NCERT Solutions Class 9 Social Science (Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Part II) Chapter 3 – Resistance and Resilience (1000–1700 CE)
Circle of Learning • New NCERT textbook (2026-27) • In-text questions, activities and end-of-chapter questions – complete answers
The Big Questions
How did Indian rulers use resistance and alliances to safeguard their lands?
Answer
Indian rulers resisted invaders through battles, sieges and guerrilla warfare, and also formed alliances and confederacies, such as the Rajput confederacy led by Rāṇā Sāngā against Bābur in 1527. Some, like Mewar and the Ahoms, kept up long military resistance, while others, like the Kachhwāhas of Amber, negotiated with the Mughals; the Marathas built a network of tributary alliances to extend their influence.
What factors contributed to the resilience of different kingdoms and communities during this period?
Answer
Knowledge of local terrain (the Aravallis, Assam's rivers, the Deccan hills), strong forts, support of local communities like the Bhils, good leadership and institutions such as the Paik system all helped. Cultural strength from the Bhakti tradition and temples, and a strong economy based on agriculture, trade, merchant networks and the hunḍī also gave people the resources to endure.
Answer
How did the Bhakti tradition foster a sense of solidarity?
Bhakti used hymns in local languages, emphasised equality and inclusion, and welcomed saints from all backgrounds, including women. Community singing (sankīrtan) and gatherings (satsang) created a shared feeling of belonging, and non-material worship like nām kīrtan kept devotion alive even when temples were destroyed.
How did the expansion of agriculture, trade, and commerce keep the economy sound?
Answer
The area under cultivation grew, and irrigation technologies like the Persian wheel and Vijayanagara's small-scale irrigation raised output. Inland caravan trade, banjārās, seaborne trade in the Indian Ocean, powerful merchant groups and instruments like the hunḍī kept the economy dynamic, giving people resources to withstand instability.
Let's Explore (Dursā Arhā's tribute to Mahārāṇā Pratāp)
Identify any two specific actions mentioned in the text which show that Mahārāṇā Pratāp maintained his independence from the Mughal court.
(i) He never participated in the Nauroz festival held at the Mughal court.
(ii) He never mounted guard for the emperor during Jharokha Darśhan.
Answer
In addition, he kept his horses unbranded (they did not carry the imperial brand) and kept his head unbowed, showing that he never accepted Mughal authority.
Let's Recall (The Marathas)
Think back to Chhatrapati Śhivājī's struggle and the ways in which he built and strengthened his kingdom. What do you remember about the strategies and institutions that helped the Marathas establish their power?
(i) A network of hill forts such as Raigad and Sinhagad, which served as bases, refuges and administrative centres.
(ii) Guerrilla warfare – swift surprise attacks using the hills and valleys of the Deccan, as in the Battle of Pratapgarh (1659), where Śhivājī killed Afzal Khan.
(iii) A well-organised administration with a council of ministers (the Aṣhṭa Pradhān) and an efficient revenue system.
(iv) A navy and sea forts to guard the Konkan coast.
(v) The ideal of swarājya (self-rule), which inspired people; in 1674 Śhivājī was crowned as the sovereign Maratha ruler.
Answer
Let's Explore (Nayanar and Alvar saints)
Explore the contributions of the Nayanar saints (devotees of Śhiva) like Karaikal Ammaiyar and the Alvar saints (devotees of Viṣhṇu) like Andal to the spread of the Bhakti tradition in peninsular India. Discuss their teachings and devotional practices and the ways in which they connected with people through their hymns.
Answer
(i) Karaikal Ammaiyar: One of the earliest Nayanar saints and among the few women honoured among the 63 Nayanars. She gave up worldly comforts and devoted herself completely to Śhiva, composing Tamil hymns such as the Arputha Thiruvanthathi.
(ii) Andal: The only woman among the 12 Alvars. She expressed her love for Viṣhṇu (as Ranganatha) in Tamil poems, the Tiruppavai and the Nachiyar Tirumozhi; the Tiruppavai is still sung in homes and temples, especially in the month of Margazhi.
Teachings and practices: Both taught that sincere, personal love for God matters more than rituals, wealth or caste. They travelled to temples and sang hymns in Tamil, the people's own language, so that ordinary people could understand and sing them. Their hymns became part of daily worship and temple festivals, spreading Bhakti across peninsular India from the 7th century onwards.
Let's Map (Bhakti saints, Fig. 3.19)
On a map of India, locate and label the present-day states associated with the saints mentioned in the infographic. Also, find and mark a saint from your own state who is not on the list. Are you familiar with any songs, poems, or verses composed by these saints? Share with the class and explain what it means or what you like about it.
Answer
Region | Saint – present-day State/UT |
Northern and Central | Lāl Ded – Jammu and Kashmir; Guru Nānak – Punjab; Rāmānanda, Kabīr, Rāidāsa, Sūrdās, Tulsīdās – Uttar Pradesh; Mīrābāī – Rajasthan; Vallabhāchārya – Uttar Pradesh (Braj region) |
Eastern | Jayadeva – Odisha; Chaitanya Mahāprabhu – West Bengal (also Odisha, at Puri); Krittibāsa – West Bengal; Mādhava Kandalī and Sankardev – Assam |
Southern | Basavannā and Mādhavāchārya – Karnataka; Annamāchārya – Andhra Pradesh; Pothanā – Telangana; Poonthanam Namboothiri – Keralam |
Western | Ekanātha, Jñānadeva, Muktābāī, Nāmadeva, Janābāī, Chokhamelā, Tukārām – Maharashtra; Narasimha Mehtā and Bhalana – Gujarat; Pīpājī – Rajasthan |
Sample of a saint not on the list: Tyagaraja (Tamil Nadu), Purandara Dasa (Karnataka) or Kanakadasa (Karnataka).
Sample verse: Kabīr's dohā "Bura jo dekhan main chala, bura na milya koi; jo dil khoja aapna, mujhsa bura na koi" means "I went looking for a bad person but found none; when I searched my own heart, I found no one worse than me." I like it because it teaches us to correct our own faults before blaming others.
Think About It (Vakh of Lāl Ded)
Lāl Ded says that it is 'easy' to learn scriptures but 'hard' to live them. What is the difference between knowing a rule and actually following it? Can you give an example from your daily life?
Answer
Knowing a rule only needs memory, but following it needs self-discipline, honesty and effort every day, even when it is inconvenient or nobody is watching. For example, we all know that we should not waste water or throw litter on the road, but actually closing the tap while brushing or carrying a wrapper until we find a dustbin is harder. Similarly, we know we should speak the truth, but living by it when a lie seems easier is the real test.
Think About It (The hunḍī)
What do you think made hunḍī a safer and more convenient choice than physically transporting money across long distances?
Answer
Carrying large amounts of coins over long routes was heavy and risky because of robbers and loss. A hunḍī was only a piece of paper, a bill of exchange that could be cashed at the destination through a trusted network of sarrāfs and their agents (gumasthas), so it was light, easy to carry and useless to a thief. It also allowed large commercial deals and secure long-distance remittances, much like a modern bank cheque.
Think About It (Cultural and economic pillars)
Identify some cultural and economic pillars that exist in any community (places of faith, traditions, business, and trade, etc.). How do you think these contribute to resilience within a society facing invasions/external pressures?
Answer
Pillars: places of faith (temples, gurudwaras), shared festivals, songs and languages, markets and trade networks, merchant and craft groups, farming, and financial systems.
Contribution to resilience: (i) Places of faith and traditions give people a shared identity and hope, and Bhakti showed that devotion can survive even when buildings are destroyed. (ii) Temples acted as economic hubs, giving employment, credit and irrigation support. (iii) Agriculture, markets and merchants provided food, wealth and funds for defence and rebuilding. (iv) Community networks helped people support one another in hard times. Together, these allowed society to absorb shocks and keep its way of life alive.
Questions and activities
Choose the most appropriate answer. Resistance and resilience are closely connected because:
Answer
a. Resistance always involves warfare.
b. Resilience enables communities to endure difficulties and sustain resistance.
c. Resistance is possible only when a kingdom has a large army.
d. Resilient societies avoid all forms of conflict.
Answer: b. Resilience enables communities to endure difficulties and sustain resistance. Resilience is the backbone of resistance – a cause or leadership starts resistance, but the ability to endure comes from resilience.
Why and how did groups such as the Sikhs, Marathas, and Rajputs assert their political power and identity during periods of changing political authority?
