Teachers recommend solving Kerala Syllabus Plus One History Previous Year Question Papers and Answers Pdf March 2023 to improve time management during exams.
Kerala Plus One History Previous Year Question Paper March 2023
Time : 2 1/2 Hours
Total Scores : 80
Question 1.
Match Column ‘A’ with appropriate items from Column ‘B’: (4 × 1 = 4)
| A | B |
| Augustus | The First Caliph |
| Constantine | The Umayyad Dynasty |
| Abu Bakr | Solidus |
| Muawiya | Principate |
Answer:
| A | B |
| Augustus | Principate |
| Constantine | Solidus |
| Abu Bakr | The First Caliph |
| Muawiya | The Umayyad Dynasty |
Question 2.
Who invented steam engine?
(a) James Watt
(b) George Stephenson
(c) Richard Trevithick
(d) James Brindley
Answer:
(a) James Watt
Question 3.
Industrial revolution began in :
Answer:
(d) Britain
Question 4.
Identify the artificial island of the Aztecs.
(a) Quipu
(b) Quechuas
(c) Chinampas
(d) Shamans
Answer:
(c) Chinampas
Question 5.
Which among the following was a largest indigenous civilisation in South America?
(a) The Aztecs
(b) The Mayas
(c) The Incas
(d) The Mesopotamia
Answer:
(c) The Incas
Question 6.
Name the author of the book The Motion’.
(a) Copernicus
(b) Johannes Kepler
(c) Issac Newton
(d) Galileo Galilei
Answer:
(d) Galileo Galilei
Question 7.
Who was the first to dissect the human body?
(a) Andreas Vesalius
(b) Dante Alighieri
(c) Giotto
(d) Francesco Petrarch
Answer:
(a) Andreas Vesalius
Question 8.
Arrange the following in chronological order (4 × 1 = 4)
• Russo-Japanese War
• Tokyo Olympics
• Arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in Japan
• Formation of the Peoples Republic of China.
Answer:
- Arrival of Commodore Mathew Perry in
- Russo-Japanese War -1905
- Formation of the Peoples Republic of China -1949
- Tokyo Olympics -1964
Question 9.
Mark the following places on the outline map of the world provided : (4 × 1 = 4)
• Spain
• Mediterranean Sea
• Medina
• Baghdad
Answer:
- Spain
- Mediterranean sea
- Medina
- Baghdad
Answer any 8 questions from 10 to 18. Each carries 2 scores. (8 × 2 = 16)
Question 10.
Point out the features of the Hominoids.
Answer:
- Small brain
- Quedrupeds
- Flexible forelimbs
Question 11.
Write a note on Cuneiform.
Answer:
Mesopotamians wrote on tablets of clay. A scribe would wet clay and put it into a size he could hold comfortably in one hand. He would carefully smoothen its surface. With the sharp end of a reed cut obliquely, he would press wedge-shaped (cuneiform) signs on to the smoothened surface while it was still moist. Once the surface dried, signs could not be pressed on to a tablet: so each transaction, however, minor, required a separate written tablet. By 2600 B.CE or so, the letters became cuneiform, and the langage was Sumerian.
Question 12.
Mention any two measures adopted by Abd al-Malik.
Answer:
- Arabic as the language of administration
- Islamic coineage-Dinar
- Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem
Question 13.
List out any two factors led to the crisis of the fourteenth century in Europe.
Answer:
In the beginning of the 14th century, the economic growth of Europe was reduced drastically. There were three reasons for that.
a) Change in the climate.
b) Lack of trade.
c) Plague.
By the end of the 13th century, there were significant changes in the climate of Northern Europe. The warm climate disappeared and instead cold climate came. This climatic ‘ change adversely affected cultivation. It was difficult to cultivate on higher areas.
Storms and disturbances in the sea affected shipping and trade. This reduced the income to the people and the government. Government was not getting enough taxes both from the peasants as well as traders. Then there was the plague or Black Death. It killed a lot of people and brought the economy to a standstill. It took a long time for Europe to overcome this sorry state of affairs.
Question 14.
What is Guild?
Answer:
An association that controlled the quality of the product, its price and sale.
Question 15.
Who were the leaders of the protestant reformation in Switzerland?
Answer:
Ulrich Zwingly, Jean Celwin
Question 16.
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 Ned Ludd. 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 17.
Distinguish between Calmecac and Tepochcalli.
Answer:
Celmecac – place where the children of nobility studied and trained to become military and religious leaders.
Tepochcalli – place where others went to study.
Question 18.
Prepare a note on Long march in China.
Answer:
In 1934 Mao Zedong and his followers left their camps to escape from the attackes by Guomintang. Their destination was Yemen, 6000 miles away. This march became a historical event and is called the Long March.
Answer any 2 questions from 19 to 21. Each carries 3 scores. (2 × 3 = 6)
Question 19.
Distinguish between the regional continuity model and the replacement model.
Answer:
The place of origin of the modern’man has been a much discussed topic. Scholars have put forward two contradictory views on this issue. They are Regional Continuity Model and Replacement Model.
Regional Continuity Model : This model says that modern people originated in different places. The early homo sapiens in many places slowly evolved as’modern people and that is why the modern people in various parts of the world look different from one another at first sight. The regional differences in the features of people are the basis for such a view.
Replacement Model: This model says that modern man originated in Africa. The spokesmen of this model say that modern people appeared in place of the old species of people everywhere. As evidence to their claim, they put forward the hereditary and anatomical similarity of modern people.
This model points out that modern people are quite similar everywhere because they originated in the same place – Africa. The first fossils of modern people were discovered from Omo in Ethiopia. This evidence substantiates the Replacement Model.
Question 20.
Write any three inventions made in the fields of cotton spinning and weaving.
Answer:
Flying Shuttle loom – Spinning Jenny – Water Frame – Mule – Powerloom
Question 21.
Point out the three principles of Sun Yat-Sen.
Answer:
Nationalism, Democracy, Socialism
Answer any 4 questions from 22 to 26. Each carries 4 scores. (4 × 4 = 16)
Question 22.
How did early human obtain food? Explain.
Answer:
Food gathering, Hunting, Scavenging, Fishing
Question 23.
List out the administrative reforms introduced by Diocletian in the late Roman empire.
Answer:
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 AVTL 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.
Question 24.
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 fafct 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 clay slates where these things are recorded have been discovered. The square root they discovered differs only very slightly 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 25.
Who invented printing press? Mention the achievements of printing.
Answer:
The greatest discovery of the 16th century was the “printing press”. It is true that printing was not originally discovered by the Europeans. For printing, the Europeans must be indebted to the Chinese and the Mongolian rulers. When European traders and diplomats visited the royal courts of the«Chinese and Mongol rulers, they learned some things about printing. This helped the Europeans to develop their own printing. Even gun powder, magnetic compass and abacus were developed this way. Before the advent of printing, books existed in the form of manuscripts. But the invention of the printing machine by Gutenberg started the printing revolution.
Question 26.
How did Industrialisation affect the life of women and children?
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. It affected women and children very adversely as they were greatly exploited.
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 children 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.
Answer any 2 questions from 27 to 29. Each carries 5 scores. (2 × 5 = 10)
Question 27.
Explain the features of the royal capital in Mesopotamia.
Answer:
Mari was the royal capital. The Kings of Mari wereAmorites. 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 rich Turkey- 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 28.
How did art and architecture transmit humanist ideas? Elucidate.
Answer:
Realism : 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.
Architecture : 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 29.
Briefly explain the features of the Inca civilization.
Answer:
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 12lh 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 Incas was animal husbandry. They grew a special kind of goats called lama goats which they used for meat as well as for work.
Answer any 2 questions from 30 to 32. Each carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)
Question 30.
Analyse the Roman empire, based on the following hints:
• Economic expansion
• Social Hierarchies
Answer:
Slavery was a very deep rooted evil system that was prevalent in the ancient times. In the Mediterranean region pnd in the Near East, slavery had deep roots. Even Christianity did not challenge slavery. But it is wrong to assume that all the work in the Roman Economic System was carried out by slaves.
During the Republican times, in most of the areas of Italy, slaves were made to do all the work. Under Augustus there were 3 million slaves. In those days the Italian population was only 7.5 million. But slaves were not used in all areas of the Empire. In many places work was got done by giving wages to people. Slaves were considered an investment. The upper classes of the Roman society did not show any mercy to the slaves. In the Roman society there were different social groups. Historian Tacitus divides the main social groups into 5:
a) The Senators (Paters)
b) The top class cavalry men (Equites)
c) The Respectable Middle Class
d) The Lower Class people who were interested in circus and colourful shows (Plebssordidaorhumiliores).
e) Slaves
In the first 3 centuries the currencies used were based on silver. But this system failed completely in the later period of the Empire. The reason was the lack of silver in the Spanish mines. Because of the shortage of silver, the government could not maintain a stable silver currency. Emperor Constantine started a new currency system based on gold. During the Late Roman Empire, a lot of gold coins were in circulation throughout the Empire.
Corruption was rampant in the empire. This was especially-so in the judiciary and in the army administration. The greed of higher officials in the army and the governors of the provinces was notorious. The government had to frequently interfere to stop such corruption.
Legislation against corruption and the criticisms against corruption made by historians and intellectuals help us in knowing more about the corruption prevalent in the empire. Criticism is an important aspect of the classical world.
Roman Administration was a despotic one. Government never tolerated any criticism or opposition against it. Such criticisms or oppositions were brutally suppressed by the government.
Question 31.
Explain the contributions of Islam in the field of learning and culture.
Hints :
• Sufism
• Philosophy
• Literature
• Medicine
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 of the influence of Greek vision and science. Even in the 7th century, the influence of the 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 ‘Kalila 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 add4d 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.
Question 32.
Define Feudalism. Explain the three orders of feudalism existed in Medieval Europe.
Answer:
The Three Orders were: Priestly Glass, 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 and 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.