CBSE Class 7

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 6 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 6 SST Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson will seemingly help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson Class 7 Notes Social Science History Chapter 6

CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 6 Notes Understanding The Lesson

1. Medieval town combined several functions-they were administrative centres, temple towns, as well as centres of commercial activities and craft production.

2. The perennial river Kaveri flows near the beautiful to

wn Thanjavur, which was the capital of the Cholas.

3. Rajarajeshvara temple was built by King Rajaraja Chola. Its architect was Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perunthachchan who has proudly carved his name on the temple wall.

4. There were palaces where Kings held court in mandaps, issuing orders to their subordinates. There Eire also barracks for the army.

5. The towns were bustling with markets selling grains, spices, cloth and jewellery. Water was supplied in the town from wells and tanks.

6. The Saliya weavers of Thanjavur and the nearby town of Uraiyur were busy producing cloth for flags to be used in the temple festival. They made fine cottons for the king and nobility and coarse cotton for the masses.

7. Some distance away at Svamimalai, the sthapatis or sculptors were making exquisite bronze idols and tall, ornamental bell metal lamps.

8. Thanjavur is also an example of a temple town. This represents a very important pattern of urbanization, the process by which cities developed.

9. Temples were often central to the economy and rulers built temples to demonstrate their devotion to various deities.

10. Kings also donated land for temples and money to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals. Pilgrims also made donations to the temples.

11. Temple authorities used their wealth to finance trade and banking. Gradually a large number of priests, workers, artisans, traders etc., settled near the temple to cater to its needs and those of the pilgrims and thus grew temple towns.

12. Around the temples, Bhillasvamin (Madhya Pradesh) and Somnath (Gujarat), Kanchipuram and Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) towns were developed.

13. Pilgrimage centres also developed into townships. Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh), and Tiruvannamalai (Tamil Nadu) are examples of two such towns.

14. Ajmer was the capital of the Chauhan kings in the 12^th century and later became the suba headquarters under the Mughals. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, who is famous Sufi Saint, settled there in 12^th century, attracted devotees from all creeds.

15. From the 8^th century onwards there were several small towns in the subcontinent. These towns probably emerged from the large villages. They usually had a mandapika (mandi or market) where villagers brought their produce to sell. They also had market streets called hatta (haat) lined with shops. There were different streets for different items.

16. Usually a samanta or a zamindar built a fortified palace in or near these towns. They levied taxes on traders, artisans and articles of trade and sometimes ‘donated’ the ‘right’ to collect these taxes to local temples, which had been built by themselves or by rich merchants.

17. Taxes were collected in kind or in cash. Taxes were taken on sugar and jaggery, dyes, thread, cotton, on coconuts, salt, butter, sesame oil, on cloth, metal goods, distillers, cattle fodder and on loads of grain.

18. There were many kinds of traders. Gujarati traders, including the communities of Hindu Baniyas and % Muslim Bohras, sold textiles and spices and brought gold and ivory from Africa and spices, tin, Chinese blue pottery and silver from Southeast Asia and China.

19. Spices such as pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger etc., grown in tropical climates became an important part of European cooking and cotton cloth was very attractive.                                      ‘

20. The craftspersons of Bidar were so famed for their inlay work in copper and silver that it came to be called Bidri.

21. The Panchalas or Vishwakarma community, consisting of goldsmiths, bronzesmiths, blacksmiths, masons and carpenters were essential to the construction of buildings of temples, palaces, big buildings, tanks and reservoirs.

22. Weavers such as the Saliyar or Kaikkolars emerged as prosperous communities making donations to temples. Cloth making like cotton cleaning, spinning and dyeing became specialized and independent crafts.

23. Hampi is located in the Krishna-Tungabhadra basin, which formed the nucleus of the Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 1336. It is a well-fortified city. No mortar or cementing agent was used in the construction of these walls and technique followed was to wedge them together by interlocking.

24. Hampi was a busy place with commercial and cultural activities. Moors (Muslim merchants), Chettis and European traders joined the markets of Hampi.

