Kerala Plus Two History Board Model Paper 2020 with Answers

Teachers recommend solving Kerala Syllabus Plus Two History Previous Year Question Papers and Answers Pdf Board Model Paper 2020 to improve time management during exams.

Kerala Plus Two History Board Model Paper 2020 with Answers

Answer all question from 1 to 4. (4 × 1 = 4)

Question 1.
Choose the correct answer from the given alternatives:
a) “Travels in the Mughal Empire” was written by:
i) Harihara aoslano
ii) Bukka 6013,90
iii) Adbur Razzaq
iv) Francois Bernier
Answer:
a) Francois Bernier

b) The guardian deity of Vijayanagar empire was oilssaDmroa
i) Vithala oflioraej
ii) Pampadevi ajomioeiiail
iii) Virupaksha
iv) Rama
Answer:
iii) Virupaksha

c) The officer who discovered the ruins at Hampi:
i) Colin Mackenzie
ii) Thomas Roe erooaoo” eos
iii) John Wilkins 6933918 oildsteelndatf
iv) James stuart assuslomf
Answer:
i) Colin Mackenzie

d) Who built the town Nagalpuram?
i) Krishnadeva Raya
ii) Ramaraya
iii) Kampil Devaraya
iv) Vasudeva 0100361301
Answer:
d) Krishnadeva Raya

Question 2.
Match column ‘A’ with appropriates from coloumn B.

A	B
Khalsa Panth	Lingayat
Vachanam	Alvars
Nglayira Divya Prabandham	Religious tax
Jizya	Guru Gobind Singh

Answer:

A	B
Khalsa Panth	Guw Gobind Singh
Vachanam	Lingayat
Nglayira Divya Prabandham	Jvars
Jizya	Religious tax

Question 3.
Arrange the following in chronological order:
Answer:

1. Kunchiya Revolt – 1812
2. Malabar Rebellion – 1921
3. Vaikom Satyagraha – 1924 – 25
4. Temble Entry Proclamation – 1936

Question 4.
Find the relation between the two parrts of item ‘a’ and fill in the blanks of item ‘b’ accordingly”
i) a) Head of the
Panchayat : Muqaddam

b) Accountant of
Panchayat : _____
Answer:
Patwari

ii) a) Supervisor of the
fiscal system : Diwan

b) Revenue Collector : ______
Answer:
Amil – guzar

iii) a) Ottoman : Turkey
b) Safavid : ______
Answer:
Iran

iv) a) Akbarnama : Abdul Fazl
b) Badshanama : ______
Answer:
Abdul Hamid Lahori

Question 5.
Identify the following places related to the revolt of 1857 and mark them on the outline map of Ancient India provided. (4 x 1 = 4)
a) The place which was described as the ‘Nursery of Bengal Army’.
b) The Place where Rani Lakshmi Bai led the revolt of 1857.
c) The place where Kunwar Singh led Revolt of 1857.
d) The place where Nana Sahib led the revolt of 1857.
Answer:
a) Awadh
b) Jhansi
c) Arrah
d) Kanpur

Answer all the questions from 6 to 12. Each carries 2 scores. (7 × 2 = 14)

Question 6.
Write a note on the teachings of Buddha.
Answer:
The basis of Buddhism is Four Arya (Noble) Truths with Ashtangamarga. The 4 Noble Truths Buddha taught are:
a) The world is a sorrowful place.
b) Desires are the cause of sorrow.
c) If we deny our desires, we can avoid sorrow.
d) By following the Ashtanga Marga, you can overcome sorrow. The ashtanga margas are: right word, right deed, right life, right efforts, right memory, right view, right decision and right meditation.

Question 7.
Describe the features of Mihajanapadas.
Answer:
In most Janapadas, it was monarchy. In some Mahajanapadas, there was rule by a group of people representatives. Such groups with ruling powers were ‘sanghas’ or ‘ganas’. In the gana-ruled places, the administration was done by a person chosen by the people’s representatives or by a group. They were called by the common name kings. Mahavira and Buddha belonged to such gana-nations. In some countries the entire land was owned by the king (combined ownership). Some of these countries existed for more than a thousand years. Each Mahajanapada had a capital of its own. The capital was made safe by building fortresses around it. Mahajanapadas maintained armies and alsb a number of officials.

