AHSEC| CLASS 12| HISTORY| QUESTION PAPER

AHSEC| CLASS 12| HISTORY| QUESTION PAPER - 2016| H.S. 2ND YEAR

2016
HISTORY
Full Marks: 100
Pass Marks: 30
Time: Three hours
The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions.

1. Answer the following questions: 1x12=12

a) Who was the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India?

b) Where was the early capital of Magadha?

c) Where was the Gautam Buddha born?

d) What was a mound?

e) Who was the greatest king of the Koch Kingdom?

f) What was the name of Alberuni’s book in Arabic?

g) What did Jins-i-Kamil mean?

h) Who was the author of the Akbarnamah?

i) Who were the Sahukars?

j) Where did the Revolt of 1857 first break-out?

k) In which city of India is Fort William situated?

l) Who was the writer of Sare-Jahanse-Accha Hindustan Hamara?

2. Answer the following questions in brief: 2x12=24

a) Give two reasons for considering the waste as useful material to reconstruct history.

b) Mention two ways indicated in the Manusmriti for a woman to acquire wealth.

c) What were the four divisions of ancient Kamarupa?

d) Write two ideas of Mahavira.

e) Name two travelers who visited India in the medieval age. Where from they came?

f) Describe the Alvars and Nayanars in brief.

g) Write two reasons of the popularity of Khwaja Moinuddin’s Dargah.

h) Mention two reasons of the downfall of the Vijayanagar.

i) Give two reason of the Santhal Rebellion.

j) Write two conditions of the Subsidiary Alliance.

k) What were white and black towns?

l) Write the name of two Congress leaders who opposed the Partition of India.

3. Answer the following questions (any eight): 5x8=40

a) What are the factors to be kept in mind by the historians while handling the texts as a source?

b) What brought about the end of the Harappan Civilization?

c) Trace briefly the growth of temple architecture in early Indian period.

d) Write briefly the travel accounts of Assam by Shihabuddin Talish.

e) What is Khanqah? Describe in brief about the life in the Chishti Khanqah.

f) Write a short note on the system of irrigation during the Mughal period.

g) Who was the author of the Badshah-namah? Write about its content.

h) To what extent did the religious beliefs shape the Revolt of 1857?

i) Discuss why Gandhiji was accepted as a people’s leader.

j) Discuss briefly the salient features of the Constitution of India.

4. Read the given passages carefully and answer the questions that follow:

(a) Inscriptions

Inscriptions are writings engraved on hand surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery. They usually record the achievements, activities or ideas of those who commissioned them and include the exploits of kings, or donations made by women and men to religious institutions. Inscriptions are virtually permanent records, some of which carry dates. Others are dated on the basis of paleography or styles of writing, with a fair amount of precision. For instance, in c. 250 BCE the letter ‘a’ was written like this: By c. 500 CE, it was written like this: The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit, a name for languages used by ordinary people. Names of rulers such as Ajatasatru and Asoka, known from Prakrit texts and inscriptions, have been spelt in their Prakrit forms in this chapter. You will also find the terms in languages such as Pali, Tamil and Sanskrit, which too were used to write inscriptions and texts. It is possible that people spoke in other languages as well, even though these were not used for writing.

Questions:

1) What are inscriptions? 2

2) “Inscriptions are virtually permanent records.” Explain. 3

3) In which language were the earliest inscriptions written? 1

A tiger-like husband

This is a summary of a story from the Adi Parvan of Mahabharata:

The Pandavas had field into the forest. They were tired and fell asleep; only Bhima, the second Pandava, renowned for his prowess, was keeping watch. A man-eating rakshasa caught the scent of the Pandavas and sent his sister Hidimba to capture them. She fell in love with Bhima, transformed herself into a lovely maiden and proposed to him. He refused. Meanwhile, the rakshasa arrived and challenged Bhima to a wrestling match. Bhima accepted the challenge and killed him. The others woke up hearing the noise. Hidimba introduced herself, and declared her love for Bhima. She told Kunti: “I have forsaken my friends, my dharma and my kin; and good lady, chosen your tiger-like son for my man …. Whether you think me a fool, or your devoted servant, let me join you, great lady, with your son as my husband.”

