Class 7 – Page 6 – Jharkhand Board Solution

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

September 3, 2024September 2, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

→ The Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi made the map of the world in 1154 CE showing Indian subcontinent.

In 1720s, French people made maps which were quite different from Al-Idrisi’s map.
Cartographers are the skilled people who draw and develop maps which involve scientific, technological and art aspects.

→ New and Old Terminologies:

Over the period of time, historical records and facts existed through different languages. There is a vast difference in grammar, vocabulary and in the meaning of words as well. The term Hindustan was used by Minhaj-i-Siraj, a Persian chronicler in 13th century, which has now become India.
Babur in the early 16th century used “Hindustan” to describe the geography, fauna and the culture of the subcontinent. Whereas, in 14th century, Amir Khusrau used, the word “Hind” for the same context.
Historians are very cautious about the terms and words they use as they had different meanings in the past. For example, by “foreigner” we mean who is not Indian. But in the medieval time, it meant any unfamiliar person who was part of the same village but not a part of the particular society or culture.
In Hindi, the term pardesi and in Persian ajnabi are used for “foreigner”.

→ Historians and their Sources:

Historians use different sources to learn about the past. These sources are coins, inscriptions, textual records and architecture.
People started using paper in this period and historians got many information. They used to write holy texts, ruler’s chronicles, letters and teachings of saints.
Manuscripts were kept in libraries and archives. They were collected from wealthy people, monasteries, rulers and temples.
Manuscripts helped the historians but faced many difficulties as scripts were handwritten. Printing press was not invented.
People used to revise their chronicles at different times. The 14th century author, Ziyauddin Barani wrote his first chronicle in 1356 CE and second one after two years and they differ a lot with each other.

→ New Social and Political Groups:

Historians faced challenges between 700 BC and 1750 CE as there were many different technological developments took place. Some of them were the spinning wheel in weaving, the Persian wheel in irrigation and firearms in combat.
The subcontinent also saw development in food and beverages; potatoes, chillies, com, tea, coffee. This came with people and hence it was a period of political, social, economic and cultural changes.
One of the influential communities emerged in this period. It was of Rajputs or “Rajaputra”. They were warriors, rulers, chieftains, soldiers and were known as Kshatriyas by caste which existed from 8th to 14th centuries.
This period experienced the extension of agriculture and clearing of forests. Many forest dwellers migrated and changed their habitat.
Peasant group came into existence influenced by regional markets, monasteries, chieftains and temples.
Gradually, people were grouped into sub-castes or “jatis” based on their occupation. The status of the same jati could vary from place to place. These were not permanent and diversified according to the power, influence and resources controlled by members of the jati.
Jati Panchayats were formed. They framed their own rules and regulations. But jatis were also bound to follow the rules of the village.
Chieftain governed several villages which was a small unit of a state.

→ Region and Empire:

By 700 CE many regions developed their own geographical dimensions along with their own languages and cultural traits.
Between 700 and 1750 CE, there were significant developments as many areas were ruled by different kingdoms.

→ Old and New Religions:

During these 1000 years, religious tradition developed majorly.
Hinduism saw many changes during this period. It includes worshipping of new deities, construction of temples by kingdoms and rise of Brahmanas as a prominent group in society.
Other developments were the rising of the idea of bhakti.
Muslims regarded Quran as their holy book. It appeared in 7th century and the teachings were brought by the merchants in the subcontinent.
There were sets of followers in Islam as well and divided into two sects – Shia and Sunni.

→ Thinking about Time and Historical Periods

British historians in the middle of the 19th century divided the history of India into three periods – Hindu, Muslim and British.
Their concept was based on religion of the ruler as there was no major development in the social, economic or cultural aspects.
The Indian societies–reached a level of prosperity that attracted many European trading companies.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

September 3, 2024September 2, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

→ Today regional cultures are often the product of complex processes of intermixing of local traditions and cultures with the ideas from the other parts of the subcontinent. Some of the traditions appear to be specific to some regions or areas, others seem to be similar across regions and yet others derive from older practices in a specific region but take a new form in other regions.

→ The Cheras and the Development of Malayalam:

In the ninth century, the Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram was established in the south-western part of the peninsula which is now a part of present-day Kerala and Malayalam was spoken and used in this area. In official records in the subcontinent, this one is the earliest examples of the use of a regional language.
But at the same time, the Cheras also drew upon Sanskritic traditions. Around the twelfth century, the first literary works in Malayalam are directly bounded to Sanskrit. A fourteenth-century text, named as the Lilatilakam was composed in Manipravalam means ‘diamonds and corals’ referring to the two languages which were Sanskrit and the regional language.

