CBSE Class 7 Social Science Chapter 04 New Beginnings Cities And States MCQs Set 01

Answer: (B) Set foot and settled down

Explanation:
Janapada comes from jana (people) and pada (foot), referring to land where a clan had settled permanently rather than just a physical fort or law system.

Answer: (B) Fertile soil, nearby iron ore, and expanding trade routes favoured growth there

Explanation:
The chapter points to a combination of agricultural fertility, iron ore available in nearby hills, and growing trade networks as reasons so many states thrived in that belt.

Answer: (C) It added a water barrier around the fortification for defence

Explanation:
A moat was a deep, water-filled ditch running outside a fort's walls, adding an extra layer of protection beyond the fortification itself.

Answer: (B) It allowed farming to be carried out on a much larger scale

Explanation:
Iron tools spread widely by the late 2nd millennium BCE and enabled bigger, more efficient agricultural operations, which in turn supported growing populations and cities.

Answer: (B) Harappan civilisation declines, janapadas form, then mahajanapadas emerge

Explanation:
The sequence given is clear: Harappan cities disintegrated around the early 2nd millennium BCE, janapadas rose toward the end of that millennium, and mahajanapadas formed later by the 8th-7th centuries BCE.

Answer: (B) A fresh wave of city life emerging in the Ganga plains and neighbouring regions after a long gap

Explanation:
After roughly a thousand years without urban life following the Harappan collapse, a new and different phase of city-building began in the 1st millennium BCE, first in the Ganga plains and Indus basin, then spreading outward — this is the 'Second Urbanisation'.

Answer: (C) Sixteen

Explanation:
Texts vary somewhat, but the most frequently mentioned list names sixteen mahajanapadas stretching from Gandhara to Anga to Ashmaka.

Answer: (C) A kingdom needs fortified towns, self-sufficient resources, and good transport links

Explanation:
Kautilya's passage lists fortified capitals and frontier towns, land productive enough to support people even during calamities, natural resources, and good roads and waterways — a holistic vision of state security and prosperity, not just military power.

Answer: (C) Their assemblies debated and even voted on major decisions, including choosing the ruler

Explanation:
• Magadha, Kosala and Avanti were monarchies where a hereditary rāja held ultimate authority.
• Vajji and Malla instead let their sabha or samiti discuss and vote on important matters.
• This included even selecting the ruler, which is why scholars call them early republics.

Answer: (B) A specific occupational skill passed down across generations

Explanation:
A jati was tied closely to a livelihood, such as farming, metalworking or trade, with the associated skills handed down from parents to children over generations.

Answer: (B) Kshatriyas

Explanation:
Kshatriyas held the role of protecting the land and community, while Brahmins focused on knowledge and rituals, Vaishyas on trade and wealth, and Shudras on crafts and labour.

Answer: (B) The features that sustained urban life, like specialised trades, writing, sanitation and administration, had all vanished

Explanation:
Once elaborate structures, specialised occupations, writing, sanitation systems and organised administration disappeared along with the larger state structure, communities reverted to simpler rural life, and city life could not be sustained again for centuries.

Answer: (B) They were called punch-marked coins and made mostly of silver

Explanation:
Silver was soft enough for symbols to be stamped or 'punched' onto it, giving these early coins their name; copper and gold coins came into use only later.

Answer: (B) Kaushambi, crossing the Vindhya range, onward toward the south

Explanation:
Starting from Kaushambi, a mahajanapada capital near present-day Prayagraj, this route crossed the Vindhya hills to link with the southern parts of the subcontinent, while the Uttarapatha instead joined the northwest to eastern India.

Answer: (C) Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas

Explanation:
Unlike the sixteen mahajanapadas of the north, the south saw the rise of the Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms, known through both archaeology and early Tamil literature.

Answer: (A) Portuguese travellers in the 16th century CE

Explanation:
The chapter traces 'caste' back to the Portuguese word casta, coined by Portuguese travellers trying to make sense of Indian social organisation when they arrived in India in the 1500s.

Answer: (A) Early republics

Explanation:
Because power in Vajji and Malla rested with the sabha or samiti rather than a hereditary king, scholars describe their governance as democratic and refer to them as some of the world's earliest republics.

Answer: (A) The Vedas

Explanation:
These two words for a governing council first show up in Vedic literature, well before the janapadas themselves took shape.

Answer: (A) He could be removed by the assembly

Explanation:
The text notes that an incompetent ruler could reportedly be deposed by the sabha or samiti, though it cautions that this may not have been a fixed rule given how patchy the evidence from that era is.

Answer: (A) The northwest region with the Ganga plains and onward to the east

Explanation:
Unlike the Dakshinapatha, which ran south from Kaushambi across the Vindhyas, the Uttarapatha connected the northwest of the subcontinent through the Ganga plains all the way to the eastern regions.

Answer: (A) Archaeological excavations and references in ancient texts

Explanation:
The chapter explains that digs confirming ancient urban sites, together with mentions in late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain literature, are the two main pillars supporting our knowledge of this period.

Answer: (A) Vaishyas

Explanation:
Vaishyas were tasked with generating wealth for society, whether through commerce, business ventures or agricultural activity, distinguishing their role from the priestly, warrior and labouring groups.

Answer: (A) Running a metal workshop, with people fetching wood and beating iron

Explanation:
It depicts a smithy scene, showing different workers bringing firewood and water, stoking the fire, and hammering the iron — a glimpse into how metal was worked at the time.

Answer: (A) It organised occupations and passed skills across generations, giving society structure and stability

Explanation:
By linking specific skills and livelihoods to particular jatis passed down through generations, the system brought order to a complex society's economic life — the chapter notes it only hardened into a source of inequality much later, especially under British rule.

Answer: (A) Madhya Pradesh

Explanation:
The chapter places Avanti in part of today's Madhya Pradesh, alongside Magadha in Bihar and Kosala in Uttar Pradesh as the other major monarchical mahajanapadas.