History
Ch-9
1: The Chinese rulers used to send gifts of silk to Iran and
west Asia. True/False
Answer: True
2: The wearing of silk became the fashion amongst rulers
and rich people in __________.
Answer: Rome
3: Name the place from where silk was mostly exported.
Answer: China
4: Name the ruler who controlled silk route effectively.
Answer: Kushanas
5: Name the ruler used to demand payments for allowing
traders to pass through the silk route.
Answer: Kushanas
6: From where did Fa- Xian began his journey back to his
home?
Answer: Bengal
7: Where is Nalanda located at present?
Answer: Bihar
8: Where is the site of Eran located?
Answer: Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh
9: Appar, a Tamil poet was a devotee of the God _________
Answer: Shiva
10: Who were Nayanars?
Answer: The noble devotees graced by the Lord Shiva were
known as Nayanars
11: How many nayanars were there?
Answer: 63
12: Name the community of Appar, the famous Tamil
poet.was used to dig earth for turning the soil and planting
trees.
Answer: Vellala community.
13: Who where Syrian Christians?
Answer: The Christians of Kerala
14: State the birth place of Jesus Christ.
Answer: Bethlehem
15: Name the po rt under the Cholas
Answer: Kaveripattinam.
16: Name the ruler who was given title of “lords of the
Dakshinapatha”.
Answer: the Great Bath
17: Name the most fertile river valley in southern India.
Answer: Kaveri
18: Name The most important ruler of the Satavahanas.
Answer: Shri Satakarni
19: Fa Xian, Xuan Zang and I-Qing were Chinese ________.
Answer: Pilgrims
20: From where the raw silk is extracted?
Answer: cocoons of silk worms
21: What is the meaning of the term The term ‘Muvendar’ ?
Answer: Muvendar is a Tamil word which means 3 chiefs
22: Satavahanas became powerful in western
India.True/False.
Answer: True
23: Madurai was the capital city of ___________.
Answer: Pandyas
24: Who issued gold coins for the first time?
Answer: Kushanas
25: What was the purpose of gold coins?
Answer: The gold coins were used by traders along the silk route.
26: Who composed The biography of Buddha?
Answer: Ashvaghosha
27: Ashvaghosha and other Buddhists scholars began
writing in English. True/False
Answer: false
28: What was Buddhacharita?
Answer: Name of the biography of Buddha.
29: What was the name of the new form of Buddhism?
Answer: Mahayana Buddhism
30: What is the meaning of Bodhisattavas?
Answer: those persons who had attained enlightment.
31: What is the name of the older form of Buddhism?
Answer: Theravada Buddhism
32: Where the older form of Buddhism was more famous?
Answer: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand etc
33: How do we come to know about the dangers faced by
the piligrims in their travels?
Answer: Chinese Buddhists pilgrims wrote about the dangers they
encountered on their travels
34: Name the three chiefs mentioned in Sangam poems.
Answer: Cholas,Cheras and Pandyas
35: Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni, belonged to the________
dynasty.
Answer: Satavahana dynasty
36: The Christian religion first emerged in _____________.
Answer: Christianity began from Palestine and moved to Greece,
from there to Italy and to the rest of the Europe.
37: Name the place where The images of Buddha were
made predominantly.
Answer: Mathura and Taxila.
38: At Taxila a new form of Buddhist art influenced by the
Greek style was developed. True/False
Answer: True
39: Name the Sanskrit word from which The term Bhakti
has been derived.
Answer: Bhaj
40: The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the______________.
Answer: Mahabharata
41: Who composed biography of the Buddha called
Buddhacharita?
Answer: Ashvaghosha
42: Name the form of Buddhism that was popular in South-
Eastern countries.
Answer: Theravada Buddhism
43: In southern India the largest numbers of caves meant
for the Buddhist monks are located in the region of
_________________.
Answer: Western Ghat
44: Name the place where the philosophy of the
Bodhisattvas was most popular.
Answer: China
45: Who were pilgrims?
Answer: The pilgrims were both men and women who took
journeys to holy places to offer prayers
46: Name A book that contains discussions between
Krishna and Arjuna.
Answer: Bhagavad Gita
47: What was the most valued export commodity to the
Roman Empire from India?
Answer: Pepper
48: The city where Sangam literature was composed was
the capital of the ________ rulers.
Answer: Pandya rulers
49: Personal devotion was the central idea of bhakti
movement. True/False
Answer: True
50: Name The deity who shelters river Ganga in his long
hair.
Answer: Lord Shiva
Short Answer Type Questions
1: Why the demand of silk increased in the European
markets?
Answer: Before entering into these markets, the Chinese traders
along with their goods used to pass through dangerous roads or
through mountains and deserts. People living along these routes
often demanded money to allow passes due to which their
demand increased in the European markets.
2: Write about Kushanas income in the form of taxes.
Answer: The Kushanas used to rule over central Asia and north-
west India. They ruled around 2000 years ago. They used to
demand payments for allowing traders to pass through the silk
route; thus, earned huge income in the form of taxes.
3: Write about Christians of Kerela.
Answer: They were called Syrian Christians because they came
from west Asia. They were amongst the oldest Christian
communities of the world.
4: Writ short notes on “Jesus Christ”.
Answer: Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, was born in
Bethelehem. Christianity emerged in West Asia about 2000 years
ago.
5: Why Satavahana rulers were called the lords of
Dakshinapatha?
Answer: All Satavahana rulers were called the lords of
Dakshinapatha as they were ruling in the west often controlling
the route to the southern regions.
6: Why silk was expensive in ancient time?
Answer: Silk was expensive because it had to be brought all the
way from China, along dangerous roads, through mountains and
desert as only Chinese knew the technique for making silk.
