History: 2010: CBSE: [All India]: Set – I
To Access the full content, Please Purchase
-
Q1
Mention the internal functioning of the Buddhist Sanghas.
Marks:2View AnswerAnswer:
People had to shed their earlier social identities after embracing Buddhism. All were regarded as equal. The internal functioning of the sangha was based on the traditions of ganas and sanghas where consensus was arrived at through discussions. If that failed, decisions were taken by a vote on the subject.
-
Q2
Mention the major crop of Western India during 17th century. How did it come to India?
Marks:2View AnswerAnswer:
India’s contact with the European traders resulted in the development in almost all the fields. Several new crops from different parts of the world were introduced into India via Africa and Spain. Tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were introduced from the New World (America).
-
Q3
Give a brief description of Lotus Mahal situated in the royal Centre in the Vijayanagara Empire.
Marks:2View AnswerAnswer:
The name Lotus Mahal was given to the building by the British. While the name is certainly romantic, historians are not quite sure about the purpose of the building. However, Mackenzie believed that it may have been used as a council chamber, a place where the king met his advisers.
-
Q4
Mention two changes that were seen in the network of trade in the urban centres from the mid 18th century.
Marks:2View AnswerAnswer:
From the mid 18th century, Mughal commercial centres such as Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka declined due to the emergence of new trading and commercial towns under British.
-
Q5
Mention two features of the Fort St. George of White Town where most of the Europeans lived.
Marks:2View AnswerAnswer:
Walls and bastions made this a distinct enclave; colour and religion of the person determined who was allowed to live in the fort.
-
Q6
Describe briefly the sources used for reconstructing the history of the Gupta rules.
Marks:5View AnswerAnswer:
Histories of the Gupta rulers have been reconstructed from literature, coins and inscriptions, including prashastis. Prashastis were the poems composed in praise of kings in particular and patrons in general, by poets. While historians often attempt to draw factual information from such compositions, those who composed and read them often treasured them as works of poetry rather than as accounts that were literally true. The Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers (c. fourth century CE), is one of the important source for reconstructing the history of Gupta rulers. -
Q7
“An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance with present day things.” Support your answer with suitable evidence.
Marks:5View AnswerAnswer:
This is true that an understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance with the present day things. Tools used for harvesting in Harappan civilisation are compared with the tools of modern period and on the basis of these comparisons, their utility is shaped. Similarly, the saddle querns found at the Harappan sites are compared with the shapes of the saddle querns of modern period.
Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by investigating the context in which it was found, was it found in a house, in a drain, in a grave or in a kiln. -
Q8
What did B.B. Lal note about the houses in the second phase of the Mahabharata period (c. twelfth – seventh centuries BCE)?
Marks:5View AnswerAnswer:
B.B. Lal excavated at a village named Hastinapura. He found evidence of five occupational levels, of which the second and third are important for us. He wrote that limited area was excavated, no definite plans of houses were obtained but walls of mud and mud bricks were duly encountered. The discovery of mud plaster with prominent reed marks suggested that some of the houses had reed walls plastered over with mud. In the third phase, he found the evidence of use of mud brick along with the burnt bricks. Soakage jars and brick drains were used for draining out refuse water, while terracotta ring-wells may have been used both as wells and drainage pits. -
Q9
Critically examine why Sanchi survived while Amaravati did not.
Marks:5View AnswerAnswer:
Amaravati was discovered long before the discovery of Sanchi Stupa. It was in 1796 that the local raja stumbled upon it for using its stones. Even scholars and the British failed to realise its importance and took away most of the structures. The British understood the value of the findings and realised how critical it was to preserve things where they had been found instead of removing them from the site after a long time. Sanchi was discovered in 1818 and was in good condition. Three of its four gateways were still standing. The efforts of the Begums of Bhopal in preserving Sanchi contributed to catastrophic difference between the two stupas. -
Q10
Explain the views of Bernier about a more complex social reality of the Mughal Empire.
Marks:5View AnswerAnswer:
Bernier was a European traveller. Therefore, the observations made by him of the Indian society and practices reflect his comparison of India with that of the European. He described India under Mughal as a rural and stationary society. He explained Indian kings as owner of lands and made him responsible for the sorry state of India. He felt that artisans had no incentives to improve the quality of their manufactures, since profits were appropriated by the state. Manufactures were consequently in decline everywhere at the same time. But on the other side, he confessed that vast quantities of the world’s precious metals flowed into India as gold and silver bullion. He observed the presence of strong merchant communities in the towns. It is remarkable that in 17th century, 15% of Indian population was urban, higher than that of any European country at that time.
