Class 7 History 4. Maharashtra before the Times of Shivaji Maharaj

Class 7 History 

4. Maharashtra before the Times of Shivaji Maharaj

1. Complete the Following Chart

Answer :

2. Write the Meaning

1. Budruk

Answer:To indicate two villages are separate, the terms Budruk and Khurd were used. The original village was named as Budruk and the new village was known as Khurd.

Example: Vadgaon Budruk and Vadgaon Khurd.

2. Balut

Answer:There were village artisans, with hereditary rights regarding their occupations. The artisans rendered service to the villagers and, in return the farmers tenants gave a share of their agricultural produce. This share was known as Baluta.

3. Vatan

Answer:The term ‘Vatan’ is Arabic. In medieval Maharashtra it meant hereditary and permanent right for which the holder need not pay any revenue.

3. Find Out and Write

1. People from Africa who had settled along the Konkan coastline - The Siddi of Africa.

2. The author of ‘Amratanubhav’ - Sant Dnyaneshwar.

3. Sant Tukaram’s place - Dehu village, near Pune.

4. He composed Bharuds - Sant Eknath.

5. He explained the importance of physical fitness - Ramdas Swami.

6. Women Sants - Sant Soyrabai, Sant Nirmalabai, Sant Muktabai, Sant Janabai, Sant Kanhopatra, Sant Bahinabai, Sant Siurkar.

4. Write About These Personalities and Their Work in Your Own Words

1. Sant Namdeo

Answer :(1) Sant Namdeo, a great Sant, laid the foundation of the Varkari movement.

(2) He was a versatile kirtankar and skilled organiser.

(3) He composed many abhangas– devotional verses.

(4) He travelled from village to village in Maharashtra to spread the message of Bhagwat Dharma and equality.

(5) He travelled to Punjab and his Hindi devotional verses were included in ‘Guru Granth Sahib’.

(6) He built a memorial of Sant Chokhamela at Pandharpur.

2. Sant Dnyaneshwar

Answer :(1) Sant Dnyaneshwar was the founder of the Varkari movement in Maharashtra.

(2) He translated Bhagwad Geeta into Bhavartha Deepika or Dnyaneshwari in simple Marathi.

(3) He also composed Amratanubhav and wrote many Abhangs and preached Bhakti Marg, the way of devotion to the common people.

(4) ‘Pasayadaan’ composed in Dnyaneshwari uplifts the mind.

(5) Though his life was spent in very adverse circumstances, he never lost calm of his mind or never harboured bitterness.

(6) His brothers Sant Sopandev, Sant Nivruttinath and sister Sant Muktabai, too, composed many devotional verses.

3. Sant Eknath

Answer :(1) Sant Eknath was a prominent saint associated with Bhakti movement.

(2) He had composed many Bharuds, Abhanga and Gavalans to preach the importance of devotion.

(3) He portrayed the life of common people in his work of Bhavarth Ramayana.

(4) He maintained that there was no need to renounce worldly matters for attaining Paramarth–the highest truth through his own conduct.

(5) He was proud of Marathi language and stated that it was not inferior to Sanskrit.

(6) He criticised those who hated other religions.

4. Sant Tukaram

Answer :(1) Sant Tukaram composed Tukaram Gatha which is a precious treasure of Marathi language. The Abhang compositions were very pleasing and lucid, reaching the greatest poetic height.

(2) He preached that the way to reach God was by loving the unhappy and the tormented ones.

(3) He put this idea into practice by drowning the papers in Indrayani river related to loans given to the people.

(4) He criticised hypocracy and blind faith and tried to link bhakti–devotion with morality.

(5) He faced the wrath of the orthodox who were opposed to his efforts to create awakening among the people and threw his abhangas in river Indrayani.

(6) He belonged to Dehu near Pune, but had devotees and followers from different castes and creeds who prescribed the treasure of his abhangs.

Q.5. Answer the Following

1. Why were droughts a great calamity for the people?

Answer :(1) A great famine of 1630 CE in Maharashtra caused acute shortage of food grains and forced people to migrate to faraway regions in search of a livelihood.

(2) Entire families, cattle and farm animals died.

(3) It devastated agriculture and industry and all financial transactions came to a standstill.

(4) It was a great challenge to bring back normalcy after devastation caused by the famines.