9th Standard, Social, History, CHAPTER – 4
VIJAYANAGARA EMPIRE AND BAHAMANI KINGDOM
EXERCISES
I. Fill in the blanks with suitable words.
1. Vijayanagara Empire was established in the year 1336.
2. The poetess, who wrote Madhuravijaya is Gangadevi.
3. Praudhadevaraya’s minister was Lakkanna Dandesha.
4. The king who wrote Amukta Malyada in Telugu was Krishnadevaraya.
5. The minister who established a famous madrasa at Bidar was Mohammad Gawan.
6. The king who wrote Kitab-E-Navarasa was Ibrahim Adil Shah II.
II. Answer the following questions after discussing in your group.
7. Name the four dynasties who ruled Vijayanagara Empire.
Answer: The four dynasties who ruled Vijayanagara Empire are,
- Sangama
- Saluva
- Tuluva
- Araveedu
8. What were the achievements of Devaraya II?
Answer: The achievements of Devaraya II are as follows.
- Devaraya II had earned the title of ‘Elephant Hunter’.
- Devaraya II defeated the king Kapilendra of Gajapathi dynasty of Orissa and seized Kondaveedu.
- He expanded the kingdom up to Krishna River in the north east. Later, he defeated the Kerala ruler and received royalties from Kerala and Sri Lanka. This earned him the title “Dakshinapathada Chakravarthi” (the Emperor of the South).
- Devaraya II chased the traditional foe Sultan Ahmed Shah of Bahamani till Bijapur and occupied Mudgal and Bankapura.
- Being a poet himself, he had in his court the Sanskrit scholar, Dindima and the Kannada scholar, Lakkana Dandesha.
9. What were the problems Krishnadevaraya had to face when he ascended the throne?
Answer: The problems Krishnadevaraya had to face when he ascended the throne was as follows.
- When Krishnadevaraya came to power, the kingdom faced various complicated internal and external problems.
- The Europeans who had arrived through new sea-route established their colonies.
- The five Shahi kingdoms of the Bahamani dynasty plunged into wars with Krishnadevaraya.
- The kings of Ummatthur and Orissa were a constant source of threat.
10. What are the contributions of Vijayanagara Empire to the economic system and society?
Answer: The contributions of Vijayanagara Empire to the economic system and society are as follows.
Economic system: The Vijayanagara kings constructed wells, tanks and canals to encourage irrigation and agriculture. There were five kinds of practices of land holdings like geni, guttige, siddhaya, vara and gadi (tenancy, lease holdings and other kinds). The Vijayanagara empire achieved great progress in the field of industries and commerce. Spices like pepper, cloves and cardamom, salt petre, iron ore, diamonds, granulated sugar, musk, sandal perfume etc. were exported by them. There were important textile industries. Coins of different denominations like gold coins, gadyaana, pagoda, silver coins and copper coins were in use. Bhatkal, Honnavara and Mangaluru were the important ports of Vijayanagara, and foreign traders from Arab, China and Portugal had trade relation with the Vijayanagara Empire.
Society: There was also occupation-based caste system. There were many skilled artisans, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, bell-metal smiths, carpenters, weavers and cobblers in the society. The practices of child marriage, sati and devadasi systems were prevalent. Though monogamy was the common practice, kings and rich people had many wives. Women enjoyed a dignified status in society. There were female wrestlers and female palace guards. Holi, Deepavali and Dasara festivals were celebrated publicly. Dasara festival used to be celebrated with pomp and glory at Hampi under royal patronage. As an evidence of this Mahanavami dibba can still be seen. Music and dance enjoyed great popularity.
11. Describe the art and architecture of the Vijayanagara period.
Answer: The art and architecture of the Vijayanagara period was most memorable. The style of constructing huge towers (Gopura) in front of the temples was first started by the kings of Vijayanagara.
- During the period of the Vijayanagara kings, temples were built in Hampi, Shringeri, Tirupati, Lepakshi, Karkala, Moodabidri, Bhatkal, Chidambaram, Kanchi, Kalahasti, Nandi, Srishaila, Kolar and other places. The structure of Vidyashankara temple at Shringeri is unique in India.
- The most ancient temple of Vijayanagara is Virupaksha temple at Hampi. The Vijaya Vitthala temple of Hampi is known for its magnificent architectural beauty. The saptaswara musical pillars, huge Kalyana Mantapas and the Stone Chariot have enhanced the beauty of this temple.
