Sample Paper (CBSE)

Series HIS/SP/1C Code No. SP/1-C

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HISTORY

Time Allowed: 3 hours Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

(i) Answer all the Questions. Some questions have choice. Marks are indicated

against each question.

(ii) Answers to Questions 1 to 3, carrying 2 marks should not exceed 30 words each.

(iii) Answer to Questions 4 to 9, carrying 4 marks, should not exceed 100 words

each. Students should attempt any 5 questions in this section.

(iv) Question 10 (for 4 marks) is a value based question and compulsory.

(v) Answer to Questions 11 to 14, carrying 8 marks each should not exceed 350

words each. Students should attempt any 3 questions in this section.

(vi) Questions 15, 16 and 17 are based on sources and have no internal choice.

(vii) Map Question 18 includes ‘identification’ and ‘significance’ test items. Students

should attach the map within the answer scripts.

PART A

Answer all the questions given below:

1. Mention two aspects of six century BCE in Indian history.

2. Why did the kings associate themselves with Sufis?

3. Differentiate between black towns and white towns.

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PART B

SECTION I

Answer any five of the following questions.

4. What has been found in burials at the Harappan sites?

5. How far were the gotra rules prescribed by the Brahmans followed?

6. Mention any five features about the location of Vijayanagara.

7. What role did the women play in agrarian society?

8. Why were the ryots against the money lenders in the Deccan?

9. What were the causes of the failure of the 1857 Revolt?

SECTION II

Value Based Question. (Compulsory)

The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the "pollution"

attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas. These won them

followers amongst those who were marginalized within the

Brahmanical social order. The Lingayats also encouraged certain

practices disapproved in the Dharamashastras, such as post-

puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows. Our understanding

of the Virashaiva tradition is derived from Vachanas (literally

sayings) composed in Kannada by women and men who joined the

movement.

10. What were the main teachings of the Lingayats? What values can

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you infer from this passage?

PART C

Answer any three of the following questions.

11. What were the main principles of Ashoka's Dhamma? Why was it

introduced?

12. Discuss the merits and demerits of the Mansabdari System.

13. How did Gandhiji transform National Movement into mass

movement?

14. What was the impact of partition on Indian women?

PART D

(Source Based Questions)

15. Read the following extract carefully and answer the

questions that follow:

What the king’s officials did?

Of the great officers of state, some … superintend the rivers,

measure the land, as is done in Egypt, and inspect the sluices by

which water is let out from the main canals into their branches, so

that everyone may have an equal supply of it. The same persons

have charge also of the huntsmen, and are entrusted with the power

of rewarding or punishing them according to their deserts. They

collect the taxes, and superintend the occupations connected with

land; as those of the woodcutters, the carpenters, the blacksmiths,

and the miners.

a. What did Ashoka do to hold his empire together?

b. What were the duties of the state officers?

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c. How did the sub-committees coordinate military activities?

16. Read the following extract carefully and answer the

questions that follow:

On horse and on foot:

In India the postal system is of two kinds: The horse-post called

‘Uluq’ is run by royal horses stationed at distance of every four

miles. The foot-post has three stations permit. It is called ‘dawa’,

that is, one third of a mile ….. Now, at every third of a mile there is

well populated village, outside which are three pavilions in which

sit men with girded loins ready to start. Each of them carries a rod,

two cubits in length with copper bells at the top. When the courier

starts from the city, he holds the letter in one hand and the rod with

its bells on the other; and he runs as fast as he can. When the men

in the pavilion hear the ringing of bell they get ready. As soon as the

courier reaches them one of them takes the letter from his and runs

at the top speed shaking the rod all the while until he reaches the

next dawa. And the same process continues till the letter reaches its

destination. This foot-person is quicker than the horse-post; and

often it is used to transport the fruit of Khurasan which are much

desired in India.

a. Name the two kinds of postal system.

b. Why does Ibn-Battua think that the postal system in India was

efficient?

c. How did the State encourage merchants in the 14th century?

