History Quiz: Revision |16 May, 2021

Provinces under the Peshwas were of various sizes. Larger provinces were under the provincial governors called Sar-subahdars. The divisions in the provinces were termed Subahs and Pranths.

• Deshmukhs and Deshpandes were district officers who were in charge of accounts and were to observe the activities of Mamlatdars and Kamavistars. It was a system of checks and balances.
• The village was the basic unit of administration and was self-supportive.
• The Patel was the chief village officer and was responsible for remitting revenue collections to the centre.
• He was not paid by the government. His post was hereditary. The Patel was helped by the Kulkarni or accountant and record-keeper.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Serfoji II was a remarkable ruler. He was educated by the German Christian missionary Friedrich Schwartz, Serfoji.

• Similarly, Serfoji II turned out to be a well-known practitioner of Western science and medicine. Yet he was a devoted keeper of Indian traditions.
• He mastered several European languages and had an impressive library of books in every branch of learning.

• Serfoji’s modernising projects included the establishment of a printing press (the first press for Marathi and Sanskrit) and enrichment of the Saraswati Mahal Library.
• His most innovative project, however, was the establishment of free modern public schools run by his court, for instruction in English and the vernacular languages.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Serfoji II established Dhanvantari Mahal, a research institution that produced herbal medicine for humans and animals. Maintaining case-sheets of patients was introduced.

• Physicians of modern medicine, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha schools undertook research on drugs and herbs for medical cure. They produced eighteen volumes of research material.
• Serfoji II was a patron of traditional Indian arts like dance and music. He authored Kumarasambhava Champu, Devendra Kuravanji, and Mudra rakshaschaya.

• He introduced western musical instruments like clarinet, and violin in Carnatic music. He is also credited with popularising the unique Thanjavur style of painting.
• Serfoji was interested in painting, gardening, coin-collecting, martial arts and patronized chariot-racing, hunting and bull-fighting.
• He created the first zoological garden in Tamilnadu in the Thanjavur palace premises.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Akbar’s period, 1556 to 1605, was the period of great rulers. His nearest contemporary was Elizabeth of England. Shakespeare was living around this time.

• Henry IV of France, first ruler of the bourbon dynasty, and Abbas the Great of Persia, the strongest ruler of the Safavid dynasty, were ruling their kingdoms during his period.

• The revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish rule in Europe that commenced during this period lasted for about eighty years and ended in 1648.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Some of the major religious figures like Vallabhacharya and his son Vitthalnath propagated a religion of grace; and Surdas, an adherent to this sect, wrote Sur-Saravali in the local language. Eknath and Tukaram were Bhakti poets from Maharashtra.

The Dasakuta movement, a bhakti movement in Karnataka, popularised by Vyasaraya, turned out to be a lower-class movement.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The political integration of the country with efficient maintenance of law and order ensured brisk trade and commerce.

• The surplus was carried to different parts of the country through rivers, and through the roads on ox and camel drawn carts.
• Banjaras were specialised traders who carried goods in a large bulk over long distances. Bengal was the chief exporting centre of rice, sugar, muslin, silk and food grains.
• The Coromandel Coast was reputed for its textile production. Kashmiri shawls and carpets were distributed from Lahore which was an important centre of handicraft production.

• The movement of goods was facilitated by letters of credit called hundi. The network of sarais enabled the traders and merchants to travel to various places.
• The traders came from all religious communities: Hindus, Muslims and Jains. The Bohra Muslims of Gujarat, Marwaris of Rajasthan, Chettiars on Coromandel coast, and Muslims of Malabar were prominent trading communities.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Mewar and Marwar were the two Rajput kingdoms that defied the Mughal Empire.

• After the death of Rana Udai Singh, his son Rana Pratap Singh refused to acknowledge Akbar’s suzerainty and continued to fight the Mughals till his death in 1597.
• The Battle of Haldighati in 1576 was the last pitched battle between the Mughal forces and Rana Pratap Singh.
• In Marwar (Jodhpur), the ruler Chandra Sen, son of Maldeo Rathore, resisted the Mughals till his death in 1581, though his brothers fought on the side of the Mughals.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Sur Das lived at the court of Akbar and was popularly known as the blind bard of Agra. Sur Das is believed to have been a disciple of Vallabacharya who was a Vaishnava preacher in the Sultanate period.

• Vallabhacharya was the founder of Pushtimarga (way of grace). Sur Das preached religion of love and devotion to a personal God.
• He wrote inspiring and moving poems, Hindi poems about Lord Krishna. Krishna’s bal lila constitutes the first great theme of Sur Das poetry.
• According to him, love is a sublimated theme representing the irresistible attraction of the gopis of Brindavan towards Krishna.
• The intensity of passion displayed by the gopis is an expression of the natural attraction of the human spirit towards the divine soul.

• His popular works are Sur Sagar, Sur Saravali and Sahitya Lehari. His monumental work Sur Sagar or Sur’s Ocean is a story of Lord Krishna from the birth to the departure for Mathura.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The Vijayanagara kings issued a large number of gold coins called Varaha (also called Pon in Tamil and Honnu in Kannada).

• These gold coins have the images of various Hindu deities and animals like the bull, the elephant and the fabulous gandaberunda (a double eagle, sometimes holding an elephant in each beak and claw).

• The legend contains the king’s name either in Nagari or in Kannada script.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The world famous Khajuraho temple complex consisting of many temples including the Lakshmana temple, Vishwanatha temple and Kandariya Mahadeva temple was built by the Chandelas of Bundelkhand who ruled from Khajuraho.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.