CBSE Class 7 Social Science Chapter 03 Empires And Kingdoms 6th To 10th Centuries MCQs Set 01

Answer: (C) Harṣhacharita and Kādambarī

Explanation:
Bāṇabhaṭṭa wrote both the Harṣhacharita, a biography of his patron Harṣha, and Kādambarī, an elaborate romantic novel later completed by his son. The Rājatarangiṇī was authored by Kalhaṇa about Kashmir, and Brahmasphutasiddhānta was Brahmagupta's mathematical treatise.

Answer: (B) To visit Buddhist sacred sites and learn doctrines from Indian teachers

Explanation:
Like Faxian before him, Xuanzang's motivation was religious and scholarly — he wanted to visit Buddhist holy places and learn from Indian teachers, eventually carrying back over 600 Sanskrit manuscripts to translate into Chinese.

Answer: (B) None of the three contesting powers achieved a lasting victory

Explanation:
Despite repeated wars through the 8th and 9th centuries among the Pālas, Gurjara-Pratīhāras and Rāṣhṭrakūṭas, the struggle remained indecisive, with fluctuating outcomes and no single dynasty securing permanent control of Kannauj.

Answer: (C) He tested prospective students before granting them admission

Explanation:
Each of Vikramaśhilā's six colleges had a 'scholar gatekeeper', or dvārapaṇḍita, who examined candidates before letting them enrol — reflecting how selective admission was at this Pāla-founded institution.

Answer: (C) Extending his empire across most of north India while devoted to Viṣhṇu

Explanation:
King Bhoja, also called Mihira and Ādi Varāha, built a Pratīhāra empire stretching from Punjab and Kathiawar to Kannauj, and was a devotee of Viṣhṇu. The Kailaśhanātha temple was commissioned by the Rāṣhṭrakūṭa king Krishna I, not Bhoja.

Answer: (B) It is an entire temple sculpted out of a single hillside rather than constructed brick by brick

Explanation:
Commissioned by the Rāṣhṭrakūṭa king Krishna I, the Kailaśhanātha temple was carved directly from a hillside at Ellora as a single gigantic sculpture, making it the largest rock-cut temple in India rather than a conventional built structure.

Answer: (B) He consulted eleven earlier chronicles along with inscriptions on temples and royal grants

Explanation:
Kalhaṇa explains that he examined eleven earlier works of former scholars and cross-checked them against inscriptions relating to temple consecrations and royal grants, using these sources to overcome fragmentary or erroneous accounts.

Answer: (B) Praises the Chālukya dynasty, especially Pulakeśhin II's victories, though not free of exaggeration

Explanation:
This 7th-century Sanskrit inscription glorifies the Chālukyas and Pulakeśhin II in ornate poetic style, but the chapter notes some of its claims are contradicted by other inscriptions, showing that such eulogies were not always historically precise.

Answer: (A) The Tungabhadra River became an unofficial boundary between the Pallavas and Chālukyas

Explanation:
After defeating Pulakeśhin II and taking Badami, Narasimhavarman I withdrew, leaving the Tungabhadra River as an unwritten boundary separating Pallava and Chālukya territory — a practical settlement rather than a formal treaty.

Answer: (B) It functioned as a seaport connecting Pallava trade with Southeast Asia

Explanation:
Excavations at Māmallapuram have uncovered ancient Chinese, Persian, and Roman coins, confirming its role as a bustling seaport linking Pallava trade networks to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, in addition to its fame for rock-cut temples.

Answer: (B) Vijayālaya established a new capital at Tanjāvūr, and his son Aditya I later defeated the Pallavas

Explanation:
Vijayālaya revived Chola fortunes in the 9th century by founding a capital at Tanjāvūr; his son Aditya I then expanded the kingdom by overthrowing the Pallavas, bringing much of Tamil Nadu under Chola control.

Answer: (C) It expressed a direct, personal bond with the divine in Tamil, open to people across social groups

Explanation:
The Ālvārs (devotees of Viṣhṇu) and Nāyanārs (devotees of Śhiva) composed Tamil devotional literature that stressed a personal relationship with god accessible to all, regardless of gender or social standing — a spark that helped spread bhakti practices across India.

Answer: (B) It laid down rules for arithmetic operations involving zero, negative numbers, and fractions

Explanation:
Brahmagupta set out systematic rules for handling zero, negative numbers and fractions in his major work, effectively laying groundwork for algebra; this text was later translated into Persian and Latin, influencing mathematics in the Arab world and Europe. The Fibonacci-type sequence is credited to Virahānka, and the first mathematics text independent of astronomy was authored by Mahāvīra.

Answer: (C) They shifted from being military invaders to becoming integrated members of Indian society

Explanation:
• Early 6th century: Hūṇa leaders pushed into the Ganga plains until defeated by the Aulikara dynasty
• By the 7th century: many Hūṇas served as soldiers or local administrators, with one even recorded on a temple council
• They adopted Sanskrit, Prakrit, Gupta-style titles, coin designs, and even Hindu religious symbols, showing full assimilation rather than continued conflict

Answer: (B) Continued resistance from Indian rulers confined Arab dominion to only a couple of small states in Sindh and Punjab

Explanation:
Despite initial military success, the Arabs faced persistent resistance — from Gurjara-Pratīhāra rulers like Nāgabhaṭa I to Kashmir's Lalitāditya Muktāpīda — and the geographer al-Istakhri noted that after three centuries their control remained restricted to just two small states in Sindh and Punjab.

Answer: (A) Sthāneśhvara

Explanation:
The Puṣhyabhūtis (also called the Vardhana dynasty) were originally based at Sthāneśhvara, present-day Thanesar in Haryana, before Harṣha shifted his seat of power to Kannauj.

Answer: (B) The people of Bengal selected him to end a period of disorder after Harṣha's death

Explanation:
Bengal had fallen into chaos following Harṣha's death, and an inscription says that the people themselves chose Gopāla around 750 CE to bring back stability, making him the founding Pāla ruler.

Answer: (C) He founded major monasteries such as Vikramaśhilā and Somapura

Explanation:
Dharmapāla founded Vikramaśhilā in Bihar and Somapura in present-day Bangladesh, and continued royal support for Nālandā, turning these monasteries into thriving centres of learning that drew students from far beyond India.

Answer: (B) He was strongly drawn to Jainism yet also patronised Hindu temples

Explanation:
Even though he is sometimes called a 'Jain king' for his personal inclination, Amoghavarṣha also supported Hindu temples, reflecting the broad-minded pattern of royal patronage seen across several dynasties of this era.

Answer: (B) A subordinate ruler or vassal who governed regions outside the king's directly controlled core territory

Explanation:
Sāmantas were tributary rulers essential to running an empire's outer regions, leading local armies and administration; but their loyalty could weaken along with central authority, and some, like the Rāṣhṭrakūṭas, eventually turned on their former overlords.

Answer: (B) Pulakeśhin I founds the dynasty at Vātāpi → Rāṣhṭrakūṭas replace them in the Deccan → a revival emerges later as the Western Chālukyas of Kalyāṇī

Explanation:
• Pulakeśhin I founded the Chālukya line in the mid-6th century with Vātāpi (Badami) as capital
• By the mid-8th century the Rāṣhṭrakūṭas had overthrown and replaced the Chālukyas in the Deccan
• A later revival from the 10th century onward is known as the Western Chālukyas, ruling from Kalyāṇī

Answer: (C) They wove local deities and regional myths into wider pan-Indian devotional cults centred on gods like Śhiva and Viṣhṇu

Explanation:
With their elaborate mythology and sacred geography, the Purāṇas helped bring local gods and regional traditions into larger, shared devotional cults, favouring personal bhakti over older Vedic sacrificial worship and centring religious life around temples and pilgrimage.

Answer: (B) The dynasty extended religious tolerance even to foreign faiths within their territory

Explanation:
Al-Masūdī's remarks show that this Rāṣhṭrakūṭa king respected and protected Islamic worship among Muslim residents of his kingdom, reflecting the wider pattern of religious pluralism that many rulers of this period practised toward different faiths.

Answer: (B) Through strategic alliances combined with ruthlessly removing rivals, including her own grandsons

Explanation:
Kalhaṇa describes Diddā as consolidating her rule through calculated alliances while also eliminating threats to her throne without mercy, even when they came from within her own family; despite this, she is also credited with founding towns and building temples.

Answer: (B) Communities regarded as 'impure' and subjected to discrimination

Explanation:
Literally meaning 'not to be touched', the term appears in a few texts pointing to prejudice against certain groups, a picture corroborated by Xuanzang's observation that butchers, fishers, and similar communities lived outside city walls in low-walled suburbs.