Class 6 History Chapter 10 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims Important Questions
1. Fill in the blanks.
(i) Puhar was an important port on the _________.
(ii) Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in ________.
(iii) South India was famous for ___________.
(iv) Fa Xian began his journey back home from __________.
(v) Statues of the Buddha were made in ______ and ______.
(vi) About 2000 years ago, wearing _______ became the fashion amongst rulers and rich people in Rome.
Answer:
(i) east coast
(ii) western India
(iii) gold, spices and precious stones
(iv) Bengal
(v) Mathura and Taxila
(vi) silk
2. Write True/False against each of the following statements
(i) Amongst the river valleys, that of the Kaveri is the most fertile.
(ii) Only rich, belonging to the so-called ‘high’ castes, man could follow the path of Bhakti.
(iii) Nalanda, (Bihar) was the most famous Buddhist monastery of the period.
(iv) Muvendar is a Sanskrit word meaning three chiefs.
(v) Sometimes, Chinese rulers sent gifts of silk to rulers in Iran and west Asia.
Satavahanas became powerful in eastern India.
(vi) At Taxila a new form of Buddhist art influenced by the Greek style was developed.
Answer:
(i) True
(ii) False
(iii) True
(iv) False
(v) True
(vi) False
(vii) True
Answer the following questions
1. Name the ruler who controlled silk route effectively.
Answer: Kushanas
2. Where is the site of Eran located?
Answer: Madhya Pradesh
3. Which was the capital kingdom of Pandyas?
Answer: Madurai was the capital of the Pandyas.
4. Where was Jesus Christ born?
Answer: Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.
5. Which port was under the cholas?
Answer: Puhar or Kaveripattinam port was under the Cholas.
6. What is Buddhacharita?
Answer: Buddhacharita is a biography of the Buddha.
7. Which Kushana ruler organized a Buddhist council?
Answer: The most famous Kushana ruler, Kanishka organized a Buddhist council.
8. Where can evidences of trade be found?
Answer: Evidence of trade can be found in the Sangam poems.
9. Which is the oldest form of Buddhism?
Answer: Theravada is believed to be the oldest form of Buddhism.
10. What was the most valued export commodity to the Roman Empire from India?
Answer: Pepper
11. Name the three chiefs mentioned in Sangam poems.
Answer: Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas
12. Which form of Buddhism was popular in South-Eastern countries?
Answer: Theravada Buddhism
13. Where the philosophy of the Bodhisattvas was most popular?
Answer: China
14. Where we find discussions between Krishna and Arjuna?
Answer: Bhagavad Gita
15. From which word the term Bhakti has been derived.
Answer: Bhakti comes from the Sanskrit term bhaj meaning ‘to divide or share.’
16. In which sacred book the idea of bhakti presented?
Answer: The idea of Bhakti is present in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred book of the Hindus, which is included in the Mahabharata.
17. What was South India famous for?
Answer: South India was famous for gold, spices, especially pepper, and precious stones.
18. Name the most important ruler of the Satavahanas.
Answer: The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni.
19. Name the three powerful ruling families of South India.
Answer: The three powerful ruling families of South India were the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas.
20. What were items given by chiefs to the poets as rewards?
Answer: Chiefs rewarded them with precious stones, gold, horses, elephants, chariots, and fine cloth.
21. Who were the earliest rulers of the subcontinent to issue gold coins?
Answer: The Kushanas were amongst the earliest rulers of the subcontinent to issue gold coins.
22. 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.
23. Who were known as lords of the dakshinapatha?
Answer: Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha.
24. What makes silk highly valued fabric in most societies?
Answer: The rich, glossy colours of silk, as well as its smooth texture, make it a highly valued fabric in most societies.
25. Discuss the reasons why the Chinese pilgrims came to India.
Answer: They came to visit places associated with the life of the Buddha as well as famous monasteries.
26. Who was Appar? Which community he belonged to?
Answer: Appar was Tamil poet-saint and a devotee of Shiva. He belonged to vellala community.
27. Who were the rulers, who ruled over central Asia and north-west India around 2000 years ago?
Answer: Kushanas were the rulers, who ruled over central Asia and north-west India around 2000 years ago.
28. Name the regions where Bodhisattvas became very popular.
Answer: The worship of Bodhisattvas became very popular, and spread throughout Central Asia, China, and later to Korea and Japan.
29. How did the chiefs use the tribute that they collected from neighbouring areas?
Answer: They kept some of the wealth and distributed the rest amongst their supporters, including members of their family, soldiers, and poets.
30. What do you know about Syrian Christians?
Answer: The Christians of Kerala, known as Syrian Christians because they probably came from West Asia, are amongst the oldest Christian communities in the world.
31. Why do you think ordinary people were attracted to Bhakti?
Answer: Ordinary people were attracted to Bhakti because it emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
32. Making silk is a complicated process. Why?
Answer: Making silk is a complicated process because raw silk has to be extracted from the cocoons of silk worms, spun into thread and then woven into cloth.
33. From where is the word ‘Hindu’ derived?
Answer: The word ‘Hindu’, like the term ‘India’ 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 religious beliefs.
34. Why did kings want to control the Silk Route?
Answer: The kings want to control the Silk Route because they could benefit from taxes, tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route.
35. Who was Kanishka?
Answer: The most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka, who ruled around 1900 years ago. He organized a Buddhist council, where scholars met and discussed important matters.
36. Who were bodhisattvas in Buddhism?
Answer: Bodhisattvas were supposed to be persons who had attained enlightenment. Once they attained enlightenment, they could live in complete isolation and meditate in peace.
37. What was emphasized under the system of bhakti?
Answer: Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
38. Who was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni? How did we come to know about him?
Answer: The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni. We know about him from an inscription composed by his mother, Gautami Balashri.
39. What is Bhakti? Who could follow Bhakti?
Answer: Bhakti is generally understood as a person’s devotion to his or her chosen deity. Anybody, whether rich or poor, belonging to the so-called ‘high’ or ‘low’ castes, man or woman, could follow the path of Bhakti.
40. Why was silk so expensive?
Answer: It was very expensive, as it had to be brought all the way from China, along dangerous roads, through mountains and deserts. People living along the route often demanded payments for allowing traders to pass through.
41. What were the main features of Bhakti?
Answer:
- Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
- According to this system of belief, if a devotee worships the chosen deity with a pure heart, the deity will appear in the form in which he or she may desire.
42. Write about the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims.
Answer: The best-known of these are the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Fa Xian, who came to the subcontinent about 1600 years ago, Xuan Zang (who came around 1400 years ago) and I-Qing, who came about 50 years after Xuan Zang. They came to visit places associated with the life of the Buddha as well as famous monasteries. Each of these pilgrims left an account of his journey.
43. What kinds of evidence do historians use to find out about trade and trade routes?
Answer: Fine pottery, especially bowls and plates, were found from several archaeological sites throughout the subcontinent. Traders may have carried them from the places where they were made, to sell them at other places.
South India was famous for gold, spices, especially pepper, and precious stones. Pepper was particularly valued in the Roman Empire, so much so that it was known as black gold. So, traders carried many of these goods to Rome in ships, across the sea, and by land in caravans. There must have been quite a lot of trade as many Roman gold coins have been found in south India.
44. How did Buddhism grow during Kushana dynasty?
Answer:
- The most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka, who ruled around 1900 years ago.
- He organized a Buddhist council, where scholars met and discussed important matters.
- Ashvaghosha, a poet who composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharita, lived in his court.
- A new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism, developed.
- The worship of Bodhisattvas became very popular, and spread throughout Central Asia, China, and later to Korea and Japan.
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