JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

→ Many new dynasties came into existence in the subcontinent between seventh and twelfth centuries.

→ The Emergence of New Dynasties:

  • There were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent in seventh century.
  • They were working under the existing kings as samantas or subordinates. As moderately they gained power and wealth and eventually they declared themselves to be maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara.
  • Some of them asserted their independence from their overlords. Rashtrakutas were the subordinates of Chalukyas in Karnataka. Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranyagarbha (means, the golden womb) in eighth century.
  • Some other lords were same as Rashtrakutas were Kadamba Mayurasharman and Gurjara-Pratihara Harichandra who successfully established their kingdoms.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

→ Administration in the Kingdoms:

  • Titles such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana- chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) were adopted by these new kings. They shared their power with their samantas as well as alliance with traders, brahmanas and peasants.
  • Peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans, were persuaded or compelled to surrender part of what they produced. They were the main producers of the states.
  • These products were used to finance the king’s establishment, as well as for the construction of temples and forts. They were also used to fight wars, which were in turn expected to lead to the acquisition of wealth and access to land as well as trade routes. Sometimes these were claimed as “rent” due to a lord who asserted that he owned the land. Revenue was also collected from traders.

→ Prashastis and Land Grants:

  • Learned Brahmanas composed the Prashastis who often helped the kings in the administration. They tell us how rulers wanted to characterize themselves as heroic, courageous and victorious warriors.
  • Long Sanskrit poem was composed by Kalhana, who described the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. But he was different from the writers of Prashastis as he was very critical and analytical about the kings and their policies.

→ Warfare for Wealth

  • The city of Kanauj in the Ganga valley was a specific region, which every dynasty tried to control. For centuries, three main dynasties; Rashtrakuta, Gurjara-Pratihara and Pala dynasties fought over it. Because of this long conflict, historians describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.
  • Temples were often targeted when the kings attacked other kingdoms which were sometimes extremely rich. Usually, kings built those to show and exhibit their power and resources.
  • One such ruler was Sultan Mahmud Ghazni of Afghanistan, who ruled from 997 to 1030 CE. His main aim was to attack wealthy temples, which included the temple of Somnath, Gujarat. He continued to control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and north¬western part of the subcontinent.
  • The Arabic work, known as the Kitab-ul Hind, written by a scholar named Al-Biruni on appeal of Sultan remains an important source for historians. He also consulted Sanskrit scholars to prepare this.
  • Some other kings were also engaged in war, those were Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, who ruled around Delhi and Ajmer.
  • They tried to expand their territories but were opposed by Chalukyas and Gahadavalas in the west and east region.
  • The popular Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan king, Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year in 1192.

→ A Closer Look-The Cholas

  • From Uraiyur to Thanjavur
  • In the Kaveri delta, the subordinates to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram Muttaraiyar rose to power.
  • Vijayalaya, who belonged to the family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the delta in the middle of the ninth century. He also built the Thanjavur town and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.
  • The most powerful Chola ruler was Rajaraja I. He expanded his territory over most of. these areas and reorganised the administration of the empire. Rajendra I was Rajaraja’s son and he continued his legacies and policies. He was also very famous like his father.
  • Splendid Temples and Bronze Sculpture
  • Rajaraja and Rajendra built big temples in Thanjavur and Gangaikonda-cholapuram.
  • Temples were the core place of economic, social and cultural life apart from the place of worship.
  • Chola bronze images were very extraordinary and considered amongst the finest in the world. These were associated with the temples.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

→ Agriculture and Irrigation

  • Agriculture developed a lot and contributed to the achievements of the Cholas.
  • They made several water channels which provided the necessary moisture for agriculture especially cultivation of rice.
  • Different methods were used for irrigation such as huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater, digging of wells. Irrigation works require planning – organising labour and resources, maintaining these works and deciding on how water is to be shared.

→ The Administratioir of the Empires

  • Ur means settlements of peasants, which became prosperous with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Villagers formed larger units in groups called nadu. The village council and the nadu had many administrative services including giving out justice and collecting taxes.
  • Some rich landowners got titles from Chola kings like muvendavelan (a velan or peasant serving three kings), araiyar (chief), etc., as markers of respect, and assigned them with important offices of the state at the centre.
  • Brahmanas also received land grants or brahmadeya. Hence, a large number of Brahmana settlements rose in the Kaveri valley. Each land was looked after by an assembly or sabha of major Brahmana landholders. These assemblies worked thoroughly and efficiently.
  • Nagarams which means associations of traders also occasionally performed administrative functions in towns.
  • Inscriptions show that the sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples, etc.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 10 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 10 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

→ In eighteenth century, the political conditions of India changed quite elaborately and within a relatively short span of time.

→ The Crisis of the Empire and the Later Mughals:

  • During the closing years of the seventeenth century, the Mughal Empire started facing a variety of crisis after having huge success period. There were number of reasons for this crisis. Emperor Aurangzeb had depleted the military and financial resources of his empire by fighting a long war in the Deccan.
  • It became very tough and difficult for the later Mughal emperors to keep a check and hold on their powerful mansabdars.
  • They had exceptional political, economic and military powers over vast regions of the Mughal Empire. As the governors amalgamated their control over the provinces, the periodic remission of revenue to the capital declined.
  • In many parts of northern and w estern India, peasants and zamindari rebellions also created these problems.
  • In 1739, Nadir Shah, the ruler of Iran sacked and devastated the city of Delhi during the economic and political crisis, and took away huge amounts of wealth. Between 1748 and 1761, this invasion was followed by a series of ransacking raids by Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Afghan ruler w’ho invaded north India five times.
  • The different groups of nobles were divided into two major groups — the Iranis and Turanis means nobles of Turkish descent.
  • Mughal emperors w’ere humiliated a lot. Farrukh Siyar (1713-1719) and Alamgir II (1754-1759) were assassinated and two others Ahmad Shah (1748-1754) and Shah Alam II (1759-1816) were blinded by their nobles.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 10 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

→ Emergence of New States:

  • The Mughal Empire gradually disintegrated into a number of independent, regional states in the eighteenth century. These can be divided into three overlapping groups:
  • The rulers of Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad states did not break their formal ties with the Mughal emperor though extremely powerful and quite independent. These w’ere the old Mughal provinces.
  • States such as several Rajput principalities that had enjoyed considerable independence under the Mughals as watan jagirs.
  • The last group consists of states that were under the control of Marathas, Sikhs and others like the Jats. They had seized their independence from the Mughals after a long-drawn battle.