Question 8.
Define Sulh-i-kul
Answer:
‘Sulh-i-kul’ means complete peace. The Chronicles point out that in the Mughal Empire there were Hindus, Jains, Zorashtrians, Buddhists, Muslimsand Christians. The Emperor, Akbar, was a tolerant person and he extolled the virtues of unity, peace and stability. He worked with all communities to ensure peace and justice. Thus Sulh-i-kul was an important feature of Akbar’s rule.

1. Abul Fazl points out that it was the base of an ^ enlightened rule.
2.  It helped all the religious groups to have their faith and modes of worship. But it did not allow the different groups to fight or jeopardise the security of the country.
3. Akbar made special efforts to put ‘Sulh-i-kul’ into practice. It was executed through policy.
4. Akbar stopped taking religious taxes. Non- Muslims had to pay Jizya. All these were stopped by Akbar as they were religious taxes.

Question 9.
Write any two features of Kitab
Answer:
AI-Biruni’sKitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, issimple and lucid. It is a voluminous text, divided into 80 chapters on subjects such as religion, philosophy, festivals, astronomy, alchemy, manners and customs, social life, weights and measures, iconography, laws and metrology. He adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter. He began the chapter with a question. Then a description was made on the basis of Sanskrit tradition. The chapter was concluded with a comparison with other cultures. Some present day scholars argued that this almost geometric structure, remarkable for its precision and predictability. It reflects his mathematical orientation.

Question 10.
Write a short note on Akbarnama.
Answer:
Abul Fazl was the writer of Akbamama. Akbar Nama is divided into three books of which the first two are chronicles. The third book is Ain- i-Akbari. The first two volumes contain the history of mankind from Adam to one celestial cycle of Akbar’s life. The second volume closes in the forty-sixth regnal years of Akbar. The objective of Akbar Nama was to provide a detailed account of Akbar’s regin. At the same time it gives a detailed picture of all aspects of Akbar’s empire – geographic, social, administrative and cultural without reference to chronology.

Question 11.
Write a short noteon Dharma Sastras.
Answer:
With the coming of the new towns and cities, social life became more complex. Then people started questioning the old faiths and rituals. To face these challenges, the Brahmins formulated a code of conduct. These code of conduct were to be rigidly observed by the common people, but only less rigidly by Brahmins. From 500 BC, these rules were published as Sanskrit books. They were known as Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras.

Question 12.
Distinguish betweenAlwars and Nayanars.
Answer:
Some of the early Bhakti Movement were led by the Alvars and Nayanars. Alvars-devotaes of vishnu, Nayana’s – devotes of Shiva. Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and the dominance of Brahmins. The tradition of the Alvars and Nayanars were considered important. Many claimed that their composition were an important on the vedas. For exam pie, one of the major anthologies of composition by the Alvars, the Nalayira Divya Prabandam, was known as Tamil Veda. This text was considered as significant as four vedas in Sanskrit.

Answer all three questions from 13 to 15. Each carries 3 scores. (3 × 3 = 9)

Question 13.
Analyse the features of ‘Amaranayaka’ system of the Vijayanagar empire.
Answer:
In Vijayanagara Empire there was the system of “Amara Nayaka”. This system had many of the features of the “Iqta system’ of the Delhi Sultans. Amara Nayakas were military commanders. Vijayanagara kings gave them some regions to govern. These regions were called ‘Amara’.

The governing of these regions was done by the Amaranayaks. They collected taxes of different kinds from the farriers, traders, artisans and big merchants. A big portion of the income was used for their personal needs. The other part was spent in maintaining horses and elephants. A small portion was also spent on maintaining temples and irrigation. Amaranayakas rendered military help to the kings of Vijayanagara. It was by using this military might that the kings brought the Southern Peninsula under their control.

