NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Chapter 16 Turning Tides: 11th and 12th Centuries (PDF) – 2027

Because these two centuries saw both a major change and strong continuity.

• Change: Turkic invasions went much deeper into north India than the earlier Arab raids. Mahmūd of Ghazni only raided, but Muhammad Ghūrī conquered Delhi, and foreign rule began in parts of north India. Centres of learning such as Nālandā were destroyed.
• Continuity: large parts of north India and all of south India stayed free, and trade, farming, temple-building, literature and science carried on.

New powers: the Ghaznavids and Ghūrids (Turkic powers from Afghanistan), and Indian dynasties such as the Senas, Eastern Gangas, Kākatīyas, Hoysalas, Paramāras, Chāhamānas and Chaulukyas.

• Economic: agriculture was the mainstay, helped by irrigation; trade with China and Southeast Asia grew, backed by merchant guilds.
• Military: large armies with horses and elephants; the invaders’ fast cavalry with mounted archers; a strong Chola navy.
• Administrative: tribute from vassals and taxes from traders; Muhammad Ghūrī’s more centralised system gave officers temporary land assignments for revenue and military service.

• Architecture: the Bṛihadīśhvara temple at Thanjavur (Cholas); the Kandāriyā Mahādeva temple at Khajuraho (Chandellas); the Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebidu; the Jagannātha temple at Puri (Eastern Gangas); Bhoja’s Bhojeshwar temple.
• Science: Bhāskarāchārya’s Līlāvatī, Bījagaṇita and Siddhāntaśhiromaṇi.
• Literature: Jayadeva’s Gītagovindam; Bhoja’s Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra; Someśhvara III’s Mānasollāsa; Basavaṇṇa’s Kannada vachanas.
• Thought: Rāmānujāchārya’s viśhiṣhṭādvaita and Basavaṇṇa’s Lingāyat movement.

Rugged, bare mountain terrain. High, steep, rocky slopes close in on both sides, with almost no trees or fields. A narrow, winding track runs along the valley floor between them, and a small watchtower stands on a crag above it. It is a narrow mountain pass through the Hindu Kush.

Advantages: it is a ready-made route through the Hindu Kush that leads straight down to the Indus plains, and the narrow valley protects the army’s sides.

Dangers: the army must move in a long, thin column where cavalry cannot charge; enemies on the heights can ambush it with arrows and rocks; if the pass is blocked there is no other road; and food, fodder and water are scarce.

Advantages: it was the shortest trade link between the Subcontinent and Central Asia, used for at least 2,500 years; caravans knew its halts and could travel together; rulers who controlled it protected and taxed it; monks and ideas also travelled along it.

Dangers: robbers could attack from the heights; snow, landslides and lack of water and fodder made the journey hard; and wars could close the road.

Even a scholar in Mahmūd’s own camp admired the Hindu Shāhis. We can conclude that (1) they were noble rulers who always tried to do what was good and right; (2) Mahmūd’s conquest wiped out their dynasty completely; and (3) al-Bīrūnī was a fair observer. Praise of a defeated enemy by someone on the winning side is strong, trustworthy evidence, because he had nothing to gain from it.

So that the temple would belong to the people themselves. Rebuilt with donations from ordinary people across India, it became a symbol of the people’s own faith and resilience after centuries of destruction. Also, India had just adopted its Constitution, under which the government does not use public money to build places of worship of any one religion, and public funds were needed for urgent needs after Partition.

The herd had 1008 elephants.

Yes. The Western Chālukyas ruled the Deccan from Kalyāṇī (modern Basavakalyan), and the Eastern Chālukyas ruled coastal Andhra from Vengi. In this period the Eastern Chālukyas were drawn into the Chola sphere through marriage alliances, while the Western Chālukyas fought the Cholas over Vengi, faded away, and were replaced by the Kākatīyas and the Hoysalas.

The king is the figure on the right; the guru is the figure on the left. The guru is older, with a white beard, an ascetic’s piled-up hair and few ornaments. The king is young and beardless, with a tall crown, earrings and a necklace, and stands just behind the guru.

Humility and deep respect for his guru. Though he is a great king, he stands quietly just behind his teacher and lets the guru take the front place. His face is calm and gentle, with a slight smile, and he carries no weapon and makes no commanding gesture. The painting shows a powerful ruler as a devoted disciple who honours spiritual knowledge.

Two more clues:

1. “All those Brāhmans had their heads shaven” — Buddhist monks shave their heads, so these ‘Brāhmans’ were really Buddhist monks.
2. “There were a great number of books there” — a fort does not hold a great number of books; a university library does.

Together with the word bihār (vihāra), these clues show that the ‘fortress’ was a Buddhist monastery-university — a mahāvihāra like Nālandā.

Because Basava believed that every person has equal spiritual worth, whatever their caste, wealth, gender or language. Bringing all kinds of people together put this belief into practice. It broke down social barriers, let people learn from one another’s experience, and allowed ideas to be tested in open discussion instead of being accepted only from people of high rank.

People today could discuss (1) water and the environment — sharing water, keeping rivers and lakes clean, handling waste; (2) equality — fair treatment of girls and boys, and of people of every caste, religion and language; (3) education and jobs for everyone; and (4) speaking respectfully to one another, including online. Everyone affected, not only experts, should have a voice.

