Meera, a history student from Bengaluru, visits a museum gallery on the Vijayanagara Empire. The first panel shows an old copy of a portrait of the surveyor Colin Mackenzie, with his helpers standing around him. The second panel has photographs of two old temples in the south, from areas that later came within the empire. The third panel tells her that rival kingdoms of the time needed horses for their armies and brought them from Arabia and Central Asia. The last panel describes the markets of the city, where spices, textiles and precious stones were sold.
For urban centres such as Vijayanagara, how was trade in high-value items like those in the last panel often regarded?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → As a status symbol for cities whose wealthy people demanded exotic goods
Option (1) As a royal monopoly run through the temple treasuries of the city — Incorrect. Temples were rich, but the markets of the city were run by traders serving a wealthy population.
Option (2) As a trade controlled mainly by Arab traders on the west coast — Incorrect. Arab traders first controlled the trade in horses imported from Arabia and Central Asia.
Option (3) As a status symbol for cities whose wealthy people demanded exotic goods — Correct. Trade was a <strong>status symbol</strong> for such cities. Their <strong>wealthy population demanded high-value exotic goods</strong>, especially precious stones and jewellery.
Option (4) As a source of tribute paid to the rayas by Portuguese traders — Incorrect. The Portuguese came as rival traders who set up trading and military stations on the west coast.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 Kings and traders … |