AHSEC| CLASS 12| HISTORY| QUESTION PAPER

AHSEC| CLASS 12| HISTORY| QUESTION PAPER - 2015| H.S. 2ND YEAR

2015

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 wrote Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro ?

b) Who is known as 'Father of Indian Archaeology' ?

c) Who was the mother of the Kauravas?

d) Where is the Dargah of Ajan Pir situated?

e) Who was the first President of Assam Association?

f) Name the author of Rihla.

g) What does 'Zimma' mean?

h) Name the town built by Knshnadeva Raya near Vijayanagara in memory of his mother.

i) Who introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal?

j) Who were the Jotedars?

k) Who gave the slogan 'Do or Die'?

l) Who was the writer of the song 'Sare-Jahan-Se Accha'?

2. Write on/Answer the following in brief: 2x12=24

a) Two subsistence strategies of the people of Harappa

b) The Eight-Fold Path which every Buddhist is expected to follow according to Gautama Buddha,

c) Who were the Panch (five) Pirs? Where are their Dargahs?

d) Name two travellers whose accounts are important sources to know the social condition of Assam in the 16th and 17th centuries.

e) Who was the author of Sakari Feti Buranji? Why did Kirtichandra Borbarua destroy these Buranjis?

f) Two contributions of women in an agricultural society

g) Two functions of Jati Panchayat

h) What were the four divisions of land during the period of Akbar?

i) Who was Buchanan Hamilton? What was the name of his book written on Assam?

j) Who was Maulavi Ahmed-ullah Shah? What was his contribution to the Mutiny of 1857?

k) Two causes of the failure of the Sepoy Mutiny (I) Why did the Cripps

l) (l) Mission fail? State two causes.

3. Answer the following questions: 4x10=40

a) Describe the layout of drains in Harappan city.

b) State four reasons why Magadha became the most powerful among the sixteen Janapadas.

c) Who was Colin Mackenzie? Discuss his contribution to the history of Vijayanagara.

d) What were the main features of Mughal provincial administration?

e) Who were the Alvars and Nayanars? What were their attitudes towards caste?

f) Why is Ain-i-Akbari regarded as a very important historical document? Mention two of its problems.

g) Why did the Santhals revolt against the British?

h) Mention four causes of discontentment of the Indian Sepoys against the British.

i) Why is the Dandi March regarded as one of the most important movements against the British?

j) Write a short note on Quit India Movement in Assam.

4. Read the following paragraphs carefully and answer the questions that follow:

(a) Neo-Ancient Civilization

Subsequently, seals were discovered at Harappa by archaeologists such as Daya Ram Sahni in the early decades of the twentieth century, in layers that were definitely much older than Early Historic levels. It was then that their significance began to be realised. Another archaeologist, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay found similar seals at Mohenjo-daro, leading to the conjecture that these sites were part of a single archaeological culture. Based on these finds, in 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus Valley to the world. As S. N. Roy noted in The Story of Indian Archaeology, "Marshall left India three thousand years older than he had found her." This was because similar, till-then-unidentified seals were found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites. It was then that the world knew not only of a new civilization, but also of one contemporaneous with Mesopotamia

In fact, John Marshall's stint as Director-General of the ASI marked a major change in Indian archaeology. He was the first professional archaeologist to work in India, and brought his experience of working in Greece and Crete to the field. More importantly, though like Cunningham, he too was interested in spectacular finds, he was equally keen to look for patterns of everyday life.

Questions :

(i) Name the two archaeologists who did commendable work in discovering a new civilization in the Indus Valley. 2

(ii) How did the discovery of seals prove helpful to the archaeologists? 2

(iii) What was John Marshall's contribution to Indian archaeology? 2

(b) An excerpt from Francois Bernier’s Travels in the Mughal Empire

It is important to observe, that of this vast tract of country, a large portion is extremely fertile; the large kingdom of Bengale (Bengal), for instance, surpassing Egypt itself, not only in the production of rice, corn, and other necessaries of life but of innumerable articles of commerce which are not cultivated in Egypt; such as silks, cotton and indigo. There are also many parts of the Indies, where the population is sufficiently abundant, and the land pretty well tilled; and where the artisan, although naturally indolent, is yet compelled by necessity or otherwise to employ himself in manufacturing carpets, brocades, embroideries, gold and silver cloths, and the various sorts of silk and cotton goods; which are used in the country or exported abroad.

It should not escape notice that gold and silver, after circulating in every other quarter of the globe, come at length to be swallowed up, lost in some measure, in Hindustan.

Questions :

(i) What was Bernier's view with regard to production in Bengal?

(ii) What was Bernier's view regarding the system of agriculture in the Mughal period in India?

(iv) What did Bernier write about inflow of gold and silver into India?

Paes give a vivid description of the Bazaar

Going forward, you have a broad and beautiful street … . In this street live many merchants, and there you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and pearls, and seed-pearls, and cloths, and every other sort of this there is on earth and that you may with to buy. Then you have there every evening a fair where they sell many common borses and nags, and also many citrons, and limes, and oranges, and grapes, and every other kind of garden stuff, and wood; you have all in this street.

More generally, he described the city as being “the best provided city in the world” with the markets “stocked with provisions such as rice, wheat, grains, India corn and a certain amount of barley and beans, moong, pulses and horse-gram” all of which were cheaply and abundantly available. According to Fernao Nuniz, the Vijayanagara markets were “overflowing with abundance of fruits, grapes and oranges, limes, pomegranates, jackfruit and mangoes all very cheap”. Meat too was sold in abundance in the marketplaces. Nuniz describes “mutton, pork, venison, partridges, hares, doves, quail and all kinds of birds, sparrows, rats and cats and lizards” as being sold in the market of Bisnaga (Vijayanagara).

Question :

(i) How does paes describe the Bazaar of Vijayanagara?

(ii) How did Fernao Nuniz describe the Vijayanagara markets?

(c) Charkha

Mahatma Gandhi was profoundly critical of the modern age in which machines enslaved humans and displaced labour. He swa the Charkha as a symbol of a human society that would not glorify machines and technology. The spinning wheel, moreover, could provide the poor with supplementary income and make them self-reliant.

What I object to, is the craze for machinery as such. The craze is for what they call labour saving machinery. Men go on ‘saving labour’, till thousands are without work and thrown on the open streets to die of starvation . I want to save time and labour, not for a fraction of mankind, but for all; I want the concentration of wealth, not in the hands of few, but in the hands of all.

Young India, 13^th November, 1924

Khaddar does not seek to destroy all machinery but it does regulate its use and check its weedy growth. It uses machinery for the service of the poorest in their own cottages. The wheel is itself an exquisite piece of machinery.

Young India, 17^th March, 1927

Questions :

(i) What is the source of this passage?

(ii) Why was Mahatma Gandhi critical of the modern age?

(iii) Why was Gandhi against the craze for machines?

(iv) Why did Gandhiji lay emphasis on the use of Charkha?

“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 electrorates, 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 electrorates? 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?”

Questions:

(i) Why, according to sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, are we now a separate nation?

(ii) “… it is not worth living in.” What, according to him, is not worth living in and when?

(iii) “We do not want to perpetuate that mischief.” What mischief does he refer to ?

5. Draw a map of India and show the State where the following languages are State languages: 6

(a) Malayalam

(b) Oriya

(d) Kannada

Write a short note on Srimanta Sankaradeva.

What was Rowlatt Act?

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