BOARD OUESTIONS CHAPTER 1-5

CHAPTER 1 BRICK,BEADS, AND BONES

Very Short Answer type question

Class-XII
Q1 Mention any four items found in the graves of the Harappas.

Q2 How did the Harappans obtain red colour or carnelian ?

Q3 Mention two strategies adopted to identify social differences among harappans .

Q4 Mention any two difficulties faced by by historians in deciphering the Indus script.

Q5Mention two features of the domestic architecture of harappan residential buildings.

Q6Mention two features of the great bath .

Q7 Which architectural features of Mohenjodaro indicate towards planning ?

Q8 Mention two distinctive features of the urban centres of the Harappan civilization.

Short answer type questions

Q1what were the materials used for the craft production during harappanculture?from where were
these material procured ?Explain

Q2 Describe the features of settlements of Harappancivilization ?

Chapter-2 KINGS, FARMER, AND TOWNS

Very Short Answer type question

Q1. Communication along both land and riverine routes, was vital for the existence of The Mauryan
empire. Justify the statement.

Q2 How did Magadhan become the most powerful Mahajanpada between 6th to fourth century BCE?

give two reason.

Q3.Mention the contents of Jatakas .what they do depict?

 Short answer type question

Q1Explain how kharosthi was deciphered?

Q2.Historians have used a variety of sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan empire
Explain.

Q3.Who was James Princep? how did his discovery give a new direction for studying early Indian
history?

Chapter-3 KINSHIP, CASTE, AND CLASS

Very Short Answer type question

Q1 Why were the forest dwellers termed jungali ?Give two reasons ?

Q2 How was paternal estate to be divided after the death of parents, according to

Manusmriti?

Q3 Mention the two ideas of Brahmanical system challenged by the llingyats?

Q4 How did Brahmanas develop a shaper social divide ?Give two example.

Short answer type questions

Q1Describe how the Kinship relations changed with references to Mahabharata .

Q2 Explain why we call Mahabharata a dynamic text .

Q3 Explain the factors that should kept in mind while handling textual traditions.

Q4 How was integration within the framework of caste often a complicated process ?

CHAPTER 4 THINKERS ,BELIEF ,AND BUILDINGS

Very Short Answer type question

Q1How was Buddhas presence shown through symbols? Give two examples.

Q2 How do we come to know about Buddhas teachings? Explain .

Q3 What does the motif of a woman .surrounded by lotuses and elephants depict? Mention any two
opinions
Q4 mention how according to Jainism,one can free one self from the cycle of karma?

Short answer type question

Q1.Describe the factor let to the growth of Puranic Hinduism in India during 6 century BCE

Q2 Buddhism grew rapidly both during the life time of the Buddha and also after his

death. Justify the statement.

Q3The notion of a savior was not unique to Buddhism Comment

Long answer type questions

Q1 Describe the Tirthankars of Jainism. Discuss their main teachings about Jainism .

CHAPTER 5 THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS

Very Short Answer type question

Q1Mention any two characteristics of cities in the Indian sub continent , as describe by Ibn Battuta .

Q2Give two examples to show that Indian cotton textiles were in great demand in West and south

Asia .

Q3 Give brief introduction of Francois Bernier .How long did he remain in India ?

Short answer type questions

Q1 Examine Bernier s perception about ownership of landed property in Mughal India .

Q2 Explain AL-Birunis description of caste system in India .

Q3Explain how the prosperity of towns has been explained by the historians on the basis of Ibn-
Battutas observations.

Q4 Explain the views of Bernier about a more complex social reality of Mughal empire.

Long answer type questions

Q1 Explain the observation of Ibn =Battutas about the cities of India ,with special reference to

Delhi .
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 BOARD QUESTIONS CHAPTER 1-5

KEY TO ANSWERS

CHAPTER 1 BRICK, BEADS, AND BONES

Very Short Answer type question

Ans1 Pottery, ornaments ,Jewellery , shell rings, priest stone, beads

, the skull of male ,copper

Mirror have been found in the graves .

Ans2 Archaeologists experiments have revealed that the red colour of

carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material and beads
at various stages of production . nodules were chipped into rough
shapes and then finely flacked into the final form.

Ans3 (i) The settlements and houses indicate the social difference .It
shows the living standard of people .

(ii) The found in graves indicate the social difference such as

ornaments and utensils .rich people grave consist of precious stones
and costly metals while poor people grave consist of clay items and
ordinary stones.

Ans4 (i) Harrappan script is undeciphered till today due to which we

are still unable to attain information about civilization .

(ii) Materials like cloth .leather ,wood, and reeds decomposed due to
passage of time .

Ans5 (i) All buildings were built accordance with special plan.

(II) Buildings were made of sun dried and burnt bricks .

Ans6(I) This a large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a

corridor on all four sides.