Amaranayakas were to give the king tribute every year. They also had to visit the king and give him gifts to show their loyalty to him. To show that the king had power over them, he used to transfer amaranayakas to different places. Even then by the 17th century the amaranayakas became powerful and some of them started challenging the authority of the king. Some even established independent states. This caused the slow disintegration of Vijayanagara.

Question 14.
Describe the efforts made by Shajehan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum to preserve Sanchi Stupa.
Answer:
Shajahan Begum and her successor Sultan Jahan Begum protected the Stupa. They spent a lot of money in the maintenance of this ancient monument. , Sultan Jahan Begum took great interest in the matters related to Sanchi. She donated money to build a museum and a guest house there. It was by staying in this guest house, John Marshal wrote volumes about Sanchi. To publish the writings of John Marshal also, Jahan Begum sanctioned money. John marshal dedicated his books to Sultan Jahan Begum. The protection and maintenance of the Sanchi ‘ monuments were possible because of the discretion and foresight of the rulers of Bhopal.

Question 15.
Who were Jotedars? How did they become more powerful in the rural areas of Bengal?
Answer:
Jotedars were a group of rich peasants who consolidated their position in the villages.
By the start of the 19th century, jotedars became owners of extensive lands. Thousands of acres of land were occupied by them. Local trade, giving money on interest, etc. were controlled by jotedars. Thus they were able to exercise control over the poor village peasants. In the lands of jotedars, share cropping was the practice. Those who did the cultivation in these lands were called ‘adhiyar’. Jotedars often took more than half of the total harvest as their share.

Answer any 4 questions from 16 to 20. Each carries 4 scores. (4 × 4 = 16)

Question 16.
Analyse the resistance movements of Pazhassi Raja and Paliathachan.
Answer:
The Pazhassi Revolt was one of the most significant revolts in South India against the British. There were two stages in the Pazhassi Revolt. The 1st stage is from 1793 to 1797. Pazhassi started his revolt by preventing the tax collection for the British. Pazhasi’s army consisted of Muslim and Nair farmers and members of Kurichi tribe. Pazhassi requested the help of Mysore to drive away the British from Wayanad. The British army was continuously defeated and in 1797, St withdrew from Wayanad, making an agreement with Pazhassi. With this the first stage ended.

The 2nd stage of the Revolt started in 1800. The reason was the move of the British to take over Wayanad. With the help of the Kurichis and Kurumbars in his army, Pazhassi withstood the attacks. Finally Wellesley defeated Pazhassi in a bitter battle. Pazhassi still continued his resistance. But an army under Thomas Harvey Bebar, a subcollector of Thalassery, defeated Pazhassi on 30 November 1805.ln the battle, Pazhassi lost his life.

Paliathacchanwasthe Prime Minister of Kochi. He had enmity with Macaulay. Veluthampi Dalawa made a secret agreement with Paliathacchan. In 1808 the combined armies of Travancore and Kochi attacked the residence of Macaulay in Kochi. The Resident escaped in a British ship. The British hit back. They attacked Kochi. Paliathacchan withdrew from the revolt by signing a treaty with the British.

Question 17.
Explain the features of Swarupams.
Answer:
Swaroopam was a political centre of the 12th century Kerala. It maintained a small army. They were called Ayirathavar, Pathinayirathavar, Padamalanayarand so on. Swaroopams had household deities. There was something called ‘ariyittuvazhcha’. The eldest member of the family became the Moopan with elaborate rituals. The elevation to this status is called ariyittuvazhcha. It was also called ‘Hiranyagarbham’. During this time the rulers took some fancy titles. Swaroopams had their own land. Their main income was from land. They also had political power over areas under their jurisdiction.

Question 18.
Explain the Dhamma Policy of Ashoka.
Answer:
Asoka tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma. Its Principles were simple and virtually universally applicable. Respect towards elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and those who renounced wordly life, treating slavesand servants kindly, and respect for religions and traditions other than one’s own were its main principles Special. Officers, known as the dhamma mahamatta, were appointed to spread the message of dhamma.

