History: 2008: CBSE: [Delhi]: Set – I

Two views about government and rulers of the Harappan society are as follows:
i)    Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers and everybody enjoyed equal status.
(ii) Some other historians say that there was no single ruler but there were several rulers i.e… Mohenjodaro had a ruler, Harappan another, and so forth.

i)    The followers of Basavana (a Jaina and a minister in the court of Chalukya) were known as Virashaivas or Lingayatats (wearers of Linga).
ii) They challenged the idea of caste and “pollution” attributed to certain groups by the Brahmanas.

Devotees visit dargahs of Muslim saints for the following reasons:
i)   People believed that after death, saints were united with God & therefore their dargahs became the centre of devotion for their followers.
ii) People sought their blessings to attain material and spiritual benefits.

The two rumours that were spread by the people regarding the miraculous of Gandhiji were;
i)     In some places it was said that he had been sent by the king to redress the grievances of the farmers.
ii) In other places it was claimed Gandhiji’s power was superior to that of the English monarch.

Colonial government was keen on producing good maps for the following reasons:
( i)   Colonial government felt that good maps were necessary to understand the landscape and know the topography.
(ii) Another reason was maps were prepared to develop commerce and consolidate power.

1. During the course of the long drawn rivalry between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Duryodhana invited Yudhishthiri to a game of dice. The latter who was deceived by his rival, staked his gold and all the property of his subjects. Then he staked their common wife Draupadi and lost her too.
2. According to Manusmriti, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst sons after the death of the parents with special share for the eldest.
3. Women could not claim a share of these resources.
4. Manusmriti warned women against hoarding family property without their husbands permission.
5. Women from upper classes had access to resources, land, cattle and money that were generally controlled by men.
   Thus social differences between men and women were sharpened because of the differences in access to resources.

It is important to study the Buddhist literature, because it helped the historians to understand the meaning of the sculpture. Historians often try to understand the meaning of the sculpture by comparing it with textual evidence. Art historians had to acquire familiarity with biographies of the Buddha in order to understand the Buddhist sculpture.
For example:

Ø       Historians who have carefully studied the Buddhist sculpture at Sanchi identify it as a scene from the Vessantara Jataka. This is a story about a generous prince who gave everything to a Brahmana and went to live in the forest.

Ø       Buddhist literature Jatakas contain several animal stories that are depicted at Sanchi. Animals sculpture at Sanchi depicts the symbol of human attributes. Elephants, for example were depicted to signify strength and wisdom.

The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras contained rules about the ideal “occupations” of the four categories or varnas,
            1.      Brahmanas- Study and teach the Vedas, perform sacrifices.

2.      Kshatriyas - Study the Vedas, get sacrifices performed, engage in warfare, protect people and administer justice.

3.      Vaishyas – study the Vedas, get sacrifices performed and engage in agriculture and trade.

4.      Shudras – assigned only one occupation that of serving the three higher varnas.

The Brahmanas enforced these norms by emphasizing on the Divine Origin of their order & advising kings to enforce it.

i.    Buddha was deeply anguished when he saw an old man, a sick man, a homeless mendicant and a corpse.In all the four sights he realized that the decay and destruction of the human body was inevitable.
 ii.  The sight of a homeless medicant seemed to him, had come to terms with old age, disease and death and found peace.Buddha decided that he would adopt the same path. So, he left the palace and set out in search of his own truth.
iii.   Siddhartha explored several paths including bodily mortification.

 iv.   He meditated for several days and finally attained enlightenment.

Painters were involved in the production of Mughal manuscripts. The task of painters was to illustrate scenes from the text. The importance of the painted image in Mughal manuscripts can be explained as-

i. The miniatures in the manuscripts believed to possess special powers of communicating ideas about the kingdom and the power of the kings.

ii. Paintings portrayed the emperor, his court and the people

iii. Chronicles narrating the events of Mughal emperor’s reign contained, alongside the written text, images that described an event in visual form.

iv. The historian Abu’l Fazl described painting as a “magical art”

v. Paintings in the manuscripts had the power to make inanimate
objects look as if they possessed life.