25. Devadasis performed before the deity, royalty and masses in the Virupaksha (a form of Shiva) temple.

26. The Mahanavami festival (now known as Navaratri) was one of the most important festivals celebrated at Hampi. King also participated in the Mahanavami festival and received guests and accepted tribute from subordinate chiefs.

27. Hampi fell into ruin following the defeat of Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccani Sultans—the rulers of Golconda, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Berar and Bidar.

28. Surat (Gujarat) was the emporium of western trade during the Mughal period along with Cambay (Khambat) and somewhat later, Ahmedabad. Surat was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz.

29. Surat hits also been called the gate to Mecca because many pilgrims used this place to visit Mecca.

30. In the Surat city, there was cosmopolitan culture and people of all castes and creeds lived there. In 17th century there were many factories and warehouses at Surat. On an average a hundred ships of different countries could be found at the port at any time.

31. In Surat, there were several retail and wholesale shops selling cotton textiles. The textiles of Surat were famous for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in West Asia, Africa and Europe. There were rest-houses, magnificent buildings and innumerable pleasure parks.

32. The Kathiawad seths or mahajans had huge banking houses at Surat. It is noteworthy that the Surat hundis were honoured in the far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium.

33. However, Surat began to decline towards the end of the 17^th century due to many factors.

34. The English, Dutch and French formed East India Companies in order to expand their commercial activities in the east.

35. Great Indian traders like Mulla Abdul Ghafur and Viiji Vora who owned a large number of ships competed with them.

36. Bombay, Calcutta and Madras rise in 18th century, which are nodal cities today.

37. Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese sailor and Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor.

Towns, Traders, and Craftsperson Class 7 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Emporium: A place where goods from diverse productions are bought and sold.

Hundi: Hundi is a note recording a deposit made by a person. The amount deposited can be claimed in another place by presenting the record of the deposit.

Temple Town: A town where many temples existed.

Factor: An official merchant of the East India Company.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 6 Time Period

1336: Vijayanagara Empire was founded.

1565: Vijayanagara Empire was defeated.

17^th century: Masulipatnam was a centre of intense activity. *In the last of 17th century Surat began to decline.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 5 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 5 SST Rulers and Buildings will seemingly help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Rulers and Buildings Class 7 Notes Social Science History Chapter 5

CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 5 Notes Understanding The Lesson

1. Qutbuddin Aybak constructed Qutb Minar in 1199.

2. Qutb Minar has five storeys. The first floor was constructed by Qutbuddin Aybak and the rest by Iltutmish around1229.

3. Qutb Minar was repaired by Alauddin Khalji, Muhammed Tughluq, Firuz Shah Tughluq and Ibrahim Lodi.

4. The pattern is created under the balcony by the small arches and geometrical designs. The surface of the minar is curved and angular.

5. Between the 8th and the 18th centuries kings and their officers built two kinds of structures. The first were forts, places, garden residence and safe, protected and grandiose places of rest called tombs. Second were structures meant for public activity including temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravanserais and bazaars.

6. Kings were making structures for their use and comfort and hoped to win their praise. Construction activity was also carried out by others, including merchants. Akbar built Agra Fort for providing work to the labours. Agra Fort required 2,000 stone-cutters, 2000 cement and lime-makers and 8,000 labourers.

7. As each new dynasty came to power, kings wanted to emphasize their moral right to be rulers. Constructing places of worship provided rulers with the chance to proclaim their close relationship with God, especially important in an age of rapid political change. Rulers also offered patronage to the learned and pious, and tried to transform their capitals and cities into great cultural centres that brought fame to their rule and their realm.

8. Domestic architecture: large mansions (havelis) of merchants have survived only from the 18^th Century.

9. Monument can make by placing wooden beams or a slab of stone across four walls. But the task becomes difficult if we want to make a large room with an elaborate superstructure. This requires more sophisticated skills. Between the 7th and 10th centuries architects started adding more rooms, doors and windows to buildings.

10. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple dedicated to Shiva was constructed in 999 by the king Dhangadeva of the Chandela dynasty. This was the place for ritual worship where only the king, his immediate family and priests gathered.

11. The Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) complex contained royal temples where commoners were not allowed entry. The temples were decorated with elaborately carved sculptures. Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty.