→ The Old Mughal Provinces:

  • Among all the states in the old Mughal provinces, the three stand out strikingly.
  • These were Hyderabad, Awadh and Bengal and founded by members of the high Mughal nobility who had been governors of these large provinces, Asaf Jah (Hyderabad), Sa‘adat Khan (Awadh) and Murshid Quli Khan (Bengal).
  • Asaf Jah and Murshid Quli Khan held a zat rank of 7,000 each while Sa’adat Khan’s zat was 6,000.

→ Hyderabad:

  • The founder of Hyderabad state, Nizam-ul- Mulk Asaf Jah (ruled 1724-1748), was one of the most powerful members at the court of the Mughal Emperor Farrukh Siyar.
  • He ruled independently without seeking any direction or order from Delhi or without facing any interference however he was still a servant of the Mughal emperor.
  • They were constantly engaged in war against the Marathas to the west and with independent Telugu warrior chiefs, Nayakas of the plateau. The desire was to control the rich textile-producing areas of the Coromandel coast in the east.

→ Awadh:

  • In 1722, Burhan-ul-Mulk Sa‘adat Khan was appointed subadar of Awadh and founded the Awadh state.
  • Burhan-ul-Mulk also held the important offices of subadari, diwani and faujdari. It means he was responsible for managing the political, financial and military affairs of the province of Awadh.
  • He also tried to decrease Mughal influence in his region by reducing the number of officeholders i.e., jagirdars appointed by the Mughals and appointed his loyal servants to these vacant positions.
  • The state sold the right to collect taxes to the highest bidders. These are called as ‘revenue farmers’ or ijaradars who agreed to pay the state a fixed sum of money.
  • New social groups like moneylenders, bankers influenced the management of the state’s revenue system.

→ Bengal:

  • Murshid Quli Khan was appointed as the naib means deputy to the governor of the province and was not a formal subedar. Bengal broke away from the Mughals under Murshid Quli Khan.
  • He also had the hold of the revenue system similar to the rulers of Hyderabad and Awadh.
  • He transferred all Mughal jagirdars to Orissa (now Odisha) and ordered a major reassessment of the revenues of Bengal to reduce Mughal influence there.
  • The contiguous connection between the state and bankers was noticeable in Hyderabad and Awadh as well as in Bengal under the rule of Alivardi Khan (ruled 1740-1756).
  • During his reign, Jagat Seth’s banking house became extremely prosperous.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 10 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

→ Three common features of these states were:

  • First, they were highly dubious of some of the administrative systems that they had inherited from the Mughals particularly in the jagirdari system.
  • Second, they followed the practice of ijaradari means contracted with revenue-farmers for the collection of revenue.
  • The third is very common feature in all these states was that their emerging relationship with rich bankers and merchants.

→ The Watan Jagirs of the Rajputs:

  • In the eighteenth century, many Rajput kings had served under the Mughals with variation. In return, they were permitted to enjoy considerable autonomy in their watan jagirs. The ruler of Jodhpur, Ajit Singh was also involved in the sectional politics at the Mughal court.
  • Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur was the governor of Gujarat and Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber was governor of Malwa. In 1713, these offices were renewed by Emperor Jahandar Shah.
  • As they extended their watans or territories, Nagaur was conquered and annexed to the house of Jodhpur, whereas Amber seized large portions of Bundi. Sawai Raja Jai Singh founded his new capital at Jaipur and was given the subadari of Agra in 1722.

→ Seizing Indepedence: The Sikhs:

  • Sikh organisation helped in regional state building in Punjab during seventeenth century. Guru Gobind Singh fought many battles against the Rajput and Mughal rulers both before and after the establishment of the Khalsa. The Khalsa rose in revolt against the Mughal power under Banda Bahadur’s leadership after Guru Gobind Singh’s death in 1708 and declared their monarch by striking coins in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, between the Sutlej and the Jamuna. Banda Bahadur was captured in 1715 and executed in 1716.
  • The Sikhs organised themselves into a number of bands known as jathas and later on misls. Their combined forces were known as the dal khalsa means grand army.
  • Rakhi was introduced as a system which offered protection to cultivators on the payment of a tax of 20 per cent of the produce.
  • In the late eighteenth centuiy, the Sikh territories extended their rule from the Indus to the Jamuna but they were separated under different rulers. One of the powerful rulers was Maharaja Ranjit Singh who reunited these groups and established his capital at Lahore in 1799.

→ The Marathas:

  • Another powerful regional kingdom was the Maratha kingdom who opposed to Mughal rule. With the support of powerful warrior families of Deshmukhs, Shivaji (1627-1680) established a stable kingdom.
  • The backbone of the Maratha army was the groups of highly mobile, peasant pastoralists (kunbis).
  • After Shivaji’s death, a family of Chitpavan Brahmanas served Shivaji’s successors as Peshwa or principal minister. The capital of the Maratha kingdom became Poona (now Pune).
  • The Marathas developed a very successful military organisation under the Peshwas.
  • The Maratha empire expanded in between 1720 and 1761. The Maratha king was acknowledged as the overlord of the entire Deccan peninsula by the 1730s and possessed the right to. levy chauth and sardeshmukhi in the entire region.
  • The Maratha expanded their rule rapidly into Rajasthan and the Punjab in the north, Bengal and Orissa in the east and Karnataka and the Tamil and Telugu regions in the south, after attacking Delhi in 1737.
  • During the third battle of Panipat in 1761, the rulers became hostile and didn’t supported the Marathas.
  • Apart from strong military campaigns, the Marathas also developed an effective administrative system. Agriculture was uplifted and trade was also revived. This helped Maratha chiefs means sardars such as Sindhia of Gwalior, Gaekwad of Baroda and Bhonsle of Nagpur to utilize the resources to raise powerful and strong armies.
  • New trade routes emerged within regions such as trade between Agra and Surat expanded to include Poona and Nagpur in the south and Lucknow and Allahabad in the east.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 10 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations

→ The Jats:

  • During the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Jats consolidated their power and their leader, Churaman, had captured territories situated to the west of the city of Delhi. By the 1680s they had begun to rule the region between the two royal cities of Delhi and Agra.
  • They were prosperous agriculturists and towns- such as Panipat and Ballabhgarh became important trading centres.
  • The kingdom of Bharatpur emerged as a strong state under the rule of Suraj Mai. Many of the city’s notables took refuge there when Nadir Shah sacked Delhi in 1739.
  • Nadir Shah’s son Jawahir Shah had a strong troops of 30,000 people, hired another 20,000 Maratha and 15,000 Sikh troops to fight the Mughals.
  • The Bharatpur fort was built in a fairly traditional style but at Dig the Jats built an elaborate garden palace combining styles influenced by Amber and Agra.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

→ Equality is the main characteristics of democracy and affects all aspects of its functioning.

→ Equal Right to Vote:

  • In India which is a democratic country, all adults irrespective of what religion they belong to, how much education they have had, what caste they are, or whether they are rich or poor are allowed to vote is called Universal Adult Franchise.
  • The idea of universal adult franchise is based on the idea of equality because it states that every adult in a country, irrespective of their wealth and the communities she/he belongs to, has one vote.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

→ Other Kinds of Equality:

  • Many kinds of inequalities exist in our country till now. One of the most common form is the caste system which is alive from centuries in India which also creates division among human beings.
  • Another form of inequality exists is lower castes or Dalits.
  • Dalit means ‘broken’ and lower castes are pointing to how they were and continue to be seriously discriminated against and exploited most of the time.
  • Dalits belong to the unprivileged class.
  • Omprakash Valmiki is a famous Dalit writer who wrote his harsh experience and feelings in his autobiography, ‘Joothari. He mentioned that how he was tortured by the teachers. He had to clean and sweep the floors and playgrounds while the other children were in the class studying.
  • There is another form of inequality which exists. The religion is also a big factor. The Ansaris were not given apartments on rent by many landlords and landladies because of they were from different religion. So made different types of excuses.

→ Recognising Dignity:

  • The three things – the caste we are bom into, the religion we practice and the class background we come from whether we are male or female determines why some people are treated unequally.
  • The above things happened with Omprakash Valmiki and the Ansaris who were treated unequally on the basis of differences of caste and religion.
  • The dignity of a person is violated when the person is treated unequally.
  • In the case of Omprakash and the Ansaris, they do not deserve to be treated like this. They deserve the same respect and dignity as anyone else.

→ Equality in Indian Democracy:

  • The Indian Constitution recognizes and acknowledges every person as equal. This means that every individual in the country including male and female persons from all castes, religions, tribes, educational and economic backgrounds are recognised as equal. This is not to say that inequality ceases to exist. It doesn’t.
  • Earlier no law existed to protect people from discrimination, torture and ill-treatment but now there are many works to see that people are treated with dignity and as equals. This means that no one can be discriminated against on the basis of their caste, creed, place of birth, religion, race, etc.

→ The recognition of equality consists some of the following provisions in the Constitution:

  • First, that every person is equal before the law. This means that every person from the President of the country to a domestic worker has to obey the same laws. Everyone is equal in front of law.
  • Second, no person can be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, race, caste, place of birth or whether they are female or male.
  • Third, every person has access to all public places including playgrounds, hotels, shops and markets. All persons can use publicly available wells, roads and bathing ghats.
  • Fourth, untouchability has been abolished.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

→ The government has tried to implement the equality that is guaranteed in the Constitution by two ways.

  • First through laws
  • Second through government programmes or schemes to help disadvantaged communities.
  • Apart from the laws, the government has also set up several schemes to improve the lives of communities and individuals who have been treated unequally for several centuries.
  • The midday meal scheme is one of the steps taken by the government. This scheme was introduced in all government elementary schools to provide children with cooked lunch. The first state in India was Tamil Nadu to introduce this scheme, and in 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this scheme.
  • This midday meal scheme has many positive results. This has helped to lessen the caste prejudices because both lower and upper caste children in the school eat this meal together. Apart from this, in few places, Dalit women have been employed to cook the meal.
  • The midday meal scheme also helped to reduce the hunger of poor students who often come to school and cannot concentrate because their stomachs are empty. Hence, there is increase in the enrollment and attendance of poor children in school.
  • Despite of all these efforts, there continues to be a huge differences in our country between schools that the. rich attend and those that the poor children attends.
  • One of the reasons for the discrimination is that the attitudes change is very slow.
  • Establishing equality in a democratic society is a continuous struggle and one in which individuals as well as various communities in India need to contribute.

→ Issues of Equality in Other Democracies:

  • There are many democratic countries in the world where the issue of inequality exists. India is not the only country where there is inequality.
  • In the United States of America, the African-Americans whose ancestors were brought over from Africa to work as slaves, continue to describe their lives today as largely unequal and discriminated.
  • A day came when a huge agitation against the unequal ways in which African- Americans were treated and which came to be known as the Civil Rights Movement. It was started by Rosa Parks, an African- American woman who changed the course of American history with one defiant act.
  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited and banned discrimination on the basis of race, religion or national origin. It also stated that all schools would be open to African- American children and that they would no longer have to attend separate schools specially set up for them. In spite of this, a majority of African-Americans continue to be among the poorest in the country.

