Class 7 Chapter 2 History New Kings and Kingdoms Notes (NCERT)

Class 7 Chapter 2 History New Kings and Kingdoms Notes (NCERT)

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  1) Samantas werebig landlords or warrior chiefs appointed by existing kings. There duties were to provide military service when needed, present gifts to the kings and to be present in court meetings. 2) Samantas gave themselves high-sounding names like Maha-Samanta and Maha-Mandaleshvara(The great lord of a ‘circle’ or a region). 3) Dantidurga of the Rashtrakuta dynasty overthrew his Chalukyan overlord to become a king. To be eligible to become a king, he turned himself from Vaishya to a Kshatriya using the Hiranya-Garbha ritual. 4) Hiranya-Garbha means golden womb. It was the ritual done by the one who wants to be ‘reborn’ as a Kshatriya. 5) Gurjara-Pratihara Harichandra used brute force as he was already qualified because he was a Brahmana. He built the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in present-day Rajasthan. 6) Kadamba Mayursharman, who was a Brahmana used brute force to set up the Kadamba dynasty in present- day Karnataka. 7) Temples were constructed as a show off of power and wealth. 8) Sultan(Ruler in Arabic) Mahmood of Ghazni from Afghanistan, raided and looted the rich temples of India. 9) Sultan Mahmood’s scholar, Al-Biruni wrote Kitab-al Hind in Arabic. 10) Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori from Afghanistan, in the first battle of Tarain, in 1191. He
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  was defeated thenext year by Ghori in 1192. Thus, Prithviraj was the last Hindu ruler of Delhi. 11) The Chola dynasty excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity. 12) Towns started to develop and soon became the centre of craft production. These towns originated from the temples there. The people first build shops for business in construction of temples, then build houses to make the temple accessible. The temples of Chola empire thus became nuclei of settlements. 13) Famous bronze sculptures such as the Nataraja are still seen today as they are made very fine. It was made originally in the rule of Chola empire. 14) Vijayalaya I established the imperial Chola dynasty with Thanjavur as its capital. Before this, Vijayalaya used to be a subordinate to the Pallavas who used to rule in present-day Tamil Nadu. 15) Rajaraja I, the sone of Vijayalaya became Chola king in 985 CE and was the most powerful Chola ruler. 16) Rajendra I became Chola king in 1014 CE. He built a new capital city of Gangaikondacholapuram. 17) The successors of Vijayalaya conquered neighbouring kingdoms of the Pallavas and Pandyas. 18) The struggle between the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rastrakuta for Kannauj was known as the Tripartite Struggle. The war lasted for 200 years. The winner of this struggle was Gurjara-Pratiharas. 19) The new kings begin to give themselves high- sounding names like Maharaja-adhiraja(The great king),
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  Tribhuvana-Chakravartin(Lord of thethree worlds), Maha-Mandaleshvara. 20) They also came up with a set of rules for wars. 21) Large amounts of tax were collected from the villages. 22) Prashastis are special kinds of inscriptions with glowing praises of the actions done by the kings and rulers written by learned Brahmanas or poets. 23) Brahmanas were give given land grants for writing inscriptions by the king. These land grants were recorded on copper plates and given to the brahmanas. These copper plates were known as Brahmadeya. 24) Large scale cultivation around the Kaveri Delta developed in 5th and 6th Century. 25) Embankments are structures built using stones and earth to control overflowing rivers. 26) Canals were constructed from the rivers to carry water to the fields. 27) Wells were dug and tanks were constructed to collect rainwater. 28) Sluice gate is a barrier made of wood or metal to control the level and flow of water to river and canals. 29) The three types of village settlements in the Chola empire were-> a. Ur-> Settlements of peasants b. Agraharas-> Settlements of Brahmanas on lands granted by the king. c. Nagarams-> Association of Traders
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  30) Admininstration wasmanaged by Nadus or Groups of villages. They used to dispense justice and collect taxes. Landowners used to do these functions. 31) Rich peasants used to exercise considerable control over problems of Nadus under the government. 32) Some rich landowners were given the title of muvendavelam(a peasent serving three kings) or araiyar(chief)etc. to respect them. 33) Each brahmadeya was looked after by a Sabha or assembly of prominent brahamanas. This Sabha’s decisions were recorded on stone walls of temples. 34) Nagarams were made to perform administrative functions in a town. 35) Inscriptions from Uttaramerur in Chingleput district, Tamil Nadu tells us how the elections in Sabha happened. Sabha had different committee to look after many works. Names of those eligible to be members of these committees were written on tickets of palm leaf and kept in an earthenware pot, from which a young boy was asked to pick the tickets, one by one for each committee. 36) There used to different types on lands-> a. Vellanvagai(Land of non-brahmana peasent proprietors) b. Brahmadeya(Land gifted brahmanas) c. Shalabhoga(Land for maintenance of school) d. Devadana(Land gifted to temples) e. Pallichchhandam(Land donated to Jaina institutions)
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  37) The qualificationsto be members of Sabha were as follows-> a. The brahman should have land from which revenue is collected. b. They should have their own homes. c. They should be between 35-70 years of age. d. They should have knowledge of Vedas. e. They should submit the accounts of themselves and their family and relatives’. f. They should be well versed in administrative matters and honest. g. If anyone has been a member of any committee in the last three years, he cannot become a member of another committee.