Questions with Answers

Evaluation 

I Choose the correct answer

1. The Palayakkarar system was instituted in

a. 1519

b. 1520

c. 1529

d. 1530

[Answer: (c) 1529]

2. Which of the following Palayakkarar of Tamil Nadu was the pioneer against the English rule

a. Puli Thevar

b. Yusuf Khan

c. Kattabomman

d. Marudu brothers

[Answer: (a) Puli Thevar]

3. Colin Jackson was the collector of

a. Madurai

b. Tirunelveli

c. Ramanathapuram

d. Tuticorin

[Answer: (c) Ramanathapuram ]

4. Veera Pandiya Kattabomman was hanged at

a. Panchalamkurichi

b. Sivagangai

c. Tiruppathur

d. Kayathar

[Answer: (d) Kayathar]

5. Velu Nachiyar was a queen of

a. Nagalapuram

b. Sivagiri

c. Sivagangai

d. Virupachi

[Answer: (c) Sivagangai]

6. Tiruchirapalli proclamation was issued by

a. Marudu Pandiyars

b. Krishnappa Nayak

c. Velu Nachiyar

d. Dheeran Chinnamalai

[Answer: (a) Marudhu Pandiyars]

7. Which of the following place was associated with Dheeran chinnamalai

a. Dindigul

b.Nagalapuram

c. Pudukottai

d. Odanilai

[Answer: (d) Odanilai]

8. Rani Lakshmi Bai led the revolt at

a. Central India

b. Kanpur

c. Delhi

d. Bareilly

[Answer: (a) Central India]

II Fill in the Blanks

1. The Eastern Palayms were ruled under the control of Kattabomman.

2. Vishwanatha Nayakar instituted the Palayakarar system with the consultation of his minister Ariyanatha Mudaliyar.

3. The ancestors of Kattabomman belonged to Andhra.

4. Velu Nachiyar was known by Tamils as Veera mangai and Jhansi Rani of south india.

5. Chinna Marudu was called as ‘lion’ of sivagangai.

6. V.D. Savarkar was described the revolt of 1857 as First War of India Independence.

III Match the following

1. Delhi - Kunwar singh

2. Kanpur - Khan Bahudar Khan

3. Jhansi - Nana Saheb

4. Bareilly - Lakshmi Bai

5. Bihar - Bahadur Shah II

                                          Answer

1. Delhi- Kunwar singh - Bahadur Shah II

2. Kanpur - Khan Bahudar Khan - Nana Saheb

3. Jhansi - Nana Saheb - Lakshmi Bai

4. Bareilly - Lakshmi Bai - Khan Bahudar Khan

5. Bihar - Bahadur Shah II - Kunwar singh

IV State true or false

1. The Vijayanagar rulers appointed Nayaks in their provinces. [Answer: True]

2. Sivasubramania was the minister of Marudu pandiyas. [Answer: False]

Correct statement: Sivasubramania was the minister of Kattabomman.

3. Kattabomman was hanged on 17th October 1799. [Answer: True]

4. Fettah Hyder was the elder son of Tipu Sultan. [Answer: True]

V a) Consider the following statements and tick (✓) the appropriate answer

i. The Vellore revolt was held in 1801.

ii. The family members of Tipu were imprisoned at Vellore fort after the fourth Mysore war.

iii. At the time of Vellore revolt, the Governor of Madras was Lord William Bentinck.

iv. The victory of revolt of Vellore against British was one of the significant event in the history of India.

a. i & ii are Correct

b. ii & iv are Correct

c. ii &iii are correct

d. i, ii & iv are correct

[Answer: (c) ii &iii are correct]

b. Find out the wrong pair

a. Marudu Pandiyar - Ettayapuram

b. Gopala Nayak - Dindigul

c. Kerala Varma - Malabar

d. Dhoondaji - Mysore

[Answer: (a) Marudu Pandiyar - Ettayapuram]

c. Find out the odd one

a. Kattabomman

b. Oomaithurai

c. Sevathaiah

d. Tipu Sultan

[Answer: d) Tipu Sultan]

VI Answer the following in one or two sentences

1. What do you know about the Palayakarars? Name some of them.

Answer: (i) Palayakkarar was the holder of a territory or a Palayam. These Palayams were held in military tenure and extended their full co-operation to be need of the Nayaks. The Palayakkarars collected taxes, of which one third was given to the Nayak of Madurai another one third for the expenditure of the army and rest was kept for themselves.

