NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Chapter 17 India, a Home to Many (PDF) – 2027

India became a home for people from many lands because of its culture of acceptance and inclusion. Values like vasudhaiva kutumbakam (“the whole world is family”), atithi devo bhava (“a guest is like God”) and compassion were put into practice: rulers gave newcomers land, shelter and the freedom to follow their own faith. Some came fleeing persecution; others, like Arab and Armenian merchants, came for trade and a good life.

They were persecuted at home for their faith — forced conversions, special religious taxes, destruction of places of worship, or being branded heretics — and India was known as a safe haven where they could practise their faith without fear. Jews, Syriac Christians, Parsis and Baha’is fled religious persecution; Polish orphans fled the Second World War; Tibetans came after China took over Tibet.

Indian society let newcomers keep their own faith while taking part in local life. India already had many languages, faiths and customs, so there was no single mould a newcomer had to fit. Its culture of peaceful coexistence, and values like atithi devo bhava, meant guests were honoured, not merely tolerated. So communities kept their religion (the Parsi fire at Udvada, the Kochi synagogue) and took on Indian dress, language and customs.

For letting him in: it is midnight and pouring, and he could fall ill or be in danger; atithi devo bhava — a guest is like God; we would want help if we were stranded.
Against: we cannot check his story; the safety of children and elders comes first; a wrong decision at night is hard to undo.
Our decision: help him carefully — call the police helpline, check his identity card, and give him the verandah, a hot drink and a phone.

Yes, similar arguments apply, but on a much bigger scale. For: refugees have fled war or persecution and cannot go home, so helping them is a duty (atithi devo bhava). Against: a country must think of security, and of whether there is enough housing, work and school space. Unlike a family at midnight, a country can check, register and organise help — as India did for the Polish orphans and the Tibetan refugees.

Yes, it is the same place — the synagogue at Kochi. Fig. 5.2 is a painting that hangs inside the synagogue. It shows the same golden railing round the central platform, blue-and-white tiles, hanging lamps and the decorated cabinet for the Torah on the far wall that we see in the photograph, Fig. 5.3. The board under it reads: “The Maharajah of Travancore presenting a gold crown for the Torah in 1805.”

To honour the Jewish community and its faith. A gold crown for the Torah, the Jews’ holy book, showed that the Maharaja respected their religion and accepted them as a valued part of society, not as outsiders. Indian rulers had long made gifts to places of worship; this gift to a synagogue shows the welcome the Jews found in India — earlier, the Raja of Kochi had granted them land free of cost.

The family looks completely Indian. The women wear saris with the end drawn over the head, with bangles, necklaces and earrings; the men wear long buttoned coats and caps; the children sit barefoot and cross-legged in front, holding books or slates. Their dress and way of life are local, yet they are still a Jewish family — they kept their faith while becoming part of Indian society over many centuries.

The faith is Christian, but the wedding customs are those of Kerala. The ceremony is in a church, led by a priest, and the bride wears a white veil. But she wears a golden silk sari and gold jewellery like other Kerala brides; the groom ties a thread with a small gold pendant round her neck; and a red-and-gold cloth is spread over her head — local Indian wedding customs taken into a Christian service.

It meant that the Parsis would mix into the kingdom like sugar in milk — without pushing anyone out or causing trouble — and would make life there sweeter. The full jug said “the kingdom is full”; the sugar dissolving without spilling promised that the newcomers would fit in, blend with the local people and enrich society. The Raja understood and gave them a place to settle.

Yes — most of them look familiar. The bride and the women around her wear saris with the end drawn over the head; the bride wears gold jewellery; one woman holds out a bangle, another fastens an ornament at her neck, a third holds a garland of white flowers; silver vessels and folded clothes lie on a table. Women of the family dressing the bride together is a familiar Indian wedding scene.

Parsi culture has become well integrated into Indian culture. A Parsi bride is dressed in a sari, with jewellery and flowers, by the women of her family — just like brides in other Indian homes. So the Parsis took on local dress and customs while keeping their own faith and sacred fire. As the chapter says, they “combined their ancient traditions with those of the local culture.”