→ Challenge of Democracy:
The struggle for the recognition of all persons as equal and for their dignity should be maintained so that we can think of an equal people society. This issue of equality affects various aspects of our daily lives in democratic India.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

→ People expect the government to work tor their welfare in a democratic country and along with the provision of education, health, employment, housing or the development of roads, electricity, etc.

→ What is Health?

  • Health means our ability to remain free from illness and injuries. But health isn’t only about diseases, there are other factors as well that affect our health.
  • if people get clean drinking water or a pollution free environment they are likely to be healthy. While if people do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in cramped conditions, they will be prone to illness or unhealthy.
  • The various aspects of our lives which are a part of health are active positive not very anxious and without mental strain and stress.
  • Good health consists of both sound mind andbody.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

→ Healthcare in India:

  • Healthcare facilities consists of health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc., which can provide the required care and services that patients need.
  • To run these facilities we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advice, diagnose and treat illnesses. Apart from these, we also need the medicines and equipment that are necessary and required for treating patients.
  • In India there are numerous experienced doctors and nurses present. Public healthcare system is a system of hospitals and health centres run by the government. It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over hundreds of thousands of villages.
  • Though we have most of the facilities and positive developments but then also we are not able to provide proper healthcare facilities to people.

→ Public and Private Healthcare Services:
Healthcare services .is divided into two services:

  • Public Health Services
  • Private Health Services

→ Public Health Services:

  • A series of health centres and hospitals run by the government is known as the public health service. They are linked together because they cover both rural and urban areas and can also provide treatment to all kinds of problems from common illnesses to special services.
  • Primary Health Care centres are available in villages which has a doctor and a nurse to assist and to deal with common illnesses. Such a centre covers many villages in a rural area. .
  • The District Hospital at the district level, supervises all the health centres. Large cities have many government hospitals.
  • For several reasons health service is called as ‘public’. To fulfil its promise and commitment of providing healthcare to all citizens, the government has established these hospitals and health centres. The resources needed to run these services are obtained from the money that we, the public, pay to the government as taxes.
  • The most important function of the public health system is that it is meant to provide quality healthcare services either free cfr at a low cost so that the poor can seek treatment.
  • Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, chikungunya, etc. This has to be organised by the government with the participation and support of people otherwise it is not effective.

→ Private Health Facilities:

  • There is a vast range of private health facilities that exist in our country. A large number of doctors run their own private clinics and hospitals. In the rural areas, Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) are available. Urban areas have large number of doctors, many of them providing specialised services.
  • There are many laboratories that do tests and offer special facilities such as X-ray, ultrasound, etc. There are shops as well from where we buy medicines.
  • In private facilities, patients have to pay a lot of money for every service that they use but this is not the case in public health facilities.
  • Now there are large companies that run hospitals and some are engaged in manufacturing and selling medicines.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

→ Healthcare and Equality:

  • Is adequate healthcare available to all?
  • In India, we face a situation where private services are increasing but public services are not. These private services are very expensive and it is difficult for poor people to afford the expenses. Apart from this, private facilities are available in urban areas only.
  • In order to earn more money and profit, these private services encourage practices which are incorrect. At times cheaper methods are available but not used.
  • The fact is that approximately 20 per cent of the population can afford all the medicines that they require during an illness. Hence, even for middle class people as well, medical expenses cause hardship.
  • In a study it was reported that nearly 40% of the people who are admitted in hospital had to borrow money or sell some of their possessions for their illness.
  • Poor people are undernourished and tend to fall ill frequently.
  • These poor families are not eating as much as they should. They are not provided basic necessities such as drinking water, adequate housing, clean surroundings, etc., and hence, are more likely to fall ill. The expenses on illness make their situation even worse and to sustain.
  • Many tribal areas have few health centres and they do not run properly and even private hospitals are also not present.
  • It is not only the deficiency of money that prevents people from getting proper medical treatment, it is also there lack of concerns as women’s health concerns are considered to be far less important than the health of men in the family.

→ What Can Be Done?

  • It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially to the poor and the disadvantaged.
  • Health is as much dependent on basic amenities and social conditions of the people, as it is on healthcare services.

→ The Kerala Experience:

  • Kerala government gave 40% of the budget to the panchayats in 1996 to provide better environment in terms of healthcare, education, living standards, etc. to the rural peoples.
  • Water supply schemes were checked, the working of schools and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems of the village were taken up to solve. Health centres were also improved. All of this helped to improve the situation. But then also, some problems such as shortage of medicines, insufficient hospital beds, not enough doctors stayed.

→ The Costa Rican Approach:

  • Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest countries in Central America.
  • The Costa Rican government spend the money that the army would have used, on health, education and other basic needs of the people. They believed that a country has to be healthy for its development and pays a lot of attention to the health of its people.
  • It provides safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing. Health education is also considered very important and knowledge about health is an essential and important part of education at all levels.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works

→ Government works at three levels, they,are local, state and national.

→ Who is an MLA?

  • Members of the Legislative Assembly or MLAs are elected by the people. They then become members of the legislative assembly and also form the government. Hence, the MLAs represent people.
  • In India, every state has a Legislative Assembly. And, each state is divided into different areas or constituencies.
  • For example, Himachal Pradesh is divided into 68 assembly constituencies. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). These people who stand for election are from different parties.
  • A political party whose MLAs have won mote than half the number of constituencies in a.state can be said to be in a majority. The political party that has the majority is known as the ruling party and all other members are known as opposition.
  • After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling or of majority party will elect their leader as who will become the chief minister.
  • The chief minister then selects other ministers for his government. After the elections, the Governor of the state appoints the chief minister and other ministers.
  • A Legislative Assembly is a place where all the MLAs, whether from the ruling party or from the opposition meet to discuss various things about their state. Hence, some MLAs have dual responsibilitie-one as an MLA and the other as a minister.

