Month: May 2022

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

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JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

JAC Class 8th Civics Understanding Laws InText Questions and Answers

Page 45

Question 1.
The word ‘arbitrary’ has been used earlier in this book and you’ve read what the word means in the Glossary of Chapter 1. The word ‘sedition’ has been included in the Glossary of this chapter. Read the Glossary descriptions of both words and then answer the following questions: State one reason why you think the Sedition Act of 1870 was arbitrary? In what ways does the Sedition Act of 1870 contradict the rule of law?
Answer:
The Sedition Act of 1870 was arbitrary because according this act, English people could arrest and detain any person they want. It contradicts the rule of law as they in rule of law, they can’t arrest anyone without proof.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Page 48

Question 2.
What do you understand by ‘domestic violence’? List the two rights that the new law helped achieve for women who are survivors of violence.
Answer:
Domestic violence refers to the injury or harm or threat caused by an adult male, usually the husband against his wife. Injury can be caused by physically beating up or emotionally abusing her which includes verbal, sexual and emotional abuse.

Question 3.
Can you list one process that was used to make more people aware of the need for this law?
Answer:
One process that was used to make more people aware of the need for this law was public discussions and meetings.

Question 4.
From the above storyboard, can you list two different ways in which people lobbied Parliament? (See NCERT pg 46 – 48)
Answer:
Two different ways in which people lobbied Parliament are as follows:

  • Submission of Demand
  • Debating and arguing.

Question 5.
In the following poster, what do you understand by the phrase ‘Equal Relationships are Violence Free’? F aual Relationships are Violence Free
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws 1
Answer:
The phrase ‘Equal Relationships are Violence Free’ means equal rights are enjoyed by both husband and wife in the family. Neither of them should suppress each other. Such relationships are always violence free since they care for each other.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Page 50

Question 6.
Read the newspapers/watch news onTV for a week and find out if there are any unpopular laws that people in India or around the world are currently protesting.
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws 2
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws 3

List the three forms of protest that you see in the above photos.
Answer:
In first part of the question, students need to answer on their own. The three forms of protest that you see in above photos are

  • Strike – hunger strike
  • Dhama
  • Rally

JAC Class 8th Civics Understanding Laws Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Write in your own words what you understand by the term the ‘rule of law’. In your response include a fictitious or real example of a violation of the rule of law.
Answer:
The rule of law means that all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law. Neither a government official nor a wealthy person nor even the President of the country is above the law. All persons in independent India are equal before the law. The law cannot discriminate between persons on the basis of their religion, caste or gender. There is a specific punishment for every crime or violation of law and also a specific process through which the guilt of the person has to be established.

The punishment for any crime committed will be the same for every person, irrespective of his power or position. For example, there are many businessmen who own property worth crores but they do not even pay tax for the same. While filing the tax return, they show only a part of their total property and wealth. However, they are not questioned for this by the ordinary income tax officials because the officials have the fear of losing their jobs as the businessmen are very powerful. This shows how people in power can easily violate the laws.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 2.
State two reasons why historians refute the claim that the British introduced the rule of law in India.
Answer:
Two reasons – historians refute to claim that the British introduced the rule of law in India are as follows:

  1. The colonial law was arbitrary. As for example of the arbitrariness of British law is the Sedition Act of 1870. According to this act any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.
  2. The Indian nationalists played a prominent role in the development of the legal sphere in British India. They protested against the arbitrary use of authority by the British. They also fought for equality of all.

Question 3.
Re-read the storyboard on how a new law on domestic violence got passed. Describe in your own words the different ways in which women’s groups worked to make this happen.
Answer:
Many women’s groups worked hard to get the bill against domestic violence passed by the Government. For this they made the following efforts:

  1. The groups reported multiple cases of domestic violence to various forums like public protests, hearings, meetings with other organisations, press conferences and petitions to the government.
  2. A group of lawyers, law students and activists worked together for drafting the Domestic Violence Bill. The Bill was first introduced in Parliament in 2002, but it was not to the satisfaction of all.
  3. Several women’s organisations and National Commission for Women made submissions to the Parliamentary Standing Committee requesting certain changes in the Bill.
  4. In December 2002, the recommendations of the Standing Committee were submitted to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
  5. A new bill was reintroduced in Parliament in 2005. After being passed in both houses of Parliament, it was sent to the President for his assent.
  6. Hence, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act came into effect in 2006.

Question 4.
Write in your own words what you understand by the following sentence on page 44-45: They also began fighting for greater equality and wanted to change the idea of law from a set of rules that they were forced to obey, to law as including ideas of justice.
Answer:
Indians were being discriminated and biased in their own country by the British government, during the British period. They were forced to follow the set of rules and laws that were arbitrary and tyrannical. One example of the arbitrary law is that The Sedition Act of 1870 came to be a turning point in the struggle for freedom in India.

According to the Sedition Act any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial. Indian nationalists began to protest and criticise this arbitrary use of authority by the British. They began to fight for their rights and wanted a set of rules that were equal for all.

JAC Class 8th Civics Understanding Laws Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions 

Question 1.
The most important provision in the Constitution is:
(a) Laws are different for different caste.
(b) Some persons in independent India are equal before the law.
(c) All persons in independent India are equal before the law.
(d) AH senior citizen in independent India are equal before the law.
Answer:
(c) All persons in independent India are equal before the law.

Question 2.
………….. is in charge of making laws in India.
(a) The High Court
(b) The Parliament
(c) Supreme Court
(d) The Prime Minister
Answer:
(b) The Parliament

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 3.
In ancient India, law was different from today as:
(a) Punishments to lower castes were more harsh.
(b) Brahmins were being more harshly penalised.
(c) There was no punishment for Shudhras.
(d) Punishments were same as today.
Answer:
(a) Punishments to lower castes were more harsh.

Question 4.
The Sedition Act of 1870 means that:
(a) Any British person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.
(b) Any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.
(c) Any Indian protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested with due trial.
(d) None of these
Answer:
(b) Any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.