→ Rulers and Religious Traditions: The Jagannatha Cult:

Regional cultures grew around religious traditions in other regions. One of the best instance of this process is the cult of Jagannatha which means lord of the world, a name for Vishnu at Puri, Orissa (now Odisha).
Till date, the local tribal people make the wooden image of the deity which suggests that the deity was originally a local god.
One of the major rulers of the Ganga Dynasty, Anantavarman, decided to erect a temple for Purushottama Jagannatha at Puri in the twelfth century. In 1230, King Anangabhima III dedicated his kingdom to the deity and announced officially himself as the ‘deputy’ of the god.
Those who conquered Orissa (now Odisha) such as the Mughals, the Marathas and the English East India Company, they attempted to gain control over the temple. They thought that this would make their rule admissible to the local people as its authority in social and political matters also increased.

→ The Rajputs and Traditions of Heroism:

The Rajputs are often acknowledged as contributing to the distinctive culture of Rajasthan. From about eighth century, the Rajput rulers cherished the ideal of the hero who fought heroically and often choosing death on the battlefield rather than to face defeat.
Many stories and narratives about Rajput heroes were recorded in the form of poems and songs which were recited by specially trained minstrels.
Women are also portrayed as following their heroic husbands in both life and death, there are many tales about the practice of sati or the immolation of widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands.

→ Beyond Regional Frontiers: The Story of Kathak

One of the dance form is Kathak which is now associated with several parts of north India. The word kathak is derived from katha which means a word used in Sanskrit and other languages for story.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with the growth of the bhakti movement, Kathak began to evolve into a distinct mode of dance. Radha-Krishna tales were enacted in folk plays called rasa lila where folk dance combined with the basic gestures of the kathak story-narrators.
Kathak was performed in the court under the Mughal emperors and their nobles where it developed in a form of dance with a distinctive style.
Kathak developed in two traditions or gharanas— one in the courts of Rajasthan (Jaipur) and the other in Lucknow. Under the assistance and support of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh it grew into one of the major art form.
After the independence, Kathak was recognized as one of the six classical dances of India. The other classical dances are Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Manipuri and Kuchipudi.

→ Painting for Patrons: The Tradition of Miniatures

Another tradition that developed in different ways was that of miniature painting. In earlier days, miniatures were beautifully painted on palm leaves or wood found in western India which were used to illustrate Jaina texts.
Most of the miniatures were exchanged as gifts and were viewed only by the exclusive people, the emperor and his close associates.
Mughal artistic tastes had an impact on the regional courts of the Deccan and the Rajput courts of Rajasthan. But, they retained and developed their distinctive characteristics. Also the themes from mythology and poetry were described at centres such as Mewar, Jodhpur, Bundi, Kota and Kishangarh.
In the late seventeenth century, another region that attracted miniature paintings was the Himalayan foothills and had developed a bold and intense style of miniature painting called Basohli. The most popular painting was Bhanudatta’s Rasamanjari.
In the mid-eighteenth century, the Kangra artists developed a style in miniature painting. The source of creativity and innovation was the Vaishnavite traditions. Kangra painting was different from others as they used soft colours including cool blues and greens, and a lyrical treatment of themes.
Also ordinary and simple women and men painted on pots, walls, floors, cloth and their works of art have occasionally survived, unlike the miniatures that were carefully preserved in palaces for centuries.

→ A Closer Look: Bengal – The Growth of a Regional Language

By the third-fourth centuries BCE, commercial ties began to develop between
Bengal and Magadha (south Bihar) which may have led to the growing influence of Sanskrit.
The verbal and cultural influence from the mid-Ganga valley became stronger during fourth century. The Chinese traveller Xuan Zang in the seventh century marked that languages related to Sanskrit were in use all over Bengal.
Bengal became the centre of a regional kingdom under the Palas in the eighth century. When Akbar conquered Bengal in 1586, it formed the nucleus of the Bengal suba. Bengali developed as a regional language, while Persian was the language of administration.
By the fifteenth century, the Bengali group of dialects became united by a common literary language based on the spoken language of the western part of the region which is now known as West Bengal. Though Bengali is derived from Sanskrit, it passed through several stages of evolution. It includes a wide range of non-Sanskrit words which derived from a variety of sources such as tribal languages, Persian, and European languages all become a part of modem Bengali.
The early Bengali literature may be divided into two categories—one indebted to Sanskrit and the other independent of it. The first consists of translations of the Sanskrit epics, the Mangalakavyas means auspicious poems which deals with local deities and bhakti literature such as the biographies of Chaitanyadeva, the leader of the Vaishnava bhakti movement.
And, the second one consists of Nath literature such as the songs of Maynamati and Gopichandra and stories of Dharma Thakur, fairy tales, folk tales and ballads.