→ A Debate in the Legislative Assembly:

  • In a democracy, the members of the Legislative Assembly can ask questions, debate on important issue, decide where money should be spent, etc. They have the main authority.
  • The MLAs are together responsible for the work of the government. Here, the word ‘government’ refers to government departments and various ministers who head them. The overall head is the chief minister.
  • This is known as the executive part of the government. All the MLAs who assemble together in the legislative assembly are known as the Legislature. They are the ones who authorize and supervise their work.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works

→ Working of the Government:

  • In a democracy, there are many ways through which people express their views and also take action.
  • Sometimes after the discussion in the assembly, press conference are organised by the minister.
  • Ministers also visit the areas where there are problems and meet the suffered people.
    The government announces compensations as well as solves the problems faced by the suffered families.
  • Enquiry committees are made to look into different problems such as water problem, sanitation, etc.
  • The people who are in power means the chief minister and the minister need to take actions. They do so through different departments such as the Public Works Department, the Agriculture Department, the Health Department, the Education Department.
  • The chief minister and other ministers also have to answer questions that are asked in the Legislative Assembly and convince people asking the questions that what proper steps are being taken.
  • The government can also decide to make new laws for the state regarding sanitation and health facilities.
  • Laws for the entire country are made in the Parliament.
  • In a democracy, it is the people who elect their representatives as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Hence, it is the people who have the main authority.

→ A Wallpaper Project:
A wallpaper is an interesting activity through which research can be done on particular topics of interest.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

→ Being a boy or a girl is an important part of one’s identity. The roles women play and the work they do are usually valued less than the roles men play and the work they do.

→ Growing Up in Samoa in the 1920s:

  • In Samoan society, children did not go to school. Instead, they learnt many things such as how to take care of children or do household work from older children and from adults.
  • Young people learn fishing which was a very important activity on the islands. But they learnt these things at different points in their childhood.
  • Both boys and girls looked after their younger siblings.
  • The time when a boy was about nine years old, he joined the older boys in learning outdoor jobs such as fishing and planting coconuts.
  • Girls had to continue looking after small children or do tasks for adults till they were teenagers.
  • After attaining the age of fourteen or so, girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the plantations and learnt how to weave baskets.
  • In special cooking-houses, cooking was done. Boys were supposed to do most of the work while girls helped with the preparations.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

→ Growing Up Male in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s:

  • The following points are taken from a small town scenario in Madhya Pradesh.
  • From Class VI onwards, boys and girls went to separate schools.
  • The girls’ school was designed very differently from the boys’ school. They had a central courtyard where they played in total seclusion and safety from the outside world. Whereas, the boys’ school had no such courtyard and the playground was just a big space attached, to the school.
  • The girls always went in groups because they also carried fears of being teased or attacked. But the boys who used the streets as a place to stand around idling, to play, to try out tricks with their bicycles.
  • We realise that societies make clear distinctions and differences between boys and girls. This begins from a very tender and young age. Boys are usually given cars to play with and girls dolls.
  • All the ways of telling children that they have specific roles to play when they grow up to be men and women. Hence, how girls must dress, what games boys should play, how girls need to talk softly or boys need to be tough, etc.
  • In most societies which includes our own as well, the roles men and women play or the work they do are not valued equally. Men and women do not have the same status.

→ Valuing Housework:
All over the world, the main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks, such as looking after the family especially children, the elderly and sick members lies with women. Although, the work that women do within the home is not recognised as work and assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. Hence, they does not have to be paid for and society devalues this work.

→ Lives of Domestic Workers:

  • The domestic workers are employed particularly in towns and cities. They do a lot of work such as sweeping and cleaning, washing clothes and dishes, cooking, looking after young children or the elderly people.
  • Most domestic workers are women and sometimes even young boys or girls are employed to do this work.
  • Wages are low as domestic work does not have much value. They work very hard as well from early morning till night but employers doesn’t give much respect to them.
  • In fact, housework actually involves many different tasks and works. Heavy physical work also required to do a number of these tasks. In both rural and urban areas women and girls have to fetch water. In rural areas women and girls carry heavy headloads of firewood as well.
  • The work women do is strenuous and physically demanding, these words are actually associate with men normally.
  • Another characteristics of housework and care-giving is that we do not recognise that it is very time consuming and have much less time for leisure.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

→ Women’s Work and Equality:

  • We all know equality is an important principle of our Constitution. The Constitution says that being male or female should not become a reason for discrimination. In reality, inequality between the sexes exists.
  • Hence, the Constitution recognises that burden of child-care and housework falls on women and girls and it has an impact on whether girls can attend school or not.
  • In many villages in the country, the government has set up anganwadis or child-care centres. The government has passed laws that make it mandatory for organisations that have more than 30 women employees to provide creche facilities. The provision of creches helps many women to take up employment outside the home. It also makes it possible for more girls to attend schools.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 7 Human Environment: Settlement, Transport and Communication

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 7 Human Environment: Settlement, Transport and Communication

→ Places where people build their homes are called as settlements. The settlements grew near the river valleys as water was available and land was fertile. The civilizations that grew along the banks of rivers were Indus, Tigris, Nile and Hwang-He.

→ Settlements are of two types:

  • permanent or
  • temporary.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 7 Human Environment: Settlement, Transport and Communication

→ Temporary settlements

  • Temporary settlements are the settlements which are occupied for a short time.
  • The people who live in deep forests, hot and cold deserts and mountains often dwell in the temporary settlements.

→ Permanent settlements are the settlements where people build homes to live in.

  • The villages are rural settlement where people are occupied in activities such as agriculture, fishing, forestry, crafts work and trading. These type of settlements can be compact or scattered.
  • A closely built area of dwellings wherever flat land is available is known as a compact settlement.
  • A scattered settlement is a settlement where dwellings are spaced over an extensive area. It is mostly found in hilly tracts, thick forests and regions of extreme climate.
  • People build houses to suit their environment in rural areas. In regions of heavy rainfall, they have slanting roofs as the houses are constructed on a raised platform or stilts.
  • Thatched roofs are common in areas of hot climate which have thick mud walled houses. Local materials such as stones, mud, clay, straw, etc., are used to construct houses.
  • The people are engaged in manufacturing, trading, and services in urban settlements.

