NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years provides solutions to all questions given in NCERT Textbook. Our expertly crafted solutions provide detailed, step-by-step answers to all textbook questions, making it easier for students to grasp complex concepts. By using our solutions, students can enhance their understanding, improve their problem-solving skills, and boost their confidence in the subject.

Chapter	Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years
Textbook	NCERT
Type of Material	NCERT Solutions
Class	7
Subject	Social Science – History
Section	Our Past – II
Useful for	Class 7 Studying Students
Session	2024-25
Solutions provided	Yes
Intext Questions	Solved
No. of Intext Questions	9
No. of Exercise Questions	12
Total Questions Solved	21
Important Link	NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science

Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years NCERT Solutions

INTEXT QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS

Page-2

Q. 1. Look at the areas in the interior of the subcontinent on Map 2 of the textbook. Are they as detailed as those on the coast? Follow the course of the river Ganga and see how it is shown. Why do you think there is a difference in the level of detail and accuracy between the coastal and inland areas in this map?

Ans. The level of detail and accuracy for the coastal areas is more as compared to inland areas because European sailors explored this area more as they navigated through sea routes.

Page-3

Q. 2. Can you think of any other words whose meanings change in different contexts?

Ans. Jana is a word whose context has changed with time. Earlier it was used for addressing people and later for land.

Page-4

Q.3. When was paper more expensive and easily available; in the thirteenth century or fourteenth century?
Ans. The paper was although more expensive but, easily available in the fourteenth century. A number of chronicles and literature were written during that century.

Page – 8

Q. 4. Of the technological, economic, social and cultural changes described in this section, which do you think were the most significant in the town or village in which you live?
Ans. The emergence of the spinning wheel was the most significant technological change which brought a boom in the handloom industry.

Page – 10

Q. 5. Why do you think the rulers made such claims?

Ans. The rulers made such claims to depict themselves as valiant, victorious and warriors.

Q. 6. Did you notice that the names by which languages are known to have changed with time?

Ans. The names of languages that changed over time are as follows:
Lahori: Punjabi
Telangani: Telugu
Gujari: Gujarati
Mabari: Tamil
Gauri: Bengali
Hindawi: Hindi

Page – 11

Q. 7. Find out whether and for how long your state was part of these pan-regional empires.

Ans. Haryana was a part of the pan-regional empire for over a thousand years.

Q. 8. Do you remember what Amir Khusrau had to say regarding Sanskrit knowledge and Brahmanas?
Ans. Amir Khusrau explained that Sanskrit did not belong to any region. It was an old language and referred to Sanskrit as “Common people do not know it, only the Brahmanas do.”

Imagine

Q. 9. You are a historian. Choose one of the themes mentioned in this chapter such as economic, social or political history and discuss why you think it would be interesting to find out the history of that theme.

Ans. I think the political history of that time is very interesting. One change that occurred during that period was the entrance of foreign rulers. Some of them were more interested in getting wealth than Mahmud Ghaznavi, but invaders after him settled themselves as the inhabitant of the subcontinent. Most of the area of the subcontinent was under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate later under the rule of the Mughals. They established political unity in the country although there were some disturbances in different regions, under the rule of the Mughals a great empire formed.

EXERCISE QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS

Let’s recall

Q. 1. Who was considered a ‘foreigner’ in the past? AD

Ans. In the medieval period, a ‘foreigner’ referred to any stranger who appeared in a given village or was not a part of that society or culture.

Q. 2. State whether true or false:
(a) We do not find inscriptions for the period after 700.
(b) The Marathas asserted their political importance during this period.
(c) Forest dwellers were sometimes pushed out of their lands with the spread of agricultural settlements.
(d) Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din Balban controlled Assam, Manipur and Kashmir.

Ans. (a) False, (b) True, (c) True, (d) False.

Q. 3. Fill in the blanks:

(a) Archives are places where _________are kept.
(b) _________was a fourteenth-century chronicler.
(c) _________, _________, _________, _________ and _________ were some of the new crops introduced into the subcontinent during this period.

Ans. (a) manuscripts, (b) Ziauddin Barani, (c) Potatoes, corn, chillies, tea and coffee.

