Test: South India & The Cholas (800-1200 A.D)- 1 - UPSC MCQ

He introduced the tradition of beginning the cholaepigraphs with historical introductions. He streamlined the administrative system with the division of the country into various districts and by standardizing revenue collection through systematic land surveys.Being an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, he built the magnificent Peruvudaiyar Temple (also known as the Brihadeeswarar Temple) in Thanjavur and through it enabled wealth distribution amongst his subjects. His successes enabled his son Rajendra Chola I to extend the empire even further.
 

E is the correct option.Rajendra Chola I was one of the most successful monarchs of the South Indian Chola Empire. To commemorate his victory over Mahipala, he built a new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Rajendra assumed many titles such as Mudigonda Cholan, Irattapadikonda Cholan, Gangaikondachola, Panditachola, etc.

The correct option is D.
All the other statements are correct regarding  the administration of the Cholas.
 

The Chola Government during the imperial period in 850 – 1200 CE was marked for its uniqueness and innovativeness.

• It was divided into provinces and governors were princes of royal blood.
• The provinces, designated as themandalam was divided into divisions known asvalanadu.
• Groups of villages were known askurrams while the districts were known asnadus.
• Popular assemblies of masses were known as Sabha.

Chola kingdom was divided into provinces (mandalam), their being generally eight or nine of these. Each mandalam was divided into valanadus (or districts). These in turn were subdivided into groups of villages, variously called kurram, nadu, or kottam. In some villages the ur and the sabha were found together.
Valanadu village is located in Manapparai Tehsil of Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu, India.
Kurram District is a district in Kohat Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, with merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it became a district.
 

Sabha: Chola Village assembly restricted to the Brahmanas of the village. 

Ur: The ur was a general assembly of the village. The ur consisted of all the tax-paying residents of an ordinary village.

Nagaram: The nagaramwas an assembly of merchants and belonged to the localities where traders and merchants controlled the stakes. 

Uttarmerur inscription is a tenth-century inscription on a temple wall of the brahman village of Uttaramerur that gives the details of village administration or Sabha under Cholas.

Sabha: Chola Village assembly restricted to the Brahmanas of the village. 

Ur: The ur was a general assembly of the village. The ur consisted of all the tax-paying residents of an ordinary village.

Nagaram: The nagaramwas an assembly of merchants and belonged to the localities where traders and merchants controlled the stakes. 

Nattar: Assembly of Nadu

• Rajaraja I was born in Arulmoli Varman.
• Rajendra Chola I or Rajendra I founded a new capital city called Gangaikonda Cholapuram
• Aditya I assumed the title of Maduraikonda (captor of Madurai).
  Hence, Option A is correct.

The executive committee of Ur general assemblies was called alungnum.

The executive committee of Sabha general assemblies was called variyam.

4. Knowledge of at least one of the Vedas. This is not an essential qualification for election as President of India. According to the Constitution of India, the qualifications for election as President of India are that the candidate must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age, and qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha. There is no requirement that the candidate must have knowledge of any of the Vedas.

All the below mentioned Options led to the disqualifications for membership of thevariyam.

• Failure to submit the accounts during the membership of any of the committees.
• Membership of any of the committees during the past three years.
• Ex-communications on account of association with low people.
• Drinking of alcohol, theft and adultery.

Southern Indian trade guilds were formed by merchants in order to organize and expand their trading activities. Trade guilds became channels through which Indian culture was exported to other lands.

Valanjiyar, Nanadesis, Manigramam were the gigantic merchants guilds of the Chola country.

During Chola rule Paddy was the basis of exchange for common place articles in rural areas.

B is the correct option.Vellanvagai was land for non-Brahmans , peasant proprietors and others while as the Shalabhoga-was the land grants for the maintenance and management of schools. In Ancient India the king was the owner of all land.

Chola rulers carried out an elaborate survey of land to fix the Government’s share of the land revenue.

Around 25 inscriptions, spanning reigns of around four Pallava kings, have been found at Uthiramerur. The temple inscriptions of Uthiramerur are notable for their historical descriptions of the rural self-governance.

• It had 30 wards and each elected one person, provided he had certain qualifications.
• There was a regular procedure for conducting elections and the final result was announced by all the priests.
• Ballot was not known to them.

So, The incorrect Option is Option D.

Kaikkolar Term stands for the regular royal troops of the Cholas. Kaikkolar were Chieftains and Commander-in-chiefs. 

Perundram were the highest grade of officers in Chola Bureaucracy.

The Ghatika were the most important educational institutions in South india during ancient times and the most important Ghatika of the Pallavas was located in Kanchipuram.

Ghatika was a settlement of Brahmin Scholars.

let's consider which one of the following might NOT have been a power enjoyed by the village assemblies under the Cholas:

A. Military Functions: In general, local village assemblies were not involved in military decisions or warfare, which were typically under the direct control of the central authority or regional feudal lords. B. Foreign Diplomacy: Diplomatic relations with other states or foreign entities were almost certainly beyond the scope of village assemblies. C. Coinage: The right to mint coins was a sovereign power and not likely delegated to village assemblies. D. High Judicial Functions: While local disputes could be settled, higher judicial matters involving serious crimes or issues beyond the village's scope were probably not within their purview.

To maintain a perpetual lamp burning in the nearest temple  was the most common type of fines inflicted by the law of courts under Cholas.

Markanam, Kanya Kumari, Ayturai were famous places for Salt Manufacture.

Thirunaraiyur Nambiyandar Nambi was an eleventh-century Shaiva scholar of Tamil Nadu in South India and was a contemporary of Rajendra I.

Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250 CE) (Therazhundur, Thanjavur district, India) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram. He composed Sodagoparandadi & Erelupadu as well.

Kulottungen-Kaveri gives a graphic account of the foreign merchants who visited Tamil land under the Cholas.

Growth of feudalism in Chola Dynasty tendered to restrict the autonomy of the Chola villages.

Working men had a say in the village assembly and they were employed for reclaiming waste land, clearing of forests and building of temples.

This statement regarding cultivators in the Chola period is the most revealing.

During the time of Rajaraja the share in the produce of the land was One- Third of total Produce.