Lessons from the Anubhava Maṇḍapa:

1. Judge people by their inner worth, not by caste, wealth or rank.
2. Give everyone — women and men of every background — an equal voice.
3. Use simple language that everyone can understand.
4. Settle differences by respectful discussion, not by force.

A society that follows these habits becomes more just and civil.

It was a turning point because the Turkic invasions went much deeper than earlier ones and, for the first time, foreign rule began in parts of north India (Delhi, after 1192). Yet most of India stayed independent, and trade, art, literature and learning continued. The ‘tide’ turned, but Indian life did not stop.

Mahmūd of Ghazni raided India but did not rule it. After defeating the Hindu Shāhis (1008), he led 17 campaigns — to Mathura, Kannauj and Somnath among others — plundering temples, killing civilians and carrying off prisoners. After each raid he went back to Ghazni; he set up no permanent base beyond Punjab.

Muhammad Ghūrī came to conquer, not just to raid. Defeated in 1178 by the Chaulukyas and in 1191 by Pṛithvīrāja III at Tarain, he won the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 and took Delhi. His generals, Qutb-ud-din Aibak and Bakhtiyār Khiljī, extended his rule to Bihar and Bengal; Bakhtiyār destroyed Nālandā and Vikramaśhilā, which hastened the decline of Buddhism in India.

The Turkic invasions did not reach most of India. All of south India — the Cholas, Pāṇḍyas, Hoysalas, Kākatīyas and Western Chālukyas — and kingdoms such as the Eastern Gangas and Kāmarūpa stayed free. These kingdoms often fought one another (the Cholas and Western Chālukyas fought over Vengi), but they also made alliances: through marriages, and sometimes together against an invader, as when Indian rulers helped the Hindu Shāhis against Mahmūd.

Life and culture carried on despite the invasions. Trade with China and Southeast Asia kept growing, merchant guilds survived, and agriculture remained the base of the economy. Scholars and poets such as Jayadeva, Bhoja and Bhāskarāchārya, and great temples at Khajuraho, Belur, Halebidu and Thanjavur, belong to this period. Indian culture also spread abroad; Angkor Wat in Cambodia, first dedicated to Viṣhṇu, is the best example.

Because foreign rule began in parts of north India, while most of Indian life continued — a transition has both change and continuity.

Change: (1) Muhammad Ghūrī captured Delhi (1192) and left generals to rule — raiding became ruling, leading to the Delhi Sultanate. (2) Nālandā and Vikramaśhilā were destroyed, which hastened the decline of Buddhism in India.

Continuity: (1) Trade with China and Southeast Asia kept growing. (2) Temple-building and learning went on — for example the Hoysala temples at Belur and Bhāskarāchārya’s Līlāvatī.

Sample ‘star of dynasties’ for the 11th and 12th centuries:

The north-west arm holds the Hindu Shāhis and the invaders who came from that side, the Ghaznavids and Ghūrids; the far south holds the Cholas and Pāṇḍyas. Every dynasty in the chapter appears on one arm.

Sample tour (drawn on an outline map of India):

Key: 1 Ghazna (Ghaznavids) · 2 Khyber Pass (Hindu Shāhis) · 3 Tarain and Dhillikā/Delhi (Chāhamānas vs Muhammad Ghūrī) · 4 Mathura · 5 Ajayameru (Chāhamānas) · 6 Aṇahilavāḍa (Chaulukyas) · 7 Somnath · 8 Dhārā (Paramāras) · 9 Khajuraho (Chandellas) · 10 Kannauj (last Pratihāras) · 11 Nālandā · 12 Nādīya (Senas) · 13 Prāgjyotiṣhapura (Kāmarūpa) · 14 Puri (Eastern Gangas) · 15 Vengi (Eastern Chālukyas) · 16 Orugallu (Kākatīyas) · 17 Kalyāṇī (Western Chālukyas) · 18 Belur and Halebidu (Hoysalas) · 19 Madurai (Pāṇḍyas) · 20 Tanjāvūr (Cholas), then by sea to Śhrīvijaya.

About 3,200 km one way (roughly 3,000–3,500 km).

(a) – (iii), (b) – (iv), (c) – (v), (d) – (i), (e) – (ii)

Eastern Gangas – Konark Sun temple; Chandellas – Kandāriyā Mahādeva temple (Khajuraho); Paramāras – Bhojeshwar temple (built by Bhoja); Hoysalas – Belur (their capital Velāpura); Cholas – Bṛihadīśhvara temple (built by Rājarāja).

Sample table (dynasties of Chapter 3 compared with this chapter):

(1) Why they mattered: centres like Nālandā were great Buddhist universities with huge libraries holding lakhs of manuscripts. Students and teachers came from China, Tibet and Southeast Asia, so these centres preserved Indian knowledge and spread it far and wide.

(2) Effect of their destruction: monks were killed, libraries burned and countless texts were lost. Teaching traditions broke, scholars fled to Tibet, and Buddhism declined in India. Learning continued elsewhere, but north India lost its greatest centres.

Mahmūd of Ghazni wanted wealth and glory: India’s temples held huge treasure, and writers of his time show he also wanted to spread his version of Islam. So he raided, looted and went back to Ghazni, set up no government beyond Punjab, and his gains did not last.

Muhammad Ghūrī wanted land and lasting power. So he captured Delhi, left generals such as Qutb-ud-din Aibak to rule, and set up a centralised system of land assignments — which grew into the Delhi Sultanate.