How, When, and Where | Chapter 1 | History | Class 8th | Questions and Answers |

JANDKNCERT | Free NCERT Solutions | Class 8th | History |

How, When, and Where | Chapter 1 | History | Class 8th | Questions and Answers |

 

Chapter 1: How, When, and Where

(Solutions by Teacher Rimpy Sharma)

 

Let’s Recall

Q1. State whether True or False

(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods-Hindu, Muslim, Christian.

Answer. False

(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of the country think.

Answer. False

(c) The British thought surveys were important for effective administration.

Answer. True

Q2. What is the problem with the periodization of Indian history that James Mill offers?

Answer. James Mill divided Indian history into three periods – Hindu, Muslim, and British. This periodization has its own problem. It is difficult to refer to any period of history as ‘Hindu’ or ‘Muslim’ because a variety of faiths existed simultaneously in these periods. It is also not justified to characterize an age through the region of the rulers of the time. What is suggested is that the lives and practices of others do not really matter. It is worth mentioning that even rulers in ancient India did not all share the same faith.

Q3. Why did the British preserve the official documents?

Answer. The British preserve the official documents because of the following reasons:-

·   Any information or proof of any decision can be read/used from the preserved documents.

·        The preserve documents reveal the progress made by the country in the past.

·        One can study the notes and reports which were prepared in the past.

·        Their copies may be made and used in modern times.

Documents were helpful in understanding the social, economic, and history of those times.

Q4. How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports?

Answer. The information printed in the newspapers is usually affected by the views and opinions of the reporters, news editors, etc. But what historians find in police reports is usually true and realistic.

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Q5. Can you think of examples of surveys in your world today? Think about how toy companies get information about what young people enjoy playing with or how the government finds out about the number of young people in school. What can a historian derive from such surveys?

Answer. Surveys are done by government and private companies:-

·    On demographic changes, employment, incomes, tastes, interests, possessions, etc.

·        Manually or with use of technology.

·        At different places like home, schools, institutions, malls, etc.

Historians may get information about preferences, lifestyles, demographic changes, political, social, economic life, etc.

 

Exercise Questions (Additional)

Q1. Multiple type questions:

(i) A history of British India was written by

a)    Charles Darwin

b)    James Mill

c)     Albert Einstein

d)   Thomas Hardy

Answer. b) James Mill

(ii) The first Governor-General of India was

a)    Lord Dalhousie

b)    Lord Mountbatten

c)     Lord William Bentick

d)    Warren Hastings

Answer. d) Warren Hastings

(iii) The National Archives of India came up in the

a)    1920's

b)    1930's

c)     1940's

d)   1950's

Answer. a) 1920's

(iv) The word calligrapher means

a)    One who specialized in the art of painting

b)    One who specialized in the art of music

c)     One who specialized in the art of beautiful writing

d)   One who specialized in the art of public speaking

Answer. c) One who specialized in the art of beautiful writing

(v) Census operations are held:

a)    Every five years

b)    Every seven years

c)     Every ten years

d)   Every twelve years

Answers. c) Every ten years

Q2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words to complete each sentence.

(i)               The colonial government had much importance to the practice of _____.

(ii)            Historians have usually divided Indian history into ancient _____ and _____.

(iii)         A history of British India is a _____ massive work.

(iv)          Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a _____ of civilization than Europe.

(v)             The British established specialized institutions like _____ and _____ to preserve important documents.

Answers.

(i) The colonial government had much importance to the practice of surveying.

(ii) Historians have usually divided Indian history into ancient, medieval and modern.

(iii) A history of British India is a three-volume massive work.

(iv) Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe.

(v) The British established specialized institutions like archives and museums to preserve important documents.

Q3. State whether each of the following statements is true or false.

a) The British were very particular about preserving official documents.

Answer. True

b) Printing began to spread by the middle of the 20^th century.

Answer. False

c) The periodization of Indian history offered by James Mill was not at all accepted.

Answer. False

d) The British carried out detailed surveys by the early 19^th century in order to map the entire country.

Answer. True

e) James Mill glorified India and its culture in his book ‘ A HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA’.

Answer. False

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Q4. Match the items given in column A in those given in column B

 

Column A	Column B
a) A place where historical documents or records of the government etc are kept	i) Museum
b) A building in which objects of historical or scientific interests are kept to show them in public	ii) Colonization
c) An important taste of the British administration	iii) Archives
d) Subjugation of one country by another	iv) Carrying out surveys

 

Answer.

 

Column A	Column B
i) A place where historical documents or records of the government etc. are kept	c) Archives
ii) A building in which objects of historical or scientific interests are kept to show them in public	a) Museum
iii) An important taste of the British administration	d) Carrying out surveys
iv) Subjugation of one country by another	b) Colonization

 

Very short answer type questions

1. Name the events for which specific dates can be determined?

Answer. The year a king was crowned, the year he married, the year he has a child, the year he fought a particular battle, the year he died, etc.

2. What was an important aspect of the histories written by the British historians in India?

Answer. The rule of each Governor-General was an important aspect.

3. Who was James Mill?

Answer. He was a Scottish economist and political philosopher and is known for his book ‘A HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA’.

4. What was Mill’s opinion about Asian societies?

Answer. In Mill’s opinion, all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe.

5. What evil practice according to James Mill, dominated in Indian social life before the British came to India?

Answer. Religious intolerance, caste taboos, and superstitious practices

6. How did paintings project Governor-General?

Answer. Paintings project Governor-General as powerful figures.

7. Why do many historians refer to the modern period as colonial?

Answer. It is because; under British rule, people did not have equality, freedom or liberty- the symbol of modernity.

8. Mention one important source used by historians in writing about the last 230 years of Indian history?

Answer. The official record of the British administration

9. What is done under census?

Answer. It records the number of people living in all the provinces of India and gathers information on castes, religion, and occupation.

10. What do official records not tell?

Answer. Official records do not tell what other people in the country felt, and what lay behind their actions.

11. Why do we try and divide history into different periods?

Answer. We do so in order to capture the characteristics of a time, it's central features as they appear to us.

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Short answer type questions

Q1. How did James Mill view India?

Answer. James Mill did not cherish any positive ideas about India. He was of the opinion that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe. According to his telling of history, before the British came to India the Hindu and the Muslim despots ruled the country. Religious intolerance, caste taboos, and superstitious practices dominated social life. He felt that only the British could socialize India.

Q2. Historians divide Indian history into ancient, medieval, and modern. But this division, too, has its problems. What are these problems?

Answer. The periodization has been borrowed from the west where the modern period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity such as science, reason, democracy, liberty, and equality. Medieval and ancient were the terms used to describe a society where these features of modern society did not exist.

          It is difficult for us to accept these characterizations of the modern period. Here, it is worth mentioning that Indians did not have equality, freedom, or liberty under British rule. The country also lacked economic growth and progress in that period. It is therefore many historians refer to the modern period as the colonial period.

Q3. What did the British do to preserve the important official documents and letters?

Answer. The British felt the need to preserve all the important official documents and letters. For this, they set up record rooms attached to all administrative institutions. The village tehsildar’s office, the collectorate, the commissioner’s office, the provisional secretariats, the law-courts- all had their record rooms. The British also established specialized intuitions such as archives and museums to preserve important records.

Q4. What do official records not tell? How do we come to know about them?

Answer. Official records do not always help us understand what other people in the country felt, and what lay behind their actions. For that, we have dairies of people, accounts of pilgrims and travelers, autobiographies of important personalities and popular books, etc. that were sold in the local bazaars. With the spread of the printing press, newspapers came to be published and issues began to be debated in public. Leaders and reformers wrote to spread their ideas, poets and novelists wrote to express their feelings.

Q5. How did the British conquer India and establish their rule?

Answer.

·        They subjugated local nawabs and rajas.

·        They establish control over the economy and society collected revenue to meet all their expenses bought goods they wanted at lower prices and produced crops they needed for exports.

·        They bought a change in rulers and tastes, customs, and practices.

·        Thus they molded everything in their favor and subjugated the country very soon.

Long answer type questions

Q1. How does the official record of the British administration help historians to write about the last 250 years of Indian history?

Answer. The British believed that the act of writing was important. Hence they got written up every instruction, plan, policy decision, agreement, investigation, etc. They thought that once this was done, things could be properly studied and debated. This conviction produced an administrative culture of memos, noting’s, and reports.

          The British were very interested in preserving all the important official documents and letters. For this, they set up record rooms attached to all administrative institutions. The village tehsildar’s office, the collectorate, the commissioner’s office, the provisional secretariats, the law-courts- all had their record rooms. The British also established specialized intuitions such as archives and museums to preserve important records.

          Letters and memos that moved from one branch of the administration to smoother in the early years of the 19^th century can still be read in the archives. Historians can also take help from the notes and reports that district officials prepared or the instructions and directives that were sent by officials at the top to the provincial administration.

Q2. How did surveys become important during the colonial administration?

Answer. The British gave much importance to the practice of surveying because they believe that a country had to be properly known before it could be effectively administered. Therefore, they carried out detailed surveys by the early 19^th century in order to map the entire country.

·     They conducted revenue surveys in villages.

·    They made efforts to know the topography, the soil quality, the flora the fauna, the local histories, and the cropping pattern.

·  They also introduce census operations, held out at the interval of every 10 years from the end of the 19^th century. They prepared detailed records of the number of people of all the provinces of India, noting information about caste, religions, and occupations separately.

The British also carried on several others surveys such as Botanical surveys, zoological surveys, archeological surveys, forest surveys, etc. In this way, they gather all the facts that were essential for administering a country.

 Ø Special Thanks and Credits to Rimpy Sharma for providing such a good content for the benefit of students of Class 8th.