→ Pirs and Temples:

There were community leaders who also performed and served as teachers and adjudicators and were sometimes attributed with supernatural powers. These people were referred as pirs who also get affection and respect.
These also included saints or Sufis and other religious personalities, brave colonisers and deified soldiers, varied Hindu and Buddhist deities and even animistic spirits. Thus, the cult of pirs became very popular and their shrines can be found everywhere in Bengal.
In Bengal, most of the modest brick and terracotta temples were built with the support of different Tow’ social groups, such as the Kolu (oil pressers) and the Kansari (bell metal workers). Many families belonging to these social groups got benefits with the coming of the European trading companies which created new economic opportunities.
Their social and economic position were improving and hence, they proclaimed their status through the construction of temples. The temples began to copy the double- roofed means dochala or four-roofed means chauchala structure of the thatched huts. This led to the evolution of the typical Bengali style in temple architecture.
In some of the temples particularly in Vishnupur in the Bankura district of West Bengal, decorations reached a high degree of excellence. As the interior was comparatively plain but the outer walls of many temples were decorated with paintings, ornamental tiles or terracotta tablets.

→ Fish as Food:

Since, Bengal is a riverine plain hence it produces plenty of rice and fish. One of the most important occupation was fishing and Bengali literature contains several references to fish. Apart from this, terracotta plaques on the walls of temples and viharas (Buddhist monasteries) depicts the scenes of fish being dressed and taken to the market in baskets.
From a thirteenth century Sanskrit text from Bengal, the Brihaddharma Purana permitted the local Brahmanas to eat certain varieties of fish.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

September 3, 2024September 2, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

→ Delhi became an important city in the twelfth century.

It was under the Tomara Rajputs and Chauhans that Delhi became an important commercial centre.
Many rich Jaina merchants lived in the city and constructed several temples. Coins minted here, called dehliwal, had a wide circulation.
In the beginning of the thirteenth century, the transformation of Delhi into capital started with the foundation of Delhi Sultanate.

→ The rulers of Delhi Table 1:

Rajput Dynasties Tomaras Early twelfth century	1165
Ananga Pala	1130 – 1145
Chauhans	1165 – 1192
Prithviraj Chauhan	1175 – 1192
Early Turkish Rulers	1206 to 1290
Qutbuddin Aybak	1206 – 1210
Shamsuddin Iltutmish	1210 – 1236
Raziyya	1236 – 1240
Ghiyasuddin Balban	1266 – 1287
Khalji Dynasty	1290 to 1320
Jalaluddin Khalji	1290 – 1296
Alauddin Khalji	1296 – 1316
Tughlaq Dynasty	1320 to 1414
Ghiyasuddin Tughluq	1320 – 1324
Muhammad Tughluq	1324 – 1351
Firuz Shah Tughluq	1351 – 1388
Sayyid Dynasty	1414 to 1451
Khizr Khan	1414 – 1421
Lodi Dynasty	1451 to 1526
Bahlul Lodi	1451 – 1489

→ Finding out about the Delhi Sultans

Inscriptions, coins and architecture gives us a lot of information.
Tarikh (singular) / tawarikh (plural), were written in Persian, the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.
Tawarikh were written by learned men: secretaries, administrators, poets and courtiers who lived in Delhi and advised rulers on governance, stressing the significance of just rule based on gender and birthright distinctions.
Sultan Iltutmish’s daughter, Raziyya, became Sultan in 1236. But she was dethroned in 1240 as nobles were not satisfied to have a queen as a ruler.

→ From Garrison Town to Empire: The Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate

The control of the Delhi Sultans rarely went beyond heavily fortified towns occupied by garrisons in the early thirteenth century.
During the reigns of Ghiyasuddin Balban, Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq expansion occurred in the Delhi Sultanate.
Expansions occurred along the ‘internal frontier’ and ‘external frontier’ of the Sultanate.
The armies of the Delhi Sultanate had defeated rival armies and seized cities. The Sultanate collected taxes from the peasantry and dispensed justice in its kingdom.

→ A Closer Look: Administration and Consolidation under The Khaljis and Tughluqs

To administer the vast kingdom or Sultanate it required reliable administrators and govemers.
Iltutmish, favoured their special slaves purchased for military service, called bandagan in Persian. They were trained and Sultan could rely and trust upon them.
The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use bandagan and raised people of humble birth, who were often their clients, to high political positions in their kingdom.
In Persian tawarikh, the Delhi Sultans were criticised for appointing the “low and base- born” to high offices.
Military commanders were appointed as governors of territories of different sizes. These lands were called iqta and their holder was called iqtadar or muqti by the Khalji and Tughluq monarchs.
There were three types of taxes
1. on cultivation called kharaj and amounting to about 50 percent of the peasant’s produce,
2. on cattle and
3. on houses under the reign of Alauddin Khalji.
Genghis Khan, a Mongol ruler increased its attacks on Delhi which forced Khaljis and Tughluqs to mobilise large standing army in Delhi.

→ The Sultanate in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

The Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled Delhi and Agra until 1526 after the Tughluqs. This period saw the emergence of groups like the Afghans and the Rajputs.
Many independent rulers flourished and became prosperous as well in Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur and whole south India.
Sher Shah Suri established his own Suri Dynasty from 1540-1555. Sher Shah’s administration became a model which was followed by Akbar as well. He took some segment from Alauddin Khalji and made them more efficient and powerful.