(II) There were rooms on three sides , in one of which was a large
well.Water from the tank flowed into a huge drain.

Ans7 (I) Division of whole city into two towns.

(II)Roads and street s laid down into grid pattern .

Ans8(I) Cities were built according to a well developed plan.

(II) Urban people wer well settle along with the craft persons.

Short answer type questions

Ans1 (i) Beads making , shell cutting ,metal work ,seal making were
good example of craft production.

(II) The type of materials used to make beads was fantastic, stones
like carnelian, jasper crystal quartz and steatite were used .

(III) Metals like copper ,bronze,and gold ,terracotta were used .

Materials were procured from following areas :

(I)Shell fromNageshwar and Balakot .Lapis lazuli from shortughai ,

carnelian from Lothal .

(II) copper from Rajasthan Khetri .Gold from south India .

Ans 2(I) They provide raw materials for craft production .

(II) Nageshwar andbalakot provide raw materials for craft

production.

(III) Carnelian was obtained from Lothal.

(IV) Copper from khetri of Rajasthan.

Chapter-2 KINGS,FARMER,AND TOWNS

Very Short Answer type question

Ans1 For political control ,military mobilization, peoples
movement both types of communication land as well as river route were
very useful.

(II) Communication along both land and riverine routes was vital for
internal as well as external trade and commerce .it was useful for
agricultural progress and mutual exchange of ideas . knowledge etc.
for the Mauryan empire.

Ans2 (I) It was the region where agriculture was producuive.

(II) Plenty of iron was available which was used for making tools and
weopon.
Ans 3 (I) The Jatakas stories have important place in Buddhist
text.These were originally written in Palilanguage .

(II) There are about 500 jataks tales that tell about the 84,000
previous births of Buddha .

Short answer type questions

Ans1(I)The Kharosthi script was used in the inscriptions in the north

west .Finds of coins of Indo-Greek and Kings who ruled over the area
have facilitated matters .

(II)These coins had the names of kings written in Greek and Kharosthi
scripts.

(Iii)The European scholars who could read Greek compared the Letters.

(IV)For example ,the symbol for a could traced in both scripts for
writing names such as Apollodotus.

Ans 2(i) The most important source of information about the

mauryanempire was the book Indicawitten by Megasthenese.

(ii) Another important source of information is the book Arthashastra

written by kautilyaorchanakya .

(iii) Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadutta tells a lot about how chandraguta

snatched the rule from Nanda Dynasty

(iv) The texts of Jain and Buddhism throw light on life of Mauryan
Empire.

(v) The inscriptions of Asoka

Ans3 (I)JamesPrincep was an officer working in East India company in

1830s.

HIS DISCOVERY:

a)some of the momentous developments in Indian epigraphy took place in

the 1830s.

b)He discovered brahmi and kharoshti script used in early coins and
inscriptions.

c) He found most of the inscription were related to king Asoka (

PIYADASSI) .

d)His work provided new direction to investigations into Indian

political system .
e) reveals more knowledge about Indian history .

Chapter-3 KINSHIP, CASTE, AND CLASS

Very Short Answer type question

Ans 1(I) They ate the raw things .

(I)They did not have any culture.

Ans2 (I)It should equally divided among all sons after the death of
their parents .

(II) Elder son is entitled to special share .

(III) The women were not allowed to share their parent property .

Ans3(I)They openly challenged the ideas of caste .

They also encouraged practices disapproved in the

Dharmashastraslikepostpuberty marriage and remarriage of widows

Ans4Those who considered themselves pure ,avoided taking anything from

those designated untouchable .

In shap contrast to the purity aspect ,some activities were regarded

as particularly polluting .These including handling corpses and dead
animals .

Short answer type questions

Ans1We often take family life for granted .Families are usually parts
of larger networks of people defined as relatives or to use a more
technical term kinsfolk while familial ties are often regarded as
natural and based on blood

For early societies historians can retrieve information about elite

families fairly easily ; it is however for more different to
reconstruct the familial relationship of ordinary people

Ans2 The Mahabharata is a great dynamic epic .It contains vivid

description of battles ,forests, and settlements .Its growth was not
hindered by its language, I.e Sanskrit .over the centuries ,it has
been written in many languages of world .it depicts an on going
dialogue between the people and communities on the one end and on the
authors other hand. As it incorporated many stories that originated
in different regions , the Mahabharata became an epical text.
Ans 3 They should examine in which language the book has been written
.

(II) The historians also paid attention to the kind of text .

(III) The historians also examine the audience because every author
keeps in mind the audience.

(IV)They also analyse the possible period of creation of the book .

(V) The y also wanted to know the authors whose views and perceptions
gave concrete shape to the text.

Ans4The caste is a set of ranking system according to social status

or authority of a person.

