Ques 1: Who was John Marshall? How did he mark a change in the Indian Archeology?
Ans: John Marshall was the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1902 to 1928. He was known for excavations in Harappa, Mohanjodaro, Sanchi, Sarnath and Taxila.
Ques 2: Point out one similarity and one dissimilarity between Lingayats and Nayanars.
Ans: Both were in similar in the worshipping of Shiva. But they were dissimilar in the fact. Lingayats believed in linga worship whereas Nayanars made many temples and they believed in mutri puja.
Ques 3: How did Indian hill stations become racial enclaves for the Europeans in the 19 century? Explain two reasons.
Ans: 1. Introduction of the railways made hills accessible to wide range of people.
2. Setting up of tea and coffee plantation which caused an influx of immigrant labour from the plain.
Ques 4: Mention any two changes that were observed after 1900 BCE in Harappan civilization. What could have brought these changes? Explain.
Ans: The changes are:
(i) Disappearance of distinctive artifacts of the civilization - weights, seals, special beads, writing, long distance trade and craft specialisation.
(ii) House construction techniques deteriorated and large public structures were no longer produced.
These changes were brought by many reasons:
Climate change, deforestation, excessive floods, drying up of rivers and overuse of landscape.
Ques 5: The mid first millennium BCE is often regarded as a major turning point in world history? Justify.
Ans: The mid millennium BCE a turning point in world history:
(i) Emergence of various thinkers like Socrates, Buddha etc. in different parts of the world.
(ii) Emergence of Upanishads in India.
(iii) Attempt to understand mystery of existence. Ultimate Reality etc.
(iv) Attempt to understand life after death.
(v) To understand relationship between humans and cosmic order.
(vi) Compilation of Rig Veda.
(vii) Sacrificial tradition existed and was questioned.
(viii) Philosophical debates to understand the world in kutagrashala.
(ix) Advent of materialism.
(x) Emergence of Fatalist school.
(xi) Emergence of Materialist school
(xii) Emergence of Buddhism
(xiii) Emergence of Jainism
(xiv) Emergence of 64 different schools of thought in India
(xv) Attempt to find paths to salvation
(xvi) Development of kingdoms and cities
(xvii) Changes in social and economic life
Ques 6: Highlight any four aspects observed by the Portuguese Traveller Barbosa on the Urban Core of the Vijaynagara Empire.
Ans: Barbosa has described a detailed account of Vijayanagra rulers, economic and social life of the empire.
Four aspects are given below observed by Barbosa:
(i) Most of the houses were thatched but well built.
(ii) Houses were arranged according to the occupation of the people in long streets in many open places.
(iii) The whole nagar was surrounded by a mountain, a river, a good wall.
(iv) There were many jewels which were brought from Pegu and Celani and in the country itself many diamonds are found.
Ques 7: State the inherent problems faced by Al-Biruni in the task of understanding Indian Social and Brahamanical practices. Mention any two sources that provided him the support.
Ans: Two inherent problems that were faced by Al-Biruni were:
(i) Language: Indian language was Sanskrit at that time but Al-Biruni was familiar with Arabic and Persian.
(ii) Difference in religious beliefs and practices.
Two soures that provided him the support were:
(i) Vedas and Puranas
(ii) The Bhagwad Geeta and Manusmriti.
Ques 8: The battle between the hoe and the plough was a long one? Substantiate the statement with reference to the Santhals and Paharis of Raj Mahal Hills during 18th century.
Ans: Paharis were the main residents of the Rajmahal hills. They experience Jhoom cultivation. They are very close to nature. In 1770's the British embarked on a brutal policy of extermination, hunting the Paharias down and killing them. Then by the 1780's, Augustus Cleveland, proposed a policy of pacification. But this was refused by Paharias. As the Paharia pacification campaign continued, the Paharia withdrew deep into the mountains and carrying a war with outsider. But by this time there were new intimations of danger from Santhalls. Santhals were pouring into the area, clearing forest, cutting down timber, ploughing land and growing rice and cotton. As the lower hills were taken over Rajmahal hills. If Paharia life was symbolised by the Hoe the Santhals came to represent the power of Plough.
Ques 9: Examine how Lord Dalhousie's policy of annexation created dissatisfaction amongst the people of Awadh.
Ans: British were felt that the soil of Awadh was very good for producing indigo and cotton and the region was ideally located to be developed into the principal market of upper India. Lord Dalhousie had done Awadh annexation in 1856 which created the dissatisfaction among the people of Awadh. Here the Nawab Wajhid Alt Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the plea that the region was being misgoverned. He was widely loved and when he left his beloved Lucknow there were many who followed him all way to Kanpur singing songs of Lament. This emotional upheaval was aggravated by immediate material losses. The removal of Nawab led to the dissolution of the court and its culture. Thus a whole range of people - musicians, dancers, poets, artisians, cooks, retainers, administrative officers so on lost their livelihood.
