New Empires and Kingdoms Class 6 Extra Questions Social Science History Chapter 11
NCERT Extra Questions for Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 11 New Empires and Kingdoms
New Empires and Kingdoms Class 6 Extra Questions Very Short Answer Type
- Harshachai ita, the biography of Harshavardhana, written by his court poet, Banabhatta, and
- Travel description of the Chinese pilgrim, Xuan Zang, are two important historical sources of Harshavardhana.
| Dates | Events |
| 1. About 1700 years ago | Beginning of the Gupta dynasty |
| 2. About 1400 years ago | The rule of Harshavardhana |
New Empires and Kingdoms Class 6 Extra Questions Short Answer Type
1. Most prashastis mention the ancestors of the ruler. Allahabad—prashasti mentions Samudragupta’s great grandfather, grandfather, father and mother. His mother, Kumara Devi, belonged to the Lichchhavi gana, while father Chandragupta, was the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty to adopt the grand title of maharajadhiraja, a title that Samudragupta also used. His great grandfather and grandfather are mentioned simply as maharajas. It seems as if the family gradually rose to importance.
2. Samudragupta in turn figures in the genealogies of later rulers of the dynasty, such as his son, Chandragupta II. We know about him from inscriptions and coins. He led an expedition to western India, where he overcame the last of the Shakas. According to later belief his court was full of learned people, including Kalidas the poet, and Aryabhata the astronomer.
2. Xuan Zang (the Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim) spent a lot of time at Harsha’s court and left a detailed account of what he saw.
3. Harsha was not the eldest son of his father but became king of Thanesar after both his father and elder brother died. His brother-in-law was the ruler of Kanauj. When he was killed by the ruler of Bengal, Harsha took over the kingdom of Kanauj and then led an army against the ruler of Bengal.- Although he was successful in the east, and conquered both Magadha and Bengal he was not as successful elsewhere. He tried to cross the Narmada (river) to march into the Deccan, but was stopped by a ruler belonging to the Chalukya dynasty, Pulakashin II.
2. The Ur: Second important assembly in the southern kingdom was the Ur. This was a village assembly found in areas where the land owners were not Brahmins.
3. The Nagaram: Third main assembly in the Southern Kingdoms was the Nagaram. It was an organization of merchants. It is likely that these assemblies were controlled by rich and powerful landowners and merchants.
All above mentioned local assemblies continued to function in the southern kingdoms for centuries.
New Empires and Kingdoms Class 6 Extra Questions Long Answer Type
- Samudragupta was a brave ruler of Gupta dynasty.
- He uprooted nine rulers of Aryavarta. Their Kingdoms were made a part of his empire.
- Twelve rulers of Dakshinapatha surrendered to him after being defeated. He then allowed them to rule again.
- The rulers of Assam, Bengal, Nepal etc. paid tributes and followed orders of Samudragupta. They attended his court from time to time.
- The rulers of the outlying areas of the subcontinent, perhaps the descendants of the Kushanas and Shakas, and ruler of Sri Lanka who surrendered before him and offered their daughters in marriage.
2. The Pallavas and Chalukyas frequently attacked one another’s areas, particularly they attacked the capital cities, which were prosperous towns.
3. Aihole, the capital of the Chalukyas, was an important trading and commercial centre. Initially, this town developed as a religious centre, with a number of temples.
4. During the days of Pulkashin II, the Chalukyas defeated Harsha of Kanauj and Thaneswar. But this victory was short lived.
5. Ultimately, both the Pallavas and the Chalukyas gave way to new rulers belonging to Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties.
1. The best known Chalukya ruler was Pulakeshin II. We know about him from a prashasti. This prashasti (inscription) was composed by Pulakeshin’s (II) court poet Ravikirti. This tells us about his ancestors, who are traced back through four generations from father to son.
2. Pulakeshin II evidently got the Kingdom from his uncle. According to Ravikirti, he led expeditions along both the west and the east coast.
3. Pulakeshin II checked the advance of Harsha. Harsha means happiness. The poet Ravikirti says that after the defeat, Harsha was no longer Harsha (happy).
4. Pulakeshin II also attacked the Pallava king, who took shelter behind the walls of Kanchipuram. However, the successors of Pulakeshin II were not very capable and therefore the Chalukyas victory against their political rivals was short-lived. The Chalukyas gave way to new ruling dynasty, the Rashtrakuta.
- As in the case of earlier rulers, land revenue remained important for these i rulers (of the Gupta and Vardhan dynasties), and
- The village remained the basic unit of administration.
Some important administrative posts were made hereditary. The poet Harishena (writer of Allahabad-prashasti) was made the chief judicial officer, like his father.
Sometimes, one person held many offices. For example, besides being a maha- danda-nayaka, Harishena was a Kumar-amatya, meaning an important minister, and a Sandhi-vigrahika, meaning a minister of war and peace.
Besides, important men probably had a say in local administration. These included the Nagara-shreshthi or chief banker or merchant of the city, the Sarthavaha or leader of the merchant caravans, the Prathama-Kulika or the chief craftsman, and the head of the Kayasthas or scribes.
4. A New Kind of Army:
- Some of these rulers maintained a well-organized army, with chariots, elephants, cavalry and foot soldiers. Besides, there were military leaders who provided the rulers with troops whenever they required them.
- Feudal lords were not paid regular salaries. Instead, some of them received grants of land. They collected revenue from the land and used this to maintain soldiers and horses.
- They also provided equipment for warfare to the kings. These men were knownas Samantas.
- Whenever the ruler was weak, Samantas tried to become independent.
1. Literary sources of this period (such as plays and accounts provided by foreign travels) give us glimpse of the lives of ordinary people of India. For example Kalidas (a great Sanskrit poet and writer of the Gupta period) is known for his plays (dramas) depicting life in the King’s court. An interesting feature about these plays is that the ruler and most Brahmins are shown as speaking Sanskrit, while women and men other them the ruler and Brahmins used Prakrit.
2. The most famous play of Kalidasa Abhijanans Shakuntalam, is the story of the love between the king named Dushyanta and a young girl named Shakuntala. We find an interesting and impressive description of the plight (condition) of a poor fisherman in this play. This character of the play (i.e., the fisherman) found a costly ring, which the king (Dushyanta) had given to Shakuntala, but which had been accidentally swallowed by a fish. When he went to the palace with that ring, the gatemen (of the palace) accused him of theft and the chief police officer was rather rude. However, the king was happy when he saw the ring and sent a reward for the fisherman. Then the police officer and the gatemen decided to take a share of the reward, and went along with the fisherman to have a drink.
3. During the reign of Chandragupta II, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa Xian noticed the plight of those who were treated as untouchables by the high and mighty people of the Indian society of those days. They were expected to live on the outskirts of the city (capital city-patliputra was referred by Fa Xian). He writes, “If such a man enters a town or a market place, he strikes a piece of wood, in order to keep himself separate, people, hearing this sound, know what it means and avoid touching him or brushing against him”.
New Empires and Kingdoms Class 6 Extra Questions Multiple Choice Questions
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