The whole story
A bill, and a refusal.
An envoy says the tribute is overdue. The queen answers that Ullal owes none at all.
📚 Chapter Learning Kit
Rani Abbakka · Class 7 English · Poorvi
English 3 topics 105 leveled MCQs 51 flashcards 5 games Free
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
⚡ Veda Bites
💡 Key Idea
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The whole idea, one bite at a time
Veda Bites are swipeable micro-lessons — each one teaches exactly one idea. Here's a taste from this kit; the app has the full deck.
What a tribute is
Not a tax.
Money a weaker state pays to the stronger one that controls it, which admits the right to ask.
The two words that decide it
Vassal, or sovereign.
One is controlled and must pay. The other has complete authority and owes nobody anything.
The two ways
Quoted, or reported.
Direct speech hands over the words. Indirect speech reports them from where the reporter stands.
All that ever changes
Time, place, person.
The tense steps back, here becomes there, and I becomes he or she. Nothing else moves.
Why the tense moves
One step back.
The reporting happens after the speaking, so a present becomes a past and a past a past perfect.
📖 Smart notes
What you'll study, topic by topic
1
Ullal Refuses to Pay
A small coastal kingdom is told its tribute is overdue, and its queen answers that she owes none. This topic follows the chain of causes from that refusal to the attack on the Portuguese fort.
- A tribute is money a weaker state has to pay to a more powerful one that controls it.
- Ullal had been captured by the Portuguese, and the tribute followed from that capture.
- The envoy’s message was that the annual tribute from Ullal was long overdue.
~33 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
2
Reporting What Was Said
Direct speech quotes the words; indirect speech reports them. This topic takes the three things that change - the tense, the place words and the pronouns - and the different shape a command takes.
- Direct speech gives a speaker’s own words, inside quotation marks.
- Indirect speech reports the same words without quoting them, usually with that.
- Three things change: the time, which means the tense; the place words; and the person, which means the pronouns.
~33 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
3
Spellings, Silence, and Stress
Written words and spoken words do not always match. This topic takes the ie and ei tip with its exceptions, the silent letters, the idioms built on laugh, and how a word is divided and stressed.
- The chapter’s spelling tip is i before e except after c, as in believe and receive.
- Ceiling and perceive are the after-c case, so they take ei rather than ie.
- Protein and weight both take ei with no c in sight, so they break the tip.
~31 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
❓ Leveled MCQ practice
Try the smart MCQs from this kit
105 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
The whole story is set in one small kingdom on the western coast of India. Belonging to that kingdom is the story of
Beginner
A Portugal
B Kozhikode
C Ullal
D Bangadi
Show answer & explanation
Ullal
A coastal kingdom that had been captured by the Portuguese.
What is a tribute, in this context?
Intermediate
A a payment made for the use of a harbour
B a gift sent between two friendly states
C a tax that the people pay their own ruler
D money paid to a power that controls you
Show answer & explanation
money paid to a power that controls you
Which is why paying one admits something as well as costing something.
Consider these statements about a vassal state. I. It must pay when money is demanded of it. II. Ullal had been captured before the demand came. III. A sovereign state owes no such payment at all. Which statements are correct?
Advanced
A I and II only
B II and III only
C I and III only
D I, II and III
Show answer & explanation
I, II and III
All three are in the extract. The payment is the mark of a vassal, the capture is why Ullal was asked, and sovereignty is the ground of her refusal.
A demand for tribute does not come out of nowhere but follows from something that happened earlier. Ullal was asked for tribute because
Intermediate
A its ruler had asked for help
B its soldiers had lost a battle
C its harbours were the busiest nearby
D the Portuguese had captured it
Show answer & explanation
the Portuguese had captured it
The first row of the chapter’s own cause-and-effect table.
🃏 Flashcards
Tap a card to flip it
51 flashcards in this kit — the app reviews them with spaced repetition so the right card returns on the right day.
🎮 Learning games
Play your way through this kit
Every game is built from this kit's own content — scores feed your mastery, so playing counts as studying.
Word Match
Categorization
Fact Or Myth
Sequence Builder
Memory Match
Playable in the app
Study it properly — free, in the app
The full Veda Bites deck, complete notes, spaced-repetition flashcards, leveled MCQs, tests and games for this kit — plus Daily Facts and the Arena, every day.