Indian spices which became an important part of European cooking.
Answer: Pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger.
9. What do the ruins of Hampi reveal?
Answer: The ruins at the Hampi reveal a well-fortified city.
10. Why has Surat been called the gate to Mecca? [V. Imp.]
Answer: Surat has been called the gate to Mecca because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
11. What were the textiles of Surat famous for?
Answer: The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders Le. zarL
12. What was special with the Surat hundis? [V. Imp.]
Answer: The Surat hundis were honoured in the far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium.
13. Why did the Dutch and English East India Companies attempt to control Masulipatnam?
Answer: Because Masulipatnam became the most important port on the Andhra coast,
14. How did the European Companies gain control of the sea trade?
Answer: They gained control of the sea trade by using their naval power,
15. What was the system of advances?
Answer: Under the system of advances the weavers had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents.
16. Name the residence meant for the white rulers in Madras.
Answer: Fort St. George.
17. Name the residence meant for the white rulers in Calcutta
Answer: Fort St. William.
18. Mention some articles of trade on which temple authorities collected taxes.
Answer: Sugar and jaggery, dyes, thread, and cotton, coconut, salt, areca nuts, butter, sesame oil and cloth.
19: What was the com ment made by French traveller Bernier on Indian merchants?
Answer: Bernier said that the merchants tried to look poor because they were scared that they would be used like ‘filling sponges’ by the ruling class.
20: Which were the main centers of cotton manufacturing?
Answer: The key centers of cotton manufacturing were- Patna, Cambay and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Burhanpur in Kahandesh, Bengal, Kashmir, Lahore and United Provinces.
21: Name the places famous for indigo production?
Answer: The best quality indigo was produced in Sarkhej in Gujarat and at Bayana near Agra. Indigo was a major industry.
22: What did Ralph Fitch assume about Fatehpur Sikri and Agra?
Answer: Ralph Fitch came to India in the Mughal period and he said that both Fatehpur Sikri and Agra were larger than London
23: Why did European traders come to India?
Answer: Indian spices and cloth sold in the Red Sea ports reached European markets, and became an important part of European lifestyle. This drew European traders to India.
24: Who tried to play off Dutch and English against each other?
Answer: The Mughal governor Mir Jumla who was also a merchant, began to play off Dutch and English against each other.
Short Answer Type Questions
1: What did Ibn Battutah say about cash crops and industries based on them?
Answer: Ibn Battutah said that the Indian soil is so fertile that it produced rice, sugarcane, sesame and cotton in abundance. They founded the base of various village industries such as oil-processing, making of jaggery, weaving, etc.
2: What was the status of Kashmir in the field of crafts during the medieval period?
Answer: Kashmir’s status in crafts was very good as Kashmir became an important centre of making paper and wood binding trades. Various crafts such as stone cutting, stone polishing, bottle making, window cutting and gold beating also developed in Kashmir and other regional art and craft centers.
3: What do you understand by the term ‘karkhanas’?
Answer: Karkhanas’ were factories or organised groups of people manufacturing articles; they were the most important centers of production. These karkhanas supplied material for the royal household.
4: Write a short note on the Mughal karkhanas.
Answer: The karkhanas in the Mughal period were known as Buyutat also. Together with storing and manufacturing articles for the royal household and nobles’ requirements, the mint, public treasury, treasury, department of construction of monuments, repairing, roads and artillery also came under Buyutat.
5: What was the status of Kashmir in the field of crafts during the medieval period?
Answer: Kashmir’s status in crafts was very good as Kashmir became an important centre of making paper and wood binding trades. Various crafts such as stone cutting, stone polishing, bottle making, window cutting and gold beating also developed in Kashmir and other regional art and craft centers.
6: Give details about Masulipattinam and its important trade activities.
Answer: Masulipattinam was a known port city and occupied a grand economic status in the time of Golconda Sultanate. It was connected with two trade cycles-those in the Bay of Bengal in the east and in the Arabian Sea in the west and worked as export and import port for vast hinterland. Main items of exports were textiles, iron and steel, indigo, rice, pepper, spices and salt while main items of import were tin, aromatic woods, wines, bullions and elephants.
7: Name the Sultanate rulers who introduced silver tanka and bronze coin respectively?
Answer: The Silver ‘tanka’ was introduced by the first legitimate ruler of Delhi Sultanate Illtutmish and bronze coin was introduced by Mohammad bin Tughlaq as token money
8: Vorah community was the most impressive trading community- Explain.