→ Transport

  • The means by which people and goods move is known as transport.
  • Transport was made easier by the invention of the wheel.
  • Different means of transport was developed but even today people use animals for transport.
  • The animals such as donkeys, mules, bullocks and camels are used for transport in India. Whereas, in the Andes Mountains of South America, llamas are used and yaks are used in Tibet.
  • The early traders took either the sea route or the land route from other countries to reach India which took many months. Modem means of transport such as airplanes have made travel faster. It takes only 6-8 hours to travel from India to Europe and hence saves time and energy.
  • The four important means of transport are:
    • roadways
    • railways
    • waterways
    • airways.

→ Roadways

  • The most used means of transport for short distances are roads. They can either be metalled (pucca) or unmetalled (kutcha).
  • Roads have also been built in territories such as deserts, forests and even high mountains. One of the highest roadways in the world is Manali-Leh highway in the Himlayan Mountains.
  • Subways or under paths is the roads built underground. Roads which are built over raised structures are known as flyovers.

→ Railways

  • The Industrial Revolution and invention of the steam engine helped in rapid growth and development of rail transport.
  • In course of time, the steam engines have been replaced by diesel and electric engines. In many places to make the journey faster, superfast trains have been launched.
  • The network of Indian railway is the largest in Asia and well developed.

→ Waterways:

  • The cheapest means of transport for carrying heavy and bulky goods over long distances are the waterways.
  • There are two types of waterways
    • inland waterways and
    • sea routes.
  • Inland waterways are navigable rivers and lakes. The Ganga-Brahmaputra river system in India, the Great Lakes in North America and the Nile river in Africa are some of the major inland waterways.
  • For transporting merchandise and goods from one country to another, sea routes and oceanic routes are mainly used and are connected with the ports.
  • Singapore and Mumbai in Asia, New York, Los Angeles in North America, Rio
    de Janerio in South America, Durban and Cape Town in Africa, Sydney in Australia, London and Rotterdam in Europe are some of the major ports of the world.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 7 Human Environment: Settlement, Transport and Communication

→ Airways

  • The fastest way of transport is the airways which has been developed in the early twentieth century. It is the most expensive and exorbitant due to high cost of fuels.
  • To reach the most remote and distant places specially where there are no roads and railways, this mode of transport is used.
  • Due to bad weather such as fog and storms, air traffic is adversely affected and very troublesome.
  • Some of the major airports are Delhi, Mumbai, New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Cairo.
  • Helicopters are very useful in most inaccessible areas.

→ Communication

  • The process of conveying messages to others is known as the communication.
  • Different modes and means of communication are used to provide information, to educate as well as to entertain people.
  • Mass media contains newspapers, radio and television so that we can communicate with a large number of people.
  • Satellites made the communication even more faster and have helped in oil exploration, survey of forest, underground water, mineral wealth, weather forecast and disaster warning.
  • Now-a-days, we can send electronic mails or e-mails through Internet.
  • Cellular phones are the wireless telephonic communications which have become very popular nowadays.
  • Internet had made our lives more comfortable and easier and also provides us
    with worldwide information and interaction. We can book tickets for movie or reserve a resort or hotel online.
  • We have become a large global society due to interconnectivity of people, services and institutions all across the world.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Solutions in Hindi & English Jharkhand Board

JAC Jharkhand Board Class 7th Social Science Solutions in Hindi & English Medium

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Solutions in English Medium

Jharkhand Board Class 7th Social Science History: Our Pasts – II

Jharkhand Board Class 7th Social Science Geography: Our Environment

Jharkhand Board Class 7th Social Science Civics: Social and Political Life – III

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Solutions in Hindi Medium

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science History: Our Pasts – II (इतिहास – हमारे अतीत – II)

  • Chapter 1 हज़ार वर्षों के दौरान हुए परिवर्तनों की पड़ताल
  • Chapter 2 नए राजा और उनके राज्य
  • Chapter 3 दिल्ली के सुलतान
  • Chapter 4 मुग़ल साम्राज्य
  • Chapter 5 शासक और इमारतें
  • Chapter 6 नगर, व्यापारी और शिल्पिजन
  • Chapter 7 जनजातियाँ, खानाबदोश और एक जगह बसे हुए समुदाय
  • Chapter 8 ईश्वर से अनुराग
  • Chapter 9 क्षेत्रीय संस्कृतियों का निर्माण
  • Chapter 10 अठारहवीं शताब्दी में नए राजनीतिक गठन

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Geography: Our Environment (भूगोल – हमारा पर्यावरण)

  • Chapter 1 पर्यावरण
  • Chapter 2 हमारी पृथ्वी के अन्दर
  • Chapter 3 हमारी बदलती पृथ्वी
  • Chapter 4 वायु
  • Chapter 5 जल
  • Chapter 6 प्राकृतिक वनस्पति एवं वन्य जीवन
  • Chapter 7 मानविय पर्यावरण : बस्तियाँ, परिवहन एवं संचार
  • Chapter 8 मानव पर्यावरण अन्योन्यक्रिया : उष्णकटिबंधीय एवं उपोष्ण प्रदेश
  • Chapter 9 रेगिस्तान में जीवन

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Civics: Social and Political Life – II (नागरिक शास्त्र – सामाजिक एवं राजनीतिक जीवन – II)

