History Optional Question Paper -2022: Paper-1
Section-A
Q 1.
Identify the following places marked on the map supplied to you and write a short note of about 30 words on each of them in your Question-cum-Answer Booklet. Locational hints for each of the places marked on the map are given below seriatim :
- Palaeolithic site
- Mesolithic site with burials
- Neolithic pit-dwelling
- Early village settlement
- Neolithic site
- Neolithic – Chalcolithic site
- Harappan UNESCO site
- Megalithic burial site
- Place of Second Sangam
- Earliest Satavahana capital
- Place of inscribed statue of Ashoka
- First Gupta hoard of coins
- Hoard of metal sculptures
- Ancient port
- Oldest Jesuit church
- Centre of Gandhara art
- Buddhist monastery
- Buddhist monastery
- Shiva and Buddhist temple complex
- Earliest Chaitya Griha
Q 2.
(a) The urban character of the Harappan Civilization was a result neither of any outside influence nor a sudden act but a gradual evolution of regional socio-economic factors. Comment.
(b) Foreign accounts as a source of ancient Indian history may have some advantages but also have a few shortcomings. Citing appropriate examples, examine the statement.
(c) Though some of the ideas of Buddhism may have had their origin in Vedic-Upanishadic traditions but it was an altogether new religion with its own specific principles and institutions. Discuss.
Q 3.
(a) The economic achievements of the Guptas were the culmination of a process which began during the Kushanas. Comment.
(b) Ashoka’s Dhamma was propagated not just for moral upliftment and social harmony but also for the extension of the state’s authority. Analyse the statement.
(c) With the help of representative examples, delineate the main differences between the Nagara and Dravida styles of temple architecture.
Q 4.
(a) Evaluate the importance of tripartite struggle for the domination over North India during the eighth and ninth centuries.
(b) Throw light on the chief characteristics of Tamil Bhakti Movement during the early medieval period.
(c) Kalhana’s Rajatarangini is the best example of history writing tradition in early India. Discuss.
Section-B
Q 5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each :
(a) What were ‘Brahmadeya’ grants? How do you account for the large number of such grants in the early medieval period?
(b) The establishment of large number of urban settlements in North India in the thirteenth century was principally owing to the deployment of Turkish garrisons across the lands. Comment.
(c) Much of the political instability after the death of Iltutmish was the doing of the Chahalgan. Elucidate.
(d) The Rajput school of painting was Mughal in style and Rajput in its content. Comment.
(e) Account for the rise of the Maratha power in the eighteenth century.
Q 6.
(a) The market regulations of Ala-ud-din Khilji were useful for the Sultan’s military might but harmful for the economy of the Sultanate. Comment.
(b) Examine the nature of the Mansabdari system during the reign of Akbar.
(c) Chola maritime expansion was driven largely by concerns of overseas commerce. Elucidate.
Q 7.
(a) The Virashaiva Movement of Southern Deccan in the twelfth century was essentially an attempt at social reform. Discuss.
(b) The various Gharanas of Hindustani classical music were outcomes of patronage by regional princely courts, rather than central imperial ones. Discuss.
(c) The prolonged conflict between the Vijayanagara Kingdom and the Bahmani successor states was influenced less by cultural factors, and more by strategic and economic considerations. Comment.
Q 8.
(a) Trade and commerce in the Mughal Empire brought about the integration of the Indian subcontinent into a single market. Comment.
(b) Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy was a major factor in Mughal decline. Discuss.
(c) The Vaishnava Bhakti tradition of the fifteenth century contributed to the flourishing of provincial literature. Discuss with appropriate examples.
History Optional Question Paper -2022: Paper-2
Section-A
Q 1. Critically examine the following statements in about 150 words each :
(a) The Battle of Plassey (1757) was a skirmish while the Battle of Buxar (1764) was a real war.
(b) ‘The Treaty of Amritsar (1809) was significant for its immediate as well as potential effects’.
(c) ‘Famines were not just because of food grain scarcity, but were a direct result of colonial economic policies’.
(d) Penetration of outsiders – called dikus by the Santhals – completely destroyed their familiar world, and forced them into action to take possession of their lost territory.
(e) ‘Within a limited scope the Indian Scientists could pursue original scientific research in colonial India’.
Q 2.
(a) Explain how the Permanent Settlement initiated a rule of property in Bengal and what
were its consequences ?
(b) Was the Western education a harbinger of cultural awakening or an instrument of colonial hegemony ? Discuss.
(c) Can you explain how, after acquiring Diwani, the government of the East India Company functioned like ‘an Indian ruler’ ?
Q 3.
(a)Do you think that the Indian National Movement was a ‘multi class movement’ which represented the anti imperialist interests of all classes and strata ? Give reasons in support of your answer.
(b)The British rule had differential impact on the Indian Society. Describe in what ways, the Indians responded to the Revolt of 1857.
(c)Analyse how the revolutionaries taught people self confidence and widened the social base of the freedom movement.
Q 4.
(a) Discuss the policies and programmes of the early nationalists (moderates). To what extent they were able to fulfil the aspirations of the people ?
(b) In the light of contentions over the McMahon Line, analyse the India-China relations in the 1950s and 1960s.
(c) How did the popular movements help us to understand the nature of environmental crisis in post-colonial India ?
Section- B
Q 5. Critically examine the following statements in about 150 words each :
(a) ‘Rousseau kindled a hope which became the spirit of the Enlightenment’.
(b) ‘The codification of French Law was perhaps the most enduring of Napoleon’s achievements’.
(c) Engels did much more than Marx himself to popularise the ideas of Marxism.
(d) Roaring Twenties’ in Europe and America had many positive points. , It helped women to uplift themselves in the region.
(e) The first Reformation Act (1832) occupies a significant place in the constitutional development of Britain.
Q 6.
(a) Do you agree that the economic effects of the Industrial Revolution were to add enormously to wealth and capital on the one hand and to degrade the masses to permanent poverty as the other ? Elucidate.
(b) Discuss how Fascism was a response to the post- war situation arising out of political instability, thwarted nationalist hopes and fears of spread of communism?
(c) Do you feel that Vietnamese fought the 20th century’s longest and bloodiest war for their liberation and integration of their country? Analyse.
Q 7.
(a) Do you understand that the lack of statesmanship in London during the 1760’s and the 1770’s was, an important contributory factor in precipitating the American Revolution. Analyse.
(b) Discuss, how the policies adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev were responsible for the disintegration of the USSR ?
(c) What happened to Malaya after it was liberated from Japanese occupation in 1945? Discuss.
Q 8.
(a) Describe the launching of Non-Alignment Movement. Why the small nations wanted to remain aloof from the powerful nations ?
(b) Why was the apartheid policy introduced in South Africa ? What were its main features ?
(c) How far did Latin American countries overcome centuries of subjugation and foreign intervention ?