Chapter 4: Vedic Period

Choose the correct alternative and write the complete sentence.

The importance of agriculture is clearly emphasised in the ______mandala of the Rigveda.

OPTIONS

4th
10th
8th
6th

SOLUTION

The importance of agriculture is clearly emphasised in the 10th mandala of the Rigveda.

A potter is mentioned as an artisan in the ______ for the first time.

OPTIONS

Rigveda
Yajurveda
Samaveda
Atharvaveda

SOLUTION

A potter is mentioned as an artisan in the Yajurveda for the first time.

The god who protected the animals was known as ______.

OPTIONS

Indra
Pushan
Ashwin
Varun

SOLUTION

The god who protected the animals was known as Pushan.

Find the incorrect pair from set B and write the correct ones.

Set ‘A’	Set ‘B’
(1) Nishka	Gold ornament
(2) Barley	Main crop of the Vedic people
(3) Krishtya	The apparatus of drawing water from the well
(4) Navya	river transport

SOLUTION

Set ‘A’	Set ‘B’
(3) Krishtya	Tribal settlements

Write the names

A branch of linguistics -

SOLUTION

A branch of linguistics - Philology

A battle fought among the ten tribal chiefs -'

SOLUTION

A battle fought among the ten tribal chiefs - Dasharajnya Yuddha

Cultivable land prepared by ploughing -

SOLUTION

Cultivable land prepared by ploughing - Urvara

Complete the concept map given below.

SOLUTION

Choose the correct reason and complete the sentence.

Panis were looked upon as enemies by the Vedic people because -

OPTIONS

they belonged to a different tribe.
their language was impure.
Panis used to steal the cattle of the Vedic people.
Panis did not obey the orders of the Vedic people.

State your opinion.

There is a debate about the original home of the Aryans.

SOLUTION

The debate began in the 16th Century. Till then the concept of the 'Aryans' was not known.
The European academics became aware of the similarities between Sanskrit and Latin-Greek languages.
This resulted in the notion of the Indo-European language family which gave momentum to the search for a Mother language from which developed the Indo-European languages.

The Rigvedic people subsisted on agriculture.

SOLUTION

The Rigvedic tribal settlements have been mentioned as 'Krishtya' in the Rigveda. 'Krish' means ploughing.
Hence the people who ploughed and also their settlements were mentioned as 'Krishtya'.
The importance of agriculture is clearly emphasised in the 10th mandala of the Rigveda.
It states that for the farmer his ploughshare is the means of obtaining.

Explain the following concept.

Origin of Aryan people

SOLUTION

There are multiple unanswered questions, such as, who were the Aryans, did they arrive in India from a distant place, or were they natives of India, which are the archaeological sites where the remains of their culture are found, how to identify those remains, etc.
Most of the information about their culture is derived from the Vedic literature. There are various opinions about the chronology of the Vedic culture.
However, there is a general agreement that the Vedic people composed Rigveda in India around 1500 B.C.E.
However, Lokmanya Tilak calculated this date as 6000 B.C.E. on the basis of astronomical events.
He was also of the opinion that the original home of the Aryans was in the Arctic region.
This debate began in the 16th century. Till then the concept of the 'Aryans' was not known.

Indo-European family of languages

SOLUTION

In the year 1583, an Italian merchant by the name Fillippo Sassetti came to Kochi (Cochin) the port city in Kerala.
He never returned to his motherland. He stayed in Kerala and Goa. During his stay, he wrote detailed letters to his family members about Indian life, language, and culture. He happens to be the first European who wrote about his observations of the Indian society.
He also studied Sanskrit. He was the first one who observed the similarities between Sanskrit and Latin.
His observations could be said to be the first, to give impetus to the notion of a family of Indo-European languages.

Balbharati Solutions for History 11th Standard Maharashtra State Board

• Chapter 1: First Farmers

• Chapter 2: First Cities of India

• Chapter 3: Chalcolithic Villages in India

• Chapter 4: Vedic Period

• Chapter 5: Janapadas and Republics

• Chapter 6: Second Urbanisation in India

• Chapter 7: India and Iran (Persia)

• Chapter 8: India during Mauryan period

• Chapter 9: Post Mauryan India

• Chapter 10: Changing Times

• Chapter 11: Kingdoms in South India