The Brahmanas were given the top rank ,they told the people that
varna system was a divine system . They advised the kings to ensure
the rules of varna system .The kings were generally the Kshatriyas
.But in some cases Brahmanas were also the kings likesatavahanas of
Deccan .Due this way ,the integration within the framework of caste
was often a complicated process .

CHAPTER 4 THINKERS ,BELIEF ,AND BUILDINGS

Very Short Answer type question

Ans1 (I) The empty seat indicated the meditation of Buddha .

(II) T hestupas represented the mahaparinibbana of the Buddha .

Ans2 (I)Through the Buddhist text .

(ii)Historians have also tried to reconstruct the details of his life

from hagiographies .

ANS3(i)Few historians consider it as Maya ,the mother of the Buddha

and other identify her as a popular goddess Gajalaxmi her as a
popular goddess Gajalaxmi

.Ans 4 According to Jainism the cycle of birth and re birth is

shaped through karma .

Hard penance is required to free oneself from cycle of karma .

Short answer type question

Ans1Puranic Hinduism originated from the notion of saviour (I)
Worship of god Vishnu in form of various avtars or incarnation .

(II) Shiva worship as Principal God ,

(III) In this type of worship people had intense devotion to god

known as Bhakti.

(III) The incarnation of Vishnu was believed to have taken in order

to save the world

(IV) Most probably these incarnation became popular among people and
unified the world.

Ans2Buddhism grew both during the life time of Buddha and after his
death Buddha himself set his example before his people .He used
language of common people like pali . He was against caste system .He
allow every one to follow his teaching .Even after his death Buddhism
was grew rapidly many kings gave patronage to Buddhism .It was spread
even out side India .

Ans3 (I) Worship of god Vishnu in form of various avtars or

incarnation .

(II) Shiva worship as Principal God ,

(III) The incarnation of Vishnu was believed to have taken in order

to save the world

(IV) Most probably these incarnation became popular among people and
unified the world.

Long answer type questions

Ans1 (I) RISHABHNATH

(ii) PARSHAVANATH

(iii) VARDHMAN MAHAVIR

TEACHINGS OF JAINISM:

(I)Tri rattan-knowledge ,character ,philosophy.

(II)Belief in hard penance .

(III) they believe in non violence .

(IV) No faith in god .

(V) No faith in vedas .

(VI) Belief in soul .

(VII) No faith in caste system.

CHAPTER 5 THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS

Very Short Answer type question

Ans1 According to Ibn Battuta

(i)Indian cities were very prosperous.

(ii)Indian were densely populated .

Ans2 According to Ibn=Battuta Indian textiles particularly cotton fine

muslins, silk,etc were in great in demand .west and south Asia .

IBN-BATTUTA informs us that certain varieties of fine muslins were

very expensive that they could be worn only by the nobles and very
rich people.

Ans3 Francois Bernier was a French traveller .He himself was a doctor
,political philosopher and a historian .He remained in India for 12
years 1656-1668 C.E and was closely associated with the Mughal court

Short answer type questions

Ans1 Lack of private property in land ,crown ownership of land .

The rulers enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects who were
kept in conditions of subjugation and poverty

All land belonged to the king and private property was non -existent
Ans(I) Al Biruni had explained the caste system of India .He did
not consider the unique as such social division were prevalent in
ancient Persia .

(II) He accepted the Brahmanicaldescription of the caste system .

(Iii) But he did not accept the notion of pollution .He stated that
the state of impurity does remain forever .

(IV) Thus AL-BIRUNIS description of caste system was deeply

influenced by his study of normative Sanskrit books and the views
of Brahmans

Ans3 (I) Historian explained prosperity of towns that towns derived

a significant portion of their wealth through the appropriation of
surplus from villages .

(II) India was well integrated with Asian networks of trade and
commerce

(III) Indian towns were having rich and prosperous markets with
variety of items.

IV)Encouragement was given to merchants by the state.

Ans4 Mughal empire was tyrannical but it also indicate towards more
complex social reality.

(II) Artisans were not encourage to improved the quality of their

products .Resulted into fall of production.

(Iii) The precious metal were flowed into India from world.

(iv) He accepted that India had rich and prosperous trade .

Long answer type questions

Ans1 (I) Indian cities had many exciting opportunities .

(II) The Indian cities were densely populated .They were prosperous
and crowded street .

(iii) They had bright and colourfulmarkets trading in a variety of

goods .

(IV)Delhi was largest city had a lot of population another biggest

city was Daultabad of Maharashtra .
(V) Markets were not only centres of economic activities but also
the places of social and cultural activities

(VI) Indian agriculture was very productive .

(VII) Indian farmers cultivated two crops in a year was because land
was very fertile .

(VIII) The goods of India were in great demand both in West Asia and
South east Asia .