12. The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) had the tallest shikara amongst temples of its time.

13. From the 12^th century two technological and stylistic developments are noticeable: (t) The weight of the superstructure above the doors and windows was sometimes carried by arches. This architectural form was called “arcuate” and (ii) Limestone cement was increasingly used in construction. This was very high- quality cement.

14. Temples and mosques were beautifully constructed because they were places of worship and also meant to demonstrate the power, wealth and devotion of the patron.

15. The Rajarajeshvara temple was built by King Rajarajadeva for the worship of his god, Rajarajeshvaram. The names of Raja and God are very similar, because the king took the god’s name as it was auspicious and he wanted to appear like a god. Through the rituals of worship in the temple one god hounoured another god.

16. The largest temples were all constructed by kings. The other, lesser deities in the temples were gods and goddesses of the allies and subordinates of the ruler. The temple was miniature model of the world ruled by the king and his allies.

17. Muslim Sultans and Badshahs did not claim to be incarnations of god but Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the “Shadow of God”.

18. An inscription in the Quwwat al-Islam mosque explained that God chose Alauddin as a king because he had the qualities of Moses and Solomon, the great lawgivers of the past. The greatest lawgiver and architect was God himself. He created the world out of chaos and introduced order and symmetry.

19. At the same time, making precious water available by constructing tanks and reservoirs was highly praised. Sultan Iltutmish won universal respect for constructing a large reservoir just outside Delh-i- kuhna or the “King’s Reservoir”. Sometimes these tanks and reservoirs were part of a temple, mosque or a gurdwara.

20. The Persian terms ‘abad’, populated, prosperous and abadi, flourishing, are both derived from the word ab, meaning water.

21. Kings built temples to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth. Hence, when they attacked one another’s kingdoms they often targeted these buildings. In the early 19^th century when the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the King, he removed all the valuables, the statue of the Buddha made entirely of gold in the Jewel Place, golden images in the various monasteries etc.

22. Similarly, Chola king Rajendra-I built a Shiva temple in his capital and filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers which included a Sun-pedestal from the Chalukyas, a Ganesha statue and several statues of Durga, a Nandi statue, an image of Bhairava and Bhairavi from the Kalingas of Orissa, and a Kali statue from the Palas of Bengal.

23. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of Rajendra-I. He attacked the temples and looted their wealth and idols especially from the Somnath temple.

24. Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and especially Shah Jaha were personally interested in literature, art and architecture.

25. Babur described his interest in planning and laying out formal gardens, placed within rectangular walled enclosures and divided into quarters by artificial channels. These gardens were called Chahar bagh because of their symmetrical division into quarters. Some of the most beautiful Chahar bagh were constructed by Jahangir and Shah Jahan in Kashmir, Agra and Delhi.

26. Akbar’s architects turned to the tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur. The central towering dome and the tall gateway became important aspects of Mughal architecture, first visible in Humayun’s tomb. The tomb was placed in the centre of a huge formal Chahar bagh and built in the tradition known as “eight paradises” or hasht bihisht a central hall surrounded by eight rooms. The building was constructed with, red sandstone, edged with white marble.

27. During Shah Jahan’s reign huge amount of construction activity is witnessed especially in Agra and Delhi. The ceremonial halls of public and private audience (diwan-i khas or am) were carefully planned. Shah Jahan’s audience halls were specially constructed to resemble a mosque.He built the world famous Taj Mahal in Agra, Lai Qila and Jama Masjid in Delhi.

28. In Vijayanagara, the elephant stables of the rulers were strongly influenced by the style of architecture found in the adjoinging Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda. In Vrindavan, near Mathura, temples were constructed in architectural styles that were every similar to the Mughal palaces in Fatehpur Sikri

The Mughal Empire Class 7 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Superstructure: The part of a building above the ground floor.

Chahar bagh: Garden within rectangular walls.

Pietra dura: Coloured, hard stones placed in depressions carved into marble or sandstone creating beautiful, ornate patterns.