Question 5.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, was came in the year…… .
(a) 2000
(b) 2009
(c) 2008
(d) 2006
Answer:
(d) 2006

Question 6.
The Hindu Succession Amendment Act 2005 says that………..
(a) along with sons and daughters, father can also get an equal share of family property.
(b) grandparents, sons, daughters, and their mothers can get an equal share of family property.
(c) sons, daughters, and their mothers can get an equal share of family property.
(d) all of these
Answer:
(c) sons, daughters, and their mothers can get an equal share of family property.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 7.
The mediums through which voice of people can be heard through is/ are……. .
(a) local meetings
(b) radio broadcasts
(c) TV reports
(d) all of the above
Answer:
(d) all of the above

Question 8.
The Rowlett Act was passed on………
(a) 10th March 1919
(b) 19th April 1919
(c) 10th March 1920
(d) 10th May 1921
Answer:
(a) 10th March 1919

Question 9.
Domestic violence means ………
(a) injury and abuse
(b) threat of injury
(c) physical beating
(d) all of these
Answer:
(d) all of these

Question 10.
In a democratic government, in case of unpopular laws, people might………
(a) hold public meetings
(b) write in media such as newspaper, journal, etc.
(c) show reports in TV
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Very Short Answer Type Questions 

Question 1.
What was Sedition Act of 1870?
Answer:
Sedition Act of 1870 states that any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.

Question 2.
When was the Hindu Succession Act revised?
Answer:
The Hindu Succession Act was revised in 2005.

Question 3.
hich year of Jallianwala Bagh massacre happened? Who gave the order to shoot the protestors?
Answer:
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre which is also known as the Amritsar massacre took place on 13 April 1919. General Dyer gave the order to shoot the protestors.

Question 4.
What are the important changes introduced by the Hindu Succession Amendment Act 2005?Answer: According to this new law, sons,daughters and their mothers can get an equal share of family property.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 5.
Who submits its report regarding any Bill to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha?
Answer:
Parliamentary Standing Committee submits its report regarding any Bill to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Question 6.
What Article 14 of the Indian constitution says?
Answer:
Article 14 belongs to Equality before law. It states that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

Question 7.
What do you mean by controversial law?
Answer:
Controversial law is the law whichfavours one group and disregards the other.

Question 8.
Who introduced the rule of law in India?
Answer:
The Indian nationalists introduced the rule of law in India.

Question 9.
Which type of law is ‘Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act’?
Answer:
‘Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act’ is a civil law.

Question 10.
What do you think citizens do when they disagree with a law?
Answer:
The citizens hold public meetings, write articles and journals in newspaper, report to TV channels to express there disagreement with a law.

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question 1.
Where and in what form is the law introduced?
Answer:
In Parliament all legislative proposals are brought in the forms of Bills. A Bill is a draft statute which becomes law after it is passed by both the Houses of Parliament and assented to by the President.

Question 2.
What are the common laws that govern us?
Answer:
Some of the common laws that govern us are as follows:

  1. Specific age of marriage
  2. The age at which a person can vote
  3. The laws dealing with buying and selling of property.

Question 3.
Explain the provisions of Rowlatt Act. How did Indians react to it?
Answer:
Rowlatt Act allowed the British government to arrest people without due trial. Indian nationalists including Mahatma Gandhi were vehement in
their opposition to the Rowlatt bills. Despite the large number of protests, the Rowlatt Act came into effect on 10 March 1919.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 4.
How was the system of law during ancient times in India?
Answer:
In ancient India, there were innumerable and often overlapping local laws. Different communities enjoyed different degrees of autonomy in administering these laws among their own. In some cases, the punishment that two persons received for the same crime varied depending on their caste backgrounds, with lower castes being more harshly penalised.

Question 5.
Explain in brief the ‘Rule of Law’.
Answer:
Rule of law means that all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law. Neither a government official, nor a wealthy person nor even the President of the country is above the law. Any crime or violation of law has a specific punishment as well as a process through which the guilt of the person has to be established.

Question 6.
Explain the ways in which the citizens can express their views in relation to laws made in the Parliament.
Answer:
Citizens can express their views in relation to laws made in the Parliament in the following ways:

  1. by holding public meetings and addressing them,
  2. by writing about it in newspapers and magazines,
  3. by reporting to TV news channels etc.

Question 7.
What is Domestic Violence?
Answer:
Domestic violence is the violence which refers to the injury or harm or threat of injury caused by an adult male, usually the husband, against his wife. Injury may be caused by physically beating up the woman or by emotionally abusing her which includes verbal, sexual and economic abuse. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 extends the understanding of the term ‘domestic’ to include all women who ‘live or have lived together in a shared household’ with the male member who is perpetrating the violence.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 8.
What are the different categories under which law can be classified?
Answer:
Some of the categories under which law can be classified are as follows:

  1. Criminal law
  2. Contract Law
  3. Property Law
  4. International law
  5. Equity and Trust Laws

Question 9.
Explain in brief on Lady Justice.
Answer:
Lady Justice or Justitia is the Roman Goddess of Justice. It is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system. Her blindfolded eyes symbolise equality under the law and impartiality towards all the people who are governed by it. The weighing scales represent the balancing of people’s interests under the law and her sword denotes the law’s force of reason.

Long Answer Type Questions 

Question 1.
Explain the controversial law and unpopular law with the help of an example.
Answer:
Sometimes a law can be constitutionally valid and hence legal but it can continue to be unpopular and unacceptable to people because they feel that the intention behind it is unfair and harmful. For example, various municipal laws on the use of space within municipal limits often make hawking and street vending illegal. No one will dispute the necessity for some rules to keep the public space open so that people can walk on the pavements easily.

However, one also cannot deny that hawkers and vendors provide essential services cheaply and efficiently to the millions living in a large city. This is their means of livelihood. Hence, if the law favours one group and disregards the other it will be controversial and lead to conflict. This ultimately brings lots of chaos in day to day life of common people.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Understanding Laws

Question 2.
Mention the ways in which the Indians played an important role in the evolution of rule of law during colonial period.
Answer:
There were several ways in which Indians played a major role in the evolution of the rule of law during the colonial period. They are as follows:

(i) Indian nationalists began protesting and criticising this arbitrary use of authority by the British. They also began fighting for greater equality and wanted to change the idea of law from a set of rules that they were forced to obey, to law as including ideas of justice.

