Chapter 9 Traders, Kings and Pilgrims

Let’s Recall

Question 1 Match the following:

Muvendar	Mahayana Buddhism
Lords of the dakshinapatha	Buddhacharita
Ashvaghosha	Satavahana rulers
Bodhisattvas	Chinese pilgrim
Xuan Zang	Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas

Answer

Muvendar	Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas
Lords of the dakshinapatha	Satavahana rulers
Ashvaghosha	Buddhacharita
Bodhisattvas	Mahayana Buddhism
Xuan Zang	Chinese pilgrim

Question 2 Why did kings want to control the Silk Route?

Answer Some kings tried to control large portions of the route.This was because they could benefit from taxes , tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route. In return , they often protected the traders who passed through their kingdom from attacks by robbers.

Question 3 What kinds of evidence do historians use to find out about trade and trade routes?

Answer The historians use the following evidences to find out about trade and trade routes:

(1) They look basically for the coins that tells a lot about the trade.

(2) Archaeologists have provided information about bowls and plates which were found from several sites throughout the subcontinent.

(3) They look into the accounts of traders and pilgrims.

(4) They also look upon the particular items that comes from which part of the world that tells about their trade relationship with the other countries.

Question 4 What were the main features of Bhakti?

Answer Bhakti is generally understood as a person’s devotion to his or her chosen God or Goddess. Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasized devotion and individual worship of a single god or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.

Deities who were worshipped through Bhakti included Shiva, Vishnu and goddesses such as Durga. This form of worship became an important feature of Hinduism.

Let’s Discuss

Question 5 Discuss the reasons why the Chinese pilgrims came to India.

Answer The Chinese pilgrims came to India to visit places associated with the life and teachings of the Buddha as well as famous monasteries. They had in Buddhist religious books also. They carried some books back with them.

Question 6 Why do you think ordinary people were attracted to Bhakti?

Answer I think that ordinary people were attracted to Bhakti because Bhakt-saint used the language of people, which they could understand easily. The saints emphasized the worship of certain deities, which became a central feature of later Hinduism, gained in importance. Bhakti is generally understood as a person’s devotion to his or her chosen deity. Anybody, whether rich or poor, belonging to the so called ‘high’ or ‘low’ castes, man or woman, could follow the path of Bhakti. They stressed on simple ways for Moksha or salvation, the last aim of life.

Let’s Do

Question 7 List five things that you buy from the market. Which of these are made in the city/village in which you live, and which are brought by traders from other areas?

Answer

List of things that we buy from the market:

(a) Things made in our city

1. The pots and pans of shiny steel.
2. Bright plastic baskets.
3. Cloth printed with brilliant floral designs.
4. Clockwork or electronic toys.
5. Radio and Television sets.

(b) Things made in our village

1. Clay pots made by our village potter.
2. Leather shoes and Chappals manufactured by our village shoemaker.
3. Wooden toys and articles manufactured by our village carpenter.
4. Iron and metal tools and articles made by our village blacksmith.
5. Ring and other ornaments made by our village goldsmith.

(c) Things brought by our traders

1. Swift prancing horses by sea in ships.
2. Bales of black pepper in carts.
3. Gems and gold from the southern India.
4. Sandalwood collected from the forests of Karnataka.
5. The pears of the southern seas.