Shikhara: A tower-like structure on the top of a shrine.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 4 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 4 SST The Mughal Empire will seemingly help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

The Mughal Empire Class 7 Notes Social Science History Chapter 4

CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 4 Notes Understanding The Lesson

1. From the latter half of the 16^th century the Mughals expanded their kingdom from Agra and Delhi and until in the 17^th century they controlled nearly the entire subcontinent.

2. Ruling as large a territory as the Indian subcontinent with such a diversity of people and cultures was an extremely difficult task for any ruler to accomplish in the middle ages.

3. The Mughals were descendants (offspring) of two great lineages of rulers from the mother side Genghis Khan and from father’s side Timur.

4. Babur was the first emperor. He succeeded to the throne of Ferghana in 1494 when he was only 12 years old.

5. In 1526 Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.

6. In 1527 Babur defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at Khanua.

7. In 1528 Babur defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi.

8. Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb were the Mughal emperors.

9. The mother of Jahangir was a Kachhwaha princess, daughter of the Rajput ruler of Amber (Jaipur).

10. The mother of Shah Jahan was a Rathor princess, daughter of the Rajput ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur).

11. Mughal rulers campaigned constantly against rulers who refused to accept their authority. Many rulers also joined them voluntarily. The Rajputs are a good example of this. Many of them married their daughters into Mughal families and received high positions.

12. Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept Mughal authority for a long time.

13. Mughals recruited diverse bodies of people. Those who joined Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars. These mansabdars held a mansab. Rank, salary and military responsibilities of the mansabdars were determined by grading system.

14. Rank and salary were determined by a numerical value called zat. The higher the zat, the more prestigious was the noble’s position in court and the larger his salary.

15. The mansabdar’s military responsibilities required him to maintain a specified number of sawar or cavalrymen. The mansabdar brought his cavalrymen for review, got them registered, and their horses branded and then received money to pay them as salary.

16. Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs.

17. In Akbar’s reign these jagirs were carefully assessed so that the revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar.

18. By Aurangzeb’s reign this was no longer the case and the actual revenue collected was often less than the granted sum.

19. The main source of income available to Mughal rules was tax on the produce of the peasantry.

20. To describe the intermediaries, whether they were local headmen of villages or powerful chieftains, the term used was ‘zamindar’. Peasants paid taxes through this zamindar.

21. Akbar’s revenue minister, Todar Mai carried out a careful survey of crop yields, price and areas cultivated for a 10-years period, 1570-1580. On the basis of this data, tax was fixed on each crop in cash.

22. Each province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops.

23. This revenue system was called ‘zabt’. It was prevalent in those areas where Mughal administrators could survey the land and keep very careful accounts. This was not possible in provinces such as Gujarat and Bengal.

24. Abul Fazl wrote a three-volume history of Akbar’s reign, titled “Akbar Nama”. The first volume dealt with Akbar’s ancestors and the second volume recorded the events of Akbar’s reign. The third volume is the Ain-i-Akbari, it deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army, the revenues and the geography of his empire. It also provides rich details about the traditions and culture of the people living in India.

25. The most interesting aspect about the Ain-i-Akbari is its rich statistical details about things as diverse as crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.

26. Akbar’s empire was divided into provinces called subas, governed by subadar. Subadar carried out both political and military functions.

27. Each province also had a financial officer or diwan.

28. The subadar was supported by other officers such as military paymaster (bakshi), the minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr), military commanders (faujdars) and the town police commander (kotwal).                                                                                                 ‘

29. As a strong administrative function, Akbar established ‘sulh-i kul’ or ‘universal peace’ which did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm. While it was focused on a system of ethics- honesty, justice, and peace-that was universally applicable.             ;

The Mughal Empire Class 7 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Mughal: The Mughals were descendants (offspring) of two great lineages of rulers; from the mother side Genghis Khan and from father’s side Timur.

Mansab: A position or rank.

Jagir: A privilege of land to collect the tax as revenue.

Zat: A numerical value to determine rank and salary.

Sawar: Number of horses.

Sulh-I kul: Universal peace, adopted by Akbar.

Zabt: ‘zabt’ was a revenue system. Under this system each province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops.