  • Chapter 1 समानता
  • Chapter 2 स्वास्थ्य में सरकार की भूमिका
  • Chapter 3 राज्य शासन कैसे काम करता है
  • Chapter 4 लड़के और लड़कियों के रूप में बड़ा होना
  • Chapter 5 औरतों ने बदली दुनिया
  • Chapter 6 संचार माध्यमों को समझना
  • Chapter 7 हमारे आस-पास के बाज़ार
  • Chapter 8 बाज़ार में एक कमीज़
  • Chapter 9 समानता के लिए संघर्ष

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes in Hindi & English Jharkhand Board

JAC Jharkhand Board Class 7th Social Science Notes in Hindi & English Medium

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Notes in English Medium

Jharkhand Board Class 7th History Notes

Jharkhand Board Class 7th Geography Notes

Jharkhand Board Class 7th Civics Notes

JAC Board Class 7th Social Science Solutions in Hindi Medium

JAC Board Class 7th History Notes in Hindi

  • Chapter 1 हज़ार वर्षों के दौरान हुए परिवर्तनों की पड़ताल Notes
  • Chapter 2 नए राजा और उनके राज्य Notes
  • Chapter 3 दिल्ली के सुलतान Notes
  • Chapter 4 मुग़ल साम्राज्य Notes
  • Chapter 5 शासक और इमारतें Notes
  • Chapter 6 नगर, व्यापारी और शिल्पिजन Notes
  • Chapter 7 जनजातियाँ, खानाबदोश और एक जगह बसे हुए समुदाय Notes
  • Chapter 8 ईश्वर से अनुराग Notes
  • Chapter 9 क्षेत्रीय संस्कृतियों का निर्माण Notes
  • Chapter 10 अठारहवीं शताब्दी में नए राजनीतिक गठन Notes

JAC Board Class 7th Geography Notes in Hindi

  • Chapter 1 पर्यावरण Notes
  • Chapter 2 हमारी पृथ्वी के अन्दर Notes
  • Chapter 3 हमारी बदलती पृथ्वी Notes
  • Chapter 4 वायु Notes
  • Chapter 5 जल Notes
  • Chapter 6 प्राकृतिक वनस्पति एवं वन्य जीवन Notes
  • Chapter 7 मानविय पर्यावरण : बस्तियाँ, परिवहन एवं संचार Notes
  • Chapter 8 मानव पर्यावरण अन्योन्यक्रिया : उष्णकटिबंधीय एवं उपोष्ण प्रदेश Notes
  • Chapter 9 रेगिस्तान में जीवन Notes

JAC Board Class 7th Civics Notes in Hindi

  • Chapter 1 समानता Notes
  • Chapter 2 स्वास्थ्य में सरकार की भूमिका Notes
  • Chapter 3 राज्य शासन कैसे काम करता है Notes
  • Chapter 4 लड़के और लड़कियों के रूप में बड़ा होना Notes
  • Chapter 5 औरतों ने बदली दुनिया Notes
  • Chapter 6 संचार माध्यमों को समझना Notes
  • Chapter 7 हमारे आस-पास के बाज़ार Notes
  • Chapter 8 बाज़ार में एक कमीज़ Notes
  • Chapter 9 समानता के लिए संघर्ष Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 Rulers and Buildings

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 Rulers and Buildings

→ Kings and their officers built two kinds of structures between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries: the first were forts, palaces and tombs which were safe, protected and the second were structures meant for public activity including temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravan, sarais and bazaars. From the eighteenth century only, domestic architecture like large mansions (havelis) of merchants has survived.

→ Engineering Skills and Construction:

  • Buildings and monuments provide a deep understanding of the technologies used for construction.
  • Architects started adding more rooms, doors and windows to buildings between the seventh and tenth centuries.
  • The trabeate or corbelled style was used in the construction of temples, mosques, tombs and in buildings attached to large stepped-wells (baolis) between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.
  • From the twelfth century, two technological and stylistic developments are visible. First is the weight of the superstructure above the doors and windows was sometimes carried by arches. This architectural form was called “arcuate”. Second is, the use of Limestone cement increased in construction.
  • The temples were decorated with detailed carved structures and had shikhara as well in the early eleventh century.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 Rulers and Buildings

→ Building Temples, Mosques and Tanks
As temples and mosques were the places of worship hence they were beautifully constructed. They also exhibit the pow’er, wealth and devotion of the patron.
JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 Rulers and Buildings 1

  • Kings constructed all the largest temples. These depicted the”picture of the world they rule. On the other hand, the other lesser deities in the temples were gods and goddesses of the allies and subordinates of the ruler. The temple w’as a miniature model of the world ruled by the king and his allies.
  • There were people who did not claim to be incarnations of god and they were Muslim Sultans and Padshahs but Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the “Shadow of God”.
    Rulers got the chance to proclaim their close relationship with God by constructing the places of worship which was important in an age of rapid political change. Rulers also offered encouragement and support to the learned and pious people.
  • Sultan Iltutmish constructed a large reservoir just outside Dehli-i Kuhna called as the Hauz-i Sultani or the “King’s Reservoir” for which he acclaimed lots of respect universally.

→ Why were Temples Targeted?

  • Temples were built by the kings to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth, hence they attacked on one another’s kingdoms and looted the temples.
  • In the early ninth century, the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the king, Sena I (831-851) and seized the Buddha monasteries and all the jewels. This blowed the pride of them.
  • In the early eleventh century, when the Chola King Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital. He filled it with prized statues of gods and goddesses seized from defeated rulers.
  • Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the temples during war as the one he did was Somnath temple which was attacked many times and sacked the temple as he tried to win credit and accolades. Even Portuguese attacked the temples and mosques in 1546.