Answer: The trading communities in India were fairly large in number and incorporated some of the richest merchants in the world. The name of Virji Vorah, who dominated Gujarat trade for several decades had a large fleet of ships, Malaya Chetti on the Coromandal Coast and Abdul Gaffar Vohara were some of the noteworthy big merchants.
9: Why there was a sudden rise in crafts and townships during the medieval period?
Answer: The production of cash crops and growth of grain markets led to the rise of small townships or qasbas. The demand of all types of bourgeoisie led to the expansion of handicrafts and growth of towns. There was peace and security prevailing which boosted the external and internal trade.
10: Mentions any three distinct type of urban centres in the medieval period.
Answer: The three distinct types of urban centres can be identified as:
- Administrative towns- Delhi, Agra, Lahore, etc.
- Commercial and manufacturing towns- Daulatabad, Patna, Ahmadabad, Muziris, etc.
- Pilgrim towns- Banaras, Kanchipuram, Mathura, etc.
11: What kind of market did the small towns have?
Answer: Small towns had mandapika (mandi) and hatta (haat) for the villagers to sell their products. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans. Traders came from far to buy local articles and sell products of distant places
12: What was the role of a Samanta or a zamindar?
Answer: A Samanta or a zamindar built a fortified palace in or near these towns. They levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade and sometimes “donated” the “right” to collect these taxes to local temples, which had been built by themselves or by rich merchants.
13: Describe the trading community of the medieval period.
Answer: The middle classes in medieval India consisted mainly of merchants, proficient classes and officials. There was high class professionalism among Indian merchants. They were experts in wholesale and retail trade. The wholesale traders were called Seth or Vorah and the retailers were Beoparies or Baniks. In south India, the Chettis formed the trading community. There was a special class called Banjaras who moved from place to place carrying food grains, salt, ghee etc.
14: The rise in trade and commerce increased the prosperity of Indian cities. Explain?
Answer: The mounting crafts and commerce and the increased use of money propped up the economy and prosperity of several towns during the medieval period. Important towns in North India were- Agra, Delhi,Gwalior, Kanauj, and in East India- Dhaka, Rajmahal and Patna. In South India- Malabar, Tamil Nadu, Daulatabad, Dabhol, and further in west India- Ahmedabad, Cambay and most parts of Gujarat got prosperous.
15. What is ‘lost wax’ technique? [V. Imp.]
Answer: ‘Lost wax’ technique was used to make Chola bronze statues. This technique involved several stages :
- First of all an image was made of wax. This was covered with clay and left in sun to dry.
- It was then heated and a small hole was made in the clay cover. The molten wax was drained out through this hole.
- Then molten wax was poured into the clay mould through the hole. Once the metal cooled and solidified, the clay cover was carefully removed and the image was cleaned and polished.
16. What purpose did small towns serve? [V. Imp.]
Or
Describe various Junctions of small towns.
Answer: Several small towns came to be seen in the sub-continent from the 8th century onward. These towns usually had a mandapika or mandi where nearby villagers came to sell their produce. These towns also had market streets called halta or hoot lined with shops.
There were also streets for different kinds of artisans such as potters, oil pressers, sugar market, toddy makers etc. Many traders came from far and near to these towns to buy local articles and sell products of distant places such as salt, camphor, horse, etc.
17. Find out about the present-day taxes on markets. Who collects these taxes? How are they collected and are they used for?
Answer:
- The present-day taxes on markets are collected as licence fees of shops.
- It is the duty of MCD to collect these taxes.
- MCD does this work with the help of its various departments.
- The taxes collected by MCD are used in welfare of the public, roads, sewage, electricity, water etc.
18. Give an account of the architecture of Hampt
Answer: The architecture of Hampi was distinctive in several ways :
- Hampi was a well-fortified city. No mortar or cementing agent was used in the construction of these walls. The technique followed was to wedge them together by inter-locking.
- The buildings in the royal complex had splendid arches, domes and pillared halls with niches for holding sculptures.
- They also had well-planned orchards and pleasure gardens with sculptural motifs such as the lotus and corbels.
19. What were the reasons of the decline of Swat? [V. Imp.]
Answer: Surat, which was an important trade centre during the Mughal period, began to decline towards the end of the seventeenth century. This was because of the following factors:
(a.) Because of the decline of the Mughal Empire, Surat faced huge loss of markets and productivity
(b)The control of the sea routes went into the hands of Portuguese
(c)Surat could not complete with Bombay where the English East India Company shifted its headquarters in 1668.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. How was Hampi in its heyday in the 15-16th centuries? When did it fall into ruin?
