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Roll No.
Q.P. Code 61/1/1

History

CBSE Class XII Board Examination 2023

Time allowed: 3 hoursMaximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

  1. The paper has 34 questions in five sections (A to E); all of them must be answered.
  2. Section A: Q1–21, multiple choice (including Assertion-Reason), 1 mark each.
  3. Section B: Q22–27, short answer, 3 marks each (about 60–80 words).
  4. Section C: Q28–30, long answer, 8 marks each (about 300–350 words).
  5. Section D: Q31–33, source-based, each with three sub-questions, 4 marks each.
  6. Section E: Q34, map-based, 5 marks (locate and identify places; attach the map to the answer book).
  7. There is no overall choice, but some questions offer an internal choice (OR); attempt only one of the choices.

SECTION A

Q1–21 are multiple choice questions of 1 mark each.
1.
Rakhigarhi is an ancient Harappan site. In which present-day Indian state does it lie?
  1. (A) Himachal Pradesh
  2. (B) Uttar Pradesh
  3. (C) Haryana
  4. (D) Rajasthan
1
2.
Which archaeologist wrote the book 'The Story of Indian Archaeology'?
  1. (A) R.D. Banerjee
  2. (B) D.R. Sahni
  3. (C) S.N. Roy
  4. (D) B.B. Lal
1
3.
Which of these is NOT a structural part of a stupa?
  1. (A) Harmika
  2. (B) Chhatri
  3. (C) Garbhagriha
  4. (D) Gateways
1
4.
Identify the Mahabharata character from these clues:
• She came from a rakshasa family.
• She married Bhima.
• Ghatotkacha was her son.
  1. (A) Bhilni
  2. (B) Subhadra
  3. (C) Draupadi
  4. (D) Hidimba
1
5.
Which ruler got the Sudarshana lake repaired/rebuilt?
  1. (A) Siri Satakarni
  2. (B) Sakasena
  3. (C) Siri Vijaya Satakarni
  4. (D) Rudradaman
1
6.
The fifth-century temple at Deogarh is located in which Indian state?
  1. (A) Bihar
  2. (B) West Bengal
  3. (C) Orissa
  4. (D) Uttar Pradesh
1
7.
Who was the first ruler to have his messages to his people and officials engraved (on rocks and pillars)?
  1. (A) Chandragupta
  2. (B) Samudragupta
  3. (C) Ashoka
  4. (D) Bindusara
1
8.
Which statement about Ibn Battuta is FALSE?
  1. (A) He was a traveller from Morocco who came to India.
  2. (B) His travel account is called the 'Badshahnama'.
  3. (C) He was an expert in the Islamic law, the Sharia.
  4. (D) He had gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
1
9.
Assertion (A): Francois Bernier called the Mughal emperor a 'king of beggars and barbarians'.
Reason (R): The reason was that the crown owned all the land.
  1. (A) Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.
  2. (B) Both A and R are correct, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
  3. (C) Both A and R are not correct.
  4. (D) A is correct, but R is incorrect.
1
10.
Which traveller–nationality pair is correct?
  1. (A) Ibn Battuta – Portuguese
  2. (B) Francois Bernier – Frenchman
  3. (C) Duarte Barbosa – Moroccan
  4. (D) Manucci – Spanish
1
11.
Assertion (A): Mirabai was a woman poet of the nirguna bhakti tradition.
Reason (R): She has been seen as a source of inspiration for centuries.
  1. (A) Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.
  2. (B) Both A and R are correct, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
  3. (C) A is correct, but R is incorrect.
  4. (D) A is incorrect, but R is correct.
1
12.
Put these Sikh Gurus in chronological order: (i) Guru Gobind Singh (ii) Guru Arjan Dev (iii) Guru Har Kishan (iv) Guru Nanak Dev
  1. (A) (i), (iv), (iii), (ii)
  2. (B) (ii), (iii), (iv), (i)
  3. (C) (iii), (i), (ii), (iv)
  4. (D) (iv), (ii), (iii), (i)
1
13.
Identify the Vijayanagara dynasty from these clues:
• Harihara and Bukka belonged to it.
• The Hiriya canal was built by it.
• It was the first dynasty of the empire.
  1. (A) Sangama
  2. (B) Saluva
  3. (C) Tuluva
  4. (D) Aravidu
1
14.
Under Akbar land was put in four classes. Which class was regarded as the best?
  1. (A) Polaj
  2. (B) Parauti
  3. (C) Chachar
  4. (D) Banjar
1
15.
Who brought in the Permanent Settlement in Bengal?
  1. (A) Thomas Munro
  2. (B) Charles Cornwallis
  3. (C) William Bentinck
  4. (D) Henry Hardinge
1
16.
Which of these statements about British policies in India are correct?
(i) The English brought western education to India.
(ii) They opened English-medium schools and colleges.
(iii) They made laws to end the practice of sati.
(iv) They did not allow widows to remarry.
  1. (A) (i), (ii) and (iii)
  2. (B) (ii), (iii) and (iv)
  3. (C) (i), (iii) and (iv)
  4. (D) (i), (ii) and (iv)
1
17.
Who was known as 'Frontier Gandhi'?
  1. (A) Maulana Azad
  2. (B) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
  3. (C) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
  4. (D) Dadabhai Naoroji
1
18.
Which member of the Constituent Assembly asked for justice for women?
  1. (A) H.J. Khandekar
  2. (B) T.A. Ramalingam Chettiar
  3. (C) Hansa Mehta
  4. (D) Jaipal Singh
1
19.
Pick the correctly matched pair:
  1. (A) Mahatma Gandhi – President of the Constituent Assembly
  2. (B) Jawaharlal Nehru – Lawyer of the Constituent Assembly
  3. (C) Dr. Rajendra Prasad – Moved the Objectives Resolution
  4. (D) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar – Chairman of the Drafting Committee
1
20.
Which centre of the 1857 revolt is correctly matched with its leader?
  1. (A) Jhansi – Bahadur Shah
  2. (B) Arrah – Kunwar Singh
  3. (C) Delhi – Wajid Ali Shah
  4. (D) Awadh – Lakshmi Bai
1
21.
Identify the East India Company official from these clues:
• He was Lord Wellesley's physician.
• He carried out a survey of Bengal.
• He set up a zoo (in Calcutta).
  1. (A) Colin Mackenzie
  2. (B) John Marshall
  3. (C) Marco Polo
  4. (D) Francis Buchanan
1