→ Gardens, Tombs and Forts:

  • Architecture became more complex under the Mughals. Babur was interested in planning and laying out formal gardens which were placed within rectangular walled enclosures and divided into four quarters by artificial channels called as Chahar Bagh.
  • During Akbar’s reign, many important architectural innovations happened. One of the important aspects of Mughal architecture which was first visible in Humayun’s tomb was the central towering dome and the tall gateway (pishtaq).
  • During Shah Jahan’s reign, we observe a huge amount of construction activity especially in Agra and Delhi. The ceremonial halls were carefully planned for public and private audience (diwan-i khas or diwan-i aam). These courts were also described as chihil sutnn or forty-pillared halls, placed within a large courtyard.
  • The Chahar Bagh garden was also known as the “river-front garden”. The Taj Mahal, the greatest architectural accomplishment of Shah Jahan’s reign also adapted the river-front garden.
  • He developed this form of architecture as a means to control the access that people had to the Yamuna river.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 Rulers and Buildings

→ Region and Empire:

  • Between the eighth and eighteenth centuries there was also a considerable sharing of ideas across regions due to increased construction activities, the traditions of one region were adopted by another.
  • The local rulers in Bengal had developed a roof that was designed to resemble a thatched hut. This “Bangla dome” was liked by the Mughals very much that they used it in their architecture. The impact of other regions was also evident. In Akbar’s capital at Fatehpur Sikri many of the buildings used the architectural styles of Gujarat and Malwa.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 The Mughal Empire

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 The Mughal Empire

→ In the middle age, Mughals had a very powerful empire. From the latter half of the sixteenth century till the seventeenth century, they expanded their kingdom from Agra and Delhi and controlled nearly over all the subcontinent.

→ Who were the Mughals?

  • The Mughals were the successor of the two great descent of rulers.
  • From their maternal side, they were the descendants of Genghis Khan and from their paternal side, they were the descendant of Timur. However, Mughals were proud of their Timurid ancestry. They celebrated their genealogy pictorially.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 The Mughal Empire

→ Mughal Military Campaigns

  • The first Mughal emperor, Babur captured Delhi and Agra by defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Panipat in the year 1526.
  • After the death of Babur in 1530, his son Humayun became the second Mughal emperor.
  • Humayun was defeated by Sher Khan twice in Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540) and forced him to flee to Iran. He recaptured Delhi in 1555 with the help of Safavid Shah but died in an accident a year later.
  • At the age of 13 years, Akbar became the emperor of Delhi. He was handling
    the empire successfully as he was very competent. He seized Chittor in 1568 and Ranthambhor in 1569. He started the military campaign in Gujarat during the period 1570-1585 which was followed by the campaigns in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. In 1605, Akbar died.
  • Jahangir became emperor in 1605, he was the son of Akbar. He continued the military campaigns started by Akbar. He campaigned against Sikhs and Ahoms. He died in the year 1627.
  • Shah Jahan continued the campaign in the Deccan. Amongst Shah Jahan’s sons there was a conflict over succession. Aurangzeb was victorious and his three brothers were killed including Dara Shukoh in Agra, Shah Jahan was imprisoned for the rest of the life. He died in the year 1666.
  • Aurangzeb succeeded the throne and one of his major campaign was against Maratha chieftain Shivaji. Initially, Aurangzeb got success but later on Shivaji became an independent king and resumed campaigns against Mughals.
  • Marathas started the guerrilla warfare hence from 1698, Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns. He also faced revolt in north India of the Jats, Sikhs and Satnamis.

→ Mughal Traditions of Succession
Mughal followed the Timurid custom of coparcenary inheritance means a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons. They didn’t believe in the rale of primogeniture or birthright, where the eldest son inherited his father’s estate.

→ Mughal Relations with Other Rulers

  • Mughal campaigned constantly against rulers who refused to accept their authority. But many rulers also joined them voluntarily as the Mughals became powerful. The Rajputs were the one who joined. Many of them married their daughters into Mughal families and received high positions. But many were against them as well like the Sisodiya Rajputs.
  • However, they were honourably treated by the Mughals even if defeated, given their lands (watan) back as assignments (watanjagir).

→ Mansabdars and Jagirdars

  • The people who joined Mughal service were enrolled as Mansabdars. They were an individual who holds a mansab which means to hold a position or a rank.
  • Mughals used a grading system to fix three things viz; rank, salary and military responsibilities.
  • Zat was a numerical value which determined the rank and salary.
  • Mansabdars received their salary as revenue assignments known as jagirs which were similar to iqtas.
  • Jagirs were carefully assessed during the Akbar’s reign so that their salary were more or less equal to the mansabdar. But it was not same in the reign of Aurangzeb means the actual revenue collected was often very less from the granted sum. Hence, many jagirdars tried to extract as much revenue as possible while they had a jagir.

→ Zabt and Zamindars

  • The term zamindar was used to describe all intermediaries, whether they were local headmen of villages or powerful chieftains.
  • Akbar’s revenue minister, Todar Mai did a survey on crop yield and based on the data he fixed the tax on each crop for a ten-year period from 1570-1580.
  • The revenue system was introduced by Todar Mai and was called as zabt.
  • Zamindars had powers. Due to Mughal exploitation, zamindars and peasants revolted against them. Hence, from the end of the seventeenth century, it challenged the stability of the Mughal Empire.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 The Mughal Empire

→ A Closer Look – Akbar’s Policies

  • Abul Fazl wrote Akbar Nama which gives us details about Akbar’s reign.
  • As per Abul Fazl. the empire was divided into provinces known as subas and were governed by a subadar. Each province had a diwan or a financial officer.
  • Subadars were supported by different officers. They were the military paymaster called as Bakhshi. the minister in charge of religious and patronage called as Sadr, military commanders known as Faujdars and town police commissioners known as Kotwal.
  • Religious discussions were done at ibadat khana. Akbar got support from Abul Fazl in framing a vision of governance around the idea of Sulh-i Kul. These principles were later followed by Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

→ The Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century and After

  • Mughal empire had administrative and military efficiency which led to economic and commercial prosperity. They enjoyed a great deal of influence and power.
  • The wealthier peasantry, artisans, merchants were rising high in monetary terms and
    power, whereas, the primary producers lived in poverty.
  • Hence, by the end of the seventeenth century, the Mughal empire started declining which gave rise to many independent provinces like Hyderabad and Awadh.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes