CBSE Class 7 History Chapter 9 Notes - The Making of Regional Cultures

Let’s Explore:

The Cheras and the Development of Malayalam

This is an example of how language and region are connected. 

• The establishment of the Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram took place in the ninth century in the south-western part of the peninsula. 

• The rulers introduced the Malayalam language as a part of their scripts in their inscriptions. 

• It is one among the oldest regional languages which have been officially recorded in the subcontinent. 

• Alongside, during this, the Cheras also took up the Sanskritic traditions. 

• The temple theatre which displays the Sanskritic epic stories was built during this period. 

• The ‘Lilatilakam’ is a fourteenth-century text composed in Manipravalam referring to ‘diamonds and corals’, which are directly related to Sanskrit and the regional language. 

The Jagannatha Cult: Rulers and Religious traditions

Regional cultures outgrow as a part of the religious traditions. One of the best examples depicting this is the cult of Jagannatha. 

• Till the present day, the local tribe people form a wooden image of the deity, which was later associated with Vishnu. 

• In the twelfth century, Anantvarman built a temple for Purushottama, Jagannatha at Puri. 

• With time, the temple gained importance in becoming a centre of pilgrimage. As a result of this recognition, the people who conquered Orissa, including Mughals, Marathas and East India Company tried to take control over this temple. 

Rajputs and their Traditions of Heroism

The present-day Rajasthan was earlier called as Rajputana by British in the nineteenth century. The ideals and aspirations of rulers formed cultural traditions. 

• The rulers of Rajasthan usually cherished the idea of fighting valiantly and always going out on the battlefield rather than facing defeat. 

• The stories of Rajput heroes have been recorded in several poems and songs which often attracted the ordinary people as well. 

The Story of Kathak: Beyond Regional Frontiers

Kathak evolved as a form of dance over the fifteenth and sixteenth century along with the spread of Bhakti movement. Through the folk plays, the kathak storytellers enacted the legends of Radha-Krishna. 

• During the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, Kathak became a major art form. 

• This dance form was firmly entrenched across several regions of the country by the third quarter of the nineteenth century. 

• On the contrary, many British administrators viewed Kathak with disfavour. 

Painting for Patrons: Tradition of Miniatures

Miniatures are the small-sized paintings which are usually done on cloth or paper. However, the earliest ones were done on wood or palm leaves. 

• Shah Jahan and Jahangir patronised the painters who illustrated the manuscripts which displayed poetry and historical accounts. These paintings generally depicted scenes of social life. 

• Apart from the western region, the Himalayan foothills also attracted these miniature paintings. 

• In the late seventeenth century, these regions developed their style of miniature painting which was called Basohli. 

• With the inspiration from Vaishnavite traditions, the Kangra artists developed a new style by the mid-eighteenth century. 

Bengal: A Closer Look

The people of Bengal did not always speak Bengali. It is a language that has been derived from Sanskrit. 

• The Gupta rulers gained political control over Bengal by settling Brahmans in the area during the fourth century. 

• This led to bringing in of the linguistic and cultural influence from the mid-Ganga valley. 

• During 1586, during the time of Akbar in Bengal, Persian became the language of administration, and on the other hand, Bengali was developed as a regional language. 

• In the fifteenth century, the Bengali group united with a common literary language. 

• As such, Early Bengali literature was divided majorly into two categories: One that was indebted with Sanskrit and the other which was independent of it. 

Pirs and Temples

People started migrating because of fertile land from western to south-eastern Bengal. 

• When the Mughals took control over Bengal, they shifted the capital to Dhaka.

• Following this, they set up mosques, and the official also received land in the form of grants. 

• The early settlers in the region also received a substantial amount of help from their teachers who were called Pirs.