Question 19.
The Revolt of 1857 was particularly widespread in Awadh. Analyse the reason.
Answer:
The taking over of Awadh by the British made the local kings, talukdars, peasants and sepoys very unhappy and angry. By taking over Awadh, not only the Nawab but also many talukdars lost their jobs. The talukdars had many estates and fortresses in the villages of Awadh. They had been in control of these lands for generations. They had much power in the villages. They also used to keep small army units with them. Some even had armies numbering up to 12,000 soldiers. Even the small ones had 200 footmen.

The British refused to accept the autonomy and authority of the talukdars. Soon after they took over . Awadh, they dispersed the armies of the talukdars and destroyed their fortresses. As talukdars lost their positions, their social status was lost. The relations between them and the farmers were ruined. They helped peasants in their needs. They also gave peasants loans during festivals. Peasants also showed loyalty to talukdars. But the coming of the British spoiled all these. The taking over of Awadh by the British made the sepoys also unhappy. Many o f them were from Awadh itself. They did noMike the idea of their birthplace getting into the hands of the British.

Question 20.
Analyse the elements to the considered by historians while handling texts like Mahabharata.
Answer:
When talking about books, historians take certain aspects into consideration.

1. Their language, whether it is in Pali, Prakrit, Tamil or Sanskrit.
2. Their genre – Are they mantras or stories?
3. Their authors, their viewpoints, the ideas that prompted them to write the book.
4. Their intended readers. Writers write books keeping in view the interests of their intended readers.
5. Their time and place of publication.

Only after looking into these things, the historians assess the contents of the books and their historical importance.

Answer any 1 of the questions from 21 and 22, which carries 5 score. (1 × 5 = 5)

Question 21.
‘Partition is the culmunation point of a long history.’ Based on the statement explain the causes and events that led to the partition of the country.
Answer:
Some scholars say that the Partition was the result of the communal politics that began in India in the beginning of the 20th century. It was the separate constituencies allowed to the Muslims that caused such divisive thinking. Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909 allowed these separate constituencies. The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms expanded the concept still further. Separate constituencies helped the Muslims to elect their own representiatives. This was exploited by the politicians.

They started promoting religious thinking. Each politician, whether Hindu or Muslim, did some favours to the members of his community and thus gained acceptance among them. Their only purpose as to gain power by playing the religious card. Religious concepts began to influence politics. Enmity between religious groups grew.
Some incidents that took place in the first decades of the 20th century also increased the tension between the two communities. In the 1920s and 30s, this enmity grew.

1. Singing in front of the mosques, Save-the-Cow Movement, and the Suddhi Movement by Arya Samaj which tried to bring back coverts into other religion’s including Islam, made the Muslims unhappy.
2. The growth of some Islamic Organizations like Tabligh (Islamic Preaching) enraged Hindus.
3. Fanatics in both groups tried to organize their members with greater unity and solidarity. Opposing groups often clashed. This caused communal riots in many parts of the country.

First elections to the provincial Assemblies were conducted in 1937. Only between 10 to 12% of the population had voting rights. The Congress won big victories. In 5 provinces, it had simple majority. In two provinces it had the highest number of seats. Thus Congress was able to form ministries in 7 out of 11 provinces. In two provinces there was coalition government.

1. In the Muslim Constituencies, the performance of the Congress was bad.
2. The performance of the Muslim League was very bad. It got only a small portion of the Muslim votes polled.

In the North-West Frontier Province, it did not get even a single seat. In Punjab there were 84 Reservation seats. The League got only 2 out of these. In Sindh there were 33 Reservation seats. The League got 3. Provincial elections were again held in 1946. The League’s success in the election was spectacular. The cabinet mission visited India and submitted its report. There is a disagreement between the league and the congress overthis.

Partition soon became inevitable. Most Congress leaders were against it. But they had to finally agree to it They knew that although it was undesirable it was inevitable. There were only two people who vehemently opposed partition – Gandhi and Frontier Gandhi (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan).

