Class 7 History Chapter 3 Question Answers - Delhi: 12th to 15th Century

Q1. What was written by Minhaj-i-Siraj about Raziyya Sultan?
Ans: Minhaj-i-Siraj recognized that she was more able and qualified than all her brothers. But he was not comfortable at having a queen as ruler. Nor were the nobles happy at her attempts to rule independently.

Q2. What occurred in second expansion of the Sultanate?
Ans: The second expansion occurred along the “external frontier” of the Sultanate. Military expeditions into southern India were started during the reign of Alauddin Khalji and culminated with Muhammad Tughluq.

Q3. What do you understand about ‘Clients’?
Ans: Someone who is under the protection of another is called ‘Client’. They were often raised to high political positions. They were appointed as generals and governors.

Q4. Why were the accountants appointed by the Sultans?
Ans: Accountants were appointed by the Sultans to check the amount of revenue collected by the muqtis. Care was taken that the muqti collected only the taxes prescribed by the state and that he kept the required number of soldiers.

Q5. Who was Genghis Khan?
Ans: Genghis Khan was a Mongol who attacked on the Delhi Sultanate during the reign of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of Muhammad Tughluq’s rule.

Q6. What was the first expansion during the period?
Ans: In the first expansion, forests were cleared (internal frontier) in the Ganga-Yamuna doab and hunter-gatherers and pastoralists expelled from their habitat. These lands were given to peasants and agriculture was encouraged. New fortresses, garrison towns and towns were established to protect trade routes and to promote regional trade.

Q7. What was the special recruitment process during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq?
Ans: He appointed a wine distiller, a barber, a cook and two gardeners to high administrative posts which was criticized by Barani, who was a Muslim political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate, as a sign of the Sultan’s loss of political judgment and his incapacity to rule.

Q8. Write the types of taxes imposed during Sultanate period.
Ans: There were three types of taxes:

• on cultivation called ‘kharaj’ and amounting to about 50% of the peasant’s produce
• on cattle and
• on houses.

Q9. What claims were made by the Delhi Sultans regarding building of mosques?
Ans: The Delhi Sultans built several mosques in cities all over the subcontinent. These demonstrated their claims to be protectors of Islam and Muslims. Mosques also helped to create the sense of a community of believers who shared a belief system and a code of conduct. It was necessary to reinforce this idea of a community because Muslims came from a variety of backgrounds.

Q10. Name the important rulers of other dynasties that ruled over Delhi. 
Ans: 

1. Khalji Dynasty – Jalaluddin and Alauddin Khalji 
2. Tughluq Dynasty – Ghiyasuddin
3. Muhammad and Firuz Shah Tughlaq 
4. Sayyid Dynasty – Khizr Khan 
5. Lodi Dynasty – Bahlul Lodi