(ii) By the end of the nineteenth century, the Indian legal profession also began emerging and demanded respect in colonial courts. They began to use law to defend the legal rights of Indians.

(iii) Indian judges also began to play a greater role in making decisions.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Air

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Air

→ Earth is surrounded by a huge layer of air known as atmosphere.

  • On the earth all the living creatures depend on the atmosphere for their survival.
  • With the absence of this layer of protection, we would have been baked by the scorching heat of the sun at daytime and frozen at night time. Hence, the temperature of the earth is liveable due to this layer of air.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Air

→ Composition of the Atmosphere:

  • The two main gases which make the most of the atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen. Carbon dioxide, helium, ozone, argon and hydrogen are found in less quantities.
  • Tiny and minute dust particles are also present in the atmosphere apart from these gases.
  • We take some amount of nitrogen when we inhale into our lungs and exhale it.
  • Plants take nitrogen from soil and roots of the plant which is brought by the bacterias and change its form so that plants can use it as they cannot take nitrogen directly.
  • The second most abundant gas found is the oxygen. Green plants produces oxygen during photosynthesis and humans and animals use oxygen to breathe.
  • The balance gets disturbed if we cut down the forests in large numbers.
  • The other important gas is carbon dioxide. Plants use carbon dioxide to make their food and release oxygen. Humans and animals release carbon dioxide.
  • The balance gets disturbed by burning of fuels like oils, coal. Hence, the earth’s climate and weather gets affected by the increased volume of carbon dioxide.

→ Structure of the Atmosphere:

  • Starting from the earth’s surface, the atmosphere has been divided into five layers – Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere.
  • Troposphere – Themost important layer of the atmosphere is Troposphere and its average height is 13 km. The air we breathe exists here. Most of the weather incidences such as rainfall, fog and hailstorm occur in this layer.
  • Stratosphere – Stratosphere lies above the troposphere and it extends up to a height of 50 km. This layer is almost free from clouds and related weather incidences are making ideal conditions for flying aeroplanes. One of the important features is that it contains a layer of ozone gas.
  • Mesosphere – The third layer of the atmosphere is mesosphere. Above the stratosphere it is situated and extends up to the height of 80 km. On entering from the space, meteorites bum up in this layer.
  • Thermosphere – Temperature rises very rapidly and fast with increasing height in thermosphere.
  • Ionosphere is a part of this layer and it extends between 80^100 km. Radio transmission happens in this layer. In fact, radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer.
  • Exosphere- It is the upper most layer of the atmosphere. It has very thin air. Light gases are present such as helium and hydrogen float into the space from here.

→ Weather and Climate:
Weather is the hour-to-hour, day to day condition of the atmosphere. But, the average weather condition or phenomena of a place for a longer period of time is called as the climate of a place.

→ Temperature:

  • The degree or level of hotness and coldness of the air is called as the temperature.
  • The atmosphere’s temperature changes not only between day and night but also from season to season as well.
  • The incoming solar energy intercepted by the earth is called the insolation. It is one of the important factors that influence the distribution of temperature.
  • Towards the poles, the amount of insolation decreases from the equator hence the temperature also decreases.
  • Temperature in cities is much higher than that of villages because of the concrete and metals in buildings and the asphalt of roads get heated up during the day and this is released during the night.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Air

→ Air Pressure

  • From all directions, the air presses us and our body exerts a counter pressure.
  • The pressure exerted by the weight of air on the earth’s surface is called the air pressure. It is highest at sea level and decreases with height.
  • Low pressure is related to cloudy skies and wet weather. A low-pressure is created in areas where temperature is high and the air gets heated and rises.
  • High pressure is related to clear and sunny skies. Heavy air sinks and creates a high pressure area and the air always moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.

→ Wind

  • Wind is the movement of air from high pressure area to low pressure areas.
  • It is divided into three parts:
    • Permanent winds
    • Seasonal winds
    • Local winds
  • Permanent winds are the trade winds, westerlies and easterlies. They blow constantly throughout the year in a particular direction.
  • Seasonal winds are the winds which change their direction in different seasons such as monsoons in India.
  • Local winds are the winds which blow only during a particular period of the day or year in a small area such as land and sea breeze. The hot and dry local wind of northern planes of India is called loo.

→ Moisture

  • We know that when water evaporates from land and different water bodies, it becomes water vapour. Humidity is the moisture in the air at any time. When the air is full of water vapour then it is called as a humid day.
  • Clouds are just masses of water droplets. The water vapour condenses which cause the formation of these droplets of water.
  • Precipitation happens when these droplets of water become too heavy to float in air and then they come down.
  • Rain is the precipitation that comes down to the earth in liquid form.
  • The three types of rainfall are the convectional rainfall, the orographic rainfall and the cyclonic rainfall.
  • For the survival of plants and animals, rainfall is very important as it brings fresh water to the earth’s surface. If rainfall is less then water scarcity and drought occur and if it is more, then floods take place.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 5 Water

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 5 Water

→ The heat of sun causes evaporation of water vapour and when it cools down, it condenses and forms clouds. Then it may fall on the land or sea in the form of rain, snow or sleet.

  • Water cycle is the process by which water continually changes its form and circulates between oceans and seas, atmosphere and land.
  • Our earth is like a terrarium. The water which existed centuries ago still exists today.
  • The fresh water majorly comes from the rivers, ponds, springs and glaciers. The ocean bodies and the seas contains salty or saline water as it contains huge amount of dissolved salts. Most of the salt is of sodium chloride.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 5 Water

→ Distribution of Water bodies:
Three-fourth of the earth surface is covered by water. The following table gives the distribution of water in percentage:

Saline water Oceans 97.3
Fresh water Ground water 0.68
Ice caps 2.0
Fresh water lakes and Inland seas 0.009
Salt lakes 0.009
Atmosphere 0.0019
Rivers 0.0001
Total 100.00

→ Ocean Circulation:
In oceans, the movements that occur can be categorised as waves, tides and currents.

→ Waves:

  • Waves occurs when the water on the surface of the ocean rises and falls alternately.
  • The winds blows at a very high speed forms huge waves during a storm and causes destruction in an enormous way. An earthquake, a volcanic eruption or underwater landslides may shift large amounts of ocean water. The huge tidal wave is known as tsunami which may be as high as 15 m.
  • The largest tsunami ever measured was as high as 150 m. and travels at a speed of more than 700 km. per hour.

→ Tides:

  • A tide is the periodic, regular rise and fall of ocean water twice in a day.
  • When water covers much of the shore by rising to its highest level then it is high tide. When water falls to its lowest level and recedes from the shore then it is low tide.
  • On the earth’s surface, the strong gravitational pull exerted by the sun and the moon causes the tides.
  • When the sun, the moon and the earth are in the same line during the full moon and new moon days then the tides are highest. These type of tides are known as spring tides.
  • The ocean waters get drawn in diagonally opposite directions by the gravitational pull of sun and earth resulting in low tides when the moon is in its first and last quarter. These type of tides are known as neap tides.
  • High tides helps in navigation, fishing and to generate electricity in some areas.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 5 Water

→ Ocean Currents:

  • Streams of water which flows constantly on the ocean surface in definite directions is known as ocean currents. The ocean currents may be warm or cold.
  • The warm ocean currents emerge near the equator and move towards the poles. The cold ocean currents carry water from polar or higher latitudes to tropical or lower latitudes.
  • These currents influence the temperature conditions of the area. The Labrador Ocean current is cold current while the Gulf Stream is a warm current.
  • The areas where a warm and cold current is present, they experience the foggy weather which makes navigation difficult but provides the best fishing grounds.
  • Types of tides in sea or ocean are flood tide and ebb tide. Flood tide are the rise of sea level and the fall in sea level is called the ebb tide.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 6 Natural Vegetation and Wild Life

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 6 Natural Vegetation and Wild Life

→ As their is change in height, the climate also changes and that changes the natural vegetation. The growth of vegetation depends on temperature and moisture. It also depends on factors like slope and thickness of soil.

  • From place to place, the type and thickness of natural vegetation varies.
  • Natural vegetation is classified in to three broad categories:
  • Forests: Grows where temperature and rainfall are plentiful to support a tree cover. Depending upon all these factors, dense and open forests grown.
  • Grasslands: Grows in the region of moderate rain.
  • Shrubs: Thorny shrurbs and scrubs grows in the dry region.
  • Due to the changes of climatic condition occurs mainly because of the type of natural vegetation.

→ Forests:

  • Tropical Evergreen Forests
  • These forests are also known as tropical rainforests. These thick forests are found mainly in the regions- near the equator and close to the tropics. These regions are hot and receive heavy rainfall throughout the year and no particular dry season, thus the trees do not shed their leaves altogether. Hence, they are called evergreen.
  • Rosewood, ebony, mahogany are common trees are also known as hardwood trees.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 6 Natural Vegetation and Wild Life

→ Tropical Deciduous Forests

  • These are the monsoon forests which are found in the large part of India, northern Australia and in central America. These regions experience seasonal changes and trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water.
  • The trees found in these forests are sal, teak, neem and s his ham. These are extremely useful for making furniture, transport and constructional materials.
  • The common animals of these regions are tigers, lions, elephants, langoors and monkeys.

→ Temperate Evergreen Forests

  • These forests are located in the mid latitudinal coastal region.
  • They are found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., in southeast USA, South China and in South East Brazil.
  • Trees found are oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc. which are both hard and soft wood trees.

→ Temperate Deciduous Forests

  • These are found in the north eastern part of USA, China, New Zealand, Chile and in the coastal regions of Western Europe,
  • They shed their leaves in the dry season.
  • The trees found are oak, ash, beech, etc.
  • The animals found are deer, foxes, wolves.
  • Birds like pheasants, monals are found here.

→ Mediterranean Vegetation

  • The west and south west margins of the continents are different. They have Mediterranean vegetation.
  • It is found in the areas around the Mediterranean sea in Europe, Africa and Asia.
  • This kind of vegetation is also found outside the actual Mediterranean region in California in the USA, south west Africa, South America and South west Australia.
  • These regions are having hot dry summers and mild rainy winters.
  • Oranges, figs, olives and grapes are citrus fruits which are cultivated here because people have removed the natural vegetation in order to cultivate what they wish to.
  • Wildlife is not present here that much.

→ Coniferous Forests

  • The important variety of trees in these forests are Chir, pine, cedar.
  • Trees are tall, softwood evergreen trees.
  • These woods are very useful for making pulp, which is used for manufacturing paper and newsprint.
  • Match boxes and packing boxes are also made from softwood.

→ Grasslands
Two types of grasslands:

  1. Tropical and
  2. Temperate Grasslands.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 6 Natural Vegetation and Wild Life

→ Tropical Grasslands

  • These grow on either side of the equator and extend till the tropics.
  • This vegetation grows in the areas of moderate to low amount of rainfall.
  • These can grow very tall, about 3 to 4 metres in height.
  • Savannah grasslands of Africa are of this type.
  • In tropical grasslands, animals found are elephants, zebras, giraffes, deer, leopards.

→ Temperate Grasslands

  • These are found in the midlatitudinal zones and in the interior part of the continents.
  • Grass is short and nutritious.
  • In the temperate region, the animals which are found are wild buffaloes, bisons, antilopes.

→ Thorny Bushes

  • These are found in the dry desert such as tropical deserts which are located in the western margins of the continents.
  • The vegetation cover is scarce here because of scanty rain and scorching heat.

→ Tundra Vegetation

  • The polar region is extremely cold.
  • The growth of natural vegetation is very limited here.
  • Only mosses, lichens and very small shrubs are found here.
  • It grows during the very short summer. These are known as Tundra type of vegetation.
  • They are found in the polar areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
  • The animals have thick fur and skin to protect themselves from the cold climatic conditions. Some of the animals are seal, walruses, musk-oxen, Arctic owl, Polar bear and snow foxes.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

→ The Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi made the map of the world in 1154 CE showing Indian subcontinent.

  • In 1720s, French people made maps which were quite different from Al-Idrisi’s map.
  • Cartographers are the skilled people who draw and develop maps which involve scientific, technological and art aspects.

→ New and Old Terminologies:

  • Over the period of time, historical records and facts existed through different languages. There is a vast difference in grammar, vocabulary and in the meaning of words as well. The term Hindustan was used by Minhaj-i-Siraj, a Persian chronicler in 13th century, which has now become India.
  • Babur in the early 16th century used “Hindustan” to describe the geography, fauna and the culture of the subcontinent. Whereas, in 14th century, Amir Khusrau used, the word “Hind” for the same context.
  • Historians are very cautious about the terms and words they use as they had different meanings in the past. For example, by “foreigner” we mean who is not Indian. But in the medieval time, it meant any unfamiliar person who was part of the same village but not a part of the particular society or culture.
  • In Hindi, the term pardesi and in Persian ajnabi are used for “foreigner”.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

→ Historians and their Sources:

  • Historians use different sources to learn about the past. These sources are coins, inscriptions, textual records and architecture.
  • People started using paper in this period and historians got many information. They used to write holy texts, ruler’s chronicles, letters and teachings of saints.
  • Manuscripts were kept in libraries and archives. They were collected from wealthy people, monasteries, rulers and temples.
  • Manuscripts helped the historians but faced many difficulties as scripts were handwritten. Printing press was not invented.
  • People used to revise their chronicles at different times. The 14th century author, Ziyauddin Barani wrote his first chronicle in 1356 CE and second one after two years and they differ a lot with each other.

→ New Social and Political Groups:

  • Historians faced challenges between 700 BC and 1750 CE as there were many different technological developments took place. Some of them were the spinning wheel in weaving, the Persian wheel in irrigation and firearms in combat.
  • The subcontinent also saw development in food and beverages; potatoes, chillies, com, tea, coffee. This came with people and hence it was a period of political, social, economic and cultural changes.
  • One of the influential communities emerged in this period. It was of Rajputs or “Rajaputra”. They were warriors, rulers, chieftains, soldiers and were known as Kshatriyas by caste which existed from 8th to 14th centuries.
  • This period experienced the extension of agriculture and clearing of forests. Many forest dwellers migrated and changed their habitat.
  • Peasant group came into existence influenced by regional markets, monasteries, chieftains and temples.
  • Gradually, people were grouped into sub-castes or “jatis” based on their occupation. The status of the same jati could vary from place to place. These were not permanent and diversified according to the power, influence and resources controlled by members of the jati.
  • Jati Panchayats were formed. They framed their own rules and regulations. But jatis were also bound to follow the rules of the village.
  • Chieftain governed several villages which was a small unit of a state.

→ Region and Empire:

  • By 700 CE many regions developed their own geographical dimensions along with their own languages and cultural traits.
  • Between 700 and 1750 CE, there were significant developments as many areas were ruled by different kingdoms.

→ Old and New Religions:

  • During these 1000 years, religious tradition developed majorly.
  • Hinduism saw many changes during this period. It includes worshipping of new deities, construction of temples by kingdoms and rise of Brahmanas as a prominent group in society.
  • Other developments were the rising of the idea of bhakti.
  • Muslims regarded Quran as their holy book. It appeared in 7th century and the teachings were brought by the merchants in the subcontinent.
  • There were sets of followers in Islam as well and divided into two sects – Shia and Sunni.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 1 Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

→ Thinking about Time and Historical Periods

  • British historians in the middle of the 19th century divided the history of India into three periods – Hindu, Muslim and British.
  • Their concept was based on religion of the ruler as there was no major development in the social, economic or cultural aspects.
  • The Indian societies–reached a level of prosperity that attracted many European trading companies.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

→ Today regional cultures are often the product of complex processes of intermixing of local traditions and cultures with the ideas from the other parts of the subcontinent. Some of the traditions appear to be specific to some regions or areas, others seem to be similar across regions and yet others derive from older practices in a specific region but take a new form in other regions.

→ The Cheras and the Development of Malayalam:

  • In the ninth century, the Chera kingdom of Mahodayapuram was established in the south-western part of the peninsula which is now a part of present-day Kerala and Malayalam was spoken and used in this area. In official records in the subcontinent, this one is the earliest examples of the use of a regional language.
  • But at the same time, the Cheras also drew upon Sanskritic traditions. Around the twelfth century, the first literary works in Malayalam are directly bounded to Sanskrit. A fourteenth-century text, named as the Lilatilakam was composed in Manipravalam means ‘diamonds and corals’ referring to the two languages which were Sanskrit and the regional language.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

→ Rulers and Religious Traditions: The Jagannatha Cult:

  • Regional cultures grew around religious traditions in other regions. One of the best instance of this process is the cult of Jagannatha which means lord of the world, a name for Vishnu at Puri, Orissa (now Odisha).
  • Till date, the local tribal people make the wooden image of the deity which suggests that the deity was originally a local god.
  • One of the major rulers of the Ganga Dynasty, Anantavarman, decided to erect a temple for Purushottama Jagannatha at Puri in the twelfth century. In 1230, King Anangabhima III dedicated his kingdom to the deity and announced officially himself as the ‘deputy’ of the god.
  • Those who conquered Orissa (now Odisha) such as the Mughals, the Marathas and the English East India Company, they attempted to gain control over the temple. They thought that this would make their rule admissible to the local people as its authority in social and political matters also increased.

→ The Rajputs and Traditions of Heroism:

  • The Rajputs are often acknowledged as contributing to the distinctive culture of Rajasthan. From about eighth century, the Rajput rulers cherished the ideal of the hero who fought heroically and often choosing death on the battlefield rather than to face defeat.
  • Many stories and narratives about Rajput heroes were recorded in the form of poems and songs which were recited by specially trained minstrels.
  • Women are also portrayed as following their heroic husbands in both life and death, there are many tales about the practice of sati or the immolation of widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands.

