Teachers recommend solving Kerala Syllabus Plus One History Previous Year Question Papers and Answers Pdf Board Model Paper 2021 to improve time management during exams.
Kerala Plus One History Board Model Paper 2021 with Answers.
Time : 2 1/2 Hours
Total Scores : 80
Question 1.
Match column ‘A’ with appropriate items from Column ‘B’. (4 × 1 = 4)
| A | B |
| (i) Australopithecus | Tool maker |
| (ii) Homo Sapiens | Upright man |
| (iii) Homo habilis | Southern ape |
| (iv) Homo erectus | Thinking man |
Answer:
| A | B |
| (i) Australopithecus | Southern ape |
| (ii) Homo Sapiens | Thinking man |
| (iii) Homo habilis | Tool maker |
| (iv) Homo erectus | Upright man |
Question 2.
Choose the correct answer from the alternative given below: (8 × 1 = 8)
(a) The first Caliph was
(A) Umar
(B) Abu Bakr
(C) Uthman
(D) Ali
Answer:
(B) Abu Bakr
(b) Who founded the Umayyad dynasty?
(A) Abu Muslim
(B) Salah al-Din
(C) AlpArsalan
(D) Muawiya
Answer:
(D) Muawiya
(C) Name the author of the book ‘Shahnama’
(A) Firdausi
(B) Tabari
(C) Baladhuri
(D) Alberuni
Answer:
(A) Firdausi
(d) The capital of the Abbasids:
(A) Medina
(B) Baghdad
(C) Damascus
(D) Nishapur
Answer:
(B) Baghdad
(e) Lazaret cave is situated in
(A) England
(B) France
(C) Germany
(D) East Africa
Answer:
(B) France
(f) Which among the following is an Italian city?
(A) Paris
(B) London
(C) Venice
(D) Tokyo
Answer:
(C) Venice
(g) Who was the first to dissect the human body?
(A) Giotto
(B) Donatello
(C) Filippo Bruneleschi
(D) Andreas Vesalius
Answer:
(D) Andreas Vesalius
(h) Identify the leader of the communist party in China.
(A) Mao Zedong
(B) Confucius
(C) Liang Qichao
(D) Sun Yat-sen
Answer:
(A) Mao Zedong
Question 3.
Arrange the following,in chronological order: (4 × 1 = 4)
• Formation of the Peoples Republic of China.
• Sun Yat-sen established a republic in China.
• The Great leap forward movement.
• Long March
Answer:
- Sun Yat Sen established a republic in China (1911).
- Long March (1934)
- Formation of the Peoples Republic of China. (1949)
- The Great Leap Forward Movement (1958)
Question 4.
Mark any four among the following on the outline map of the World provided: (4 × 1 = 4)
• Rhine river
• Mediterranean Sea
• Sahara desert
• Constantinople
• Damascus
• Baghdad
Answer:
- Rhine river
- Mediterranean sea
- Sahara desert
- Constantinople
- Damascus
- Baghdad
Answer any 6 questions from 5 to 15. Each carries 2 scores. (6 × 2 = 12)
Question 5.
Write any two features of Horninids.
Answer:
Large brain size – Bipedl locomotion – Effective utilization of hand
Question 6.
Name the two rivers associated with Mesopotamian Civilization.
Answer:
Euphrates, Tigris
Question 7.
Distinguish between Calligraphy and arabesque.
Answer:
Calligraphy – Art of beautiful writing Arabesque – Vegetal and geometric designs
Question 8.
What are the measures adopted by Abd al-Malik to retain the Arab Islamic identities?
Answer:
Dinar – Dirham – Dome of the Rock
Question 9.
Point out the features of the Courier system introduced by Genghis Khan.
Answer:
The greatest contribution of Genghis Khan was the courier system called Yam he introduced. This Yam system was a relay system that linked different administrative units of his vast empire. At fixed distances there were horsemen and messengers for carrying messages. To maintain this communication system, the nomadic Mongols had to give one-tenths of their animals (horses or other animals) to the authorities. This was known as Qubkar. After the death of Genghis Khan, the courier system became more efficient. Its speed and reliance had surprised visitors. The great Khans used this relay system to effectively control their far-flung regions.
Question 10.
What do you mean by ‘Yasa’?
Answer:
Yassa (Law) is a collection of the great traditions of the Mongolian tribes. This was seen as the laws of Genghis Khan by his posterity. In history they took this stance to increase the fame of Genghis Khan. But he looked at the people of Bukhara as sinners and condemned them. He asked them to hand over all their hidden wealth as a penance to him. The Yassa of Genghis Khan made things difficult for his successors. Those who kept the memories of Yassa did not have a very good opinion about the way Genghis Khan ruled the country.
Question 11.
Mention the features of the Italian citieis of Venice and Genoa.
Answer:
Vibrant cities – Clergy and feudal lords were not dominant – Rich merchants and bankers governed the city – Citizenship
Question 12.
Elucidate, what is Luddism?
Answer:
Luddism was a Movement that was started against industrialization. Workers who thought that machines were the cause of all their troubles started this movement with the plan of destroying them. This Movement was begun under General Nell Ladd. England suppressed this moment by using the army. Luddism was not a movement that merely wanted to destroy machines. The members of this group demanded minimum wages. They also wanted to stop the exploitation of women and children in the factories and other work places. They were interested in the formation of labour organizations.
