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Class 7 Social Science Chapter 4, New Beginnings: Cities and States: 8 practice questions with answers, and notes
In short: Chapter 4 of the NCERT Class 7 Social Science book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), opens the book's history theme. It explains how towns and cities came back to India in the 1st millennium BCE, the "Second Urbanisation", after the Harappan cities had faded: the janapadas and the 16 mahajanapadas, kings and assemblies, the early republics of Vajji and Malla, iron tools and the first coins, the varna-jati system, and the roads and new kingdoms that linked north, south, east and west.
Below are short notes and 8 practice questions, each with a worked answer and the textbook page behind it. Many students search for this chapter as "Class 7 history chapter 4". The geography chapters of the same book come first: Class 7 Geographical Diversity of India and Class 7 Climates of India.
These questions are our own, drafted with AI help. Every number was re-computed by a script and every answer was checked against the chapter, but no practising teacher has reviewed them yet. None of them is a textbook question reworded. If you find a mistake, please tell us.
Notes: what the chapter says
Facts from Chapter 4 of Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Part 1 for Class 7 (Reprint 2026-27, pages 67 to 82), in our words:
- The gap after the Harappans (page 68): the Harappan (Indus, Sindhu-Sarasvati) cities, India's "First Urbanisation", broke up in the early 2nd millennium BCE. With no big buildings, markets, writing, drains or state left, people went back to village life, and for about a thousand years India had few if any cities.
- The Second Urbanisation (page 69): in the 1st millennium BCE, cities grew again in the Ganga plains and parts of the Indus basin, and spread across the Subcontinent. We know this from excavations and from late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain texts. The book notes that this phase has gone on to the present day.
- Janapadas and mahajanapadas (pages 69-70): as the 2nd millennium BCE drew to a close, clans settled in territories called janapadas, each led by a raja; the word means the place where a people have set foot. By the 8th or 7th century BCE some had merged into bigger states, the mahajanapadas. The most common list has 16, stretching from Gandhara in the far northwest to Anga in the east, with Ashmaka near the Godavari.
- Capital cities (pages 70-71): most capitals were large walled cities with a moat, a water-filled ditch, outside the walls, and narrow gateways so guards could check who and what came in. Many are still cities today, some about 2,500 years old. Fig. 4.3 maps the 16 states and their capitals.
- Kings and assemblies (pages 70-73): each janapada had an assembly, the sabha or samiti, mostly of elders, whose advice a good raja was expected to take; some texts say it could remove a bad ruler, though the evidence is thin. Some mahajanapadas were, in effect, monarchies, ruled by a raja who held the final say, usually passed the post to his son, and taxed, kept order, built walls and kept an army; Magadha, Kosala and Avanti were among the strongest. Vajji (Vrijji) and Malla were different: their assembly decided by discussion and vote and even chose the raja. These ganas or sanghas are often called early republics.
- Iron and coins (pages 73-75): the Harappans worked copper and bronze; the new age ran on iron, widespread by the late 2nd millennium BCE, which gave bigger farms and lighter, sharper weapons. Growing trade brought India's first coins: silver punch-marked coins, later copper, gold and other metals. Each mahajanapada usually made its own coins, but neighbours' coins were used too.
- Varna and jati (pages 74-77): society was organised in two ways. A jati was a community tied to an occupation, with its skills passed down; a varna was one of four groups named in Vedic texts. The English word "caste" comes from the Portuguese casta. The book says people could change occupations in the early period, that the system was more flexible then and grew more rigid over time, especially under British rule, and that it led to inequality and discrimination.
- Roads and the south (pages 78-80): two great routes were the Uttarapatha, from the northwest through the Ganga plains to the east, and the Dakshinapatha, from Kaushambi across the Vindhyas to the south. Shishupalgarh, capital of Kalinga, had a square plan and broad streets. In the south, cities appear from about 400 BCE, with the Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms, rich in gems, gold and spices. By 300 or 200 BCE almost the whole Subcontinent was linked, and the mahajanapadas came to an end.
Dates and words
Question 1. (a) Put these in order, earliest first: the mahajanapadas; the Harappan cities; the janapadas. (b) The chapter's timeline runs from 1900 BCE to 300 BCE. How many years is that? (c) The chapter says some mahajanapadas had formed by the 7th century BCE. Which years make up the 7th century BCE? (d) A city that is 2,500 years old in 2026 CE was founded in about which year? (There is no year 0.)