Answer
Why: They faced invasions, heavy taxation, destruction of sacred sites and religious persecution, and wanted to protect their land, sovereignty and cultural and spiritual identity.
How:
(i) Rajputs: Fought major battles and sieges (Chittor 1567–68, Haldighati 1576); Mahārāṇā Pratāp used guerrilla warfare in the Aravallis with Bhil support, won the Battle of Dewair (1582) and reclaimed most of Mewar; Mewar finally secured a treaty exempting its rulers from attending the Mughal court.
(ii) Marathas: Under Chhatrapati Śhivājī they pursued swarājya, used a network of hill forts and guerrilla warfare, built alliances and tributary networks, and fought the Mughals so long that Aurangzeb spent more than two decades in the Deccan.
(iii) Sikhs: After the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahādur, they organised collectively; Guru Hargobind set up the Akāl Takht (mīrī-pīrī), Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699, and the misals united the Sikhs against the Mughals.
Why did some Rajput rulers decide to negotiate alliances with the Mughal power?
Answer
Relations between Rajputs and Mughals were shaped by strategic considerations. The Mughal Empire was at the height of its power, and some Rajput rulers, like the Kachhwāhas of Amber, found it wiser to negotiate cooperative relationships to protect their kingdoms and positions. In return, the Mughals, who needed the Rajputs' military strength, loyalty and administrative skill, granted them mansabs and other understandings, and rulers who allied with the central authority were generally allowed to build major structures, such as temples.
Imagine a market in a port town of India such as Surat, Masulipatnam, or Puducherry. You are a foreign trader from Italy or France and want to make a deal of cotton textiles. How would you secure the product in the local market? Whose help would you seek and what kind of challenges would you face in terms of language, quality of product, prices of commodities, etc.?
Answer
Sample first-person account: I arrived at Surat to buy fine cotton cloth. I could not speak Gujarati or Persian, so I hired a dubhaśhī (interpreter) and a local broker who knew the weavers. A Gujarati merchant agreed to supply the cloth, but asked me to pay an advance so that the peasants could supply cotton and the weavers, dyers and bleachers could prepare my order. A sarrāf changed my silver coins and gave me a hunḍī so I did not have to carry money around.
Challenges: (i) Language – every deal depended on the honesty of my interpreter. (ii) Quality – I had to check the weave, colour and length of each bale. (iii) Prices – prices changed with the season and with demand from English and Dutch buyers, so I had to bargain hard. (iv) Time and duties – orders took months, and customs duties had to be paid at the port. I learnt that trading in India depended on trust and on the skill of Indian merchants and brokers.
Watch any video at the given link and analyse the various functions of forts and fortresses. How did rulers perceive the importance of forts in terms of strategic concerns?
Answer
Functions of forts:
(i) Defence – strong walls and gateways protected rulers and people; Gingee's gateway was said to be defensible by a small group against an army of ten thousand.
(ii) Withstanding sieges – water sources, food stores and armouries made forts self-sufficient, as at Chittor, which resisted Akbar for more than five months.
(iii) Bases for guerrilla warfare – Maratha forts like Raigad and Sinhagad allowed swift attacks and safe retreats.
(iv) Administration and justice – forts were centres of government and judicial authority.
(v) Fallback capitals and frontier outposts – frontier forts prevented total defeat.
Strategic perception: Rulers saw forts as the key to holding territory, controlling trade routes and hill passes, and symbolising power; that is why Mahārāṇā Kumbhā built forts, Jagat Singh fortified Chittor, and Gingee was captured by many powers.
What architectural changes occurred in temple construction during the period under study? How do these changes reflect upon the resilient nature of Indian civilisation?
Answer
Changes: From the 16th century, many temples were built in less visible places, along narrow lanes, with entrances that did not open onto main streets. They often looked like ordinary houses, with fewer detailed exteriors and no tall shikharas – the 'havelī temple' style seen in Delhi, Varanasi and Rajasthan.
Resilience: These changes show how communities adapted temple design to avoid destruction while continuing worship. Destroyed temples were also restored or rebuilt – Kumāra Kampana restored the temple at Kannanur, Toḍar Mal and Rājā Mān Singh rebuilt Kashi Vishwanath, and Rājā Mān Singh and Vīr Singh Bundela built the Govind Devji and Keshav Dev temples. Some temples, like Jagat Singh's Jagdish temple in Udaipur, even became symbols of defiance. Thus sacred traditions survived through adaptation.
