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.
One photograph on the second panel shows the gopuram of the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur. The ruling elites of which powerful state had extended patronage to this temple?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The Cholas
Option (1) The Sangamas — Incorrect. The Sangamas were the first dynasty of Vijayanagara itself, which was founded in 1336.
Option (2) The Hoysalas — Incorrect. The Hoysalas ruled in Karnataka. Their ruling elites patronised the Chennakeshava temple at Belur.
Option (3) The Gajapatis — Incorrect. The Gajapatis were a ruling lineage of Orissa and rivals of Vijayanagara on its northern frontier.
Option (4) The Cholas — Correct. The <strong>Cholas</strong> ruled in Tamil Nadu, where Thanjavur lies. Their ruling elites <strong>patronised the Brihadishvara temple</strong>, an area later taken into the Vijayanagara Empire.
NCERT (2026-27): “2. Rayas Nayakas and Sultans … |