(i) Paper was used by people to write holy text, letters and teachings of saints, ruler's chronicles, petitions and judicial records and for maintaining accounts and taxes.
(ii) Manuscripts were collected by wealthy people, rulers, temples and monasteries. These manuscripts were placed in libraries and archives that provided a lot of details to historians.

Rajputs word has been derived from 'Rajaputra', the son of a ruler. Between the eighth and fourteenth centuries, the term was applied to a body of warriors, who claimed Kshatriya caste status.
This term not only included rulers and chieftains but also commanders and soldiers. They served in the armies of different monarchs all over the subcontinent.

Historians relied on coins, inscriptions, architecture and textual records for collecting historical informations. Gradually, paper became cheaper and more widely available in medieval period. This resulted in increase of use of paper in writing holy texts by priests, chronicles of rulers, letters and teachings of saints, petitions and judicial records and for registers of accounts and taxes.

The technological changes are
Use of Persian wheel in irrigation.
Use of spinning wheel in weaving.
Use of firearms in a battlefield.

Soil - It is the soil where plants are grown.
Soil - To make something dirty.
Example Soil- Fertile soil is required for good crop Soil- I do not want you soiling your hands with this Sort of work.
Copy- A thing that is made to be the same as something else.
Copy- Written material that is to be printed In a newspaper, magazine etc.
Example: I will send you a copy of the report. The subeditor prepares the reporter's copy for the paper.

(a) Both the figures show the handwriting of Persian and Arabic languages.
(b) Ist figure is cursive and easy to read, it is called the nastaliq style.
IInd figure is denser and more difficult to understand, it is called as shikaste style.

The picture shows a scribe.
(b) He is making a copy of a manuscript.
(c) This painting is small in size, Because of smaller size, it is called as miniature  (10.5 cm by 7.1 ern).
(d) The two features of miniatures are 
(i) Miniature is used to illustrate the text of manuscripts
(ii) Miniatures are so beautiful that later collectors of manuscripts took the
manuscripts apart and just sold the miniatures.

Throughout the period there was a gradual clearing of forests and the extension of agriculture. These changes in their 'habitat' forcing the forest-dwellers to migrate into new lands. Many others started tilling the land and became peasants.
Regional markets, chieftains, priests, monasteries and temples began to influence the society. People were made to pay taxes to the ruler of the kingdom.
Significant developments were noticed which created differences among people and groups. Some possessed more productive lands, many others kept cattle.
People were categorised into 'Jatis' or sub-castes based on their occupations and were ranked according to their background. The status of the same Jati could vary from area to area. 

Differences Map 1 and Map 2 given in the NCERT text book (Map 2) represent two different times
Map 1 was made in 1154 CE by Al-ldrisi, an Arab geographer, the map given here is the map of Indian subcontinent from his larger map of the world.
Map 2 was made by a French cartographer in 1720. Both maps are quite different from each other in mode of presentation and contexts. However, both traced the outlines of the area of Indian subcontinent in their cartography.
Similarities Map 1, South India was at that place where North India is at present and Sri Lanka is the island the top. Name of place were in Arabic. Today's map of India is far ahead of Map 1 and Map 2. It is made to scale and shows clear-cut boundaries and areas.