Early Medieval Regional Kingdoms Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The evidence for the claim is A, B and C, so the answer is A, B and C.

The Ahoms came to the Brahmaputra valley from Myanmar in the thirteenth century and built a large state. They used firearms as early as the 1530s (A), and by the 1660s they could make high-quality gunpowder and cannons (B). The state rested on forced labour: men who had to work for the state were called paiks (C).

Statement D is false. In 1662 the Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the Ahom kingdom, and despite a brave defence the Ahoms were defeated, so D gets the result of 1662 backwards. Every option containing D is therefore wrong.

Answer: D

Both (A) and (B) are true, but (B) is not the correct explanation of (A).

The NCERT chapter on the Cholas says that temples were not only places of worship but the hub of economic, social and cultural life, with settlements growing around them and artisans, priests, garland makers and musicians attached to them. It also says that Chola bronze images were mostly of deities, but sometimes images were made of devotees as well.

The making of bronze images of devotees does not explain why temples were centres of community life, so B is a true but separate fact. That rules out option C, and options A and B, which call one of the statements false.

Answer: C

The Periyapuranam tells us about ordinary men and women.

This twelfth-century Tamil work by Sekkizhar narrates the lives of the 63 Nayanar saints, devotees of Shiva, who came from many walks of life: potters, hunters, farmers, washermen and others, besides a few kings and Brahmins. The NCERT text uses it as an example of a source that tells us about the lives of ordinary people.

The other options name groups usually described by court chronicles and inscriptions; the point of this source is that it brings ordinary people into view.

Answer: D

The answer is Both (a) and (b) are incorrect.

From the twelfth century, new building techniques came into use. The weight of the superstructure above doors and windows was carried by arches (the arcuate style) rather than by horizontal beams. So statement (a), which gives this job to the shikhara (the tower over a temple's sanctum), is wrong.

Statement (b) is also wrong. The material increasingly used was limestone cement, a high-quality cement that hardened into concrete when mixed with stone chips. That allowed large structures to be built more easily and quickly. 'Sandstone mixed with stone chips' is not that innovation.

Answer: C

Gaudavaho was written by Vakpati.

Vakpatiraja, court poet of King Yashovarman of Kanauj in the eighth century, wrote the Prakrit poem Gaudavaho (The Slaying of the King of Gauda), celebrating his patron's campaign. Like Kalhana's Rajatarangini, it is used as a historical source.

Bilhana wrote the Vikramankadevacharita, Sandhyakaranandin wrote the Ramacharita about the Pala king Ramapala, and Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita.

Answer: B

Harihara and Bukka founded the Kingdom of Vijayanagara.

The brothers Harihara I and Bukka I of the Sangama family founded the Vijayanagara empire in 1336, with its capital on the Tungabhadra at Hampi.

The brothers had earlier served the Kingdom of Kampili, which fell to Muhammad bin Tughlaq, but they did not found it. The Kakatiyas of Warangal and the Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra were older dynasties that Vijayanagara partly replaced.

Answer: C

The capital was moved from Sutiyambe to Chutia by Pratap Rai.

The Nagvanshi kingdom of Chotanagpur was founded by Phani Mukut Rai, whose capital is traditionally placed at Sutiyambe near Ranchi. A later king, Pratap Rai, shifted the capital to Chutia, in present-day Ranchi, and the Nagvanshis afterwards moved their seat again, to Khukhragarh, Doisa, Palkot and Ratu.

Phani Mukut Rai ruled from Sutiyambe itself, and Medini Rai was the Chero king of Palamu, not a Nagvanshi.

Answer: A

The key takes both statements as correct, with Statement (II) the correct explanation of Statement (I).

Under the Vijayanagara empire the amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation, probably adapted from the Delhi Sultanate's iqta. The amara-nayakas were military commanders given territories (amaram) to govern; they collected taxes from peasants, craftsmen and traders there and used the revenue to maintain a fixed contingent of horses and elephants for the king.

Statement (II) describes what the system was and how it worked, which is why it counts as an innovation, so the key reads it as explaining Statement (I). That rules out the options calling either statement incorrect.

Answer: B

Phani Mukut Rai built a Surya Mandir (sun temple).

According to Nagvanshi tradition, Phani Mukut Rai, the legendary founder of the Nagvanshi dynasty of Chotanagpur, had his capital at Sutiambe near Ranchi and built a sun temple there; a sun image was made the family deity of the dynasty.

The tradition names a sun temple, not a Shiva or Shani temple, which rules out the other options.

Answer: C

All three statements are correct, so the answer is 1, 2 and 3.

• The Mampalli copper plate of Sri Vallabhan Kotha, a ruler of Venad, dated 973 CE (Kollam Era 149), is the earliest record that uses the Kollam Era.
• The Parthivapuram copper plate of the Ay king Karunandadakkan (ninth century) records the founding of a Vishnu temple with a salai, a Vedic school, and the grant of land for its upkeep.
• The Jewish copper plate of the Chera king Bhaskara Ravi Varman (about 1000 CE) records a grant of privileges to Joseph Rabban, head of the Jewish community at Kodungallur.

Since all three are true, every narrower option is incomplete.