Zamindar: To describe the intermediaries, whether they were local headmen of villages or powerful chief­ – tains the term used was ‘zamindar’.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 4 Time Period

1526-1530: Babur Reign

1530-1540: Humayun Reign

1540-1555: Sher Shah Suri

1555-1556: Humayun Reign

1556-1605: Akbar Reign

1605-1627: Jahangir Reign

1627-1658: Shah Jahan Reign

1658-1707: Aurangzeb Reign

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 3 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 SST The Delhi Sultans will seemingly help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

The Delhi Sultans Class 7 Notes Social Science History Chapter 3

CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 3 Notes Understanding The Lesson

1. Delhi became an important city only in the 12^th Century.

2. Delhi first became the capital of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were defeated in the middle of the 12^th century by the Chauhans of Ajmer.

3. Under the Tomaras and Chauhans Delhi became an important commercial centre.

4. Many rich Jaina merchants lived in the city and constructed several temples.

5. Coins minted here, called dehliwal, had a wide circulation.

6. In the beginning of the 13th century, Delhi Sultanate was founded.

7. The Delhi Sultans built many cities in the area.

8. Inscriptions, coins and architecture provide a lot of information, especially valuable are histories, tarikh/ tawarikh, written in Persian, the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.

9. The authors of tawarikh were learned men. They lived in cities mainly in Delhi, they often wrote in hope of rich rewards.

10. These authors advised rulers on the need to preserve in ‘ideal’ social order based on birthright and gender distinctions. Their ideas were not shared by everybody.

11. In 1236 Sultan Htutmish’s daughter, Raziyya, became Sultan. She was removed from the throne in 1240.

12. Minhaj-i-Siraj recognized that she was more able and qualified than all her brothers. But he was not comfortable at having a queen as ruler. Nor were the nobles happy at her attempts to rule independently.

13. Rudramadevi was queen of Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal from 1262 to 1289. Rudramadevi changed her name on her inscriptions and pretended she was a man.

14. Queen Didda, ruled in Kashmir between 980-1003. The name comes from “didi” or “elder sister”.

15. The Delhi Sultans were dependent upon trade, tribute or plunder for supplies.

16. Controlling garrison towns (army towns) in distant Bengal and Sind from Delhi was extremely difficult.

17. In the first expansion, forests were cleared (internal frontier) in the Ganga-Yamuna doab and hunter-gatherers and pastoralists expelled from their habitat. These lands were given to peasants and agriculture was encouraged. New fortresses, garrison towns and towns were established to protect trade routes and to promote regional trade.

18. The second expansion occurred along the “external frontier” of the Sultanate. Military expeditions into southern India, started during the reign of AlauddinKhalji and culminated with Muhammad Tughlu Sultanate armies captured elephants, horses and slaves and carried away precious metals.

19. By the end of Muhammad Tughluq’s reign, the armies of the Delhi Sultanate had marched across a large part of the subcontinent. They had defeated rival armies and seized cities.

20. The Sultanate collected taxes from the peasantry and dispensed justice in its realm.

21. A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic. Mosque is a place where Muslims prostrates in reverence to Allah. In a “congregational mosque” (masjid-i-jami or jama masjid) Muslims read their prayers together.

22. Members of the congregation choose the most respected, learned male as their leader (imam) for the rituals of prayer. He also delivers the sermon (lecture) which is called khutba during the Friday prayer. During prayer, Muslims stand facing Mecca. In India this to the west. This is called the ‘qibla’.

23. Quwwat al-Islam mosque built in Delhi during the last decade of the 12th century. This was the first mosque built by the Delhi Sultans. This was enlarged by Iltutmish and Alauddin Khalji.

24. Begumpuri mosque, built in the reign of Muhammad Tughluq, was the main mosque of Jahanpanah, the “Sanctuary of the World”.

25. Moth ki Masjid, built in the reign of Sikandar Lodi by his minister.

26. Mosque of Jamali Kamali, was built in the late 1520.

27. The Delhi Sultans built several mosques in cities all over the subcontinent. These demonstrated their claims to be protectors of Islam and Muslims. Mosques also helped to create the sense of a community of believers who shared a belief system and a code of conduct. It was necessary to reinforce this idea of a community because Muslims came from a variety of backgrounds.