- The Dasara festival was celebrated on the Mahanavami Dibba constructed by Krishnadevaraya
- Kamal Mahal, Elephant stable, Queen’s bath are wonderful examples of Indo-Muslim architectural style. Lakshminarasimha, Kadalekalu Ganesha, Sasuvekalu Ganesha and Uddana Veerabhadra’s idols are attractive.
- The Vijayanagara kings patronized fine arts like music, dance, drama and yakshagana. Artists enjoyed great respect in the palace and temples. Saint Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa had enriched Carnatic music through kirtanas. Dancers, adorned in exquisite costumes and jewellery, performed dance in the temples and palaces.
12. Mohammad Gawan was an able Prime Minister of Bahamani Kingdom. How?
Answer: Mohammad Gawan was an able Prime Minister of Bahamani Kingdom. As a Prime Minister, he took the Bahamani kingdom to great heights. He learnt Muslim religious verses and law at Kairo, also gained proficiency in Arabic and Parsi languages. He served as the Prime Minister during the rule of Bahamani kings Humayun, Nizam Shah and Mohammad Shah III. He was responsible for enhancing the glory of Bahamani kingdom by his efficient administration and victories. Gawan conquered Konkan, Goa and Belagavi. Later, he invaded Orissa and conquered Kondaveedu. In the year 1481, he invaded Kanchi and plundered its huge wealth. Thus, Mohammad Gawan who was responsible for the all-round development of the Bahamani kingdom. After him, the kingdom became weak and disintegrated into five parts.
13. Describe the administration and taxation system during the rule of the Bahamani sultans.
Answer: the administration and taxation system during the rule of the Bahamani sultans is as follows.
Administration: There were three levels of administration namely Central, Provincial and Village. Among these, there was revenue, judicial and military administration too. The Sultan was the chief of the central administration. The cabinet was called Majlis-E-Ilwith. Top officials, commandants, ulemas and amins, friends and relatives of the Sultan, attended the meeting. Gawan converted the then existing four provinces (Tarafs) into eight units and these provinces were divided into fifteen Sarakars. The Subedar was the administrator in each of these Sarakars. Sarakars were divided into paraganas. Kotwal, Deshmukh and Desai were the administrators of the paraganas. The village head was Patel, Kulkarni and guards as staff. The village units were independent units.
Taxation: Amir-E-Jumlas were the head of the revenue authorities. Land tax was the main source of income for the kingdom. 1/3 to ½ of the agricultural production was collected as land tax. There were 50 kinds of taxes including house, mines, tobacco, grasslands, trade and employment. The money earned by taxation was used for maintaining palaces, wars and bodyguards, construction and maintenance of forts.
14. Explain the education, art and architecture of the Bahamani sultans.
Answer: The educational policy of the Adil Shahis was to propogate Islamic culture. There were schools known as maktabs. They were under the control of mosques. The students in the maktabs were taught the alphabet, religion, law, poetry and rhetoric. The madrasas were centers of higher education. Mohammad Gawan who was a scholar himself, established a madrasa (college) at Bidar to encourage study of the Islamic religion and law. This college was 242 ft. length, 222 ft. width and 56 ft height three-storied magnificent building constructed in the Deccan style. It had a library with around 3000 manuscripts. The college was also a lodge for students, teachers and orthodox people. Astronomy, grammar, mathematics, philosophy and political science were studied in this college.
The Sultans developed Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. The Jamia mosque built by Ali Adil Shah I is a prominent monument even today. Ibrahim Roza, Gol Gumbaz, Gagan Mahal and Asar Mahals are the important monuments of this time. These monuments have made the Adil Shahis world famous. The Gol Gumbaz at Vijayapura is one of the greatest structures in the world. It has an area of 1800 sq.ft. There are 7- storied minarets in the four corners of the building. There is a huge dome in the center.
III. Activities:
1. Collect pictures of the various momuments at Hampi.
2. Read the books which describe the Vijayadashami celebrations on Mahanavami platform at Hampi.
3. Listen to the stories of Tenali Rama from your elders and write them down.
IV. Projects:
1. Visit Hampi and write an essay on the monuments.
2. Write an essay on the market system at Hampi during the Vijayanagara period.
