Worksheet 1

(i) The place shown in the picture is the Mar Saba Monastery.

(ii) The Mar Saba Monastery is located near Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world and was built in the 5th century CE.

(iii) monks

(iv) nuns

(v) Monasteries like the Mar Saba Monastery provided shelter to travellers. They also provided food and clothing to the poor. Nuns educated the children, and treated the sick and wounded. Sometimes, monks and nuns ran schools and hospitals as well.

1. False
   Correct Statement — Jerusalem is not the only sacred site for Muslims. The Kaaba at Mecca is one of the most sacred places for the Muslims. The Prophet's mosque in Medina is another important place. Jerusalem is also a sacred site for the Muslims, as Prophet Muhammad is said to have visited the city.
2. True
3. False
   Correct Statement — India's first contact with Islam took place in the 7th century CE when the Arab traders came to the Malabar Coast of India and began to settle there.
4. False
   Correct Statement — Ghiyasuddin Balban broke up the chahalgani during his rule. The chahalgani was the most important group of forty nobles in the court.
5. False
   Correct Statement — Qutbuddin Aibak initiated the construction of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque. It was one of the earliest Islamic monuments built in Delhi.

Mahmud of Ghazni wanted to build a large and well-equipped army, keeping the expansion of his kingdom in mind, and also to protect it from the Central Asian tribesmen. Therefore, he invaded Indian temple towns, as their great wealth could fulfil his monetary needs.

In 1009 CE, Mahmud plundered Nagarkot in present-day Himachal Pradesh.

The attack on the Somnath Temple in Kathiawar (c. 1025 CE) was Mahmud's most ambitious and profitable expedition.