The Siddis show a fusion of African and Indian traditions. African: the dancers’ tall headdresses, face paint, bead strings, skirts of long strands and the drum (Fig. 5.11) — the chapter speaks of their “African-style drumming”. Indian: the nose stud, bangles and covered head of the women (Figs. 5.10, 5.12), sitting cross-legged on the ground (Fig. 5.12), everyday clothes (Fig. 5.9) and the flower in a dancer’s hair (Fig. 5.11).

Distinctly Indian features: (1) the head covered with the end of a sari or a dupatta (Figs. 5.10, 5.12); (2) a nose stud (Fig. 5.10); (3) bangles (Figs. 5.11, 5.12); (4) a flower worn in the hair (Fig. 5.11); (5) sitting cross-legged on the ground (Fig. 5.12). Beyond the pictures, the Siddis speak regional Indian languages and follow Hinduism, Islam or Christianity.

In Kochi there is a synagogue in Jew Town. The Jewish families there came in different waves, and the Raja of Kochi granted them land free of cost. Their experience had two sides: they were safe, could build a synagogue and were honoured by rulers; but they were always a small community far from their first home, and many families later moved away.

India earned this reputation because its values and its actions matched. Its schools of thought taught sarve bhavantu sukhinah (“may all creatures be happy”), atithi devo bhava (“a guest is like God”) and compassion. Over many centuries, rulers and governments acted on them — sheltering Jews, Syriac Christians, Parsis, Armenians, Polish orphans and Tibetans. Word of this spread, so persecuted people came to see India as a safe place.

Sample answer (one page of the manuscript):
Title: “Every town our town”
Story: Every summer my grandmother keeps a pot of water and a tumbler outside our gate for anyone who passes — the postman, a labourer or a stranger. She never asks who a thirsty person is.
Value: atithi devo bhava — a stranger is treated like one of our own.
Source: my grandmother.

People came to India for two main reasons. Some fled persecution in their homelands — Jews, Syriac Christians, Parsis and Baha’is, and in modern times Polish orphans and Tibetans. Others came for trade and a better life — Arab and Armenian merchants. The Siddis were different: they were brought by force as slaves. India became home to all of them.

These values made Indians treat newcomers as family and as guests. Vasudhaiva kutumbakam — “the whole world is family”; atithi devo bhava — “a guest is like God”; sarve bhavantu sukhinah — “may all creatures be happy”. Because of them, even small communities felt secure and kept their traditions for centuries: the Parsis’ sacred fire still burns at Udvada, the Kochi synagogue is still in use, and Tibetan monasteries flourish in Karnataka.

The world today faces wars, climate change, increasing inequality and discrimination. The Indian idea that all humankind is one family can help: a family settles quarrels instead of fighting, shares what it has, looks after its weaker members and shuts no one out. If nations saw one another this way, they could work together on these problems.

Answer (to go with your map): Most communities came by sea across the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean — Jews, Arabs, Parsis and Siddis, and some Syriac Christians and Armenians — facing storms and depending on the monsoon winds. Others came overland, across the deserts, dry plateaus and mountains of West Asia and Iran. The Tibetans crossed the Himalaya, with its high passes, snow and cold.

The key values are: (1) vasudhaiva kutumbakam — the whole world is family; (2) atithi devo bhava — a guest is like God; (3) sarve bhavantu sukhinah — may all creatures be happy; (4) compassion (karuṇā) and loving-kindness; (5) “no one is a stranger”; (6) peaceful coexistence and acceptance of many faiths. Because of these, India welcomed newcomers and let them keep their own faith.

• Malik Ambar (Siddi/Habshi, of Ethiopian origin) — brought to India as a slave, he rose to lead the army and government of the Ahmadnagar kingdom in the Deccan and fought the Mughals.
• Verghese Kurien (Syrian Christian, Kerala) — led the ‘White Revolution’ that made India the world’s largest milk producer.
• Nissim Ezekiel (Bene Israel Jew, Mumbai) — a leading Indian poet in English.
• Hirabai Lobi (Siddi, Gujarat) — helped Siddi women with banking and livelihoods; Padma Shri, 2023.

Sample plan: Form up to ten groups, one for each community in the chapter (Bene Israel, Cochin Jews, Syriac Christians, Parsis, Arab merchants, Siddis, Armenians, Baha’is, Polish refugees, Tibetans). Each group finds out where and when the community came from, why it left, where it settled, what it kept and what it gave India. Each group presents through drama, a poster, a song or a painting — for example, the Parsi group acts out the milk-and-sugar legend.