→ Beyond Regional Frontiers: The Story of Kathak

  • One of the dance form is Kathak which is now associated with several parts of north India. The word kathak is derived from katha which means a word used in Sanskrit and other languages for story.
  • In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with the growth of the bhakti movement, Kathak began to evolve into a distinct mode of dance. Radha-Krishna tales were enacted in folk plays called rasa lila where folk dance combined with the basic gestures of the kathak story-narrators.
  • Kathak was performed in the court under the Mughal emperors and their nobles where it developed in a form of dance with a distinctive style.
  • Kathak developed in two traditions or gharanas— one in the courts of Rajasthan (Jaipur) and the other in Lucknow. Under the assistance and support of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh it grew into one of the major art form.
  • After the independence, Kathak was recognized as one of the six classical dances of India. The other classical dances are Kathakali, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Manipuri and Kuchipudi.

→ Painting for Patrons: The Tradition of Miniatures

  • Another tradition that developed in different ways was that of miniature painting. In earlier days, miniatures were beautifully painted on palm leaves or wood found in western India which were used to illustrate Jaina texts.
  • Most of the miniatures were exchanged as gifts and were viewed only by the exclusive people, the emperor and his close associates.
  • Mughal artistic tastes had an impact on the regional courts of the Deccan and the Rajput courts of Rajasthan. But, they retained and developed their distinctive characteristics. Also the themes from mythology and poetry were described at centres such as Mewar, Jodhpur, Bundi, Kota and Kishangarh.
  • In the late seventeenth century, another region that attracted miniature paintings was the Himalayan foothills and had developed a bold and intense style of miniature painting called Basohli. The most popular painting was Bhanudatta’s Rasamanjari.
  • In the mid-eighteenth century, the Kangra artists developed a style in miniature painting. The source of creativity and innovation was the Vaishnavite traditions. Kangra painting was different from others as they used soft colours including cool blues and greens, and a lyrical treatment of themes.
  • Also ordinary and simple women and men painted on pots, walls, floors, cloth and their works of art have occasionally survived, unlike the miniatures that were carefully preserved in palaces for centuries.

→ A Closer Look: Bengal – The Growth of a Regional Language

  • By the third-fourth centuries BCE, commercial ties began to develop between
    Bengal and Magadha (south Bihar) which may have led to the growing influence of Sanskrit.
  • The verbal and cultural influence from the mid-Ganga valley became stronger during fourth century. The Chinese traveller Xuan Zang in the seventh century marked that languages related to Sanskrit were in use all over Bengal.
  • Bengal became the centre of a regional kingdom under the Palas in the eighth century. When Akbar conquered Bengal in 1586, it formed the nucleus of the Bengal suba. Bengali developed as a regional language, while Persian was the language of administration.
  • By the fifteenth century, the Bengali group of dialects became united by a common literary language based on the spoken language of the western part of the region which is now known as West Bengal. Though Bengali is derived from Sanskrit, it passed through several stages of evolution. It includes a wide range of non-Sanskrit words which derived from a variety of sources such as tribal languages, Persian, and European languages all become a part of modem Bengali.
  • The early Bengali literature may be divided into two categories—one indebted to Sanskrit and the other independent of it. The first consists of translations of the Sanskrit epics, the Mangalakavyas means auspicious poems which deals with local deities and bhakti literature such as the biographies of Chaitanyadeva, the leader of the Vaishnava bhakti movement.
  • And, the second one consists of Nath literature such as the songs of Maynamati and Gopichandra and stories of Dharma Thakur, fairy tales, folk tales and ballads.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 9 The Making of Regional Cultures

→ Pirs and Temples:

  • There were community leaders who also performed and served as teachers and adjudicators and were sometimes attributed with supernatural powers. These people were referred as pirs who also get affection and respect.
  • These also included saints or Sufis and other religious personalities, brave colonisers and deified soldiers, varied Hindu and Buddhist deities and even animistic spirits. Thus, the cult of pirs became very popular and their shrines can be found everywhere in Bengal.
  • In Bengal, most of the modest brick and terracotta temples were built with the support of different Tow’ social groups, such as the Kolu (oil pressers) and the Kansari (bell metal workers). Many families belonging to these social groups got benefits with the coming of the European trading companies which created new economic opportunities.
  • Their social and economic position were improving and hence, they proclaimed their status through the construction of temples. The temples began to copy the double- roofed means dochala or four-roofed means chauchala structure of the thatched huts. This led to the evolution of the typical Bengali style in temple architecture.
  • In some of the temples particularly in Vishnupur in the Bankura district of West Bengal, decorations reached a high degree of excellence. As the interior was comparatively plain but the outer walls of many temples were decorated with paintings, ornamental tiles or terracotta tablets.

→ Fish as Food:

  • Since, Bengal is a riverine plain hence it produces plenty of rice and fish. One of the most important occupation was fishing and Bengali literature contains several references to fish. Apart from this, terracotta plaques on the walls of temples and viharas (Buddhist monasteries) depicts the scenes of fish being dressed and taken to the market in baskets.
  • From a thirteenth century Sanskrit text from Bengal, the Brihaddharma Purana permitted the local Brahmanas to eat certain varieties of fish.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

→ Delhi became an important city in the twelfth century.

  • It was under the Tomara Rajputs and Chauhans that Delhi became an important commercial centre.
  • Many rich Jaina merchants lived in the city and constructed several temples. Coins minted here, called dehliwal, had a wide circulation.
  • In the beginning of the thirteenth century, the transformation of Delhi into capital started with the foundation of Delhi Sultanate.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

→ The rulers of Delhi Table 1:

Rajput Dynasties Tomaras Early twelfth century 1165
Ananga Pala  1130 – 1145
Chauhans 1165 – 1192
Prithviraj Chauhan 1175 – 1192
Early Turkish Rulers  1206 to 1290
Qutbuddin Aybak  1206 – 1210
Shamsuddin Iltutmish  1210 – 1236
Raziyya  1236 – 1240
Ghiyasuddin Balban  1266 – 1287
Khalji Dynasty  1290 to 1320
Jalaluddin Khalji  1290 – 1296
Alauddin Khalji  1296 – 1316
Tughlaq Dynasty  1320 to 1414
Ghiyasuddin Tughluq  1320 – 1324
Muhammad Tughluq  1324 – 1351
Firuz Shah Tughluq  1351 – 1388
Sayyid Dynasty  1414 to 1451
Khizr Khan 1414 – 1421
Lodi Dynasty  1451 to 1526
Bahlul Lodi  1451 – 1489

→ Finding out about the Delhi Sultans

  • Inscriptions, coins and architecture gives us a lot of information.
  • Tarikh (singular) / tawarikh (plural), were written in Persian, the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.
  • Tawarikh were written by learned men: secretaries, administrators, poets and courtiers who lived in Delhi and advised rulers on governance, stressing the significance of just rule based on gender and birthright distinctions.
  • Sultan Iltutmish’s daughter, Raziyya, became Sultan in 1236. But she was dethroned in 1240 as nobles were not satisfied to have a queen as a ruler.