Question 13.
Name the Spanish Conquerors who destroyed the Aztec and Inca Civilizations?
Answer:
Cortes and Pizzaro
Question 14.
Who were the Arawaks?
Answer:
In the Caribbean Sea there are hundreds of small islands. They are known as Bahamas, Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles. On these islands the community called Arawaks or Arawakian Lucayans lived. The violent tribe called Caribs drove away the Arawaks from the Lesser Antilles. Arawaks were peace-loving people. They preferred co-operation to competition. They were experts in making boats. They travelled in the open sea in small wooden boats. They lived by hunting, fishing and farming. They cultivated corn, sweet potatoes, some other root crops and tapioca.
The Arawaks practised joint farming. Thus they tried to feed everyone in the community. This was their highest cultural value. They organized themselves under the elders in the community. Polygamy was , common among them. They were animists. Animism (from Latin anima, “breath, spirit, life”) is the view that entities in nature such as animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects possess a spiritual essence. The ‘shaman’ (the priest) had a big role in theirlives. The shamans worked as healers and as intermediaries between this world and the supernatural world.
Arawaks used golden ornaments. But they were not aware of the value of gold. They would gladly exchange their golden ornaments with the cheap crystal chains of the Europeans. The shine and beauty of the crystal chain was more important to them! They were good weavers. The art of weaving had developed nicely among them. Their swing beds made of coir was a big attraction to the Europeans.
Question 15.
Write any two inventions in the field of railways during the Industrial revolution.
Answer:
The most surprising change in travel was definitely the development of the railway. George Stevenson started the railway age. In 1814 he built the steam engine called rocket. With this engine, a train could go as fast as 35 miles an hour and this was history. Soon railways became a new means of travel and transport. Rail travel was available throughout the year and it was cheap and fast. People and goods could be easily transported.
Railway travel connected two inventions – rails and steam engine. In the 1760s iron rails replaced wooden rails. In the beginning of the 19th century, steam engines began to be used in railways. In 1801 Richard Trevithick developed a machine called Puffing Devil. This machine was useful in dragging trucks around the mines.
In 1814 George Stevenson made a train with the name Blucher. It could climb hills carrying even goods weighing 30 tons. It was Stevenson that built the first rail connecting Stockton and Darlington. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester were linked by rail. With the opening of this railway line, the railway age dawned.
Answer any 2 questions from 16 to 21. Each carries 3 scores. (2 × 3 = 6)
Question 16.
Elucidate the contributions of Mesopotamians in the fields of time reckoning and Mathematics.
Answer:
The Mesopotamians gave great contributions in the realm of science. In fact their contributions in the scientific area can be ascribed to their writing. For science, written material is necessary. Only then future generations of scholars can read it, understand it and improve it.
The Mesopotamians have made great contributions in calendar-making, to fix time of things, and mathematics.
In Mathematics they discovered multiplication, division, square, square root and compound interest. Some day slates where these things are recorded have been discovered. The square root they discovered differs only very si ightly from the actual one.
Based on the rotation of the moon around the earth, a year was divided into 12 months, a month was divided into 4 weeks, and a day was divided into 24 hours, and an hour was divided into 60 minutes. This was a Mesopotamian discovery. Thus the calendar which was based on the lunar movement has been approved and accepted by the whole world.
Question 17.
Point out the third-century crisis of the Roman empire.
Answer:
The Third century brought the first major signs of internal strain in Rome. From the 230s, th empire found itself fighting on several fronts simultaneously. The Romans were forced to abandon much of the territery while the emperors of this period were constantly fighting against ‘barbarians’. The rapid succession of emperors in the third century is an obvious symptom of the strains faced by the empire in this period.
Question 18.
Write a note on Cathedral-towns.
Answer:
Big churches are called Cathedrals. Although the owners of these cathedrals were monasteries, many people took part in their construction. They helped the construction by giving money, labour or material. The Cathedrals were built with stones. It took years to complete the work. As the construction was in progress, the areas around it were occupied by more and more people who came to live there. Some of the cathedrals became pilgrimage centres. Around them townships came up.
Question 19.
How did Humanist ideas influence the universities in Europe?
Answer:
- The growth of educational institutions.
- The content was mainly humanities.
- Legal studies got much importance.
- Importance was given to religious and such other subjects.
Question 20.
What is Gold rush? How did it lead to the industrialization in America?
Answer:
There was always the hope there were gold deposits in North America. In the 1840s, in California, some gold deposits were discovered. This led to the Gold Rush. In the hope of reaping fortunes, many Europeans went to America. This caused railways to be built across the American mainland. Using thousands of Chinese labourers, America completed the work of the railways in 1870. In 1885, the railway network in Canada was also completed. All this led to the industrial progress of North America. Many industrial cities and towns came up and amenities were greatly increased.
Question 21.
Elucidate the three principles of Sun Yat-sen.
Answer:
Nationalism, Democracy, Socialism
Answer any four questions from 22 to 30. Each carries 4 scores.
Question 22.
Explain the differences between Australopithecus and Homo.
Answer:
| Australopithecus | Homo |
| Southern Ape | Human being |
| Small brain | Big brain |
| Jaw projecting much outward a little outward | Jaw projecting only |
| Huge teeth | Small teeth |
| Forest dwellers plains | Lived in the grassy |
Question 23.
How did Mesopotamians write on clay tablets?
Answer:
Mesopotamians wrote on clay slates. The writer kneads clay and makes it into a size that he can hold in one hand. The surface would be smoothened. Using a special kind of sharp stiletto he makes wedge-shaped letter marks on the smooth surface. This is called cuneiform writing. After that the clay slate is dried in the sun. This way the clay slates become permanent like clay pots. These slates couldn’t be used again for writing other things. By 2600 BCE, the letters became cuneiform and the language was Sumerian. Writing was now used not only for keeping records but also for making dictionaries, giving legal validity to land transfers, narrating the deeds of kings, etc.
Question 24.
Examine the Social hierarchies in the Roman empire.
Answer:
- Senators
- Leading members of the equestrian class
- Respectable section of the people.
- Lower class
- Slaves.
Question 25.
Prepare a short note on the Abbasid revolution.
Answer:
The Umayyads succeeded in decentralizing the Islamic political and administrative structure. But they had to pay a heavy price forthat. In 750, a group called Dawa ousted the Umayyads from power and installed the Abbasids on the throne. The Abbasid family was a rich one in Mecca. They pictured the Umayyad rule as misrule and assured the people that they would bring back the real Islam preached by the Prophet. The Abbasid revolt caused changes not only in the ruling dynasty, but also in the political structure and Islamic culture.
The Abbasid uprising broke out in the distant region of Khurasan. Khurasan had a mixed Arab-lranian Population which is mobilised for various reasons. The Arab soldiers were rriostly from Iraq and they resented the domiance of the Syrians. The Umayyad promises tax concessions and privilages to the civilian of Khurasan. But they never fullfilled it. So the civilians of Khurasan disliked them. The army of Abbasid led by an Iranian slave Abumuslim, who defeated the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan in a battle at the river Zab.
Under Abbasid, Arab influence declined, while the importance of Iranian culture increased. They established their capital at Baghdad. The army and bureaucracy were reorganised on a non-tribal basis to ensure greater participation by Iraq and Khurasan. The abbasid rulers strengthened the religious status and function of the caliphate and patronised Islamic institutions and scholars.
Question 26.
Briefly describe the military organization of Genghis Khan.
Answer:
All the healthy males among the Mongols carried arms. In times of need they served as army. In short, the Mongolian army was small and uni-tribal. But with the unification of the different Mongolian tribes and with the wars with different peoples, there were changes in the nature and structure of Genghis Khan’s army. The army became big and multi-tribal. In the.army there were soldiers who accepted the authority of Genghis Khan willingly, like the Turkic Uyghurs and the defeated the people like the Keraits. Genghis Khan unified the different tribes of Mongols and made them into a confederacy. He tried to destroy the earlier tribal identities of these tribes.
Genghis Khan organized his army on the decimal basis. The units were in multiples of 10. (10, 100, 1000,10000, etc.) •
Genghis Khan stopped the old tribal groupings inthe army and distributed thier members into new military units. An individual who tried to move from his allotted group without permission received harsh punishment. The largerst units of soldiers were 10,000. He altered the old steppe social order integrating different lineages and clans.
Question 27.
Write a short note on the Copernican revolution.
Answer:
It was Copernican, from Poland, who changed the Christian concept about the Universe which was prevalent until then. He started an astronomical revolution. He presented his views about the Universe in his famous book “De Revoiutionibus” which means on the revolutions. Copernicus theorized that the sun is the centre of the solar system and the earth and other planets revolve round the sun. This is known as the Heliocentric Theory.
The theory of Copernicus was approved by people only after a long time. It was Galileo and Kepler, two famous scientists, who took his theory forward to its perfection. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a German scientist, popularised the idea that the earth was a mere part of the solar system. He wrote this in his famous’ book “Cosmographic Mystery”. He also proved that the planets revolve round the sun not in a eircular manner but in an elliptical course. This revolution in science reached its climax with Issac Newton’s theory of gravitation.
Question 28.
Illustrate the consequences of the European Colonisation in America.
Answer:
Geographical discoveries definitely had far-reaching impacts on Europe, the Americas and Africa. From the 15th century, some sea routes from Ocean to Ocean were known. But most of these routes were quite unknown to the Europeans. Not even a single ship had ever reached the Caribbean or the Americas. In the Southern Atlantic, nobody had done any exploration. No ship entered there or travelled toward the Pacific or Indian Ocean. But by the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, all this became old stories. Adventurous navigators reached all these places.
The discovery of the Americas had big repercussions on Europe. The flow of silver and gold from the newly discovered regions helped internationaMrade and industrialization. Between 1500 and 1600, each year hundreds of ships loaded with silver from South American mines reached Spain. But neither Spain nor Portugal made use of it for their internal development or welfare of the common people. They used it to develop trade or to build their naval power.
But England, France, Belgium and Holland benefitted from the discoveries. Their merchants formed joint stock companies and started trade trips. They established colonies in the newly discovered regions and brought new-world products like tobacco, potato, sugar, coco, pepper and rubber into Europe. Soon the American produce became familiar to the Europeans. The Europeans then took them to places like India.
Geographical discoveries were ruinous to the indigenous people of the Americas. Many of the local people there were killed. Their culture and life-styles were destroyed. They had to work like slaves in mines, estates and mills.
Before the coming of the Europeans there were some 70 million indigenes in the Americas. After a century and a half, their number was reduced to 3.5 million. It was wars and diseases that destroyed them.
In the dupl between ancient American and European cultures the Aztec-lnca cultures were completely ruined. Europeans used awar strategy which terrified the local people psychologically and physically. This also showed the differences in their values. The local people did not realize the depth of the greed of the Spaniards for gold and silver.
Question 29.
Why did Industrial Revolution begin in England? Explain.
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution started in Britain. There are many factors that helped Britain to become the first industrial nation.
a) Political stability : As England, Wales and Scotland came together under a single king, there has been political stability in Britain since the 17th century. The country had common laws and a unified currency system. The market in the country had a national character. Since regional authorities did not impose taxes on goods, there was no price increase. This kind of political stability helped Britain.
b) Wide use of money : Since the 17th century, money had been used extensively as a means of transaction. With this, a lot of people began to get cash as wages and salaries instead of goods. By using this cash, people could buy any goods of their choice. This enlarged the market and it helped the Industrial Revolution.
c) The Influence of the Agricultural Revolution :
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, there was an agricultural revolution in Britain. Big landowners bought the small pieces around them and enclosed the fields with fences. Thus there were big estates which helped in the increased production of foodstuff. The people who earned their livelihood by grazing cattle in the open fields could not continue to do so and they became jobless. They went into the big cities seeking jobs. By providing raw materials and labour, the agricultural revolution helped the Industrial Revolution.
d) Cities, trade and wealth : The growth of cities and trade and the availability of wealth helped the Industrial Revolution. From the IS81 century, cities have been growing in Europe. Out of the 19 metropolises, 11 were in Britain. London was the biggest. London became a centre of all markets in the country.
Question 30.
List out the major inventions in the field of Cotton Spinning and Weaving.
Answer:
a) In 1773, John Kay invented the flying shuttle. Using this, the speed in weaving clothes was increased. One worker could now do the work of two. Since spinning (thread-making) was a slow process, enough thread was not available for weaving clothes. This problem was solved by Hargreaves.
b) In 1765 James Hargreaves had invented the spinning jenny. This jenny could produce many strands of threads at the same time. But the’ strands were not sufficiently strong.
c) In 1769 Richard Arkwright invented a new spinning machine called water frame. This machine could produce strong threads. The production capacity of the spinners increased 7 times.
d) In 1779, Samuel Crompton invented the machine called mule. With this a spinner could make 250 strands of thread simultaneously.
e) In 1787 Edmund Cartwright invented power loom. This machine worked with mechanical energy and it drastically increased the speed of weaving. It was easy to work with it. If the thread broke, it would stop automatically. Anything could be woven in this loom. From the 1830s, importance was given by the cotton industry to increase the productivity of workers and not to inventions.
Answer any 2 questions from 31 to 36. Each carries 5 scores. (2 × 5 = 10)
Question 31.
How did early humans obtain food? Explain.
Answer:
The early people got their food by gathering, hunting, taking the flesh from dead animals and fishing. They gathered vegetarian products like seeds, kernel of nuts, fruits and roots. Some people believe that they stored food but for this there is no clear proof. Although there are many fossils of bones, the fossils of vegetarian stuff have been rare. Remnants of plants and trees that have been burned down by sudden fire last for quite a long time, but archaeologists have not yet found such fossils.
It is natural that the early people collected the flesh of dead animals or the remnants of animals killed by carnivorous beasts. Early hominids ate mammals like rats and squirrels, birds and their eggs, crawling creatures and even insects like termites.
Question 32.
Explain the features of the royal Capital Mari.
Answer:
Mari was the royal capital. The Kings of Mari were Amorites. They dressed differently from the local people. They worshipped gods of Mesopotamia. At the same time in Mari they built a temple for Bhagan who is the god of the plains.
The kings of Mari had to be very alert. Although they allowed shepherds of different tribes to move about in their country, they were watched carefully. The correspondence between the kings and the officials frequently mentions the camps of these shepherds. One official wrote to the king about the fire signals in the nights by which the camps were exchanged. He doubted this might be a warning about some impending attacks.
Mari was situated on the bank of Euphrates between the South and mineral richTurkey-Syria-Lebanon. Mari was a trade centre. Things brought in boats through the Euphrates River were bought and sold here. They included timber, copper, white lead, oil and wine. Mari is an example of a city that progresses well because of trade.
Question 33.
Analyse the reforms introduced by Diocletian and Constantine in the Late Roman empire.
Answer:
Late antiquity means the final and fasinating period in the evolution and the breakup of the Roman empire and refers broadly to the fourth to seventh centuries. During the time of Constantine, there were revolutionary changes in the religious life of the people in the Empire. He made Christianity the official religion of the empire. In the 7th century Islam came into being.
There were great changes in the structure of the nation. It was Diocletian (244-305) who brought changes here.
The large areas created administrative inconveniences and therefore Diocletian took steps to solve the problem. He reduced the size of his Empire by removing the strategically and economically unimportant regions. He protected the boundaries by building fortresses. He reorganized the provincial boundaries. He exempted citizens from military service. The Duces (army commanders) were given autonomy.
Constantine (306-334) was the successor of Diocletian. He brought great changes in the administrative set up. The most important among them were new currency system, new capital and economic reforms. He brought out new gold coins called Solidus which weighed 4V4 grams of gold. A lot of these coins were minted. Millions of such coins circulated in the empire. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire these coins remained valuable. Constantine made Constantinople (old Byzantium) his second capital. It was in the modern Istanbul in Turkey and it was covered on all the three sides by oceans. He also formed a new Senate for the new capital.
The emperor invested heavily in the oil mills and crystal factories in villages. Screw-making machines and water mills were introduced. He also re-established the trade relations with the East. The Romans were polytheists. They worshipped many gods and goddesses like Jupiter, Juno, Minerva and Mars. They built temples and other places of worship for their deities. Their faith did not have any special name or label. Judaism was another religion in Rome. It was also not monolithic as the different ancient Jewish communities followed different ways.
By the 4th and 5th century Christianity began to spread in Rome. Constantine was the first Emperor to become Christian. Later Christianity was made the State religion. In the 4th century AD, the Roman Empire was divided into two – the Eastern and the Western Empire. They were under two Emperors. In the Eastern Roman Empire there was general prosperity. It not only survived the great plague of the 540s which made the Mediterranean area a vast graveyard, but the population went on increasing. But, at the same time, the Western Roman Empire faced political crises. The attacks of the Germanic tribes were the reason for that.
Question 34.
Briefly describe the crisis of the fourteenth century in Europe.
Answer:
Because of reduced prices of agricultural products and increased wages, the income of the landlords was seriously reduced. The landlords then wanted to cancel their agreements with the peasants. The peasants then rose in revolt. There were revolts in Flanders (1323), France (1358) and England (1381).
The peasant revolts were cruelly suppressed. Still they have their importance. The peasants showed that they were not ready to give up the benefits they had. The use of money had increased so much that a going back was not possible. The biggest political change was the rise of despotic kingships. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the European kings increased their military and economic power. They built new powerful nations. Historians call these kings as “New Kings”. Louis XIV of France, Maximilian of Austria, Henry VII of England and Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain were the most prominent among them. They were the pioneers in making strong armies, a stable bureaucracy and collection of national taxes. In Europe, Spain had a big role in the trade conducted via the Sea.
Question 35.
Examine the influence of Humanist ideas in the fields of art and architecture.
Answer:
Humanism is an important feature of Renaissance. The Italian cities and universities played a major role in the growth of humanism. The first universities of Europe were started in Italian cities. From 111h century onwards universities in Padua and Bologna there were centres of law studies. Since the main business in the cities was trade, there was a great need for pleaders and notaries. To enact laws and to interpret them and to make written agreements, their service was essential. So law became an important subject in the universities. Since law is an important discipline in Humanities, humanism became a major part of the curriculum.
Art and Literature
Realism was the most important feature of Renaissance Art. Renaissance Artists tried to picture the human body exactly as it is. The studies of the scientists helped them to do it.
To learn about the structure of the skeleton, artists visited laboratories in medical schools. It was Andreas Vesalius who for the first time examined the human body by cutting it into pieces. Andreas Vesalius was a Belgian who was a Professor in the Padua University. This greatly helped the modern anatomical studies. Renaissance Artists wanted to present things as they were.
In the Renaissance period, there lived some geniuses who were equally proficient in painting, sculpture and architecture. The most important among them was Michelangelo (1475-1564). The pictures he drew on the.ceiling of Sistine Chapel, the sculpture of Pieta, and the dome of the St. Peter’s Basilica which he planned, etc. made him immortal.
Another person who was a genius in sculpture and architecture was Filippo Brunelleschi. It was he who drew the plan for the exceptional dome of the Florence Cathedral. There was a significant change at this time. Until now, an artist was known as a member of some guild of artists. But from the Renaissance Period, they were known by their personal names.
Question 36.
Explain the winds of change in Australia.
Answer:
W.E.H Stanner – The Great Austrialian Silence – Henry Reynolds – Why weren’t We Told – Multi culturalism – Human rights
Answer any 2 questions from 37 to 40. Each carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)
Question 37.
Analyse the contributions of Islam to the learning and culture of the world.
• Literature
• Philosophy
• History
• Architecture
Answer:
Sufism
The rise of Sufism was an important event in the history of Islam in the Middle Ages. It is a reformist movement that was influenced by the Holy Quran and the life of the Prophet. The Sufis tried to understand God through asceticism and mysticism. They denied the love of luxury shown by the society. They rejected such a world placing their faith in God. The Sufis were mystics and believed in Pantheism. They gave importance to love and prayer.
Pantheism is the belief in one God and his creations. It means man’s soul should ultimately reach the Creator. Deep love for God is the main means becoming one with God. It was a lady ascetic called Rabia in Basra who propagated this idea. She lived in the 9th century. She propagated the love of God through her poems.
It was an Iranian Sufi Bayasid Bisthami that taught the importance of man’s soul getting united with God. To get bliss and to raise emotions of love and devotion the Sufis used musical rhythms like Qawwali. Anybody, without any distinction of religion, status or gender could accept Sufism. Dhul nun al-Misri (his tomb can be seen near the Pyramid of Egypt even now) in 861, declared like this before the Abbasid Khalifa: “I learned true Islam from an old woman, real virtues from a water carrier.” This shows there were no class differences in Sufism. Sufism made religion a personal thing and it posed a serious challenge to Islam.
Philosophy
Islamic philosophers and scientist came out with a parallel view about God and the universe. This was caused because ofthe influence of Greek vision and science. Even in the 7th century, the influence ofthe Greek culture was visible in the Byzantine-Nasanian . empires. In the schools in Alexandria, Syria and Mesopotamia along with other subjects Greek vision, mathematics and medicines were taught.
To translate books in Greek and Syriac-Aramaic into Arabic, the Umayyad-Abbasid Khalifas had employed Christian scholars. During the time of Al-Mamun, translation was an organized activity. The works of Aristotle, Euclid’s “Elements”, Ptolemy’s “Almagest” etc. had attracted the attention of Arab scholars. Indian books on astronomy, mathematics and medicines were translated into Arabic. These books reached Europe and kindled their interest in philosophy and science.
The studies of new subjects encouraged critical research. It affected the intellectual life of the Islamic people. Scholars in groups like Mutazila used Greek rhetoric and logical reasoning to speak against some tenets of Islam. Ibn Sina who was a medical man and a philosopher did not believe in the resurrection of the body on the Day of Judgment.
Although supporters of divine theology opposed his views, his medical books were widely read. The most important of his books was “Canon of Medicine”. It describes 760 types of medicines and the importance of diet. It also describes the influence of climate and environment in our health and also the contagious nature of some diseases. “Canon of Medicine” was used as a text in the medical schools of Europe. There Ibn Sina was known as Avicenna. His books were read by people like Omar Khayyam who was a great poet and scientist.
Literature
The Islamic societies of the Middle Ages have given great contributions to the growth of language and literature. Language and creative imagination of a person were seen as the highest qualities in him. These qualities raise him to cultural sanctity. Creative s writings were often a mix of prose and poetry. The epics the poets of the Abbasid period wrote eulogizing the rulers and their achievements are famous. Poets of Persian origin often challenged the cultural dominance of the Arabs. Abu Nawas, a poet of Persian origin, composed some classic poems praising wine and homosexuality, which are prohibited by Islam, opening up new realms of poetic enjoyment. Poets that came after Abu Nawas continued in the tradition of praising masculinity. Sufis followed the tradition by writing poems praising mystic love.
At the start of the 11th century, Ghazni became the centre of Persian literary life. Naturally, poets were attracted to royal court there. The rulers knew the importance of encouraging art and knowledge for increasing their prestige. Around Mahmud Ghazni there was a group of poets. They wrote many epics and published anthologies. In the catalogue of Ibn Nadum, a book seller, there are the names of many books for moral education and also for entertaining people. The oldest of these is ‘Kalita wa Dimna’. This is an Arabic version of our Panchtantra in which animals are the characters. There are famous stories in which Alexander and Sinbad are the heroes.
“One Thousand Nights” is another famous book. This is a collection of stories that Scheherazade told her husband each night. This was written in Indo-Persian and it was translated into Arabic in the 8th century. Later more stories were added to this volume. The stories here depict different kinds of people – generous, stupid, cheated, cunning – and they are good for reading and teaching many good things. In “Book of Misers”, Al Jahiz, an author from Basra, writes about misers and their interesting stories.
History
The tradition of historiography was very much in progress in literate Muslim societies. Scholars, students and ordinary people read history books. The study of history was important as far as the rulers and bureaucrats were concerned. They depicted a good picture of the ruler and his family and his achievements. Two important historians were: Ansab al-Ashraf of Baladhuri and Torikh al-Rusul wal Muluk ofTabri.
Geography
Geography and travel was an important aspect of culture. The knowledge from Greek, Iranian and Indian books and the observations of travellers and% merchants were collected together. Mathematical geography divided the inhabited earth into 7 regions. The position of each city was astronomically determined. The geographical book “The Best Divisions for the Knowledge of Regions” by Al Muqaddasi is a comparative study of the countries and peoples of the world. Al Masoodi’s “Golden Meadows” correlates history and geography. Al Biruni’s “History of India” is an attempt to look beyond , the Islamic world and to study the value of another culture.
Architecture
By the 10th century, an Islamic world came up. Religious buildings are the external symbols of this world. Mosques and mausoleums and tombs are the most important of them. These building which spread from Spain to Central Asia are built in the same pattern. Arcs, domes, minarets, open yards in the centre, etc. are features of this architectural style. Inns where caravans rested, hospitals and palaces were built in the same style as the mosques and mausoleums. The Umayyads had built ‘desert palaces’ in deserts. Examples are Khirbat al Mafjar of Palestine and Quseir Amra of Jordan.
They were luxurious rest houses. The palaces which were built in Roman-Sassanian architectural style were adorned by statues, coloured stones, and portraits of people. The Abbasids built a new royal city in Samara. It was built amidst gardens and streams. It is described in many stories and in the various legends and myths about Harun al Rasheed. The palace of the Abbasid Khalifas in Baghdad and the palace of the Fatimids in Cairo are no more. We can only read about them in literary works.
Question 38.
Explain the three orders of the feudal society existed in Medieval Europe.
Answer:
The Three Orders were: Priestly Class, Nobles and Farmers.
The First Order or social class was the Priestly class. The Catholic Church had its own rules and land given by the rulers. It had the authority to collect taxes. It was an institution that did not need to depend on the king. The head of the Catholic Church was the Pope. He stayed in Rome. The Christians in Europe were guided by bishops and priests. Most villages had their own churches. To take part in the services and to listen to the sermons, and to pray together people went to the church on Sundays.
Not everyone could become a priest. Serfs, physically or mentally handicapped people and women were denied priesthood. Men who became priests could not get married. Bishops were lords in the sphere of religion. They were, like the nobles, owners of huge estates. They stayed in palatial bungalows.
The Church was the richest institution in Europe. From the farmers the Church collected tithes. One- tenth of the yearly income was taken as tithes. The Church also received a lot of contributions from the rich lords or nobles. Many of the feudal rituals and conventions were also practised in the Church. For example, the practice of praying standing on knees, with bent heads and folded hands was borrowed from feudalism. In the feudal system, a knight declared his loyalty to his Lord in this manner. Similarly the word ‘Lord’ denoting God is also borrowed from feudalism. Thus we can see there was much in common between the Church and Feudalism.
The Second Order was the nobles. They had a big role in the society. It was their control over the land that placed the lords in the central point. This control resulted from vassalage. In the feudal system, the entire land belonged to the king. The king distributed the land among the nobles. Thus the nobles became huge landlords. They became the vassals of the king. The nobles gave their land to the peasants for cultivation. Thus the nobles became lords or masters and the peasants became dependents or serfs.
The land was transferred to the nobles with a lot of rituals and pledges. The noble had to take a pledge in the Church keeping the Bible as the witness. During this ritual the king would give the noble a written document, a staff or a clump of earth as the symbol of the land.
A noble (lord) has his own manorial house. He was the one who controlled the villages around him. Some nobles controlled hundreds of villages. Peasants lived in villages. In a small manorial estate there would be 12 families. But in big manorial estates there could be 50 or 60 families. The manorial estate had all the things necessary for daily life. From the farms they got grain. Carpenters and ironsmiths repaired and maintained the farming implements and also arms. There were masons to repair the mansion of the lord. Women wove clothes. Children worked in the vineries of the lord. There the lords used to go for hunting. In the grasslands of the estate the herds and flocks grazed. There was a church in the estate and also a fort for defence.
The Third Order was the farmers. Farmers were of two kinds. One was independent farmers and the other was serfs, who were not independent farmers.. The independent farmers had land they got from the nobles. They had to do military services for the noble for at least 40 days a year. On some fixed days of the week, they had to work in the files of the nobles, without getting any payment for it. They also had to dig the land, collect firewood, make fences anpl repair the roads. The women and children also had to help in the field. They had to do additional work like spinning, weaving, making candles, making wine etc. The king collected a special tax called Tailed from the farmers. The priests and nobles were exempted from this tax.
Question 39.
Assess the impact of the Industrial revolution. Areas to be considered:
• Changed lives
• Workers
• Women and children
• Protest movements
Answer:
The Industrial Revolution brought many changes in the life of people. Though it brought ease and comfort to one section of the people, it brought misery and pain to some others. Rich persons invested money in different industries to reap profits. Their income increased dramatically because of proper use of goods, services, knowledge and productivity. But industrialization and urbanization adversely affected common people. Families were separated, cities became crowded and dirty, and the terrible work conditions in the factories made people suffer.
In 1750, in England there were only two cities that had more than 50,000 people. By 1850, this increased to 29. The speed of this growth did not reflect in the life of people. They did not have proper places to live and sanitation facilities. Not even enough drinking water was available. Persons newly coming to the cities were forced to live in the slums in, or close to, the cities. But the rich people built their second homes in villages which were free from pollution.
Workers: A survey done in 1842 revealed that the longevity of the workers (labourers) in the city was less than those of others. The average life expectancy of workers was 15years in Birmingham, 17 in Manchester and 21 in Derby. This was because in cities many children died at a very young age. Many died even before they reached 5. The increase in the city population was because of migration from the rural areas and not because of increased birth rates there.
Workers died prematurely mainly because of contagious diseases. Cholera and typhoid that came as the result of water pollution and tuberculosis that spread through the atmosphere killed many. In a cholera epidemic in 1832, more than 31,000 workers died.
Until the end of the 19th century, the municipal authorities ignored these dangerous circumstances. There was also no medical expertise to diagnose and treat these diseases.
Women. Children and Industrialization: One of the worst outcomes of industrialization was the exploitation of women and children. Children of poor parents had to work in the fields and also at home. They Worked under strict supervision from their parents or relatives. The village women had to work in the field. They grew cattle and gathered wood. They also made thread using looms.
In the factories of the city, women and children were made to work. The work here was quite different from the work in villages. They had to work in factories and mines for long periods without rest and under strict supervision. They were punished severely for any little mistakes they made. The income from the women and children were needed for meeting the expenses of the family as the men earned very little as they had low wages.
Even when the use of machines became widespread, employers preferred women and children to do the work because they had to be paid much mess than men. The women and childrerf would not protest against bad working conditions. In the cotton industries of Lancashire and Yorkshire, plenty of women and children were employed. In silk¬making, brocade making and sewing, women were the main workers. In the iron industry at Birmingham also they worked along with children.
Children were made to labour hard. Machines like the spinning jenny were made in such a way that children with small bodies and fast fingers could work them. Since children could move in between the many thickly laid machines in the factory, they were preferred in the cotton mills. Even on Sundays they had to work cleaning the machines. Thus they were denied rest and even clean air. Accidents were common in the factories. Some even died in factories as they fell on to the machines being tired and sleepy.
The work in the mines was also dangerous. Accidents were usual there. These were caused by the upper portions of the mines crumbling or because of the explosions carried out there. Mine owners employed children to draw the carts filled with coal along the underground rails. Since entrances were narrow and small, children were preferred by the cruel owners. The children carried loads of coal. Working in the mines was looked upon as training for working in the factories.
Evidences from the factory records show that there were children of even less than ten years working there. It is true that the self-confidence and economic situation of the working women were better. But the adverse circumstances in which they worked, the children they lost at birth or infancy, and the dirty’ slums in which they were forced to live spoiled the little satisfaction they got from the wages they earned.
Question 40.
Prepare an essay on the state systems of Central and South America.
Hints:
• The Aztecs
• The Incas
• The Mayas
Answer:
In Central and South America there were some famous civilizations. The most noteworthy of them were the Aztec and Mayan culture of Central America and the Inca culture of South America. They were highly organized nations. These urban civilizations were made possible because of the surplus production of corn. The huge architectural marvels built by the Aztec, Mayan and Inca cultures still make us stare at them in awe and wonder.
The Aztecs: Aztec culture is centred round Mexico. In the 12th century, the Aztecs from the north migrated to the main valley of Mexico. By defeating the various tribes there, they built a large empire. From the defeated people they also collected tributes. The Aztec society was hierarchical. There were different classes in the society. The most important of them were the nobles or lords. Priests and other I high officials belonged to this class. Hereditary nobles were a small minority. They occupied the highest posts in the government, army I and priesthood. The nobles chose an able man from I among themselves as their leader and he continued I to be the king till he died. The king was supposed to I be representative of the sun on earth.
Warriors and priests were the most respected people in the society. Merchants were given a lot of concessions. Skilled and competent workers, doctors and intelligent teachers were also respected. Since the land was limited, the Aztecs tried to make it as fertile as they could. They also built artificial islands (Chinampas) by weaving mats from bamboo and covering them with earth for cultivating plants. In between these fertile inlands they built canals. In 1325, the Aztecs built their capital city Tenochtitlan in the middle of a lake. There were palaces and pyramids there. Since the Aztecs were often engaged in battle, their temples were dedicated to war gods and sun-god.
The Mayans : The Mayan culture of Mexico developed between 11 and 14th centuries. In the 16th century, the Mayans were politically less powerful than the Aztecs. The centre point of Mayan culture was corn cultivation. When corn was planted, when it was growing, and when harvested there were different religious rituals connected with it. The Mayans had surplus crops. The extra income they had helped the administrators, priests and chiefs to invest and develop architecture, astronomy and mathematics. The Mayans have given great contributions in writing, architecture, mathematics and astronomy They had formed a picture script. Scholars could read their picture-script writing only partially.
The Incas of Peru: Among the local civilizations of South America, the biggest and the best is the Inca culture of Peru. The Incas belong to a class called Quechua. Their language is also Quechua. Inca means the emperor who rules of the land. The capital of Inca was a city named Cuzco. In the 12th century, the first emperor Manco Capac founded that city. The expansion of the empire began during the period of the 9th Inca. The empire spread from Ecuador to Chile, some 3000 miles.
The Inca Empire was highly centralized. The source of authority was the emperor. Newly defeated tribes were successfully integrated with the empire. Each subject was to speak the language of the royal court, Quechua. The tribal administration was done by a Council or Elders. The Tribes owed their loyalty to the rulers.
Regional rulers gave the emperor military help. For this cooperation they were adequately rewarded. The basis of Inca culture was agriculture. Since the soil was less fertile, they made layers on the sides of hills and developed irrigation facilities. The Incas cultivated on a large scale. In 1500 they had more cultivation than what they have today. Their main crops were corn and potatoes. Another important occupation of the Incasi was animal husbandry. They grew a special kind of goats called lama goats which they used for meat as well as for work.