Page 1 :
Chapter- 8 Vital Villages Thriving Towns, 1. Fill in the blanks:, (a) ———————— was a word used for large landowners in Tamil., (b) The gramabhojaka often got his land cultivated by the ———————, —, (c) Ploughmen were known as ____________ in Tamil., (d) Most grihapatis were ———————— landowners., Solution:, (a) Vellalar, (b) Slaves and workers., (c) Uzhavar, (d) Smaller, , Q.2 Describe the functions of the grambhojka. Why do you, think he was powerful?, Solution: 1-Gramabhojaka was the village headman, and at, times happened to be the largest landowner too., 2-He was a powerful person of the village who collected taxes, from the villagers in the name of the king., Q.3 List the crafts persons who would have been present in, both villages and cities., Solution: Craftsmen such as:, blacksmith, weavers, carpenters and potters were present in, both villages and cities. They played a crucial role in providing, goods and services to the people., Q.4 Choose the correct answer:, (a) Ring wells were used for:, Ans- drainage, (b) Punch marked coins were made of:

Page 2 :
Ans- Silver, (c) Mathura was important:, Ans- Religious centre, (d) Shrenis were associations of:, 1. Ans- Craftspersons, Q5 Name the city where Sangam literature was composed., Answer:, In Madurai., Q6 Why were the coins called punch-marked?, Answer:, Because the designs were punched on the metals, Question 7, What were landowners, ordinary ploughmen and landless laborers, called in Tamil Nadu?, Answer:, In the Tamil region, large landowners were called vellalar, ordinary, ploughmen were called uzhavar and landless labourers including, slaves were called kadaisiyar and adimai., Question 8, What were the largest landowner, independent farmers and landless, people called in Northern India?, Answer:, In the northern part of the country, the largest landowner were, called grama bhojaka, independent farmers were called grihapatis, and landless people were called dasa karmakara., Question 9, Why was Tamil literature called Sangam?, Answer:, The Tamil literature was called Sangam because it was composed, and compiled in assemblies of poets that were held in the city of

Page 3 :
Madurai. The assemblies were earlier called Sangam. So, literature, was called Sangam., Question 10 What were shrenis? What functions did shrenis of, crafts persons perform?, Answer:, Shrenis were associations of craftspersons and merchants. The, shrenis of crafts persons performed various functions. They, provided training, procured raw material, and distributed the, finished product.