17. Read the following extract carefully and answer the

questions that follow:

What should the qualities of a national language be?

A few months before his death Mahatma Gandhi reiterated his

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views on the language question:

This Hindustani should be neither Sanskritised Hindi nor

Persianised Urdu but a happy combination of both. It should also

freely admit words wherever necessary from the different regional

languages and also assimilate words from foreign languages,

provided that they can mix well and easily with our national

language. Thus our national language must develop into a rich and

powerful instrument capable of expressing the whole gamut of

human thought and feelings. To confine oneself to Hindi or Urdu

would be a crime against intelligence and the spirit of patriotism.

a. According to Gandhiji, what should be the qualities of the

national language?

b. What did the Congress accept by 1930 about our national

language?

c. What qualities does Hindustani language possess?

PART E

18. Map Question

18.1 On the political outline map of India, locate and label the

following:

a. Pataliputra

b. Ujjain

18.2 On the same outline map of India three places related to

important centers of revolt of 1857 have been marked as 1, 2

and 3. Identify them and write their correct.

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Part – A

1. a. It is associated with rise of early states and cities, growing use of iron

and development of coin.

b. It also witnessed the growth of Buddhism and Jainism.

2. a. The majority of their subjects were non-Muslims.

b. The Sultans then sought out the Sufis, who derived their authority

directly from God.

3. Black towns:

a. Only black people lived in these areas.

b. They were symbolised as chaos, anarchy, filth and diseases.

White towns:

a. Only British and Europeans lived in these towns.

b. They had broad streets, bungalows, larger gardens

Part – B

Section – I

4. a. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments.

b. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.

c. An ornament consisting of three shell rings, a jasper bead and

hundreds of micro beads was found near the skull of a male.

d. The dead were buried with copper mirrors.

e. Harappans did not believe in burning precious things with the dead.

5. a. The names of many men and women in ancient times reflected the

gotras to which they belonged.

ANSWERS

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b. The names of women who married Satavahana rulers show that many

names were derived from gotras such as Gotama and Vasistha which

were their father's gotra.

c. Thus, contrary to Brahmanical norms, these women did not adopt the

names associated with their husband’s gotra. Also, some of the women

belonged to the same gotra as their husbands.

d. This was against the ideal of exogamy mentioned by the Brahmanical

texts.

e. Against Brahmanical gotra rules, endogamous marriages were widely

prevalent in Southern India.

6. a. Natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra.

b. The surrounding landscape is characterised by stunning granite hills.

c. A number of streams flow down to the river from these rocky regions.

d. Embankments were built along these streams to create reservoirs.

e. It is situated in the most arid zone of the peninsula.

7. a. Women worked shoulder to shoulder with men in fields.

b. Women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest.

c. Women were also engaged in craft production such as spinning yarn,

sifting and kneading clay for pottery and embroidery.

d. Some restriction during some days of month, women were not allowed

to touch the plough or the potter’s wheel in western India.

8. a. Faulty loan bonds were signed between ryots and money lenders.

b. The ryots were forced to sign a new bond after every 3 years.

c. Interest was added with principal load and a new set of interest was

charged.

d. Money lenders refused to give receipts when loans were returned.

e. High rate of land revenue was charged.

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9. a. Breaking out before of the fixed date

b. Co-operation of the native states to the British

c. Lack of co-operation from the elite Indian

d. Limited resources of the Rebels

e. Absence of a common ideal

f. Diplomacy of the British

Section – II

Value Based Question. (Compulsory)

10. They were against the caste system and questioned belief in the theory of

rebirth. They did not believe in child marriages and encouraged widow

remarriage.

The values we learn from this passage are:

a. Rationalism- they did not believe in a social system based on the

privileges of birth.

b. Equality- women, unlike other religious orders, were allowed to join the

movement.

c. Sensitivity to social issues - they were against child marriage and

encouraged the remarriage of widows.