A kingdom has limited military resources but possesses fertile agricultural land, strong local support, and detailed knowledge of its terrain. Explain two ways in which these resources could contribute to the kingdom's resilience when faced with a threat.
Answer
(i) Terrain knowledge and local support allow guerrilla warfare: like the Ahoms in Assam or Mahārāṇā Pratāp with the Bhils in the Aravallis, the kingdom can use forests, hills and rivers for ambushes and surprise raids, while local people act as guides, scouts and soldiers, so a smaller army can defeat a bigger one.
(ii) Fertile land provides food and revenue: surplus crops can feed soldiers and fill forts during long sieges, and land revenue can pay for weapons, forts and rebuilding, allowing the kingdom to endure a long conflict.
Consider the following statement: "A tradition becomes more resilient when people can carry it with them." Do you agree? Explain using examples from the Bhakti tradition.
Answer
Yes, I agree. A tradition that lives in people's hearts, songs and memory cannot be destroyed like a building.
(i) When temple construction was restricted or temples were destroyed, devotees turned to nām kīrtan (reciting the divine Name), which needs no physical structure.
(ii) Bhakti spread through local songs and satsang, which were easy to remember and pass on, making it hard to suppress.
(iii) Hymns in local languages – Eknāth in Marathi, Tulsidas's Rāmcharitmānas in Awadhi, Molla's Rāmāyaṇa in Telugu – carried the epics into ordinary homes.
(iv) Community singing (sankīrtan) led by Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and Guru Nānak united people wherever they gathered.
Voices from the Past: Choose any two of the following and write a short first-person account explaining what resilience means from that person's perspective: A Bhakti saint, A Rajput soldier, An Ahom commander, A Maratha administrator, A merchant, A Jat leader.
Answer
Sample answer 1 – An Ahom commander: I have fought the Mughals on the Brahmaputra for years. They captured our capital Garhgaon in 1662, but our king renounced their treaty within a year. We know every river, forest and monsoon flood, and our light bāchārī boats move faster than their heavy fleets. At Saraighat in 1671, under Lachit Borphukan, we defeated them. For me, resilience means losing a battle but never losing the will to defend our land.
Sample answer 2 – A Bhakti saint: They may break the walls of our temple, but they cannot break our devotion. I sing the Name of the Lord in the language of my village, and men and women of every caste sing with me. When we gather for kīrtan, we forget our sorrows and feel like one family. For me, resilience means keeping faith alive in the heart, where no one can destroy it.
Design a Fort: Draw a simple, labelled plan of a fort that includes a residential complex, defensive walls, water source, food storage, escape route, watchtower and administrative area. Write a few sentences explaining how your design would help the kingdom withstand a long siege.
Answer
Sample plan (to be drawn): A fort on a hilltop surrounded by two rings of thick defensive walls with bastions and a single zig-zag main gate. Watchtowers stand at each corner and above the gate. Inside, the administrative area (court, treasury, armoury) is at the centre; the residential complex is behind it; a large stepwell and rainwater tanks form the water source; granaries for food storage are near the residences; a hidden tunnel or postern gate on the steep side serves as the escape route.
Explanation: The hilltop position and double walls make direct attack difficult, and watchtowers give early warning. Tanks and granaries let the people survive for months without outside supplies, the armoury keeps soldiers equipped, and the administrative area allows the ruler to continue governing. The secret escape route allows messengers, supplies or the royal family to move safely, so the kingdom can hold out until help arrives or the enemy gives up.
Extra Important Questions
Multiple Choice Questions
Who defeated Muhammad Ghūrī at Kasahrada, near Mount Abu, in 1178?