Ques 10: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Every citizen in a free state should be treated in a manner that satisfied not only his material wants but also his spiritual sense of the self-respect and the majority community has an obligation to try and understand the problems of the minorities and empathise with their aspiration.
How could a citizen of a free nation express his imbibed values of equality and social justice while dealing with the members of the minority community? Explain.
Ans: (i) While dealing with the members of the minority community, the majority community should always try to understand the problems of the minority and empathise with their aspirations.
(ii) The problems of minorities should be solved with a sense of positive attitude.
(iii) The rights and privileges of the minority community should be respected.
(iv) The minority community should have the rights of equality and social justice without any discrimination.
Ques 11: There was more to rural India than the sedentary agriculture? Explain the statement in the context of Mughal Period.
Or
Inspite of the limitations, the Ain-i-Akbari remains an extraordinary document of its time?. Explain the statement.
Ans: There was more to rural India than the sedentary agriculture? This statement can be explained on the basis of the following points.
(i) In the contemporary texts, forest dwellers were known as Jangli. However, it did not mean an absence of civilization.
(ii) The term Jangli was described for those whose livelihood came from the gathering or forest produce, hunting; and shifting agriculture.
(iii) These activities were mainly season specific. For example, among the Bhils, the spring season was reserved for gathering of forest produce.
(iv) Among the Bhils, spring was reserved for gathering forest produce, summer for fishing, the monsoon months for cultivation whereas, winter and autumn for hunting.
(v) The three factors that accounted for the continuous expansion of agriculture were (a) abundance of land (b) available labour (c) mobility of peasants.
(vi) Though monsoon always remained the backbone of Indian agriculture yet these were crops which required additional water. For this purpose, artificial systems of irrigation had to be devised.
(vii) Irrigation projects got state support. In northern India, digging of new canals and repairing of old ones was under taken by the state.
(viii) The Indo-Persian sources or the Mughal period frequently used the term 'raiyat to denote a peasant. Sources available in the 17 century AD refer to two types of peasants - (a) Khud-Kashta (b) Pahi-Kashta.
Or
Inspite of limitations Ain is an extra ordinary document of its time is very true as it provides fascinating glimpses into the structure and organisation of the Mughal Empire and gives us the quantitative information about its products and people. Abul Fazi achieved a major break-through in the tradition of medieval chronicles who wrote mostly about remarkable political events, wars conquests political machinations and dynastic turmoil.
The Ain recorded the information about the empire and the people of India and thus constitutes a bench mark for studying India at the turn of the 17th C.
The value of the Ain's quantitative evidence is uncontested where the study of agrarian relation is concerned. The information on the people, their professions and trades and on the imperial establishment and the granders of the empire provided in Ain enables the historians to reconstruct the social fabric of India at that time.
Ques 12: Analyse the distinctive aspects of the oral testimonies to understand the history of the partition of British India.
Or
Examine various events that led to the partition of British India.
Ans: 1. Following are the strenghts and limitations of oral history:
(i) Oral history visits those areas of events which are not included in the formal domain. It also helps us in understanding trials and tribulations of common masses.
(ii) Oral history unfolds those mysterious vistas of events that helps us in graping experience and memories in det.
(iii) Oral history spots those points which would have remained in the dark sans oral sources.
(iv) Oral history permits historians to broaden the frontiers of their discipline. This provides information which is impossible to extract from government documents.
2. Following are the limitation of oral history:
(i) Many historians remain sceptical of oral history. They out rightly dismiss its veracity and put it in the category of fiction instead of facts.
(ii) In the absence of evidences, oral data seem to lack concreteness and the chronology may be imprecise.
(iii) Oral accounts are related with peripheral issues and that the small individual experiences which remain in memory are irrelevant to the unfolding to larger processes of history.
3. Oral sources helped us in understanding partition in a better way:
(i) Historians can use oral testimonies to collaborate written sources of the Indian holocaust and thus can help remove internal controversies and contradictions.
(ii) Oral sources have supported the official description of partition by providing a more personal edge.
(iii) The experiences it relates are pivotal to the story, so much so that oral sources should be incorporated to check and justice versa.
Or
The major four events happened that led to partition of British India:
1. Salt March
2. Quit India Movement
3. Hindu-Muslim conflict
4. Indian Independence.
1. Salt March: On 12 March, 1939, Gandhiji began walking from his Ashram at Sabarmati towards the ocean. Gandhiji wanted to say that the salt is made by nature by any effort, then why British make so much tax on it. This was very big March that makes the British helpless.