Answer: In its heyday in the 15-16th centuries Hampi was an important centre of commercial and cultural activities. Moors, which was a name used collectively for Muslim merchants, Chettis and agents of European traders such as the Portuguese, visited the markets of Hampi.
Temples were the hub of cultural activities. Temple dancers known as devadasis performed before the deities, royalty and masses in the many-pillared halls inthe Virupaksha, a form of Shiva, temple. The Mahanavami festival was one of the most important festivals celebrated at Hampi.
Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccani Sultans.
2. What made the city of Masulipatnam populous and prosperous?
Answer: The city of Masulipatnam was a centre of intense activity during the 17th century. Both the Dutch and English East India Companies attempted to control this city as it became the most important part on the Andhra coast. Qutb Shah rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other items in order to prevent the trade passing completely into the hands of the various East India Companies. This led to a fierce competition among various trading groups such as the Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu Komati Chettis and European traders. As a result the city became populous and prosperous.
3. How did the system of advances snatch the freedom of the weavers?
OR
How did the Indian Crafts persons lose their independence?
Answer: The Indian textiles were in great demand in the European markets. As a result, the English began to make attempts to control the Indian craftspersons by appointing Indian traders as their agents. They introduced the system of advances under which the weavers had to weave cloth which was already promised to European agents. Weavers no longer had the liberty of selling their own cloth or weaving their own patterns. Instead, they had to reproduce the designs supplied to them by the company agents. This system snatched the freedom of the Indian weavers. They began to be guided by someone else.
4: Why was Surat termed as “Gateway to the west” in Medieval India?
Answer: Surat was the emporium of western trade during the Mughal period. People in Surat used to trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz. There were a number of religious pilgrims who used to set sail on ships to Mecca from Surat. It was a cosmopolitan city and people of all castes lived in the city. Portuguese and the Dutch had their factories and warehouses at Surat.According to an English chronicler, on an average a hundred ships of different countries could be found anchored at the port at a given time. There were several retail and whosale shops selling textiles to the western traders in the city. The Surat hundis were honoured in far off places like Egypt, Iraq and Belgium.
5: Describe the life of various trading communities in Medieval India.
Answer: There were many kinds of traders in Medieval India.
- Several traders, especially horse traders, formed associations with headmen who negotiated on their behalf with warriors who bought horses.
- There were also communities like the Chettiars and the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the principal trading groups of the country.
- Gujarati traders, including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras, traded extensively with the ports of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Southeast Asia and China.They sold textiles and spices in these ports and, in exchange, brought gold and ivory from Africa, and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from Southeast Asia and China.
6. Describe the trade activities of the big and small traders belonging to the medieval time.
Answer: There were many kinds of traders. These included the Banjaras and several traders especially horse traders. The traders usually travelled in caravans and formed guilds to protect their interests. There were several such guilds in South India from the eighth century onwards—the most famous being the Manigramam and Nanadesi. These guilds traded extensively both within the peninsula and with Southeast Asia and China.
There were also communities like the Chettiyars and the Marwari Oswal who went on to become the major trading groups of the country. Gujarati traders,including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras, traded extensively with the ports of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, South east Asia and China. They sold textiles and spices in these ports and in exchange, brought gold and ivory from Africa; and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from Southeast Asia and China.
The towns on the west coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders. Indian spices and cloth sold in the Red sea ports were bought by Italian traders and eventually reached European markets, fetching high profits. This ultimately drew European traders to India.
7. Describe Swat as a gateway to the West. [V. Imp.]
Answer: Surat in Gujarat was the emporium of western trade during the Mughal period along with Cambay (now Khambat) and somewhat later, Ahmedabad. Surat was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf or Ormuz. Surat has also been called the gate to Mecca because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
Surat was a cosmopolitan city inhabited by people of all castes and creeds. In the 17th century the Portuguese, Dutch and English had their factories and warehouses at Surat. Several retail and wholesale shops could be found in Surat. These shops sold cotton textiles. Here, it is worth mentioning that the textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders, i.e. zari and had a market in West Asia, African and Europe. The state provided all the facilities to the people who came to the city from all over the world. The Kathiawad seths or mahqjaxvs had huge banking houses at Surat. The Surat hundis were honoured in far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium.
