NEW RULES AND RULERS

1. What is meant by tripartite struggle? Why was

Kanauj a bone of contention between the three
major powers?
The term tripartitemeans anything involving three
parties.
The struggle for power among the GujaraPratiharas
, the Palas, and the Rashtrakutas is known as
Tripartite Struggle.
One very important area for this struggle was that
they all wanted to occupy Kanauj.
All the major kingdoms wanted to take over areas
that were fertile and rich in natural resources.
Located in the upper Gangetic valley, Kanauj was
known for these resources.
2. What do you know about the term Rajputs? Who
were they?
Mention some important Rajput rulers.
a. A number of other new kingdoms rose in north
India between 700 CE and 1200 CE.
b. Most of these were ruled by people who
identified themselves as a clan of warriors called
rajputs.
c. Taken from Rajputra or the son of a king,the
term applied to group of warriors who claimed to
belong to a Kshatriya class, and had a code of
conduct based on courage and loyalty.
d. The most important among the Rajput dynasty
were the Gahadhvalas or Kanauj, the Parmaras
of Malwa , TheChandellas of Bundelkhand, and
the Chamanas of Ajmer.

e. PrithvirajChauhan was the most famous ruler of

the Chahamana dynasty.
3. Who found the Chola dynasty. Write about his
achievements.
a. The Cholas were an ancient family from Uraiyur.
In book 6, we read about that they were one of
the 3 most powerful kingdoms of south India in
the ancient period. However, after the rise of the
Chalukyas and the Pallavas, the cholas lost their
glory and power. After a long time, Vijayalaya, an
official of the Pallavas kings of Kanchipuram
founded the new Chola dynasty.
b. By the middle of the ninth century, he captured
the Kaveri delta and built the town of Tanjavur as
his capital.
c. They are known in history for their efficient
administration, welfareworks for the common
people, buildings, temples and for supporting
arts and culture.
4. Highlight the key features of the Chola
architecture.
a. They built a network of roads that helped the
movement of commercial goods as well as the
army.
b. They also built a number of towns and beautiful
monuments.
c. importantly, they devoted great attention to
improving the irrigation system.
d. Regular support was given to buildings tanks,
canals, dams, and wells.
5. Why did Mahmud of Ghazni target important
urban centres and temple cities?
a. In the eleventh century CE, Sultan Mahmud of
Ghazni invaded northern India.

b. Mahmud had no interes in building an empire in

India.
c. He only wanted to collect resources for his
struggle against his enemies in Central Asia.
d. In most of his raids,he plundered rich temples
and cities in northern India.
e. Another important purpose of his raids was to
reduce the import of horses from arab traders
and encourage the horse traders of Ghazni to
replace them.
f. For his raids, he targeted important towns and
temple cities like Nagarkot, thanesar, Mathura,
kanauj, and somnath in gujurat . in 1025 CE, he
plundered the somnath temple, which was
famous for its riches.
6. Write about the achievements of Rajaraja 1 and
his son Rajendra 1.
a. Rajaraja 1 and his son Rajendra 1 were the 2
most famous successors of Vijayalaya. Due to
their military conquests, the Chola kingdom
became a vast empire.
b. His son and successor Rajendra 1 completed the
c. He also tried to win Bengal through Kalinga in
1022 CE. He took the title of GangaikondaChola
and built the new capital,
gangaikondacholapuram o the banks of the river
Kaveri.
d. Rajendra 1 had a very strong navy. So he was
able to use ships to fight against the Sri Vijaya
empire of Malayan peninsula , Sumatra, java,and
the neighbouring islands.
7. Describe the village administration under the
cholas.

a. Village council and the nadu performed several

functions such as collecting taxes and dispensing
justice.
b. There were many committees and officials to
perform tasks like the maintenance of irrigation
tanks or temples.
c. Inscriptions from uttaramerur gives us
information about the organisation of the sabha,
which also played an important role in the village
administration.
d. There were other assemblies for all landholders
in a village and for traders and merchants in
towns.
e. The chola kings awarded titles like chief to these
rich landlords as a mark of respect and often
made them important officers.
8. Temples were not merely places of worship but also
played an important role in the social and
economic life of the people. Comment.
a. Temples were not merely places of worship but
played an important role in the social and
economic life.
b. Their construction and maintenance offered
employment to many planners and craftsman,
while making the idols required the best
sculpting talents.
c. The daily routine of temples provided regular
employment to priests, musicians, dancers, etc.
The periodic festivals were marked by fairs ,
contests, and popular entertainment.
d. Schools and hospitals were often housed within
the temple premises and this is also where

people generally gathered for administrative

meetings or other kind of popular assembly.
e. Regular grants by kings also made the temple
authorities big landlords who owned large pieces
of land and lent money on interest.
f. Temples were the centres of public life during the
Chola rule.