Page 17 - SST Class 07

Kannada languages. Kamban wrote the Ramayana pond, deep lakes river etc. Kaveri river was
,
in Tamil. Pampa Ponna and Ranna were the three especially used for this purpose.
famous Kannada poets known as three gems of
Kannada literature . The Chola rulers used both The temples were rich, so their resources were
Tamil and Sanskrit in their official work. invested in agriculture. The barren lands were
alloted to such people who promised to cultivate
Trade and Commerce them.

Trade flourished through land as well as sea. The As the population was increasing, it became the
merchants had extensive trade not only within the chief concern of the Chola rulers to augment
Indian subcontinent but also with China, South- production on land. They also carried out an
East Asia and western Asia. The traders were the elaborate survey of land in order to fix the
members of guilds which provided its members government share of the land revenue. And in case
more money to trade on a large scale. They also of failure of crops due to drought or heavy rains,
maintained caravans for carrying their goods which the land revenue was exempted.
were armed to provide security to the goods being
carried. The traders were called as chettis or The Cholas had a strong army and navy. This helped
chettiyars . them to extend their power and Indian culture to
the islands of the South-East Asia. The Chola army
Society had three main divisions—the elephantry, cavalry

The king and the members of the royal family and infantry. It is estimated that there are 150,000
occupied the highest position in the society. They soldiers and 60,000 elephants in the Chola army.
lived in palatial buildings and led a luxurious life. The horses were imported from Arabia to
The Brahmins and the merchants also held a strengthen the cavalry.
highly respected positions in the society. Even
some Brahmins were alloted tax free lands called Activity
brahmadeya . The women held a respectful
position in the society. They were imparted high Make a list of the important temples of the Chola
position. The peasants and the labourers were empire and collect their pictures and other
often very poor. And Shudras were treated as important information about them.
untouchables.
TURKISH INVASIONS
F ind Outind Out The Arabs were the first Muslim invaders to set

Find out the condition of the lowest castes under their sights on the subcontinent. However, they
the Cholas. did not get too far into India. The Turks laid the
foundation of Muslim rule in India. They raided
Education
the subcontinent in the 10th century AD.
The Chola kings were great patron of literature and Mahmud of Ghazni
gave grants to educational institutions. The
Brahmins taught the pupils in the temples. Mahmud of Ghazni
Sanskrit and Tamil were the main languages taught (998-1030 CE) also
in this period. The Chola rulers encouraged the called Mahmud
study of grammar, astrology, psychology and other Ghaznavi was a Turkish
sciences. conqueror who
established his empire
Irrigation Facilities—Agrarian Expansion
in Ghazni (present-day
The agrarian expansion was remarkable during the Afghanistan). He made
Chola period. They not only reclaimed barren land seventeen raids into
and made it fit for cultivation but also undertook India between 1000 and Mahmud Ghaznavi
irrigation measures through tanks, canals, fish 1027 CE. Mahmud had no interest in building an
New Kings and Kingdoms (AD 700 – AD 1200)
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