SECTION B

Q22–27 are short answer questions of 3 marks each.
22.
Explain how the drainage system of Harappan cities shows that the towns were planned.
OR
Explain why the Harappans used seals and sealings.
3
23.
Why is the Mahabharata called a dynamic text? Explain with examples.
3
24.
Explain the part played by women devotees in the Alvar and Nayanar traditions.
3
25.
How did the Chishti Sufis take up the local languages of India in the medieval period? Explain.
OR
Explain the special features of Al-Biruni's Kitab-ul-Hind.
3
26.
How did the American Civil War (1861) affect the lives of the ryots in India? Explain.
3
27.
"Art and literature kept the memory of Rani Lakshmi Bai alive." Support this with suitable examples.
3

SECTION C

Q28–30 are long answer questions of 8 marks each.
28.
"The Sanchi stupa is one of the best preserved monuments of early times." Explain this statement.
OR
Explain how Puranic Hinduism developed.
8
29.
Explain why the Vijayanagara empire reached its peak and why it declined.
OR
Explain the special features of the royal centre of Vijayanagara.
8
30.
Examine the reasons for and the results of the Salt Satyagraha. (4+4)
OR
Examine the causes and the events of the Quit India Movement. (4+4)
8

SECTION D

Q31–33 are source-based questions of 4 marks each (1+1+2).
31.
Source (summary): A passage from the Arthashastra on capturing elephants for the army. It says that guards of elephant forests, with helpers (those who rear, chain and nurse elephants, forest dwellers and boundary guards) and a few tame female elephants, tracked wild herds by following their urine and dung. It adds that, as per Greek writers, the Mauryan ruler had 6,00,000 foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants.
(i) Who wrote the Arthashastra? (1)
(ii) How were elephants tracked in the forests? (1)
(iii) Why did the Mauryan rulers capture elephants? (2)
4
32.
Source (summary): An extract from the Ain-i Akbari advising the revenue official (amil-guzar) to collect land revenue not only in cash but also in kind, and describing four ways of doing so – kankut (estimating the crop by grading it as good, middling and inferior), batai or bhaoli (reaped crop stacked and divided in the presence of both parties, needing honest inspectors), khet-batai (dividing the fields after sowing) and lang batai (dividing the heaps of cut grain, each taking his share home).
(i) Explain what 'cash' means here. (1)
(ii) Explain the role of the amil-guzar. (1)
(iii) Explain the lang batai system. (2)
4
33.
Source (summary): In the Constituent Assembly, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel argued against separate electorates. He said they had already led to the division of the country, that no free country had them, and that if they continued after Partition India would be ruined. He said the British had left but had left behind this 'mischief' which they had introduced for their own easy administration, and India must get rid of it.
(i) What is meant by separate electorates? (1)
(ii) Why did Patel stress unity? (1)
(iii) Why did Patel regard separate electorates, introduced by the British, as a mischief? (2)
4

SECTION E

Q34 is a map-based question of 5 marks.
34.
(i) On a political outline map of India locate and label:
(a) Mathura – a place with an Ashokan inscription
(b) Rajgir – capital of the early state of Magadha
(c) Chandragiri – where the Aravidu dynasty ruled
OR (c) Delhi – capital of the Mughal empire
(ii) Two centres of the Revolt of 1857 are marked on the map: A – a town in western Uttar Pradesh, north-east of Delhi; B – a town in northern Madhya Pradesh, south of Agra. Identify them.
5
— END —
Questions restated from the CBSE Class XII Board Examination 2023 (set 61/1/1) for practice. Reading passages and map items are described, not reproduced.