Question 22.
Describe the life style of the Paharias and their relations with outsiders.
Answer:
In official documents, people who inhabited the highlands are called pahariyas. The journal of Buchanan gives some interesting accounts of the Pahariyas.

1. Pahariyas lived on the Rajmahal hills. For their livelihood they depended on the forest. They got their food from the forest. They also did shifting cultivation. They cleared small tracts in the forest and dug the ground with their hoes, planting pulses and com. After using the tracts for some time they left them fallow to restore their fertility and moved to another place.

2. For food, the Pahariyas collected a kind of flowers called ‘mahua’ from forests. They also collected cocoons of silkworms and resin for sale. They collected wood to make charcoal. They grazed ’ their animals in the grasslands of the forests. Thus they did many things connected with the forest.

3. They lived in huts made among tamarind groves. They rested in the shade of trees. They considered the entire area their own. Their being and life depended on these forests.

Answer any 2 questions from 23 to 26. Each carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)

Question 23.
The most unique features of Harappan civilization was the development of urban centres. Based on this statement examine the main features of the town planning of Mohenjadaro.
Areas to be considered
• The Citadel
• Great Bath
• Domestic Architecture
• Drainage System
Answer:
The greatest site of Harappan civilization is Mohenjo Daro. This was discovered after Harappa. It is from Mohenjo Daro that evidences of town planning, dwellings and seals of the Harappan civilization were discovered. This bigcity is situated in the Larkana District of Sindh on the shore of River Sindhu. The meaning of Mohenjo Daro is The Mound of the Dead”. The excavations done here brought to light the rem ains of a well planned city. This city was divided into two parts-The Citadel and the Lower Town.

The Citadel: Citadel is a small manmade plafform. It is located on the western side of the city. Citadel is the highest part of the city. There are t reasons for the unusual height of the citadel. First of all it is built on a higher ground. Secondly its buildings are constructed on the bricks made of earth. The citadel is protected by building walls around it. There are many big buildings in the citadel. They have been used vanous special purposes. The main buildings of the citadel are The Warehouse, and the Great Bath.

The Great Bath: The most important structure in the citadel of Mohenjo Daro is the Great Bath. It is in rectangular shape. The pond is in the yard which is surrounded by corridors on all four sides. To get into the pond there are steps on the northern and southern sides. The bottom of the pond is made watertight using bi1icks and lime paste. This prevents the water from seeping down and making the pond dry. There are rooms on 3 sides of the pond. There was a big well in one of the rooms.

The water for the pond was brought from this well. There were provisions for filling the pond with water and to make the dirty water flow out into drains. Historians think that the Great Bath had a religious
importance. They think that this Great Bath was used for ritual baths. The Qreat Bath shows the importance the Harappans gave to cleanliness. It also shows their engineering and technical skills.

Domestic Architecture: The Lower Town was just below the citada. This was also protected by walls. People lived here. Here we can see good examples of domestic architecture. The houses were made of bricks. The houses were ordered in the Grid System. The houses were built along both sides of the road, with adequate space between houses. The doors and windows were opened to face the central yard. It is believed that the yard was used for cooking and also weaving.

The houses did not have doors and windows that faced the street. All the houses had bathrooms. They were paved with bricks. The drainage system was excellent Houses were different in size. There were single room and double room houses. There wpre also houses with more than two storeys. To get to the top stones there were staircases.Big houses had wells. It was dug in a room in such a way that even outsiders could draw waterfrom it. Experts estimate that Mohenjo Daro had some 700 wells. Houses were built on raised platforms. The settlements were well planned. The bricks were made to certain specifications. The same kind of bricks was used in most constructions.

The drainage system: The drainage system In the Harappan cities was excellent. The drain of each house was linked to the drainage canal outside. The drainage canals were covered with bricks or sheets of rock. In some places they covered the drainage canals with limestone slabs. It was possible to clean the canals by removing the top coverings. There were manholes in the public drainage. It is believed that the drainage was madefirslandthencamethehouses. Thedrainage system shows the engineering skill of the Harappan people. It shows they had a town administration. It aise shows how much importance they gave to hygiene and health. The drainage system was not limited to big cities. Even the settlements in places like Lothal had drainages.

