Ch – 9 Vital Villages, Thriving Towns

Let’s Recall

Q.1: Fill in the blanks:

a) Vellalar was a word used for large landowners in Tamil.

b) The gramabhojaka often got his land cultivated by the slaves.

c) Ploughmen were known as uzhavar in Tamil.

d) Most grihapatis were small landowners.

Q.2: Describe the functions of the gramabhojaka. Why do you think he was powerful ?

Ans: Gramabhojaka was powerful because he was often the largest landowner. He also functioned as a judge and sometimes as a policeman.

Q.3: List the crafts persons who would have been present in both villages and cities.

Ans: The crafts persons who would have been present in both villages and cities are:

• sculptors
• goldsmiths
• weavers
• blacksmiths
• basket weavers
• garland makers

Q.4: Choose the correct answer:

a) Ring wells were used for:

Ans: drainage

b) Punch marked coins were made of:

Ans: silver

c) Mathura was an important:

Ans: religious centre

d) Shrenis were associations of:

Ans: crafts persons

Let’s discuss

Q.5: Which of the iron tools shown on page 87 would have been important for agriculture ? What would the other tools have been used for ?

Ans: Sickle and axe would have been important for agriculture. The other tool (tongs) would have been used in cooking.

Q.6: Compare the drainage system in your locality with that of the cities mentioned in the lesson. What similarities and differences do you notice ?

Ans: The similarity between drainage in my locality and that of the cities mentioned in the lesson is that both are well-maintained system.

The difference between these two drainage system is that in our locality drainage pipes are made of concrete while the drainage pipes of the cities mentioned in the lesson were made of ceramic.