Medieval India (A) The Cholas Notes - 9th ICSE PDF

HISTORY - CHAPTER 7 MEDIEVL INDIA – (A) THE CHOLAS 1. Mention the large number of inscriptions available to know about the Chola Period. Ans: a) The inscriptions of Cholas are in the form of Copper-plate grants, stone inscriptions and inscriptions made o...

HISTORY - CHAPTER 7 MEDIEVL INDIA – (A) THE CHOLAS 1. Mention the large number of inscriptions available to know about the Chola Period. Ans: a) The inscriptions of Cholas are in the form of Copper-plate grants, stone inscriptions and inscriptions made on the walls and pillars of temples. b) The Copper-plate grants known as Anbil and Karandi as well as the Kanyakumari stone inscription give a long list of rulers indicating the origin of the Chola dynasty. c) Another set of Copper-plate contains 31 copper sheets and these are written in Sanskrit and Tamil. 2. Mention the significance of inscriptions for providing information about Cholas. Ans a) They tell us about the Chola administration.Example; the Uttaramerur inscription gives information on the village administration,taxation and land revenue. b) They record gifts and endowments to temples and Brahmanas. c) They inform us about the construction of a temple or the setting up of new image of the deity. d) Some inscriptions have royal orders on taxation and land revenue, resolutions of village assemblies, judgements delivered against persons guilty of theft, murder and other crimes. e) Inscriptions on temple walls served the purpose of public registrations such as the record of sales, mortgages and other forms of transfers of property rights in village lands. 3. Write a short note on Brihadeshwara temple. Ans: i) The Brihdeshwara temple is also known as Rajarajeshwara temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located at Tanjavur and was built by the Chola king, Rajaraja I. ii) The main structure of the temple has great vimana or tower which rises to a height of 190 feet. iii) It is crowned by a massive dome consisting of a single block of stone, 25 feet high and weighing about 80 tons. iv) The shrine houses a gigantic Shiva Lingam, cut in a monolithic rock about 8.87 metres high. v)The temple has many structures such as a Nandi Pavilion, a pillared portico and a large assembly hall. vi)The massive temple building is covered from the base to the top with sculptures and decorative mouldings. 4. Describe the achievements of Rajendra Chola. Ans: i) He invaded and annexed the whole island of Sri Lanka and it was under Chola control for 50 years. ii) His armies marched up to the east coast of India, through Odisha, and up to the Ganga river. Rajendra Chola’s army defeated Mahipala, the king of Bengal. iii) To commemorate this victory, he adopted the title of Gangaikonda and built a new capital called Gangaikonda-Cholapuram. iv) He also defeated Shrivijaya, who held the Straits of Malacca. As a result, Indian trade with South – East Asia and Southern China continued. v)He built magnificent palaces and beautiful temples at his new capital Gangaikonda – Cholapuram. 5. Enlist the achievements of Rajaraja I. Ans: a) He attacked the kingdoms of the Pandyas and the Cheras as well as parts of Mysore. He annexed parts of Deccan and defeated the ruler of Vengi. b) He took out naval expedition and attacked both Sri Lanka and Maldive islands.He conquered the northern half of Sri Lanka. c) He built the Rajarajeshwara temple of Lord Shiva at Tanjavur. Under his rule, the Cholas became the supreme power in Southern India. iv)The increase in trade brought prosperity to their kingdom, Cholama 6) With reference to the Chola Administration, explain the following: a) Central Government b) Provincial Government c) The Revenue system Ans: a) Central Administration: i) The king was the most important person in the Chola administration as all authority was vested in him. ii) The king often went on tours in order to keep a check on the administration. iii) He had council of ministers to advise him. The princes also supported the king in peace and war. iii) The central government looked after external defence, internal peace and order, promotion of general prosperity and cultural progress of the empire. ___________________________________________________________ b) Provincial Government i) The Chola empire was divided into mandalams or provinces. ii) These were further divided into valanadu and nadu iv) Princes of the royal family were appointed as governors of provinces. ___________________________________________________________________ c) i) The Revenue System: The revenue system of the Chola kingdom came from – taxes on land and the produce of the land, and tax on trade. ii) Part of the revenue was kept for the king and the rest was used on public works, such as the building of roads and tanks, on salaries of officials, on paying for the upkeep of the army etc. iii) The taxes on land were collected by the officials from the village councils. 8. Explain the three types of village assemblies of Chola period. Ans: The villages had three types of assemblies, namely, the ur, the sabha and the nagaram. The ur was the common type of assembly of the villages where the land was held by all classes of people who were members of the local assembly. The sabha was an exclusively Brahmin assembly of the villages. The nagaram was an assembly of merchants and belonged to localities where traders and merchants were in a dominant position. 9) What were the following features of temples known as? a) Gateway b) Shrine c) Audience hall d) Towers Ans: a) Gateway – gopuram b) The main Shrine – garbhagriha c) Audience hall – mandapa d)Towers – Viman Write short note on the statement: a)The temple in the Chola kingdom was the centre of social activity. Ans.i)The temple was a centre for education.The priests of the temple were the local teachers as there were no separate schools ii)The schools were housed in the temple courtyard. Iii)The students learnt their lessons in two languages - Sanskrit and Tamil. b)The Chola art: i)Most of the Chola temples were built in the Dravidian style. The Cholas excelled in making images of gods and goddesses. The bronze image of Lord Shiva as ‘Nataraja’ –Lord of Dance.is an excellent work of art. ___________________________________________________________________________