| (i) 'The rebel proclamation of 1857 emphasized the values of coexistence amongst different communities under Mughal Empire.' Explain. |
| (ii) Suggest two ways to bring peaceful coexistence and fraternity in the contemporary Indian society. |
| Explain the role of zamindars in Mughal India during 16th 17th century. |
| Or |
| Explain the chief characteristics of provincial administration of the Mughal Empire. Why has Mughal nobility been considered as an important pillar of the Mughal state? Explain. |
| Describe the different sources from which we can reconstruct the political career of Gandhiji and the history of the nationalist movement. |
| Or |
| Describe the strengths and weaknesses of oral history. Mention any four sources from which the history of partition has been constructed. |
| Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: |
| The Sudarshana (beautiful) Lake in Gujarat |
| The Sudarshana lake was an artificial reservoir. We know about it from a rock inscription (c. second century CE) in Sanskrit, composed to record the achievements of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman. |
| The inscription mentions that the lake, with embankments and water channels, was built by a local governor during the rule of the Mauryas. However- a terrible storm broke the embankments and water pushed out of the lake. Rudradaman, who was men ruling in the area, claimed to have got the lake repaired using his own resources, without imposing any tax on his subjects. |
| Another inscription on the same rock (c. fifth century) mentions how one of the rulers of the Gupta dynasty got the lake repaired once again. |
| (i) Mention about the irrigation system of the Mauryan Empire. |
| (ii) Explain about the achievements of Rudradaman during the 2nd century CE. |
| (iii) Mention the values demonstrated by Rudradaman that can be seen from the passage. |
| Or |
| Draupadi's Question |
| Draupadi is supposed to have asked Yudhisthira whether he had lost himself before staking her. Two contrary opinions were expressed in response to this question. |
| One, that even if Yudhisthira had lost himself earlier, his wife remained under this control, so he could stake her. Two that an unfree man (as Yudhisthira was when he had lost himself) could not stake another person. |
| The matter remained unresolved: ultimately, Dhritarashtra restored to the Pandavas and Draupadi their personal freedom. |
| (i) How has Draupad's status as a wife been shown in the passage? |
| (ii) Explain the two contrary opinions expressed. |
| (iii) Was the challenge given to Yudhisthira by Draupadi justified? Support your answer with two reasons. |
| Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: |
| The Child Sati |
| This is perhaps one or me most poignant description by Bernier. |
| At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed who could not, I think have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or tour of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim towards the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting forth into clamorous and unavailing rage........ |
| (i) How has Bernier described the 'practice of sati' |
| (ii) Describe the feelings of Bernier that he has expressed in the passage. |
| (iii) Explain how Bernier has highlighted the treatment of women as a crucial marker of difference between Western and Eastern societies. |
| Or |
| Colin. Mackenzie |
| Born in 1754, Colin Mackenize became famous as an engineer, surveyor and cartographers. In 1815 he was appointed the first Surveyor General of India, a post he held till his death in 1821. He embarked on collecting local histories and surveying historic sites in order to better understand India?s past and make governance of the coolly easier. He says that "it struggled long under the miseries of bad management...before the South came under the benign influence of the British government.? By studying Vijayanagara, Mackenzie believed that the East India Company could gain ?much useful information on many of these institutions, laws and customs whose influence still prevails among the various Tribes of Natives forming the general mass of the population to this day.? |
| (i) Who was the first Surveyor General of India? What was his mission in India? |
| (ii) What was the purpose behind Colin Mackenzie studying the Vijayanagara Empire? Explain. |
| (iii) Explain how Mackenzie has described the British government as a benign influence on the Vijayanagara Empire. |
| Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: |
| The Jotedars of Dinajpur |
| Buchanan described the ways in which the Jotedars of Dinajpur in North Bengal resisted being disciplined by the zamindar and undermined his power: |
| Landlords do not like this class of men, but it is evident that they are absolutely necessary, unless the landlords themselves would advance money to their necessitous tenantry.... |
| The Jotedars who cultivate large portions of lands are very refractory, and know that the zamindars have no power over them. They pay only a few rupees on account of their revenue and then fall in balance almost every kist (instalment), they hold more lands than they are entitled to by their pottahs (deeds of contract). Should the zamindars officers, in consequence, summon them to the cutcherry, and detain them for one or two hours with a view to reprimand them, they immediately go and complain at the Fouzdarry Thanna (police station) for imprisonment and at the munsiff's (a judicial officer at the lower court) cutcherry for being dishonoured and whilst the causes continue unsettled, they instigate the petty ryots not to pay their revenue consequently..... |
| (i) Mention the various ways in which the Jotedars of Dinajpur resisted the authority of zamindars. |
| (ii) Describe the ways in which the Jotedars undermine the power of zamindars. |
| (iii) Mention how the zamindars reprimanded the defiant Jotedars. |
| Or |
| "The British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind". |
| Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel said: |
| It is no use saying that we ask for separate electorates, because it is good for us. We have heard it long enough. We have heard it for years, and as a result of this agitation we are now a separate nation..... Can you show me one free country where there are separate electorates? If so, I shall be prepared to accept it. But in this unfortunate country if this separate electorate is going to be persisted in; even after the division of the country, woe betide the country; it is not worth living in. Therefore, I say, it is not for my good alone, it is for your own good that I say it, forget the past. One day, we may be united..... The British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind. We do not want to perpetuate that mischief. (Hear, hear). When the British introduced this element they had not expected that they will have to go so soon. They wanted it for their easy administration. That is all right. But they have left the legacy behind. Are we to get out of it or not? |
| CAD, Vol. V |
| (i) Explain Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's views on the issue of separate electorate system. |
| (ii) In what ways did Sardar Patel explain that 'The British element is gone, but they have left the mischief behind? |
| (iii) Mention the reasons behind Sardar Patel urging the assembly members to get rid of separte electorate. |
| (i) On the given political outline map of India, locate and label the following: |
| (a) Lothal |
| (b) Bodhgaya |
| (ii) On the same outline map of India, three places related to the centres of the Revolt of 1857 have been marked as 1, 2 and 3. Identify them and write their correct names on the lines drawn near them. |
| (a) The place where Gandhiji called off Non-Cooperation Movement. |
| (b) Agra, the imperial capital of Mughal. |
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