Q. 4. List some of the technological changes associated with this period.

Ans. Some technological changes during the medieval period are as follows:
(i) Persian wheel in irrigation
(ii) Spinning wheel in weaving
(iii) Firearms in combat

Q. 5. What were some major religious developments during this period?

Ans. The emergence of the idea of Bhakti and the arrival of Islam were major developments during the medieval period.

Let’s understand

Q. 6. In what ways has the meaning of the term ‘Hindustan’ changed over the centuries?

Ans. (i) The term ‘Hindustan’ was first used in the 13th century, by Minhaj-i-Siraj. He used this term in a political sense for lands that were part of the dominion of the Delhi Sultanate.
(ii) In the early 16th century, this term was used by Babur to describe the geography, the fauna and the culture of the inhabitants of the subcontinent.
In the fourteenth century, the poet Amir Khusrau used the word ‘Hind’ for the same. While the idea of a geographical and cultural entity like ‘India’ existed, the term Hindustan did not carry the political and national meanings which we associate with it today.
(iii) Today we understand the term ‘Hindustan’ as ‘India’, the modern nation-state.

Q. 7. How were the affairs of the Jatis regulated?

Ans. (i) Jatis formed their own rules and regulations to manage their conduct.
(ii) The rules and regulations were enforced by an assembly of elders, described in some areas as Jati Panchayats.

(iii) Jatis were also required to follow the rules and regulations of their village; several villages were governed by chieftains.

Q. 8. What does the term ‘pan-regional’ empire mean?

Ans. ‘The Pan-regional’ rule applies to the trends of extending the empire to the region beyond one’s own state. Many regional states emerged along with the decline of the Mughal empire in the eighteenth century. Across most of the subcontinent, the regions were left with the legacies of the big and small states that had ruled over them.
Due to this, chances of sharing different traditions in the realms of governance, economy, elite cultures and language were brightened. Through the thousand years between 700 and 1750, the character of the different regions did not grow in isolation. People learnt a lot about new things, manners, etc., without losing their own culture and identity.

Let’s discuss

Q. 9. What are the difficulties historians face in using manuscripts?

Ans. There was no printing press in the early days, so manuscripts were handwritten in those days. The scribes used to copy down those manuscripts and they used palm leaves for writing the manuscripts. They presented their version in their own way, as many of the words and sentences were beyond their understanding. They also introduced small changes in manuscripts. These small changes grew over centuries of copying until manuscripts of the same text became substantially different from one another. Historians interpreted the facts as per the manuscripts they got. As a result, historians have to read different manuscript versions of the same text to guess the facts.

Q. 10. How do historians divide the past into periods? Do they face any problems in doing so?

Ans. Historians do not consider time just as the passing of hours, days or years. They make the study of time easier by dividing the past into large segments on the basis of their characteristics. These large segments are known as periods.

Let’s do

Q. 11. Compare either Map 1 (Page No. 1.) or Map 2 (NCERT Text Book P. No. 22) with the present day map of the subcontinent, listing as many similarities and differences as you can find.)

Ans. Map 2 was made by a French cartographer.
Similarities: The interior areas which are shown on the map are almost the same as the present-day map.
Differences:
(i) Many areas are not part of India now. They are Pakistan, Nepal and Burma.
(ii) The course of the river Ganga has also changed.

Q. 12. Find out where records are kept in your village or city. Who writes these records? Is there any archive? Who manages it? What kinds of documents are stored there? Who are the people who use it?

Ans. In our city, records are kept in Tehsil. Government officials write these records. Yes, the Archive Manager manages it. Documents related to old history are stored there. Historians and research scholars of history use it.

Learning Outcomes

• Origin of cartography and earliest maps
• Learn about the new and old terminologies
• Understand the source of knowing the history and historians
• Know about new social and political groups
• Learn about the old and new religions
• Understand categorisation of time into periods

Also access

• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 8 Eighteenth-Century Political Formations
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 7 The Making of Regional Cultures
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 6 Devotional Paths to the Divine
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 5 Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 4 The Mughal Empire
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

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Topics covered in NCERT Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1

1.1	Knowing about the earliest maps
1.2	New and old terminologies
1.3	Historians and their sources
1.4	New Social and Political Groups
1.5	Region and Empire
1.6	Old and New religions
1.7	Periodisation of history

By referring to NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 1, students can quickly clarify difficult concepts. These solutions also ensure that students learn the correct answers to the exercise questions in their Class 7 Social Science NCERT textbook.

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