28. The consolidation of Delhi Sultanate needed reliable governors and administrators. Iltutmish favoured their special slaves purchased for military service, called ‘bandagan’ in Persian. They were carefully trained to became most important political offices in the kingdom. They were totally dependent upon their master, the Sultan could trust and rely upon them. The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use ‘bandagan’.

29. Someone who is under the protection of another is called ‘Clients’. They were often raised to high political positions. They were appointed as generals and governors.

30. Sultan Muhammad Tughluq appointed a wine distiller, a barber, a cook and two gardeners to high administrative posts.

31. Ziauddin Barani (1285-1357) was a Muslim political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate during Muhammad bin Tughluq and Firuz Shah’s reign.

32. The Khalji and Tughluq monarchs appointed military commanders as governors of territories. Lands were called iqta and their holder was called ‘iqtadar’ or ‘muqti’. The duty of the muqtis was to lead military campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas. The muqtis collected the revenues of their assignments as salary. They paid their soldiers from these revenues.

33. The Sultan’s administrators measured the land and kept careful accounts. Some of the old chieftains and landlords served the Sultanate as revenue collectors and assessors.

34. Accountants were appointed by the state to check the amount of revenue collected by the muqtis. Care was taken that the muqti collected only the taxes prescribed by the state and that he kept the required number of soldiers. There were three types of taxes:

• on cultivation called ‘kharaj’ and amounting to about 50% of the peasant’s produce
• on cattle and
• on houses.

35. Ibn Battuta was a traveller from Morocco, Africa who visited in 14th century.

36. Mongols, Genghis Khan attacked on the Delhi Sultanate increased during the reign of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of Muhammad Tughluq’s rule.

37. Sher Shah Suri (1540-1545) started his career as the manager of small territory for his uncle in Bihar and eventually challenged and defeated the Mughal emperor Humayun. Sher Shah captured Delhi and established his own dynasty.

38. Although the Suri dynasty ruled for only 15 years (1540-1555), it introduced an administration that borrowed elements from Alauddin Khalji and made them more efficient. Sher Shah’s administration became the model followed by the great emperor Akbar when he consolidated the Mughal Empire.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 3 Important Terms

Birthright: Privileges claimed on account of birth.

Gender distinctions: Social and biological differences between women and men.

Hinterland: The lands adjacent to a city or port that supply it with goods and services.

Garrison town: A fortified settlement with soldiers.

Client: Someone who is under the protection of another.

Iqta: Iqta was a land given to the military commanders as governors of territories.

Tarikh: Tarikh is a Persian word which means date and also used as a history.

Mongols: Resident of Mongolia. Genghis Khan was a Mongolian and attacked on the Delhi Sultanate.

Kharaj: Type of a tax which was imposed on cultivation.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 3 Time Period

Early 11^th century – 1192: Period of Rajput Dynasties which cover regimes of Tomaras, Ananga Pala, Chauhans, Prithviraj Chauhan.

1206-1290: Regime of Turkish Rulers. Qutbuddin Aybak, Shamsuddin Iltutmish, Raziyya, Ghiasuddin Balban was rulers of this period.

1290-1316: Regime of Khalji dynasties, including Jalaluddin Khalji and Alauddin Khalji.

1320-1414: Period of Tughluq Dynasties. Ghiyasudding Tughluq, Muhammad Tughluq and Firuz Shah Tughluq was the rulers of this period.

1414-1451: Period of Sayyid Dynasty. Khizr Khan was the ruler of this dynasty.

1451-1526: This is the period of Lodi Dynasty and Bahlul Lodi was the ruler.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 2 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 SST New Kings and Kingdoms will seemingly help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

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

CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 2 Notes Understanding The Lesson

1. Many new dynasties emerged in different parts of the subcontinent between the 7^th and 12^th  Centuries.

2. In the 7^th century, there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions, they were acknowledged as subordinates of samantas of kings.

3. Samantas were expected to bring gifts and provide them with military support. As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be mah-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara.

4. The Rashtrakutas in the Deccan was initially subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka but later overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called ‘hiranya-garbha’.