(ii) Kattabomman, Pulithevan, Marudu Brothers, Dheeran Chinnamalai.

2. What was the part of Velu Nachiyar in the Palayakkarar revolt?

Answer:

(i) Velu Nachiyar was a queen of Sivagangai. She was married to Muthu Vaduganathar, the Raja of Sivagangai. In 1772, the Nawab of Arcot and the British troops invaded Sivagangai. They killed Muthu Vaduganathar in Kalaiyar Koil battle. Velu Nachiyar escaped with her daughter and lived under the protection of Gopala Nayaker at Virupachi near Dindigul.

(ii) During this period she organised an army and employed her intelligent agents to find w'here the British stored their ammunition.

(iii) She arranged a suicide attack by a faithfull follower Kuyili, a commander of Velu Nachiar. She recaptured Sivagangai and was again crowned as queen with the help of Marudu brothers.

3. Who were the leaders of Palayakkarar confederacy in the south Indian rebellion?

Answer:  Marudu Pandiar of Sivaganga, Gopala Nayak ofDindugal, Kerala Varma of Malabar and Krishnappa Nayak and Dhoondaji of Mysore.

4. What was the importance of Tiruchirappalli proclamation?

Answer:

(i) The Marudu Pandyas issued a proclamation of Independence called Tiruchirappalli Proclamation in June 1801.

(ii) It was the first call to the Indians to unite against the British.

(iii) A copy of the proclamation was pasted on the walls of the Nawab’s palace in the fort of Tiruchi and another copy was placed on the walls of the Vaishnava temple at Srirangam. Thus Marudu brothers spread the spirit of opposition against the English everywhere.

(iv) As a result many Palayakkarars of Tamil Nadu went on a rally to fight against the English.

5. Bring out the effects of the Vellore revolt.

Answer: Effects of the Vellore Revolt

(i) The new methods and uniform regulations were withdrawn.

(ii) The family of Tipu as a precautionary measure was sent to Calcutta.

(iii) William Cavendish Bentinck was removed from his service.

6. What was the immediate cause of the Revolt of 1857?

Answer:

(i) The immediate cause was the introduction of new Enfield Riffles in the army. The top of the cartridge of this rifle was to be removed by the mouth before loading it in the rifle. The cartridges were greased by the fat of pig and the cow.

(ii) The Indian sepoys believed that the British were deliberately attempting to spoil the religion of both the Hindus and the Muslims because while the Hindus revered the cow, the Muslims hated the pig.

(iii) The soldiers, therefore, determined to refuse their service and, ultimately revolted.

(iv) Thus, the primary and the immediate cause of the revolt was the use of the greased cartridges.

VII Answer the following in detail

1. What do you know about the Puli Thevar?

Answer:

(i) Puli Thevar was the pioneer in Tamil Nadu, to protest against the English rule in India. He was the Palayakkarar of the Nerkattumseval, near Tirunelveli.

(ii) During his tenure he refused to pay the tribute neither to Mohammed Ali, the Nawab of Arcot nor to the English. Further he started opposing them. Hence, the forces of the Nawab of Arcot and the English attacked Puli Thevar. But the combined forces were defeated by Puli Thevar at Tirunelveli.

(iii) Puli Thevar was the first Indian king to have fought and defeated the British in India. After this victory Puli Thevar attempted to form a league of the Palayakkars to oppose the British and the Nawab.

(iv) In 1759, Nerkattumseval was attacked by the forces of Nawab of Arcot under the leadership of Yusuf Khan.

(v) Puli Thevar was defeated at Anthanallur and the Nawabs forces captured Nerkattumsevval in 1761.

(vi) Puli Thevar who lived in exile recaptured Nerkattumseval in 1764. Later, he was defeated by Captain Campell in 1767. Puli Thevar escaped and died in exile without fulfilling his purpose, although his courageous trail of a struggle for independence in the history of South India.