Answer: (a) Harappan cities, janapadas, mahajanapadas; (b) 1,600 years; (c) 700 BCE to 601 BCE; (d) about 475 BCE. (a) The Harappan cities broke up in the early 2nd millennium BCE (page 68), janapadas formed from the end of that millennium, and mahajanapadas by the 8th or 7th century BCE (page 69); the timeline, Fig. 4.8 (page 79), shows the same order. (b) Years BCE count down to 1 BCE, so the gap is 1900 − 300 = 1,600. (c) Centuries BCE also count backwards: the 1st century BCE is 100 to 1 BCE, so the 7th is 700 to 601 BCE. (d) Without a year 0, the number of years from a year Y BCE to 2026 CE is Y + 2026 − 1. Setting Y + 2025 = 2,500 gives Y = 475, so the city dates from about 475 BCE, which fits the chapter's "often 2,500 years old" (page 70).
Question 2. Match each word (a)-(f) to its meaning (i)-(vi).
- Words: (a) janapada; (b) mahajanapada; (c) sabha or samiti; (d) gana or sangha; (e) moat; (f) casta.
- Meanings: (i) a deep ditch full of water around a fortified city; (ii) a state whose assembly took decisions and even chose the ruler; (iii) the Portuguese word that gave English the word "caste"; (iv) the land where a people or clan settled, led by a raja; (v) the assembly, mainly of elders, that advised the ruler; (vi) a bigger state formed when several smaller ones merged.
Answer: (a)-(iv); (b)-(vi); (c)-(v); (d)-(ii); (e)-(i); (f)-(iii). Janapada and mahajanapada are on page 69, sabha and samiti on page 70, ganas and sanghas on page 72, the moat in the glossary box on page 70, and casta on page 77.
States and how they were run
Question 3. Use the map of the 16 mahajanapadas (Fig. 4.3, page 71). (a) Give the capital the map shows for each of: Anga, Vrijji, Malla, Gandhara, Matsya, Shurasena, Panchala, Kuru. (b) Which mahajanapada on the map lies furthest to the south, and near which river does the chapter place it? (c) Which mahajanapada lies next to Gandhara in the far northwest and has no capital marked?
Answer: (a) Anga, Champa; Vrijji, Vaishali; Malla, Kushinara; Gandhara, Takshashila (the map also marks Pushkalavati there); Matsya, Virata; Shurasena, Mathura; Panchala, Ahichchhatra; Kuru, Indraprastha; (b) Ashmaka, near the Godavari; (c) Kamboja. (a) and (c) are read from the map's labels (page 71). (b) Ashmaka is shown well south of the others, and the text places it in central India close to the Godavari (page 69).
Question 4. For each made-up state, say whether it works like a monarchy, as some mahajanapadas in effect were, or like Vajji and Malla, a gana or sangha: (a) when the raja dies, his eldest son becomes raja; (b) the assembly debates, votes and picks the next raja from among its members; (c) the raja alone collects taxes, builds the city walls and commands the army, and asks the elders' advice. Then: (d) name two jobs the chapter says a raja of a monarchy did; (e) what do scholars often call the ganas, and why?
Answer: (a) monarchy; (b) gana or sangha; (c) monarchy; (d) any two of collecting taxes, keeping law and order, building fortifications around the capital, and keeping an army; (e) early republics, because the assembly, not birth, chose the ruler and took the big decisions. (a) and (c) The raja's post was usually passed from father to son, and he was the final authority, with ministers and an assembly of elders (pages 71-72). (b) In Vajji and Malla the assembly decided by discussion and, if needed, by vote, even when choosing the raja (page 72). (d) Page 72. (e) Pages 72-73: the book counts them among the world's earliest systems of this kind.
Technology, trade and routes
Question 5. (a) Which metals did the Harappans work, and which metal marks the Second Urbanisation? (b) Give two ways the chapter says iron changed life. (c) What were the first Indian coins made of, and why are they called punch-marked? (d) Which metals were used for coins later? (e) Why did coins become necessary?
Answer: (a) copper and bronze; iron; (b) iron tools helped farming on a larger scale, and iron made lighter, sharper weapons than bronze; (c) silver; it is soft, so marks and symbols could be punched into it; (d) copper, gold and other metals; (e) trade was growing. (a) and (b) Page 73, which adds that iron tools were widespread by the late 2nd millennium BCE. (c) Pages 73-74. (d) Page 74. (e) Page 73: coins soon moved between regions and to other parts of the world.
