History: 2018: CBSE: [Delhi]: Set – I

(a) Archaeologists identified centres of craft production in the Harappan culture by looking for places where a high concentration of materials such as stone nodules, whole shells, copper metal pieces, metal tools, fragmentary objects and discarded materials were found.

(b) Presence of rejects and waste craft materials are clear sign of craft production activities in any particular archaeological area.

(a) Panchayats derived its revenue from the fund contributed by individuals to a common financial pool.

(b) They also collected revenue by levying fines to punish those who had defied the caste norms.

(a) In 1859 the British passed a ‘Limitation Law’, fixing the validity of the loan bonds signed between moneylenders and ryots for only three years.

(b) It limited the income of the moneylenders by checking the accumulation of interest over time. But they forced the ryots to sign a new bond every three years and charged higher interest by adding the default balance to the new principal amount.

(i) Initially, the British started occupying hill stations (such as Shimla, Mount Abu, and Darjeeling) for the needs of the British army.

(ii) The British army used the hill stations as strategic places for billeting troops, guarding frontiers and launching campaigns against enemy rulers.

(iii) The mild and cool weather of the Indian hills was seen as an advantage to protect the army from the epidemics such as cholera and malaria.

(iv) These hill stations were also developed as sanitariums, i.e., places where soldiers rested and recovered from illnesses.

The four values upheld by Mahatma Gandhi were:

i. Love and respect for the common man

ii. Peaceful co-existence

iii. Simplicity

iv. Ahimsa

(a) Historians believe that there may have been a single ruler in the Harappan society. According to them, extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts such as pottery, seals, weights and bricks is an indication order issued by a single ruler.

(b) Others argue that each region (Mohenjodaro, Harappa and so on) had separate rulers.

(c) According to another group of historians, there was a single state. Their argument is based on the similarity in artefacts, the evidence for planned settlements, mobilization of the labour force for bricks production and huge wall construction, and strategically established settlements near sources of raw material.

(d) The theory of a single state seems the most reasonable, as it is possible that entire communities could not have collectively made and implemented such complex decisions.

(i)Economic Conditions: According to Jataka and Panchatantra, relationship between kings and his subjects had frequently gone soured. Kings extracted high taxes from the peasants. Some of the peasants felt the oppressiveness of the taxes and escaped into the forest.

(ii)However, the peasants adopted the following different strategies to increase production to meet growing demand for taxes: (a) shift to plough agriculture, (b) iron ploughshare for the growth in agricultural productivity,

(c) the use of irrigation, through wells and tanks, and canals.

(i)Social Conditions: Social differentiation amongst people engaged in agriculture prevailed. Landless agricultural labourers, small peasants, as well as large landholders were social groups.

(ii)The large landholders and the village headman wielded political power over villages and controlled the cultivating work force.

(i)As far as Indian cities are concerned, Ibn Battuta noted that they had several opportunities for people with skills, resources and knowledge.

(ii)These cities, generally prosperous and densely populated, faced infrequent disasters like wars and invasions.

(iii)He described Delhi as a vastly-sized and greatly populated city, the largest in India, which was easily rivalled by Daulatabad (in Maharashtra), in size.

(iv)For him, markets were not mere places of economic activities, but also that of socio-cultural activities.

(i)In the early centuries of Islam, Sufis turned to asceticism and mysticism to protest against materialism. They emphasised on seeking salvation through intense devotion and love for God.

(ii)They interpreted the Qur’an on the basis of their personal experience. They criticised theologians for their wrong interpretation of the Islamic holy text.

(iii)They organised themselves as communities around the hospice or khanqah controlled by a teaching master known as sheikh, pir or murshid.

(iv) By the eleventh century, Sufism emerged as a movement with a body of literature on Quranic studies and Sufi practices.

(i) The annexation of Awadh displaced not only the Nawab but also disposed the taluqdars and zamindars of the region. The taluqdars for many generations had controlled the land and power in the country side.

(ii) They had maintained armed retainers, built forts and enjoyed a degree of autonomy as long as they accepted the suzerainty of the Nawab and paid the revenues for their taluqs.

(iii) The British were unwilling to tolerate the power of the taluqdars. Their land revenue policy also challenged income and power position of the taluqdars.

(iv) These reasons became major causes for the taluqdars’ participation in the 1857 Revolt. For example, in Awadh Taluqdars along with peasants resisted the British during the Revolt. Many of Taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh. They joined Begum Hazrat Mahal (the wife of the Nawab) in Lucknow to fight the British till the end.