→ From Garrison Town to Empire: The Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate

  • The control of the Delhi Sultans rarely went beyond heavily fortified towns occupied by garrisons in the early thirteenth century.
  • During the reigns of Ghiyasuddin Balban, Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq expansion occurred in the Delhi Sultanate.
  • Expansions occurred along the ‘internal frontier’ and ‘external frontier’ of the Sultanate.
  • The armies of the Delhi Sultanate had defeated rival armies and seized cities. The Sultanate collected taxes from the peasantry and dispensed justice in its kingdom.

→ A Closer Look: Administration and Consolidation under The Khaljis and Tughluqs

  • To administer the vast kingdom or Sultanate it required reliable administrators and govemers.
  • Iltutmish, favoured their special slaves purchased for military service, called bandagan in Persian. They were trained and Sultan could rely and trust upon them.
  • The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use bandagan and raised people of humble birth, who were often their clients, to high political positions in their kingdom.
  • In Persian tawarikh, the Delhi Sultans were criticised for appointing the “low and base- born” to high offices.
  • Military commanders were appointed as governors of territories of different sizes. These lands were called iqta and their holder was called iqtadar or muqti by the Khalji and Tughluq monarchs.
  • There were three types of taxes
    1. on cultivation called kharaj and amounting to about 50 percent of the peasant’s produce,
    2. on cattle and
    3. on houses under the reign of Alauddin Khalji.
  • Genghis Khan, a Mongol ruler increased its attacks on Delhi which forced Khaljis and Tughluqs to mobilise large standing army in Delhi.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 3 The Delhi Sultans

→ The Sultanate in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

  • The Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled Delhi and Agra until 1526 after the Tughluqs. This period saw the emergence of groups like the Afghans and the Rajputs.
  • Many independent rulers flourished and became prosperous as well in Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur and whole south India.
  • Sher Shah Suri established his own Suri Dynasty from 1540-1555. Sher Shah’s administration became a model which was followed by Akbar as well. He took some segment from Alauddin Khalji and made them more efficient and powerful.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine

→ From the eighth century, various kinds of Bhakti and Sufi movements have evolved.

→ The Idea of a Supreme God

  • There was a belief that social privileges came from birth in a ‘noble’ family or a ‘high’ caste was the subject of many learned texts.
  • Most of the people were not comfortable with such ideas and turned to the teachings of the Buddha or the Jainas.
  • Rest of others felt attracted to the idea of a Supreme God who could deliver humans from such bondage if approached with full devotion or bhakti. This idea was advocated in the Bhagavadgita, which grew in popularity in the early centuries of the Common Era.
  • Hence, Shiva, Vishnu and Durga were worshipped as supreme deities which came through elaborate rituals.
  • The Puranas also laid down the fact that it was possible for devotees to receive the grace of God regardless of their caste status.
  • The idea of bhakti became so popular that even Buddhists and Jainas adopted these beliefs.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine

→ A New Kind of Bhakti in South India – Nayanars and Alvars

  • From the seventh to ninth centuries, they saw the emergence of new religious movements
    led by the Nayanars (those were the saints devoted to Shiva) and Alvars (those were the saints devoted to Vishnu) who came from all castes including those considered as ‘untouchable’ such as the Pulaiyar and the Panars.
  • They strongly criticized the Buddhists and Jainas and preached avid love of Shiva or Vishnu as the path to salvation.
  • In the Sangam literature, the ideals of love and heroism are found. It is the earliest example of Tamil literature, composed during the early centuries of the Common Era and blended them with the values of bhakti.
  • In between the tenth and twelfth centuries, the Chola and Pandya-kings built elaborate temples. This was also the time when their poems were compiled. Apart from this, hagiographies or religious biographies of the Alvars and Nayanars were also composed.

→ Philosophy and Bhakti

  • In the eighth century, Shankara, one of the most influential philosophers of India, was born in Kerala and was an advocate of Advaita or the doctrine of the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme God which is the Ultimate Reality. He preached renunciation of the world and adoption of the path of knowledge to understand the actual nature of Brahman and attain salvation.
  • In the eleventh century, Ramanuja was born in Tamil Nadu and deeply influenced by the Alvars. According to him, through intense devotion to Vishnu one can attain the salvation. He introduced the doctrine of Vishishtadvaita or qualified oneness in that the soul even when united with the Supreme God remained distinct.

→ Basavanna’s Virashaivism:

  • In the mid-twelfth century, the Virashaiva movement was initiated by Basavanna and his companions like Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. This movement began in Karnataka.
  • They were strongly supportive for the equality of all human beings and against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the treatment of women and also against all forms of ritual and idol worship.

→ The Saints of Maharashtra

  • From the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, Maharashtra saw many saint-poets. The most important amongst them were Dnyaneshwar (Gyaneshwar), Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram as well as women like Sakkubai and the family of Chokhamela, who belonged to the ‘untouchable’ Mahar caste.
  • These saint-poets rejected all forms of rituals. In fact, they even rejected the idea of renunciation and preferred to live with their families and earning their livelihood like any other person.
  • As the famous Gujarati saint Narsi Mehta said, “They are Vaishnavas who understand the pain of others.”
  • Hence, a new humanist idea emerged as they insisted that bhakti lay in sharing others’ pain.
  • Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis
  • The Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and Yogis were from the religious groups that emerged
    during this period and criticised the ritual and other aspects of conventional religion and the social order. They advocated renunciation of the world. For them meditation was the path to salvation.
  • They advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices likeyogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation. These groups became popular among the Tow’ castes.