Ultimately, Yudhisthira agreed to the marriage on condition that they would spend the day together but that Bhima would return every night. The couple roamed all over the world during the day. In due course, Hidimba gave birth to a rakshasa boy named Ghatotkacha. Then the mother and son left the Pandavas. Ghatotkacha promised to return to the Pandavas whenever they needed him.

Some historians suggest that the term rakshasa is used to describe people whose practices different from those laid down in Brahmanical texts.

Questions:

1) Who sent Hidimba to capture the Pandavas? How did he come to know about their presence in the forest? 2

2) Why did Hidimba transform herself into a lovely maiden? 2

3) On what condition did Yudhisthira agree to the marriage of Hidimba with Bhima? Did they obey it? 2

(b) The bird leaves his nest

This is an excerpt from the Rihla of Ibn Batuta:

My departure from Tangier, my birthplace, took place on Thursday ……. I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler ….. nor caravan whose party I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit all my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests …….. My age at that time was twenty-two years.

Ibn Batuta returned home in 1354, about 30 years after he had set out.

Questions:

1) Who was Ibn Batuta and in which language he wrote Rihla? 2

2) Where is Tangier situated? 2

3) Why did he prefer to travel alone than in a group? 2

The Story of Data Ganj Bakhsh

In 1039, Abul Hasan at Hujwiri, a native of Hujwiri near Ghazni in Afghanistan, was forced to cross the Indus as a captive of the invading Turkish army. He settled in Lahore and wrote a book in Persian called the Kashf-ul-Mahjub (Unveiling of the Veiled) to explain the meaning of (tasaururif, and those who practiced it, that is, the Sufi.

Hujwiri dies in 1073 and was buried in Lahore. The grandson of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni constructed a tomb over his grave, and this tomb-shrine became a site of pilgrimage for his devotees, especially on his death anniversary.

Even today Hujwiri is revered as Data Ganj Bakhsh or ‘giver who bestows treasures’ and his mausoleum is called Data Durbar or ‘Court of the Giver’.

Questions:

1) Who did the Turkish compel to cross the Indus? 1

2) Kashf-ul-Mahjub was written by whom and in what language? What was its purpose? 3

3) What does Data Ganj Bakhsh mean and who is thus revered as? 2

This is what Khushdeva Singh writes about his experience during one of his visits to Karachi in 1949:

My friends took me at a room at the airport where we all sat down and talked … (and) had lunch together. I had to travel from Karachi to London…. .At 2.30 a.m. …. .At 5.00 p.m. …. I told my friends that they had given me so generously of their time, I thought it would be too much for them to wait the whole night and suggested they must spare themselves the trouble. But nobody left until it was dinner time …. . Then they said they were leaving and that I must have a little rest before emplaning … . I got up at about 1.45 a.m. and, when I opened the door, I saw that all of them were still there … . They all accompanied me to the plane, and, before parting, presented me with a small basket of grapes. I had no words to express my gratitude for the overwhelming affection with which I was treated and the happiness this stopover had given me.

Questions:

1) Why was Khushdeva Singh so moved by the affection of his old friends in Karachi? 2

2) Was such a genuine friendship rare in the post-partition days? 2

3) Why was Khushdeva Singh seen it as a symbol of humanity and harmony? 2

“I believe separate electro rates will be suicidal to minorities”

During the debate on 27^th August 1947, Govind Ballabh Pant said:

I believe separate electro rates will be suicidal to the minorities and will do them tremendous harm. If they are isolated for-ever, they can never convert themselves into a majority and the feeling of frustration will cripple them even from the very beginning. What is it that you desire and what is our ultimate objective? Do the minorities always want to remain as minorities or do they ever expect to form an integral part of a great nation and as such to guide and control its destinies? If they do, can they ever achieve that aspiration and that ideal if they are isolated from the rest of the community? I think it would be extremely dangerous for them of they were segregated from the rest of the community and kept aloof in an air-tight compartment where they would have to rely on others even for the air they breathe ….. . The minorities if they are returned by separate electro rates can never have any effective voice.

CAD, Vol. II

Questions:

1) Why, according to Pant, separate electro rate would be suicidal to the minorities? 3

2) Why does Pant think separate electro rate extremely dangerous for the minority? 3

5. Draw a map of India and mark the four important centres of the Revolt of 1857. 2+4=6

What was the role of women in the medieval agrarian society? 6

How did the historians classify the contents of the Mahabharata? 6

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