Part – C

11. a. Ashoka's empire consisted of diverse faiths- Buddhism, Jainism and

the Ajivikas- who were constantly in conflict with each other. In order

to maintain unity in his empire, Ashoka introduced Dhamma.

b. His Dhamma consisted of principles which were common to all

religions. It preached moral values like truthfulness (satya), charity

(dana) and mercy (daya).

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c. He advised people to respect their elders, teachers and monks and to

help the poor and needy. He asked them to treat slaves and servants

properly and to obey one's parents.

d. He explained his Dhamma in his edicts which he put up throughout his

empire. He considered all his subjects as his children.

e. The edicts were written in Prakrit which was the language of the

common people so that they could understand and follow them. Some of

the edicts such as those in Afghanistan were composed in Greek for the

same reason.

f. Ashoka was also against cruelty to animals and was against their

slaughter. To lead by personal example, Ashoka led a simple life, gave

up royal hunting, forbade animal sacrifice and became

a vegetarian.

g. In order to spread his dhamma, Ashoka appointed officials called

Dharma Mahamattas who were required to explain Ashoka's dhamma

to the people and supervise the moral life of the people.

12. Merits of the Mansabdari System:

a. Control on revolts

b. Qualification on the basis of ranks

c. Ban on Corruption

d. Powerful army

e. Emotional unity

Demerits of Mansabdari System:

a. Misuse of money

b. Disloyalty of the soldiers towards the empire

c. Luxurious life of mansabdars

d. High salary of mansabdars created pressure on government

e. Less number of horsemen affected the effectiveness of military

f. No direct link between emperor and soldiers

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13. a. Simple lifestyle

b. Use of Hindi for communication

c. Role of Gandhiji in three mass movements

d. Emphasis on truth and non-violence

e. Swadeshi, Boycott and Swaraj

f. Importance on Charkha and Khadi

g. Upliftment of women, poor and down trodden

h. Hindu-Muslim unity

14. a. Harrowing experience of women: Abduction, sold and forced to settle

down to a new life

b. They were brutally tortured.

c. They found the governments of both India and Pakistan insensitive to

their problems.

d. Not allowed to voice their opinion

e. Killing of women in the name of saving honour of women

f. Forcing women to commit suicide to save themselves from falling into

the hands of enemies

g. Dishonouring women of a community seen as dishonouring the

community itself and a mode of taking revenge

Part – D

15.

a. 1. Ashoka tried to hold his empire together by propagating

dhamma.

2. Special officers called dhamma mahamattas were appointed to

spread the message of dhamma.

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b. 1. Some superintended the rivers, measured lands and inspected

the sluices by which water was let out from the main canals into

their branches, so that everyone would have an equal supply of it.

2. They had also charge of huntsmen, entrusted with the power of

rewarding or punishing them according to their deserts.

3. They collected the taxes, and superintended the occupations

connected with land; as those of the woodcutters, the carpenters,

the blacksmiths, and the miners.

c. 1. Megasthenes mentioned existence of six subcommittees for

coordinating military activity.

16. a. There were two kinds of postal system, the horse postal system and the

foot postal system.

b. According to Ibn Battuta, the journey from Sindh to Delhi was

completed on the fifty days whereas the information given by the spy

reached the king within five days. He was amazed as to how the spy

reached the king within five days.

c. The state took special steps to encourage the traders like setting up

serais and rest houses along the trade routes.

17. a. Qualities of the national language according to Mahatma Gandhi:

1. Combination of Hindi and Urdu

2. Admit words from different regional language

3. Assimilate words from foreign language

4. Common and easy to understand

b. The Congress had accepted that Hindustani ought to be the national

language which can be understood easily by a large section of the

people in India.

c. Hindustani language possesses following qualities:

1. Multi-cultural language

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2. Combination of Hindi and Urdu

3. Easy for communication

Part – E

18. Map Question