[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 23 June 2022 – Ancient & Medieval India – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: b)

Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were taxes conceived during the times of the Shivaji.

‘Chauth’ means basically 1/4th i.e 25% of gross revenue or produce to be paid to jagirdars of Maratha Empire from hostile or alien state. In return the state paying the tax would get an assurance of non-aggression from the Maratha army against the enemy state.

‘Sardeshmukhi’ is an additional 10% tax levied upon the collected ‘Chauth’. The reasons for the additional tax was due to the King claiming hereditary rights upon the tax collection.

Solution: b)

• The temple building activity further gained momentum during the Vijayanagar rule. The chief characteristics of the Vijayanagara architecture were the construction of tall Raya Gopurams or gateways and the Kalyana mandapam with carved pillars in the temple premises.
• The sculptures on the pillars were carved with distinctive features. The horse was the most common animal found in these pillars.
• There were a number of seaports on the Malabar coast, the chief being Cannanore. Commercial contacts with Arabia, Persia, South Africa and Portugal on the west and with Burma, Malay peninsula and China on the east flourished. The chief items of exports were cotton and silk clothes, spices, rice, iron, saltpeter and sugar.
• The imports consisted of horses, pearls, copper, coral, mercury, China silk and velvet clothes. The art of shipbuilding had developed. Different languages such as Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil flourished in the regions. There was a great development in Sanskrit and Telugu literature.
• The peak of literary achievement was reached during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya. He himself was a scholar in Sanskrit and Telugu.

Solution: d)

• The Bahmani Sultanate was a Muslim state of the Deccan in South India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms. It was the first independent Islamic Kingdom in South India.
• Some members of the dynasty became well-versed in that language and composed its literature in Persian language.
• The craftspersons of Bidar then were so famed for their inlay work on copper and silver that it came to be known as

Solution: c)

The amara-nayakas were military commanders who were given territories to govern. They collected taxes and other dues from peasants, craftspersons and traders in the area. They retained part of the revenue for personal use and for maintaining a stipulated contingent of horses and elephants. These contingents provided the Vijayanagara kings with an effective fighting force with which they brought the entire southern peninsula under their control. The amara-nayakas sent tribute to the king annually and personally appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their loyalty.

Solution: d)

Some texts suggest that Motupalli was an important sea-port in the kingdom of Ganpati (an important Kakatiya ruler), frequented by foreign merchants.