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According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, the women in Vijayanagara Empire were expert in which of the following areas? 1. Wrestling 2. Astrology 3. Accounting 4. Soothsaying Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 4 (1, 2, 3 and 4).
Fernao Nuniz, a Portuguese traveler and chronicler who visited the Vijayanagara Empire during the reign of Achyuta Deva Raya, provides detailed accounts of the diverse roles played by women in the royal court and society. His chronicles highlight that women were not confined to domestic spheres but were highly educated and professionally trained in various specialized fields.
According to Nuniz:
- Wrestling: Women were trained in physical combat and wrestling to serve as bodyguards and entertainers.
- Astrology and Soothsaying: Many women were proficient in predicting the future, reading celestial movements, and interpreting omens.
- Accounting: Women were employed as clerks and bookkeepers to maintain the accounts of the kingdom and internal palace expenses.
Since Nuniz explicitly mentions that the King had women for all these duties, including music and literature, all four areas listed are historically accurate according to his records.
PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
Guest previewThis question exposes the 'TN Board Advantage'. While NCERT mentions Nuniz visited, the specific list of skills (wrestling, astrology, accounting) is a verbatim lift from the Tamil Nadu Class 11 History Textbook (Chapter: Bahmani and Vijayanagar). It proves that for South Indian history, NCERT is insufficient; the TN Board text is the primary source.
This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.
- Statement 1: According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, were women in the Vijayanagara Empire experts in wrestling?
- Statement 2: According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, were women in the Vijayanagara Empire experts in astrology?
- Statement 3: According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, were women in the Vijayanagara Empire experts in accounting?
- Statement 4: According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, were women in the Vijayanagara Empire experts in soothsaying?
- The passage directly attributes an observation to Portuguese writer Nuniz about women's skills in the empire.
- It explicitly lists 'wrestling' among the areas in which women were expert.
- This passage repeats the same explicit attribution to Nuniz, reinforcing the claim.
- It again names 'wrestling' as one of the specific skills women possessed according to Nuniz.
Lists Fernao Nuniz among travellers who wrote descriptive first‑hand accounts of Vijayanagara, implying he recorded social customs and practices.
A student could check Nuniz's travel account for mentions of gendered social activities (e.g., sports, entertainment) to see if he noted women wrestlers.
Quotes Nuniz describing markets and everyday life in detail (foods and goods), showing he reported mundane and surprising social facts.
Use the fact Nuniz recorded everyday oddities to argue he might have mentioned women wrestling if it were visible in public life; locate the specific passage to confirm.
Another fragment attributing descriptive material on bazaars to Nuniz, reinforcing that his narratives covered civic life and public spectacles.
Combine this pattern with a search in Nuniz's text for terms related to wrestling or public performances involving women.
Explains the amara‑nayaka military/chief system and prominence of armed male chiefs, suggesting a strongly martial, male‑dominated public sphere.
A student could weigh the prevalence of male military elites against the plausibility of women as public wrestling experts in that society and look for corroborating evidence.
Uses gendered political titles like 'lord of men' (narapati), indicating public and political roles were framed in male terms.
Use this pattern to hypothesize that martial activities were primarily male; then seek specific traveler or inscriptional mentions to confirm or refute women’s involvement in wrestling.
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This statement analysis shows book citations, web sources and indirect clues. The first statement (S1) is open for preview.
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