8th Class

Women and Caste Reforms     'One third of India's population is now governed by Chief Ministers who are women ...' Trisha's mother said reading the morning news headlines aloud. Hearing this, Trisha asked 'What is such a big deal about it, mother?' Her grandmother chipped in, 'It's a big deal for us, the women in India'. 'Why, now women are working in all professions,' said Trisha. 'But before India became independent, the condition of women in India was very bad in the earlier centuries' said her mother. 'Then how did such a dramatic change take place for women?', asked Trisha. 'This was the result of the great social reforms...' Trisha's mother began telling her how the status of women has been changing over time. Let us take a look at it.   During the medieval and early modern period, many social evils were more...

  Education Under the British Rule     As part of a history project the students of Class 8 were taken to the museum in the city. When they entered the museum, they were awed to see various artefacts from the past. There were inscriptions on papers and even on copper plates. The guide told them that these were the 'farmans' or the royal orders. They wanted to read what was written on the 'farman' but the language was undecipherable to them. Their teacher told them that these were written in Persian and Sanskrit. Monica said, 'Oh yes, I remember, Persian was the official language of the Mughals.' Lalit asked his teacher, 'Did children of that time have to study these languages?' 'Did they go to school just as we do now?' Mohit chipped in, 'Why don't we study Persian now?' The teacher replied, 'All more...

  Crafts and Industries     One day while in the village on vacation, Kartic's father asked him to go to the weaver's house and bring the chaddar that he had ordered the weaver to make. When Kartic saw the weaver making cloth on a machine he was fascinated. He saw the weaver making some pattern on the cloth. It was thick and heavy. He asked the weaver, 'Can't you make a finer and smoother cloth?' The weaver smiled at him and said that once his forefathers used to make fine cloths with patterns and bright colours. Kartic wanted to ask him more questions about those cloths, the pattern and why he could not weave them now but he had to rush back home. He thought he could ask his history teacher about the weavers of earlier times.   more...

   Colonialism and Urban Change     The British came to India as traders and gradually became the rulers of India. During their rule, they brought about many changes. They built big cities to glorify their power. However, some cities suffered a decline while other like Delhi were completely transformed during and after the British rule.   Colonialism had its impact on the Indian cities as well. But the impact varied from city to city. Some cities declined whereas others flourished. Industrialisation had led to urbanisation in the west. However, this was not so for India.   CHANGING FORTUNES OF CITIES   The Presidency cities like-Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became very important and developed rapidly during the British period. Calcutta became a colonial metropolis. Both, the British and the indigenous elite contributed to the growth of the city. With more...

  Colonialism and Tribal Societies   Before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century, the United States was inhabited by Native Americans. They are the indigenous people of America. In this chapter we shall learn about the original inhabitants of India.   WHO WERE TRIBAL?   Tribal communities or 'adivasis' are some of the earliest inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent. They are mostly found concentrated in hilly or forested areas. A tribal society is a primitive society. All tribe members are related by blood. They have their own political organisation. Each tribe has its own religion, customs, culture and lifestyle. However, unlike the caste based society, they believe in equality and there are no caste divisions. As colonial rule was established in India, many tribal revolts broke out to challenge the alien rule. The tribal community offered resistance against more...

  Rural Life Under the British Rule   After the Battle of Plassey, the British were firmly established in India both politically and economically. From traders they had become political masters. Their main interest lay in the maximisation of their profits. They reaped huge profits as traders, and now the whole country was their domain and they exploited it to the maximum.   The Battle of Plassey (1757) made the British East India Company the political master of Bengal. After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the East India Company got the diwani rights for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765. This was a great achievement on part of the Company. The Company now had the responsibility of financial administration of these territories. It had to organise the administration and increase the revenue collection.     more...

  Expansion of British Power in India     Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor. His death in 1707 marked the end of a significant era in Indian history. Though the dynasty continued after him but the Mughal Empire gradually disintegrated and its power declined. This paved the way for the expansion of British power in India.     The later Mughals were poor administrators. Without effective central control, a number of provinces seceded from the empire and several regional kingdoms came into existence. The rise of independent regional kingdoms led to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire.     As the Empire became weak, the British gained control. They established their position by the middle of the nineteenth century and a large part of India came under their direct rule. The areas that remained independent were indirectly under the British influence. India thus became a British more...

  History ? When, Where and How   History is a study of the past. This is facilitated by dividing the past into blocks of time. This is called periodisation and it helps in the study and analysis of history.   IMPORTANCE OF DATES IN HISTORY   History is a study of the past events. Historical events need to be seen in the context of dates. A major part of history is about kings and rulers. Succession of a ruler to the throne, important battles fought by him and important events under his rule. All these can be expressed with reference to time, and dates.   Dates are important to history, because they help to show cause and effect relationships between events. By knowing exactly when things occurred, historians can make accurate comparisons. However, events and incidents have prolonged more...

  A Popular Rebellion-The Revolt of 1857   During the colonial rule, the condition of the masses became so impoverished that they were compelled to raise their voice against the British. The Revolt of 1857 was a severe outburst of resentment against the British. Though it lasted for a few months only, it shook the foundation of British rule in India.   By 1857, almost the whole of India was under the control of the British. Indians suffered under the colonial rule. All Indians-kings, landlords, tribals, traders, artisans, peasants and soldiers were adversely affected by the oppressive policies of the East India Company and a feeling of discontentment was building up. There was a massive increase in rural poverty. Indians did not accept foreign rule passively and there were many revolts from time-to-time in more...

  Force and Pressure   Synopsis  

• A force is a push or a pull. It can cause any one, two or all of the following when applied to a body:

(a) cause movement or stop motion of an object (b) change its speed/direction of the motion of a body (c) change its shape and size of a body  

• Forces that are in contact with a body are muscular force, frictional force. Forces that are not in contact with a body and act from a distance are magnetic force, electrostatic force, gravitational force.

 

• Force is due to the interaction between two or more bodies.

 

• The strength of a force is more...