7: Write short notes on “Ashvaghosha”.
Answer: Ashvaghosa was a poet and is considered to be the first
Indian dramatist. He is considered as the great Indian poet before
the Kalidasa. Among his other composition was
Saundranandakavya. It is believed that he lived during the first or
second century AD.
8: Was it easy for foreign traveller to enter the Buddhist
Monastery at Nalanda?
Answer: It was very difficult to enter this Monastery. New
entrants were asked difficult questions from by the gatekeeper.
Only those who gave correct answer were allowed to enter. Mostly
seven or eight out of ten were not able to answer the questions
asked by them.
9: How did the chiefs of the sangam period gather their
resources?
Answer: The chiefs did not collect regular taxes. Instead, they
demanded gifts from the people. They also went on military
expeditions and collected tribute from the neighbouring areas.
They kept some of the wealth and distributed the rest among their
family members and supporters.
10: Who were the muvendar during the sangam period?
Answer: Muvendar is a Tamil word which means three chiefs. It
was used for the heads of three ruling families- the Cholas, Cheras
and Pandyas, who became powerful in south India around 2300
years ago.
11: What were the things carried by Xuan Zang while
returning from India?
Answer: Xuan Zang carried back with him statues of the Buddha
made of gold, silver and sandalwood, and over 600 manuscripts
loaded on the back of 20 horses. Some 50 manuscripts were lost
when the boat on which he was crossing the Indus capsized.
12: Who were known as “lords of the dakshinapatha”?
Answer: Gautamiputra Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers
were known as “lords of the dakshinapatha” literally meaning the
route leading to the south.
13: Explain the Silk Route.
Answer: The techniques of making silk were kept very secretly in
China. People who went to distant lands from China on foot, on
horseback and on camels, carried silk with them. The paths which
they followed came to be known as the Silk Route.
14: Why did the kings try to control the Silk Route?
Answer: kings tried to control the route because they could
benefit by collecting taxes, tributes and gifts brought by the
traders travelling along the route. In return these kings protected
these traders from the robbers.
15: What is the meaning of Bhakti?
Answer: Bhakti means a person’s devotion to his or her chosen
deity. Whether rich or poor, low or high caste, man or woman,
anyone could follow the path of Bhakti.
16: Who were the best –known rulers who controlled the
Silk Route?
Answer: The Kushanas, who ruled over central Asia and north-
west India, controlled the Silk Route. Their two major centers of
power were Peshawar and Mathura. During their rule, a branch of
the Silk Route extended from Central Asia down to the seaports at
the mouth of the river Indus.
17: What was Theravada Buddhism?
Answer: The older form of Buddhism was known as Theravada
Buddhism. It was more popular in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand
andIndonesia.
18: What do the accounts of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims
throw light on?
Answer: The accounts of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims throw
light on
The dangers they encountered on their travel and
The monasteries and places that they visited
19: What was emphasized by those who followed the
Bhakti?
Answer: Those who followed the path of Bhakti emphasized
devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess rather than
the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
20: From where is the word ‘Hindu’ derived?
Answer: The word ‘Hindu’ is derived from the river Indus. It was
used by Arabs and Iranians to refer to people who lived to the east
of the river, and to their cultural practices, including their religious
belief.
21: What does the term Sangam Age signify?
Answer: Tamilakam or what we today know as South India was
ruled in the post Mauryan period by three powerful dynasties. The
Sangam literature is our main source of information about these
dynasties. It is this period of history that is known as the Sangam
Age.
22: What was Kanishka’s contribution to the spread of
Buddhism?
Answer: Kanishka patronized Buddhist monks and donated
money to build monasteries. The Fourth Budhhist council was
organised during his reign.
23: What are the features of the southern half of the Indian
sub-continent?
Answer: The southern half of the Indian sub-continent is marked
by a long coastline, hills, plateaus and river valleys. Kaveri is the
most fertile river valley.
Long Answer Type Questions
1: What was the basis of belief in the system of Bhakti?
Answer: According to this system of belief, if a chosen deity was
worshipped with a pure heart, the deity would appear in the form
in which he or she may have desired. So the deity could be
thought of as human being, lion, tree or any other form. Once this
idea gained acceptance, artists made beautiful images of these
deities.
2: Explain the term “muvendar”
Answer: It is a Tamil word meaning three chiefs, used for the
heads of three ruling families – the Cholas, Cheras and the
Pandyas. They became powerful in South India around 2300 years
ago. Each of the three chiefs had two centres of power: one on
inland and one on the coast. Out of these six cities, two were very
important: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, and
Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. The chiefs did not collect
regular taxes. Instead, they demanded and received gifts from
people. They also went on military expeditions and collected
tribute from the neighbouring areas.
3: Who were the Kushanas?
Answer: They were the rulers who ruled over central Asia and
north-west India around 2000 years ago. Peshawar and Mathura
were their two major centres of power. Taxila was also a part of
their kingdom. Kushanas were the best-known rulers who
controlled the Silk Route. During their rule, a branch of the Silk
Route extended from Central Asia down to the seaports at the
mouth of the river Indus, from where silk was shipped westwards
to the Roman Empire. They also issued gold coins, which were
used by traders along the Silk Route.
4: Who was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni?
Answer: Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni was the most important
ruler of the Satavahanas. An inscription composed by his mother,
Gautami Balashri, gives a lot of information regarding him.
Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers were
known as lords of the dakshinapatha. Dakshinapatha was the route
leading to the south, which was also used as a name for the entire
southern region.In order to control the coasts, he sent his army to
the eastern, western and southern coasts.
