Passage Based Questions: Peasants, Zamindars And The State | History Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Passage  - 1

Direction: Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Irrigating trees and fields
This is an excerpt from the Baburnama that describes the irrigation devices the Emperor observed in Northern India:
The greater part of Hindustan country is situated on level land. Many towns and cultivated land, it nowhere has running water...for...water is not at all a necessity in cultivating crops and orchards. Autumn crops grow by the downpour of the rains themselves; it is that spring crops grow even when no rains fall. (However) to young trees, water is made to flow by means of buckets or wheels...
In Lahore, Dipalpur (both in present-day Pakistan) and those other parts, people arrange water by means of a wheel. They make two circles of rope long enough to suit the depths of the well, fix strips of wood between them and on these fasten pitchers. The ropes with the wood and attached pitchers are put over the wheel-well. At one end of the wheel-axle, a second wheel is fixed and another on an upright axle. The last wheel i.e., the bullock turns; its teeth catch in the teeth of the second (wheel), and thus the wheel with the pitchers is turned. A trough is set where the water empties from the pitchers, and from this the water is conveyed everywhere.
In Agra, Chandwar, Bayana (all in present-day Uttar Pradesh) and those parts again, people water with a bucket... At the well-edge, they set up a fork of wood, having a roller adjusted between the forks, tie a rope to a large bucket, put the rope over a roller, and tie its other end to the bullock. One person must drive the bullock, another empty the bucket.

Q1: Describe the irrigation technology as observed by the Emperor.
Ans: The greater part of the Hindustan country was situated on level land. Many parts of the country had no running water. In Lahore, Dipalpur (both in Pakistan) and nearby areas, people watered by means of a wheel. In Agra, Chandwar, Bayana (now in Uttar Pradesh) and nearby areas, people watered with a bucket.

Q2: Why was irrigation necessary during this period?
Ans: Water was not a necessity for cultivating crops and orchards. Autumn crops grew by the downpour of the rain themselves, and spring crops grew by themselves even when no rain fell. But for young trees, water was needed. Irrigation was required at different stages of growing crops and for crops that needed additional water.

Q3: Identify any two factors that contributed to the expansion of agriculture in India.
Ans: Two factors responsible for the expansion of agriculture in India are:
(a) Large measure of land
(b) Labour forces
(c) The mobility of peasants (Any Two)

Passage  - 2

Direction: Read the passage below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Clearance of forests for agricultural settlements
This is an excerpt from a sixteenth-century Bengali poem, Chandimangala, composed by Mukundaram Chakrabarti. The hero of the poem, Kalaketu, set up a kingdom by clearing forests:
Hearing the news, outsiders came from various lands.
Kalaketu then bought and distributed among them.
Heavy knives, axes, battle-axes, and pikes.
From the north came the Das (people).
One hundred of them advanced. They were struck with wonder on seeing Kalaketu
Who distributed betel-nut to each of them.
From the south came the harvesters
Five hundred of them under one organizer.
From the west came Zafar Mian,
Together with twenty-two thousand men.
Sulaimani beads in their hands.
They chanted the names of their pir and paighambar (Prophet).
Having cleared the forest
They established markets.
Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners
Ate and entered the forest.
Hearing the sound of the axe,
Tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring.

Q1: What forms of intrusion into the forest are suggested by the text?
Ans: The forms of intrusion suggested by the text are:

• From the north came the Das (people)
• From the south came the harvesters
• Sufis
• Foreigners (any two points to be explained)

Q2: What does the term 'jangli' mean in the context of the source?
Ans: In the context of the source, 'Jangli' means:

• Forest dwellers were called 'jangli.'
• It was used to describe those whose livelihood came from gathering forest produce.

Q3: Discuss any two effects of foreign intrusion on the lives of forest dwellers.
Ans: Two effects of foreign invasion on the lives of the forest dwellers are:

• Peshkash
• Spread of commercial agriculture
• Trade increased in forest products
• Many tribal chiefs became Zamindars or kings. (Any two points to be explained)

Passage  - 3

Direction: Read the following source carefully and answer the questions that follow:

How Silver came to India
The excerpt from Giovanni Careri’s account (based on Bernier’s account) gives an idea of the enormous amount of wealth that found its way into the Mughal Empire:
That the Reader may form some idea of the Wealth of this (Mughal) Empire, he is to observe that all the Gold and Silver, which circulates throughout the World at last, centers here. It is well known that as much of it comes out of America, after running through several Kingdoms of Europe, goes partly into Turky (Turkey), for several sorts of Commodities; and part into Persia, by the way of Smirna for Silk. Now the Turks, not being able to abstain from Coffee, which comes from Hyeman (Oman), and Arabia ... not Persia, Arabia, and the Turks themselves to go without the commodities of India, send vast quantities of Mony (money) to Moka (Mocha) on the Red Sea, near Babel Mandel; to Bassora (Basra) at the bottom of the Persian Gulgh (Gulf) ... which is afterwards sent over in Ships to Indostan (Hindustan).
Besides the Indian, Dutch, English, and Portuguese Ships, that every Year carry the Commodities of Indostan to Pegu, Tanasserri (parts of Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Ceylon (Sri Lanka) ... the Maldive Islands, Mozambique, and other places, must of necessity convey much Gold and Silver thither, from those countries. All that the Dutch fetch from the Mines in Japan, sooner or later, goes to Indostan; and the goods carried hence into Europe, whether to France, England, or Portugal, are all purchased for ready Mony, which remains there.

Q1: How did the Mughal Empire accumulate such enormous wealth? Explain.
Ans: India was a hub of trade. Indian goods were in major demand in all parts of the world, including Turks, Omans, Dutch, English, Portuguese, etc. As a result, no matter wherever in the world an economic transaction took place, it sooner or later fell into the pockets of the Mughal rulers.

Q2: Trace the journey of silver as it traveled across the globe to reach India.
Ans: Silver was mainly found in America. From there, it went to various kingdoms of Europe, reaching partly into Turkey and partly into Persia. The Turks purchased goods from Arabia and Persia, and the silver reached Indostan or Hindustan or India.

Q3: Describe how transactions were made in seventeenth-century India.
Ans: The transactions were primarily made in exchange for gold and silver coins. The majority of the coins eventually reached India, while the majority of the goods finally reached the kingdoms of Europe.