Chapter 7 

 Birbal Caught the Thief


Answer the following questions:


1. What place do you see in this picture?

Ans: The place shown in the picture appears to be a royal court. The man sitting on the throne seems to be a king, and the people around him look like courtiers or officials. The setting, with the throne and attendants, suggests it is a scene from a historical or royal setting.


2. Who are there in this picture?

Ans: In the picture, there are several people:

  1. A king sitting on the throne, likely representing Emperor Akbar.
  2. Two men standing in front of the king, dressed in traditional royal attire, possibly courtiers or ministers.
  3. A servant holding a peacock-feather fan, standing behind the king.

This scene is likely from the famous historical stories of Akbar and Birbal. One of the men could be Birbal, known for his intelligence and wisdom


3. What are they doing? /What is happening?

Ans: In the picture, the scene appears to take place in a royal court. The king, possibly Emperor Akbar, is sitting on his throne, listening to the two courtiers standing before him. One of them could be Birbal, known for his wisdom.

The men seem to be engaged in a discussion, possibly about solving a case or a problem. The servant behind the king is fanning him with a peacock-feather fan, which indicates that this is an important meeting in the court. The title of the unit, "Birbal Caught the Thief," suggests that this scene might depict Birbal using his intelligence to catch a thief or solve a mystery.


Answer the following questions.


1. Where did the rich merchant live?

Ans: The rich merchant lived in a small village surrounded by a forest.


2. Who stole the diamonds?

Ans: One of the merchant's servants stole the diamonds. Birbal identified the thief using a clever trick with "magic sticks." The thief, fearing that his stick would grow, cut it by two inches, which revealed his guilt.


3. Why did the merchant go to the court of Akbar?

Ans: The merchant went to the court of King Akbar because his precious diamonds were stolen, and he suspected that one of his servants was the thief. Since the servants denied any involvement, the merchant sought Akbar’s help in finding the thief. Akbar then assigned Birbal, his wise minister, to solve the case.


4. Why did Akbar ask Birbal to help the merchant?

Ans: Akbar asked Birbal to help the merchant because Birbal was a wise and intelligent minister in his kingdom. Akbar trusted Birbal's problem-solving skills and knew that he could find a clever way to identify the thief and recover the stolen diamonds.


5. What did one of the servants do during the night?

Ans: During the night, one of the servants cut his stick by two inches, fearing that it would grow longer as Birbal had claimed. This act of guilt exposed him as the thief when Birbal inspected the sticks the next day.


6. Who did the merchant approach for help?

The merchant went to the court of King Akbar for help.


7. What did Birbal do to catch the thief?

Birbal gave each servant a stick of equal length and told them that the thief’s stick would grow longer by two inches overnight.


8. How was the thief caught?

The thief, fearing that his stick would grow, secretly cut it by two inches. The next day, Birbal noticed the shorter stick and identified the thief.


9. What lesson does the story teach?

The story teaches that wisdom and intelligence can help solve problems and uncover the truth.


Read the following statements and write the letter (T) for the True statements and letter (F) for the False statements.

1. Birbal gave sticks of unequal length to all the servants.

Ans: (False )


2. One of the servants had his stick longer by two inches.

Ans: (False )


3. The thief fell at Birbal's feet.

Ans: (True)


4. The merchant went to the court of Akbar for help.

Ans: ( True)


5. Akbar shouted to catch the thief.

Ans: (False)