Question 24.
Explain the popular struggles led by Gandhiji against the British. Areas to be considered.
• Non-co-operation Movement
• Salt Satyagraha
• Quit I ndia Movement
Answer:
In January 1915, Gandhiji returned to his homeland. His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University. In 1916, Gandhiji was approached by a peasants . from Champaran, who told him about the harsh treat: mentof peasants by British indgo planters. Gandhiji was to spend much of 1917 in Champaran, seeking to obtain for the peasants had the freedom to cultivate the crops of their choice. In 1918, he was involved in two campaigns in his home state of Gujarat.

First, he intervened the labour dispute in Ahmedabad demanding better working conditions for the textile mill workers. Then he joined the peasants in Kheda in asking the state for the remission of taxes following the failure of harvest. During the great war of 1914-18 the British had insti-tuted censorship of the press and permitted detention without trial. It had been passed on the recom-mendation of a committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlett. So it is known as Rowlatt Act. Gandhiji called for a country wide campaign against the Rowlatt Act. The protest were particularly intense in the Punjab.

Gandhiji proceeded to the Punjab. But on the way he was detained. The situation in the province grew progressively more tense, reaching a bloody climax in Amritsar in April 1919. A British brigadier ordered his troops to open fire on a nationalist meeting. More than four hundred people were killed. This incident is known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. To broaden the straggle Gandhiji had joined hands with the Khilafat movement. It started to restore the caliphate a symbol of pan Islamism. The Non-Cooperation Movement was the first strong moment of Gandhi against the British. It was part of Gandhi’s concept of non-violence.

The Non-Cooperation Movement had three aims:

1. Find a solution to the Punjab problem.
2. Solve the Khilafat issue.
3. Gain swaraj.

The exhortations of Gandhiji had great effect. Students boycotted government institutions. Thousands of workers in cities and towns went on strike. Official records show that in 1921 there were 396 strikes involving 6 lakh workers. 7 lakh working days were lost. In the Non-Cooperation Movement, women and farmers took active part.

The Chauri-Chaura incident was big jolt to the Movement. Gandhi was forced to stop the Movement. Violence in Chauri-Chaura occurred when police fired at a procession of farmers. The enraged farmers attacked the Chauri-Chaura police station and burnt it. 22 policemen were killed. This shocked Gandhiji. He realized that people were not yet ready to fight using non-violence. On 22 February 1922, he decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement. He said that no provocation would justify the killing of the 22 policemen.

Gandhi planned a new way of struggle against the British. This was the Civil Disobedience Movement. He said he would start it by breaking the Salt Law. Salt Law was one of the laws that Indians hated most. Gandhi’s move to breach the salt law was a strategic one. He knew by this he could make the people fight against the government. On 12 March 1930, Gandhiji began walking from his ashram at Sabarmati towards ocean. He reached the destination three weeks later, making fistful of salt as he did and there making himself a criminal in the eyes of the law. Meanwhile, parallel salt marches were conducted in other parts of India.

Across large parts of India peasants breached the hated colonial forest laws. In some towns, factory workers went on strike shile lawyers boycotted British courts and students refuse to attend government run-education institutions. Nearly 6000 Indians in¬cluding Gandhiji were arrested. The British government continued a series of Round Table Conferences in London. The first Round Table Conference was held in 1930. Gandhiji or any prominent Congress leaders did not participate in the conference. Gandhiji was released from jail in 1931 and the following month had several meetings with the victory. This led to the Gandhi Irwin Pact, by the terms of which disobedience movements.