Question 6. (a) Name the two great routes of the 1st millennium BCE and say where each ran. (b) Which city was the capital of Kalinga, and what was special about its plan? (c) From about when do cities appear in the far south, and which three kingdoms arose there? (d) Name two goods the south was rich in. (e) By about when was almost the whole Subcontinent linked together?
Answer: (a) the Uttarapatha, from the northwest through the Ganga plains to eastern India, and the Dakshinapatha, from Kaushambi across the Vindhya hills to the south; (b) Shishupalgarh (today Sisupalgarh, in Bhubaneswar), laid out on a strict square plan with strong walls and broad streets; (c) from about 400 BCE; the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas; (d) any two of precious and semi-precious stones, gold and spices; (e) by 300 or 200 BCE. (a) Pages 78-79. (b) Page 79, with the gateway photograph on page 78. (c) Page 79. (d) and (e) Page 80, which adds that the earliest Tamil literature names these kingdoms and some of their kings.
Society, and check your reasoning
Question 7. (a) What is the difference between a jati and a varna, as the chapter describes them? (b) Give one example the chapter gives of people changing their occupation. (c) According to the chapter, did the system become more flexible or more rigid with time?
Answer: (a) a jati was a community linked to one occupation, whose skills usually passed down the generations; a varna was one of four broad groups described in Vedic texts; (b) a long drought could drive farmers to a city to take up other work, or some Brahmins took up trade or military work; (c) more rigid, especially during British rule, leading to inequality and discrimination. (a) Page 76. (b) Page 77, which says texts and inscriptions record such changes in the early period. (c) Page 77, which adds that the varna-jati system was not the only force shaping Indian society.
Question 8. For each pair, choose: (A) both true, and R explains A; (B) both true, but R does not explain A; (C) A true, R false; (D) A false, R true.
- Pair 1. Assertion: Many mahajanapada capitals had a moat outside their walls. Reason: A moat gave the city one more line of defence.
- Pair 2. Assertion: The first Indian coins were made of silver. Reason: Coins from neighbouring regions were also used in trade.
- Pair 3. Assertion: Vajji was a gana or sangha. Reason: In Vajji the raja was always the son of the raja before him.
- Pair 4. Assertion: City life carried on without a break from the Harappan cities to the mahajanapadas. Reason: Some Harappan cities were abandoned in the early 2nd millennium BCE.
Answer: Pair 1 (A); Pair 2 (B); Pair 3 (C); Pair 4 (D). Pair 1: the chapter gives the moat as a further defence (page 70). Pair 2: both are true (pages 73-74), but using neighbours' coins does not explain why the first coins were silver; the reason given is that silver is soft enough to punch. Pair 3: Vajji was a gana, but its assembly chose the raja (page 72), so R is false. Pair 4: some Harappan cities were abandoned (page 68), but the chapter says city life was then absent for about a millennium, so A is false and R is true.
Practise more, and check your marks
- The geography chapters of the same book: Class 7 Geographical Diversity of India, practice questions and Class 7 Climates of India, practice questions.
- What came later, from the Class 9 book: Class 9 State and Society up to 1000 CE, practice questions.
- For a 3-mark history answer, give one point per mark and tie each to the chapter: a name, a date or a place, as the answers above do.
- Using an AI to check your answers: how to use ChatGPT for homework without cheating yourself. The Class 7 Social Science book changed in 2025, and an AI may answer from the older Class 7 history book, so check its answer against your textbook page.
Where CMDLearn fits
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Sources
All opened and read on 4 November 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook (PDF page + 66).
- NCERT, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Social Science textbook, Part 1 for Class 7 (Reprint 2026-27), Chapter 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States", pages 67-82 (the First and Second Urbanisation, pages 68-69; janapadas and mahajanapadas, pages 69-71; assemblies and early republics, pages 70-73; iron and coins, pages 73-75; varna and jati, pages 74-77; routes and the south, pages 78-80): ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/gees104.pdf
- NCERT, the same book's opening pages (contents, Chapter 4 at page 67): ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/gees1ps.pdf
The facts are from the textbook pages above. The questions, the made-up states and the worked answers are our own, and every number was re-computed by script. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and your school's syllabus.
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