2. Quit India Movement: After failure of Cripps Mission, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch his third major movement against British rule. The Quit India campaign, which began in August 1942. It was a mass movement, bringing into its ambit hundreds of thousands of ordinary Indians.
3. Hindu Muslim Conflicts: Early in 1946 fresh elections were held to the provincial legislatures. But the seats reserved for Muslims the league won an overwhelming majority cabinet mission in 1946 failed to get the congress and league to agree on a federal system that would keep India together. On the designated day, 16 August 1946, that was Jinnah called for a "Direct Action Day to press the league's demand for Pakistan, blood riots broke out in Calcutta and spread to rural Bengal, Bihar, Punjab and all over the country. In some places, Hindu were the main sufferers in other places, Hindus.
4. Indian Independence: In February 1947, Wavell was replaced as viceroy by Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten called one last round of talks, but when these too proved inconclusive, he common announced that British India would be freed but divided the formal transfer of power was fixed for 15 August.
Ques 13: Read the following excerpt carefully and answer the questions that follow:
A Tiger - Like Husband
This is a summary of a story from the Adi Parvan of the Mahabharata:
The Pandavas had fled into the forest. They were tired and fell asleep; only Bhima, the second Pandava, renowned for his prowess, was keeping watch. A man-eating Rakshasa caught the scent of the Pandavas and sent his sister Hidimba to capture them. She fell in love with Bhima, transformed herself into a lovely maiden and proposed to him. He refused. Meanwhile, the Rakshasa arrived and challenged Bhima to a wrestling match. Bhima accepted the challenge and killed him. The others woke up hearing the noise. Hidimba introduced herself, and declared her love for Bhima. She told Kunti; "I have forsaken my friends, my dharma and my kin; and good lady, chosen your tiger-like son for my man ... whether you think me a fool, or your devoted servant, let me join you, great lady, with your son as my husband."
Ultimately, Yudhishthira agreed to the marriage on condition that they would spend the day together but that Bhima would return every night. The couple roamed all over the world during the day. In due course Hidimba gave birth to a Rakshasa boy named Ghatotkacha. Then the mother and son left the Pandavas. Ghatotkacha promised to return to the Pandavas whenever they needed him.
Some historians suggest that the term rakshasa is used to describe people whose practices differed from those laid down in Brahmanical texts.
(i) How did the story from Adi Parvan play an important role in shaping the values and ethos of the society?
(ii) How was this story a unique example of exogamy?
(iii) How did Hidimba and Yudhisthira interpret dharma in their context?
Ans: (i) This Adiparvan story tells about the moral values and social values of that time which is divided into Brahmana, Khastriya, Vaishya and Shudra. They could not make any relationship in between. But Adiparvan story tells that at some situations, this would be happen and humanity was all above anything.
(ii) Exogamy refers to marriage outside me unit. Hidimba was our-of Gotra of the Bheem. So their marriage is an example of Exogamy.
(iii.) Hidimba fell in love with Bhima and transformed herself into a lovely maiden and proposed to him. She left her dharma, kin for Bheem. It was a definition or love tor Hidimba and her dharma. Whereas Yudhishthira agreed for their marriage on a condition because he was keen follower of dharma but in front of a lady who left everything for love, he got relaxed for his dharma and promised for their marriage on a condition.
Ques 14: Explain the system of land grants and trade from C. 600 BCE to 600 CE.
Or
Explain any four sources to reconstruct the history of Mauryas. Examine the system of Mauryan administration.
Ans: (1) The system of land grants (C. 600 BCE to CE 600):
(i) We foud grants of land and were recorded in inscriptions from the early centuries of the Common Era. Some of these inscriptions were found on stone, but most were on copper plates.
(ii) The land grants were given to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
(iii) Women were not supposed to have independent access to resources such as land. However, the inscription clearly indicates that Prabhavati had access to land.
(iv) Some scholars say, that land grants were indicative of weakening political power, as kings were losing control over their Samantas.
(2) The system of trade 9C. 600 BCE to CE 600):
(i) The land and river router crisscrossed. The subcontinent and extended in different directions from the 6t century BCE.
(ii) These routes were traversed by the peddlers who travelled on foot. Whereas, merchants travelled with caravans of bullock carts and pack-animals.
(iii) There were seafarers also. There ventures were full of risks but highly profitable. Merchants designated as masattuwan in Tamil and Sethi?s and Satthava?s has in Praknit were very rich.
(iv) There was a comprehensive range of goods, which were carried from one place to another such as salt, stone, timber, spices and pepper, medicinal plants etc. All these items were transported across the Arabian sea to the Mediterranean.
Or
Four sources to reconstruct the history of Mauryas are:
- Sculptures
- Valuable contemporary works, such as account of Megasthenes
- Arthashastra, parts of which are probably composed by Kautilya or chanakya.
