Class 12 History Solved Paper (2014 Delhi Set-II) - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Ques 1: Why were Britishers keen to create the familiar landscape in Bombay? Give two reasons.
Ans: British were keen to make familiar landscape of Bombay because of following two reasons:
1. They wanted to make European style buildings so that they can feel home in the colony.
2. The British felt that European styles would best symbolise their superiority, authority and power.

Ques 2: Who initiated Kabir into Bhakti? Mention his concept of Ultimate Reality.
Ans: He was initiated into bhakti by a guru, Ramananda. Ultimate Reality is that which is the primal cause of the existence of the universe and all beings. He says that we think of that reality as the God and have different names but we know that God is beyond forms and attributes that, we can ascribe to Him.

Ques 3: Explain why we call Mahabharata a 'Dynamic Text'.
Ans: We call Mahabharata as dynamic text because of following reasons:
1. The growth of the Mahabharata did not stop with the Sanskrit version.
2. Over the centuries, versions of the epic were written in a variety of languages through an ongoing process of dialogue between peoples, communities, and those who wrote the texts.
3. Several stories that originated in specific regions or circulated amongst certain people found their way into the epic.
4. The central story of the epic was often retold in different ways.
5. Episodes were depicted in sculpture and painting. They also provided themes for a wide range of performing arts - plays, dance and other kinds of narrations.

Ques 4: Describe the different arguments given by the archaeologists over the central authority of Harappa.
Ans: 1. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status.
2. Others feel there was no single ruler but several, that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler, Harappa another and so forth.
3. Yet others argue that there was a single state, given the similarity in artefacts, the evidence for planned settlement, the standardized ratio of brick size and the establishments near sources of raw material.
4. Of all, the last theory seems the most plausible as it is unlikely that entire communities could have collectively made and implemented such complex decisions.

Ques 5: 'Domingo Paes and Abdur Razzaq were highly impressed with the fortification of Vijayanagara Empire.' Justify the statement.
Ans: Domingo Paes and Abdur Razzaq were highly impressed with the fortification of Vijayanagara Empire as is evident from their descriptions of the fortifications.
According to Abdur, the important feature of the Vijayanagara fortification was its incorporation of the agricultural tracts, because the rulers were well prepared to face the sieges and its consequences.
A second line of fortification went around the inner core of the urban complex and a third line surrounded the royal centre, within which each set of major building was surrounded by its own high walls.
The fort was entered through well-guarded gates leading to the major roads. Gateways were with defined architectural features.
The arch on the gateway leading into the fortified settlement as well as the dome over the gate is regarded as typical features of the architecture introduced by the Turkish Sultans.
Paes observed that from the outer wall of fort till the palace there were lots of fields of rice and there was a good irrigation system where water came from two lakes.

Ques 6: Explain how did the rebel leaders propagate their and persuade people to join the revolt of 1857.
Ans: Since most of the rebels were sepoys and other leaders who were illiterate so it is difficult to know what the rebels thought but they used different techniques to propagate their ideas.
1. They issued proclamations and ishtahars (notifications) to propagate their ideas.
2. They also resorted to prophecy so that people can get involved in hope of early freedom.
E.g. the prophecy that British rule will come to end on 100 years of Battle of Plassy of 1857.
3. The rebels tried to unify Hindus and Muslims and propagated that rebellion is a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to lose or gain.
4. The ishtahar sharked back to the pre-British Hindu - Muslim past and glorified the coexistence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.
5. They also used techniques like secret propagation through under-ground workers. For E.g., Distribution of chapattis and lotus flowers as a symbol of revolt.