After the failure of Cripps Mission, Gandhiji decided to start his third phase of struggle against British rule. This is known as Quit India Movement. It started in August 1942. The immediate cause of this Move¬ment was the failure of the Cripps Mission. Gandhi demanded that the British should leave India peace¬fully and in a timely manner. Congress accepted that idea. On 8 August 1942, Congress met at Bombay and passed a resolution asking the British to quit India. The resolution made it clear that to make the British go away, a struggle would be organized un¬der Gandhi. This struggle is known as Quit India Movement. Gandhi asked the people to come into the open with the slogan ‘Do or Die’.

a) It was a popular movement. Thousands of ordi nary people came with their support. Youths were ready to quit colleges and go to jail.
b) It showed the willingness of the people to suffer for freedom and to go to any extent to achieve freedom.
c) It made the British realize that their days were numbered. It forced them to negotiate the transfer of power.
d) It brought world’s attention to the Indian struggle forfreedom.

Question 25.
Explain the features of the Imperial household and officials of the Mughal Period.
Answer:

The Mughal nobility came from different backgrounds. Members were chosen from different religious and Class and tribal groups. There were Mughals, Afghans, Turks, Persians, Indian Muslims and Rajputs in this assembly.
Iranians gaind high offices under Jahangir his politi cally influential queen, Nurjahan, was an Iranian. Aurangzeb appointed Rajputs to high position. All holders of government offices held a rank corn pnsing two numerical designations. Zat whh was an indicator of position in the imperial hierarchy and the salary of the official and Sawar which indicated the number of horsemen he was required to maintain in service.

The nobles participated in military campaigns with their armies and also served as office of the empire in the provinces. For members of the nobility, Imperial service was a way of acquiring power, wealth and highest possible reputation. If a person desred to join the imperial service, he should submit a petition to the noble. It was the noble who presented the ‘Tajwiz’ to the emperor. If the applicant was found suitable a manab was granted to him. The Mir bakshi presented all candidates for appointment or promotion. There were two other important ministers at the centre: the Diwan- i-ala and Sadar-us-Sudar. The three inisters occasionally came together as an advisory body but were independent of each other.

Nobles stationed at the court were known as Tainat – I – rakab. They were reserved force to be deputed to a province or military campaign. It was their duty to guard the emperor and his household round the dock. The Mughal rulers gave important consideration for maintaining records. All royal orders were presented in the royal court. All applications and documents were preserved by a group of palace scribes. These scribes or writers were called ‘waqianavis’. They worked under the ‘mir bakshi’. The agents of the aris tocrats and the regional authorities recorded all the processes of the royal court under the heading “News from the Exalted Courr or Akbarat.

The times and dates of the Royal Court have been recorded here. ‘Akbarat’ has all the details regarding the attendance in the Court, the assigning of jobs and titles, the diplomatic missions, the gifts received and even the enquiries the Emperor made about the health of the off icials. This information is quite valuable in the writing the life histories and activities of rulers and aris tocrats.

The Mughal postal system helped in exchanging communication. It was through the royal post that news and official documents were sent all over the country. There were runners to carry the post and to pass information to the Emperor quickly. It is reported that there were 4000 runners in the country. They carried the papers in the form of scrolls carried in bamboo boxes. They rked all the time with hardly any rest. This postal system helped the king to get information from faraway places in record time. The Mughal Empire was divided into many Provinces.

They were called subas. Provincial Administration was a miniature model of the Central administration. In the Provinces also there were Ministers and officials to help them. The head of the provincial administration was called Subadar (Provincial Governor). He was appointed by the emperor. The Subadar had to report directly to the emperor.

1. Each province was divided into districts, called sarkars. They were under officials called faujdars (commandants). There were plenty of footmen and gun-carrying soldiers in every district.
2. The sarkars were divided into parganas (sub-districts). The officials in charge of parganas were known as qanungo, chaudhuri, and quazi. Qanungo kept the revenue records. Choudhari collected the revenues. Qazi handled judicial matters.
3. Parganas were divided into villages. They were administered by gramasabhas.

The household of the rulers was called harem. Harem is a Persian word meaning a holy place. It included the ruler’s wives, concubines, close and distant relatives including mother, step-mothers, foster¬mothers, sisters, daughters, daughters-in-law, aunts, children, maid servants and slaves.