- Inscriptions of Ashoka on rocks and pillars are most valuable sources.
Mauryan Administration: There were five major political centres in the empire ? The capital Patliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosalt & suvarnagiri, all mentioned in Asokan inscriptions. The regions included within the empire were just too diverse. Imagine the contract between the hilly terrain of Afganistan and the coast of Orissa. It is likely that administrative control was strongest in the areas around the capital and the provincial centres. These centres were carefully chosen, both Taxila and Ujjayini being situated on important long distance trade routes, while Suvarngiri was possible important for tapping the gold mines of Karnataka.
Ques 15: Read the following excerpt carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Accessible Emperor
In the account of his experiences, Monserrate, who was a member of the first Jesuit mission, says: It is hard to exaggerate how accessible he (Akbar) makes himself to all who wish audience, of him. For he creates an opportunity almost every day for any of the common people or of the nobles to see him and to converse with him; and he endeavours to show himself pleasant-spoken and affable rather than severe towards all who come to speak with him. It is very remarkable how great an effect this courtesy and affability has in attaching him to the minds of his subjects.
(i) Who were Jesuits? How did they establish their network in India?
(ii) How did Monserrate accord his experience about the Akbar?
(iii) How had Akbar's courtesy brought affability for his subjects? Explain.
Ans:(i) Jesuists were the missionaries of the Society of Jesus. They came to India in 15th and 16th century and they were the part of the process oi trade and empire building.
(ii) Monserrate who was a member of the first Jesuit Mission explains how Akbar makes himself accessible to all who wish audience of him. For he creates an opportunity almost every day for any of the common people or of nobles to see him and to converse with him
(iii) Akbar's many characteristics brought affability for his subjects which includes:
· Relaxation in the taxes which made him popular in the audiences.
· He was religiously very humble which made him popular in every part of the area.
· He was very keen to meet the public and listen their voices.
Ques 16: Read the following excerpt carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Why the Salt Satyagraha?
Why was salt the symbol of protest? This is what Mahatma Gandhi wrote: The volume of information being gained daily shows how wickedly the salt tax has been designed. In order to prevent the use of salt that has not paid the tax which is at times even fourteen times its value, the Government destroys the salt it cannot sell profitably. Thus it taxes the nation's vital necessity; it prevents the public from manufacturing it and destroys what nature manufactures without effort. No adjective is strong enough for characterizing this wicked dog-in-the-manger policy. From various sources I hear tales of such wanton destruction of the nation's property in all parts of India. Maunds if not tons of salt are said to be destroyed on die Konkan coast. The same tale comes from Dandi. Wherever there is likelihood of natural salt being taken away by the people living in the neighbourhood of such areas for their personal use, salt officers are posted for the sole purpose of carrying on destruction. Thus valuable national property is destroyed at national expense and salt taken out of the mouths of the people.
The salt monopoly is thus a fourfold curse. It deprives the people of a valuable easy village industry, involves wanton destruction of property that nature produces in abundance, the destruction itself means more national expenditure, and fourthly to crown this folly, an unheard-of tax of more than 1,000 per cent is exacted from a starving people.
This tax has remained so long because of the apathy of the general public. Now that it is sufficiently roused, the tax has to go. How soon it will be abolished depends upon the strength of the people.
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), Vol. 49
(i) Why was salt monopoly introduced by the British considered as a curse by the Indians
(ii) How did Gandhiji illustrate his tactical wisdom with regard to salt monopoly?
(iii) Explain the significance of Gandhiji's challenge of salt protest.
Ans: (i) Because it deprives the people of a valuable easy village industry, involves wanton destruction of property that nature produces in abundance, the destruction itself means more national expenditure and more starving of people.
(ii) Gandhiji announced that he would lead a march to break one of the most widely disliked laws in British India, which gave the state a monopoly in the manufacture and sale of salt. For in every Indian household, salt was indispensable, yet people were forbidden from making salt even for domestic use, compelling them to buy it from shops at a high price. To make it target, Gandhiji hoped to mobilise a wider discontent against British rule.
(iii) Significance of the Gandhiji's challenge of salt protest includes:
1. The march was widely covered by the European and American press. This made Gandhiji in worlds -attention.
2. It was first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers.
3. This salt march made people come together and forced upon the British the realisation that their Raj would not last forever.
Ques 17: (i) On the given political outline map of India, locate and label the following with appropriate symbols:
(a) Rakhigarhi
(b) Agra, the imperial capital of Mughal
(ii) On the same outline map of India three centres related to the Indian National Movement have been marked as A, B and C. Identify them and write their correct names on the lines drawn near them.
Ans:
