NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 15 Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
The Guptas are gone, but India is not empty — it is crowded. This chapter covers roughly 600 CE to 1200 CE (with the next chapter), six centuries that historians have called ‘post-classical’, ‘late classical’ or ‘early medieval’. Instead of one great empire there are many strong regional kingdoms . Some call this a time of rivalry and disorder; the chapter asks you to look again and see “a land buzzing with new ideas, art, and culture, different in each region, yet all part of one India.” Harṣhavardhana is the last great north Indian emperor of the age. He came to the throne at Kannauj in 606 CE , from the Puṣhyabhūti (Vardhana) dynasty whose earlier capital was Sthāneśhvara . He was a poet and dramatist, patronised Bāṇabhaṭṭa , welcomed the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (in India 630–644 ), an
- Chapter opening
- The opening survey
- The ‘Great King of Kings’
- Harṣha’s signature on the Banskhera copper plate (Fig. 3.5)
- Xuanzang’s route from China to India and back (Fig. 3.7)
- Harṣha’s five-yearly assembly at Prayāga
- A Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj (Fig. 3.3)
- Al-Masūdī on a Rāṣhṭrakūṭa ruler
- Kalhaṇa and the writing of history (Rājatarangiṇī)
- The Deccan and Beyond
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 61
- The opening survey — In-text Question Page 63
- The ‘Great King of Kings’ — LET’S EXPLORE Page 64
- Harṣha’s signature on the Banskhera copper plate (Fig. 3.5) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 64
- Xuanzang’s route from China to India and back (Fig. 3.7) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 66
- Harṣha’s five-yearly assembly at Prayāga — THINK ABOUT IT Page 67
- A Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj (Fig. 3.3) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 68
- Al-Masūdī on a Rāṣhṭrakūṭa ruler — THINK ABOUT IT Page 72
- Kalhaṇa and the writing of history (Rājatarangiṇī) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 74
- Ādi Śhankarāchārya, the Shankaracharya Hill (Fig. 3.14) and the four maṭhas — LET’S EXPLORE Page 74–75
- The Deccan and Beyond — In-text Question Page 75
- The Durga panel at Māmallapuram (Fig. 3.18) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 79
- Inscriptions in two languages — DON’T MISS OUT Page 81
- Other Developments — In-text Question Page 82
- Social life — THINK ABOUT IT Page 85
- The coins of Toramāṇa and Skandagupta (Fig. 3.26) — LET’S EXPLORE Page 90
- The queens of Sindh in the Chachnāma — LET’S EXPLORE Page 91
- Sulaiman on a Gurjara-Pratīhāra ruler — THINK ABOUT IT Page 92
- Words shared by Sanskrit, Arabic and English — THINK ABOUT IT Page 93
- The chapter in six points — Before we move on … Page 95
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 96