Class 7 History Chapter 2 Question Answers - New Kings and Kingdoms

Q1. What do you meant by maharaja-adhiraja, tribhuvana-chakravartin?
Ans: The meaning of maharaja-adhiraja and tribhuvana-chakravartin are ‘great king’ and ‘Lord of the three worlds’ respectively. Many of the new kings adopted high sounding titles such as maharaja-adhiraja and tribhuvana-chakravartin. They often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.

Q2. What do you understand by ‘tripartite struggle’?
Ans: In the Ganga valley, city of Kanauj was the area where three dynasties fought for control. These dynasties were

• Guijara-Pratihara
• Rashtrakuta and
• Pala dynasties.

Historians often describe it as the ‘tripartite struggle’.

Q3. How did the rulers demonstrate their power and resources?
Ans: Rulers tried to demonstrate their power and resources by building large temples. So, when they attacked, they often chose to target temples, which were sometimes extremely rich.

Q4. How were the temples hubs for economic, social and cultural life?
Ans: Temples and its area were maintained by those who worked at the temple and very often lived near it, priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers, etc. In other words, temples were not only places of worship; they were the hub of economic, social and cultural life as well.

Q5. Who collected the taxes?
Ans: For collecting the taxes or revenue functionaries were generally recruited from influential families and positions were often hereditary. In many cases, close relatives of the king held these positions.

Q6. What attempts were made to expand the regime by the Chauhans?
Ans: The Chauhans attempted to expand their control to the west and the east, where they were opposed by the Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western Uttar Pradesh. The best known Chauhans ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler name Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but next year in 1192 he was defeated by Ghori.

Q7. When and where did Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni ruled?
Ans: Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan ruled from 997 to 1030 and extended control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent.

Q8. Describe the development of agriculture in Cholas regime.
Ans: Many of the achievements of the Cholas were made possible through new developments in agriculture. The Kaveri branches off into several channels before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Water from the channels also provides the necessary moisture for agriculture particularly the cultivation of rice.

Q9. How did the kingdoms obtained resources?
Ans: During the period, the kings often shared their power with their samantas as well as associations of peasants, traders and BrahmAns:Resources were obtained from producers such as peasants, cattle keepers, artisans etc. In the Cholas regime there were more than 400 taxes.
Vetti was taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour and kadamai or land revenue. There were also tax on house, the use of a ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on succession to family property etc. These resources were used to finance the king’s establishment, construction of temples and forts also used to fight wars.

Q10. How did the new dynasties emerge?
Ans: By the 7th century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent. The kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas. These samantas provided gifts and military support to the king. As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be maha- samanta or maha-mandaleshvara and so on. Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords.
As an example, Rashtrakutas were subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha. Likewise, Kadamba Mayurasharman and the Gurjara Pratihara Harichandra were Brahmanas who gave up their traditional professions and took to arms, successfully establishing kingdoms in Karnataka and Rajasthan respectively. Thus, a new dynasty emerged.