The Mughal rulers had two types of wives – begams – and aghas. Begams came from royal families. They came with a lot of dowry (mahar) by way of things, ornaments and money. They received preferential treatment in their husband’s household. They were given greater consideration by their husbands. The oth€r wives (aghas) were not from royal families.

The aghacha occupied the lowest position, in the hierarchy of females. They all received monthly allowances in cash. The aga and the aghacha could rise to the position of a begam depending on the husbandwill. 1) He should not have four wives. Love’ and motherhood played important roles in elevating such women to the status of legally wedded wives.

Besides, numerous mole and female slaves populated the Mughal household. Slaves moved between the external and internal I ife of the household as guards, servants and also as agent for women dabbling in commerce.
After Nurjahan, Mughal queens and princesses began to control significant financial resources. Shah Jahan’s daughters Jahannara and Roshnara enjoyed an annual income often equal to that of high imperial mansabdars. She also collected revenue from the port city of Surat.

Jahanara was the daughter of Shah Jahan. She was in-charge of the gardens and buildings. Shah Jahan made a new capital known as Shahjahanabad. Jahanara was the one who planned many of the buildings in the new capital. Here a two-storeyed inn with a fine sit-out and garden needs special mention. She was the one who planned the Chandni Chowk Bazar, the main centre in Shahjahanabad.

When Akbar asked Abul Fazl to write the history of his rule, he also asked his aunt Gulbadan to help. He asked her the record the memoirs of Babur’and Humayun. Akbar thought that this would help Abul Fazl in his work. Gulbadan Began accepted this challenge and wrote a book titled ‘Humyun-nama. She has written here about the fights and confrontations among the kings and princes. She has also shown how the elderly ladies of the family helped in solving such disputes.

Question 26.
Compare the perspectives of Battuta and Barnier ” based on thier descriptions on Indian Society. Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their travel notes with their different views. Ibn Battuta was attracted by the newness and strangeness of things. He wrote about all the things that interested and impressed him. But Bernier’s descriptions were quite different. He gave more importance to negative things. He was interested in the contrasts he found between the things in Europe, especially in his country, France, and here. He wanted to influence the rulers to take just decisions.

Bernier presented India on the model of the binary opposition. This way India was presented as directly opposite to Europe. He also presented the differences between India and Europe on a comparative scale. India was at the lowest rung of the ladder. In short Bernier felt that India was inferior and worse to the Western countries. Bernier talked about land ownership in India. There was no private ownership of land here. The land here belonged to the king.

The king divided the land among his lords. This was not good as people did not take interest in developing the land and invest in the land for long term purposes. Bernier says that there was no Middle Class in India. There were only 2 classes – the poor and the rich. The poor were the majority and they were suppressed by the ruling minority. There were too poor and too rich people, but there was no middle state. Bernier did not have a good impression about the Mughal Empire and its rulers.

The village communities were poor. They were often mistreated by the cruel landlords. Since there was no private land, people were not willing to work hard. Taxes were heavy. On the whole life in the village was unpleasant. Bernier thought that the Mughal rulers were more interested in their comfort and luxury. They werenot much worried about the welfare of the subjects. To Bernier Indian cities were Cam p Towns. But his views are contracted by modern historians. Bernier himself wrote to say that there were large scale exports from the country. Naturally from camp towns, they could not have exported a lot of things. For that they would need manufacturing cities, trade cities and port cities.

One touching description in Bernier’s writing is the description of Sati. The widow in his description was a girl of about 12. He witnessed this piteous incident in Lahore. This is what he wrote: “In Lahore, I saw a girl of 12 giving up her life in the pyre of her husband. She came to the pyre like a dead person. She was trembling with fear. She was crying piteously. I can’t, describe the pain she must have been experiencing then. With the help of an old woman, 4 Brahmins performed the rituals. That woman forced the girl to sit on the pyre. To prevent her from running away her’ hands and legs were tied. That poor girl was burnt alive.”  We must admit that Bernier was often prejudiced against the East. But his descriptions offer us valuable information about the society and its ways of life at the time of his visit to India.