History

Match the Harappan sites (Column I) with the present-day region where they lie (Column II) and pick the correct option.
Column I: a. Manda, b. Kalibangan, c. Rakhigarhi, d. Lothal
Column II: 1. Haryana, 2. Gujarat, 3. Rajasthan, 4. Jammu

Put these prehistoric ages in the order in which they occurred (earliest first):
I. Chalcolithic Age
II. Mesolithic Age
III. Neolithic Age
IV. Paleolithic Age

Which of these is Panini's work on the grammar of Sanskrit?

Which pair of ancient dynasty and its lineage is correctly matched?

Fill in the blank: Every early city had its own story. ________ started out as a village, but in the fifth century BCE the rulers of Magadha moved their capital from Rajagaha to this place.

Which statements about Jainism are correct?
I. Vardhamana Mahavira was born in the 5th century CE.
II. Mahavira was the 24th tirthankara.
III. Jains worship Lord Shiva in the form of Mahavira.
IV. Jainism lays great stress on ahimsa (non-violence).

The paper shows a photograph of a large hemispherical stone mound with a square railing (harmika) and umbrella on top, a stone railing and a stone gateway around it, standing on a hill with a flight of steps leading up. Identify the monument.

Which of these chronicles was written by Abu'l Fazl?

Between which two sides was the battle of Talikota (Rakshasi-Tangadi) fought?

Which temple of Vijayanagara was meant for the use of the king and his family only?

Identify the traveller from these clues:
• A 14th-century traveller from Morocco
• Trained in Islamic law (sharia)
• Made qazi (judge) of Delhi by Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Who wrote the travel account titled 'Travels in the Mogul Empire'?

Find the WRONG pair (Sufi teacher – place of dargah):

Assertion (A): Guru Nanak Dev ji preached nirguna bhakti.
Reason (R): For Guru Nanak, the Absolute ('rab') had no gender and no form.

Which statements correctly describe the Bombay Deccan in the 1840s–1850s (after the revenue rates were lowered)?
I. Cultivation expanded a lot in this period.
II. Prices of farm produce kept rising steadily.
III. Peasant risings were frequent because of economic distress.
IV. The agrarian scene was largely progressive.

Which was a major long-term result of the Permanent Settlement for Indian peasants?

Which American President played a decisive part in the American War of Independence?

Why did the British see the Revolt of 1857 as a serious threat? Choose the best reason.

Which pair of local leader of 1857 and the region where he led the revolt is correct?

Identify the leader:
I. He moved the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly.
II. He moved the resolution that the national flag should be a horizontal tricolour of saffron, white and dark green in equal bands, with a navy-blue wheel in the centre.

Match the women members of the Constituent Assembly (Column I) with the province they represented (Column II).
Column I: I. Sarojini Naidu, II. Hansa Mehta, III. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, IV. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Column II: a. Central Provinces, b. United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh), c. Bihar, d. Bombay

Examine how John Marshall, as Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, changed Indian archaeology.

Explain why the stupa at Amaravati was ruined.

Explain the importance of Puranic Hinduism in early India.

Ibn Battuta was struck by how efficient the Indian postal system was. Explain this with examples.

Describe why the Kamalapuram tank and the Hiriya canal were important sources of water for Vijayanagara.

Describe how Domingo Paes saw the city of Vijayanagara.

Analyse the steps the British took to put down the Deccan riots of 1875 in the Bombay Deccan.

Explain the main features of the Government of India Act, 1935.

"Epigraphy is a valuable source for reconstructing history, but there are limits to what it can tell us." Justify this with suitable arguments.

"Historians have used many kinds of sources to rebuild the history of the Mauryan empire and to explain how it was administered." Justify with suitable arguments. (5 + 3 marks: sources + administration)

Explain how agriculture developed in the Mughal period (16th–17th centuries).

Explain the role of women in agrarian society in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Louis Fischer wrote that non-cooperation became the name of an epoch in the life of India and of Gandhiji. Explain this statement with examples.

"Gandhiji launched the Salt March for several reasons, and it became a very significant movement." Explain with examples. (4 + 4 marks: reasons + significance)

Source: 'A Mother's Advice' – from the Mahabharata. When war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas had become almost certain, Gandhari made a final plea to her eldest son Duryodhana: making peace would honour his parents and well-wishers, a wise king controls greed and anger, and war brings neither dharma, wealth nor happiness, and not even sure victory. Duryodhana ignored her, fought and lost.
31.1 What was the main cause of the conflict between the Kauravas and the Pandavas? (1)
31.2 Why did Gandhari advise Duryodhana not to go to war? (1)
31.3 Why did Duryodhana not listen to his mother's advice? (2)

Source: 'Declining a Royal Gift' – Amir Hasan Sijzi describes a scene at Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya's hospice in 1313. A local ruler sent the Shaikh deeds to two gardens and a lot of land, with tools and provisions, giving up all his own rights. The Shaikh refused, saying fields and gardens were no business of his and none of his spiritual masters had done such things. He then told how Shaikh Fariduddin had once accepted Ulugh Khan's (later Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban) money for the dervishes but returned the land deeds, telling him to give them to those who wanted them.
32.1 What did the local ruler offer the Sufi saint? (1)
32.2 How did the saint react to the offer? (1)
32.3 Why did the Sufi saint accept money? Explain. (2)

Source: 'What taluqdars thought' – Hanwant Singh, Raja of Kalakankar near Rae Bareli, sheltered a British officer during the revolt of 1857 and escorted him to safety. While parting, he told the officer that the British had checked the titles to estates and in one stroke taken lands his family had held for generations; he had accepted it, but now that the people had risen, after saving the officer he would lead his retainers to Lucknow to drive the British out.
33.1 Explain Hanwant Singh's grievance (anguish) towards the British officer. (1)
33.2 How had the taluqdars been given privileges by the earlier rulers? (1)
33.3 Explain any two causes of the taluqdars' dissatisfaction with British rule. (2)