Answer
(a) Rūdramā Devī (b) Nāikī Devī (c) Rānī Abbakkā (d) Ahilyābāī Holkar
Answer: (b) Nāikī Devī
2. The Battle of Saraighat (1671) was won by
(a) Mīr Jumlā (b) Lachit Borphukan (c) Rāṇā Sāngā (d) Kumāra Kampana
Answer: (b) Lachit Borphukan
3. The Vijayanagara Empire was established in 1336 by
(a) Harihara and Bukkā (b) Kṛiṣhṇadevarāya (c) Vīra Ballāla III (d) The Nāyakas
Answer: (a) Harihara and Bukkā
4. Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa in
(a) 1606 (b) 1675 (c) 1699 (d) 1707
Answer: (c) 1699
5. The Kīrtana Ghosha was composed by
(a) Tulsidas (b) Sankardev (c) Eknāth (d) Lāl Ded
Answer: (b) Sankardev
The Battle of Dewair, which helped Mahārāṇā Pratāp regain control of Mewar, was fought in:
Answer
(a) 1576 (b) 1582 (c) 1605 (d) 1615
Answer: (b) 1582
Short Answer Questions
Differentiate between resistance and resilience.
Answer
Resistance means actively opposing a force or threat to protect political power, territory, interests or identity, through warfare, alliances, diplomacy or negotiation. Resilience is the capacity to survive, adapt and absorb hardship while preserving inherited socio-cultural and spiritual traditions; it is the backbone that allows resistance to continue.
Answer
What was the concept of mīrī-pīrī?
Mīrī-pīrī represented the Sikh Guru's authority over both worldly or temporal affairs (mīrī) and spiritual affairs (pīrī). In Amritsar, the Harmandir Sahib represented spiritual authority, while the Akāl Takht, set up by Guru Hargobind, represented temporal authority.
How did Muthu Vīrappa Nāyak III of Madurai defy the Mughal authority?
Answer
When the Mughal emperor sent a royal slipper as a symbol of supremacy, he refused to receive it at the border, forcing the emissary to bring it to his palace hall. He refused to bow to it, put his own foot into it, mockingly asked why the Badshah had not sent the matching pair, and expelled the messengers.
Mention any three economic roles played by temples during this period.
Answer
Temples managed large land grants and received donations of gold and ornaments, as at the Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur. They employed architects, artisans, sculptors, priests and musicians, extended credit to cultivators, village assemblies and merchants, and supported irrigation, leading to the growth of temple towns like Thanjavur, Kanchipuram and Puri.
Long Answer Questions
Explain how the Ahom kingdom maintained its independence for almost six centuries.
Answer
The Ahom kingdom of Assam remained independent from 1228 to 1826 and resisted many invasions, including repeated Mughal attempts to annex the Brahmaputra valley.
(i) Use of terrain: Ahom commanders knew Assam's forests, rivers and monsoon cycles, which invaders lacked, and avoided direct confrontation.
(ii) Guerrilla tactics and alliances: They combined surprise attacks with strategic alliance-building.
(iii) Paik system: This military-administrative organisation ensured a steady supply of soldiers and labour.
(iv) Navy: Light, fast bāchārī boats built for river warfare gave them an advantage over Mughal fleets.
(v) Determination: After the first clash at Samdhara (1615) they recovered lost territory by 1616; after Mīr Jumlā captured Garhgaon in 1662, King Jayadhvaj Singha renounced the imposed treaty within a year.
(vi) Decisive victory: In 1671 Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughal fleet at Saraighat, securing the Brahmaputra as an effective boundary.
"Between 1000 and 1700 CE, despite frequent invasions, the Indian economy remained dynamic." Explain.
Answer
(i) Agriculture: Expanding empires increased the area under cultivation, and irrigation technologies like rope pulleys and the Persian wheel raised output; Vijayanagara invested in small-scale irrigation.
(ii) Inland trade: Caravans linked India to Central Asia, and banjārās connected villages with growing towns.
(iii) Seaborne trade: From the 13th century, trade linked western India to the Persian Gulf, and India became a major centre of the Indian Ocean network; rulers like Kṛiṣhṇadevarāya stressed port management and fair treatment of foreign traders.
(iv) Merchant groups: Gujarati, Malabar, Coromandel and Bengal merchants worked as traders, shippers, bankers, brokers and dubhaśhīs, and even peasant groups like the vellalār joined trade.
(v) Finance: The hunḍī, run by sarrāfs and gumasthas, made long-distance payments safe.
This economic strength gave people the resources to resist politically and culturally, although heavy land taxes (up to 50% under Alauddin Khiljī and Mohammad bin Tughlaq) burdened peasants.