5. The Kadamba Mayurasharman and the Gurjara Pratihara Harichandra were Brahmanas who gave up their traditional professions and took to arms, successfully establishing kingdoms in Karnataka and Rajasthan respectively.

6. Many of new kings adopted high sounding titles such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king), tribhuvana- chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) etc. They often shared power with their samantas as well as with associations of peasants, traders and Brahmanas.

7. In each of these states, resources were obtained from the producers—peasants, cattle keepers, artisans.

8. The Cholas who ruled in Tamil Nadu refer to more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes. The most frequently mentioned tax is ‘vetti’, taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour, and ‘kadamai’ or land revenue. There were also taxes on thatching the house, the use of ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on succession to family property, etc.

9. The collected taxes were used for the construction of temples and forts, to fight wars, and access to land as well as trade routes.

10. For collecting the taxes or revenue, the functionaries were generally recruited from influential families and positions were often hereditary. In many cases, close relatives of the king held these positions.

11. One prashasti written in Sanskrit and found in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh describes the exploits of Nagabhata, a Pratihara King.

12. Kings often rewarded Brahmanas by grants of land. These were recorded on copper plates, which were given to those who received the land.

13. The 12^th century was a long Sanskrit poem containing the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. It was composed by an author named ‘Kalhana’.

14. Warfare was the way to control others areas. In the Ganga valley, city of Kanauj was the area where three dynasties fought for control. These dynasties were

• Guijara-Pratihara
• Rashtrakuta and
• Pala dynasties.

Historians often describe it as the ‘tripartite struggle’.

15. Others who were engaged in warfare included the Chahamanas, known as Chauhans, ruled over the region around Delhi and Ajmer. They attempted to expand their control to the west and the east, where they were opposed by the Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Gahadavalas of western Uttar Pradesh. The best-known Chauhans ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler name Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but next year in 1192 he was defeated by Ghoro.

16. Rulers also tried to demonstrate their power and resources by building large temples. So, when they attacked they often chose to target temples, which were sometimes extremely rich.

17. Such rulers was Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan. He ruled from 997 to 1030 and extended control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent. He raided the subcontinent almost every year. His targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.

18. Al-Biruni was a writer of this period, he wrote ‘Kitab-al-Hind’ in Arabic.

19. Muttaraiyar was subordinate to the Pallava Kings of Kanchipuram. Vijayalaya, who belonged to the ancient chiefly family of the Cholas from Uraiyur captured the delta from the Muttaraiyar in the middle of the ninth century. He built the town of Thanjavur and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.

20. Vijayalaya conquered the Pandyan and the Pallava territories to the south and north were made part of this kingdom.

21. The big temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikonda-Cholapuram, built by Rajaraja and Rajendra are architectural and sculptural marvels.

22. Temples and their area were maintained by those who worked at the temple and very often lived near them, priests, garland makers, cooks, sweepers, musicians, dancers, etc. In other words, temples were not only places of worship; they were the hub of economic, social and cultural life as well.

23. Chola bronze images are considered amongst the finest in the world. While most images were of deities, sometimes images were made of devotees as well.

24. Many of the achievements of the Cholas were made possible through new developments in agriculture. The Kaveri branches off into several channels before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Water from the channels also provides the necessary moisture for agriculture particularly the cultivation of rice.

25. Inscriptions received from Tamil Nadu, provide the details of various sabha such as irrigation works, gardens, temples etc., with a certain criteria of eligibility.

26. In China, an empire was established under the Tang dynasty which remained in power for about 300 years. Its capital was Xi’an, one of the largest cities in the world visited by Turks, Iranians, Indians, Japanese and Koreans.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 2 Important Terms

Samanta: The subordinates of the kings.

Temple: Place of worship where idols are kept at garbhagraha.

Nadu: Groups of villages formed larger units called ‘nadu’.

Sabha: The assembly.

Sultan: An Arabic term meaning ruler.

Notes of History Class 7 Chapter 2 Time Period

985: Rajaraja I became a great Chola ruler.

1168-1192: Prithviraja III ruled over the regions around Delhi.

1191: Prithviraja III defeated Muhammad Ghori.

1192: Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithviraja III.