2. Explain the events that led to conflict between Dheeran Chinnamalai and the British.

Answer:

(i) Dheeran Chinnamalai was born at Melapalayam in Chennimalai near Erode. His original name was Theerthagiri. He was a palayakkarar of Kongu country who fought the British East India Company.

(ii) The Kongu country comprising Salem, Coimbatore, Karur and Dindigul formed a part of the Nayak kingdom of Madurai but had been annexed by the Wodayars of Mysore.

(iii) After the fall of the Wodayars, these territories along with Mysore were controlled by the Mysore Sultans. After the third and fourth Mysore wars the entire Kongu region passed into the hands of the English.

(iv) Dheeran Chinnamalai was trained by French military in modern warfare. He was along the side Tipu Sultan to fight against the British East India Company and got victories against the British.

(v) After Tipu Sultan’s death Chinnamalai settled down at Odanilai and constructed a fort there to continue his struggle against the British. He sought the help of Marathas and Maruthu Pandiyar to attack the British at Coimbatore in 1800.

(vi) British forces managed to stop the armies of the allies and hence Chinnamalai was forced to attack Coimbatore on his own. His army was defeated and he escaped from the British forces.

(vii) Chinnamalai engaged in guerrilla warfare and defeated the British in battles at Cauvery, Odanilai and Arachalur. During the final battle, Chinnamalai was betrayed by his cook Nallapan and was hanged in Sankagiri Fort in 1805.

3. What were the causes for the Great revolt of 1857?

Answer:

(i) The most important cause of revolt 1857 was a popular discontent of the British policy of economically exploiting India. This hurt all sections of society. The peasants suffered due to high revenue demands and the strict revenue collection policy.

(ii) Policies of doctrine of lapse, subsidiary alliance and policy of Effective Control created discontentment among people. Annexation of Oudh proved that even the grovelling loyalty can’t satisfy British greed for territories.

(iii) The conversion activities of Christian missionaries were looked upon with suspicion and fear. The priests and the maulavis showed their discontent against the British rule.

(iv) Abolition of practices like sati, female infanticide, support to widow remarriage and female education were seen by many as interference in their Indian culture by the Europeans.

(v) The Indian sepoys were looked upon as inferior beings and treated with contempt by their British officers. They were paid much less than the British soldiers. All avenues of the promotion were closed to them as all the higher army posts were reserved for the British.

4. What were the causes for the failure of the Revolt of 1857?

Answer: Various causes were responsible for the failure of the revolt

(i) Lack of organisation, discipline, common plan of action, centralised leadership, modern weapons and techniques.

(ii) The rebel leaders were no match to the British Generals. Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantia Tope and Nana Saheb were courageous but they were not good generals.

(iii) Non-participation of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, western Punjab and Rajputana.

(iv) The modern educated Indians did not support the Revolts as they believed that only British rule could reform Indian society and modernize it.

(v) The British managed to get the loyalty of the Sikhs, Afghans and the Gurkha regiments. The Gurkhas actually helped the British in suppressing the revolt.

(vi) The British had better weapons, better generals, and good organisation.

VIII HOTs

Prove that there was no common purpose among the leaders of the Great revolt of 1857.

Answer:

(i) The revolt did not have a clear leader. Bahadur Shah II was old and exhausted. He lacked military leadership.

(ii) At kanpur, Nana Sahib was proclaimed a Peshwa, who was he adopted son of the exited Peshwa Baji Rao II.

(iii) He believed that he was entitled to a pension from the British.

(iv) When he was refused to be given, he was compelled to revolt against them.

(v) Rani Lakshmi Bai and Tantia Tope fought for Jhansi and Gwaliar.

(vi) Begun of Awadh wanted to safeguard her territory.

(vii) Khan Bahadur khan fought against the British when they subjugated his government in Bareiley.

(viii) As such, they lacked unity and gave way for the easy victory of the British.

IX Map skill

On the River map of India mark the following centres of the revolt of 1857.

1) Delhi

2) Lucknow

3) Meerut

4) Barrackpore

5) Jhansi

6) Gwalior

7) Kanpur

X  Project and Activity

collect pictures of Palayakkarars and prepare an album.