→ Islam and Sufism:

  • Sufis rejected outward religiosity and emphasized on love and devotion to God and they were Muslim mystics.
  • Islam generated strict monotheism or submission to one God. It also rejected idol worship.
  • Shariat was a holy law developed by Muslim scholars. The Sufis often rejected the elaborate rituals and codes of behaviour demanded by Muslim religious scholars.
  • The Sufis too like saint poets composed poems expressing their feelings and a rich literature in prose, including anecdotes and fables, developed around them.
  • The great Sufis of Central Asia were Ghazzali, Rumi and Sadi.
  • They developed a detailed method of training using zikr means chanting of a name or sacred formula, contemplation, sama means singing, raqs means dancing, discussion of parables, breath control, etc., under the guidance of a master or pir. Thus, they emerged the silsilas means a genealogy of Sufi teachers, each following a slightly different method (tariqa) of instruction and ritual practice.
  • The most influential orders were the Chishti silsila among them. Many teachers were there such as Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki of Delhi, Baba Farid of Punjab, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi and Bandanawa Gisudaraz of Gulbarga.
  • The assemblies of the Sufi masters held in their khanqahs or hospices.
  • The tomb or dargah of a Sufi saint became a place of pilgrimage to which thousands of people of all faiths thronged and worshipped.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 8 Devotional Paths to the Divine

→ New Religious Developments in North India

  • In north India, after the thirteenth century, there was a new swing in the bhakti movement. This was the period when Islam, Brahmanical Hinduism, Sufism, various strands of bhakti, and the Nathpanths, Siddhas and Yogis influenced and transformed each other.
  • Kabir and Baba Guru Nanak rejected all conservative and devout religions. Others like Tulsidas and Surdas accepted existing beliefs and practices but wanted to make these attainable to all. Tulsidas’s composition, the Ramcharitmanas is written in Awadhi (a language used in eastern Uttar Pradesh), is important both as an expression of his devotion for Rama and as a literary work.
  • Surdas was an avid devotee of Krishna. The Sursagara, Surasaravali and Sahitya Lahari are his composition which express his devotion.
  • In late fifteenth century, Shankaradeva of Assam focused on devotion to Vishnu and composed poems and plays in Assamese. He made namghars or houses of recitation and prayer, a practice which continues till date.
  • There were some more important saints like Dadu Dayal, Ravidas and Mirabai.
  • In the sixteenth century, Mirabai who was a Rajput princess married into the royal family of Mewar. She became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint from a caste considered ‘untouchable’.
  • Most of the saints works were composed in regional languages and could be sung. They became immensely popular and were handed down orally from generation to generation.

→ A Closer Look: Kabir

  • Kabir was one of the most influential saint in the fifteenth-sixteenth century. We get to know of Kabir’s ideas from a huge collection of verses called sakhis and pads said to have been composed by him and sung by wandering bhajan singers. They were later collected and preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, Panch Vani and Bijak.
  • His teachings were based on the rejection of the major religious traditions. The language of his poetry was understood by ordinary people as it was a form of spoken Hindi.
  • He believed in a formless Supreme God and advised that the only path to salvation was through bhakti or devotion.

→ A Closer Look: Baba Guru Nanak

  • Guru Nanak (1469-1539) bom at Talwandi (Nankana Sahib in * Pakistan) and he travelled widely before establishing a centre at Kartarpur known as Dera Baba Nanak on the river Ravi.
  • Whatever the caste, creed or gender is, his followers ate together in the common kitchen known as langar. Thus, the sacred space created by Gum Nanak was known as Dharamsala. Now it is called as Gurdwara.
  • Gum Angad who was appointed by Gum Nanak as his successor, compiled the compositions of Gum Nanak, and he added his own composition in a new script known as Gurmukhi.
  • In 1605, Gum Arjan compiled all the compositions under the name of ‘Nanak’. Other people’s writings were added to the compilation such as Shaikh Farid, Sant Kabir, Bhagat Namdev and Guru Tegh Bahadur. In 1706, this compilation was authenticated and approved by his son and successor, Gum Gobind Singh. Now, its known as Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs.
  • By the starting of the seventeenth century, the town of Ramdaspur now Amritsar had developed around the central Gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib which is known as Golden Temple.
  • The Khalsa Panth is the community of the Sikhs which became a political entity. It was started by Gum Gobind Singh in 1699.
  • The ideas of Gum Nanak had a huge impact on the development of the Sikh movement from the very beginning. He emphasized the importance of the worship of one God. He used the terms nam, dan and isnan for the essence of his teaching, which actually meant right worship, welfare of others and purity of conduct.
  • Now his teachings are remembered as nam- japna, kirt-karna and vand-chhakna, which also mention the importance of right belief and worship, honest living, and helping others.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 7 Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

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JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 7 Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

→ Society was divided according to the rules of varna in most parts of the subcontinent. These rules were prescribed by the Brahmanas and were accepted by the rulers of large kingdoms. The difference between the rich and poor increased.

→ Beyond Big Cities: Tribal Societies

  • There were other kinds of societies present as well in the subcontinent who did not follow the social rules and rituals dictated by the Brahmanas. Nor they were divided into numerous unequal classes. These types of societies are called tribes.
  • There was a distinctive bond of kinship among the members of each tribe. The main source of livelihood was agriculture but there were hunter-gatherers or herders as well. There were some tribes who were nomadic and moved from one place to another.
  • Many large tribes usually lived in forests, hills, deserts and places difficult to reach. The tribes retained their freedom and preserved their separate culture in various ways.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 7 Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

→ Who were Tribal People?

  • Tribal people did not keep written records but they preserved rich customs and oral traditions. And these were passed down to each new’ generation.
  • Some powerful tribes controlled large territories as people were found in almost every region of the subcontinent.
  • The Khokhar tribe in Punjab was very influential and powerful during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Later, the Gakkhars became more important. Kamal Khan Gakkhar, the chief was made mansabdar by Emperor Akbar.
  • The Langahs and Arghuns in Multan and Sind, dominated extensive regions before they were subdued by the Mughals.
  • The Balochis were another large and powerful tribe in the north-west.
  • The shepherd tribe of Gaddis lived in the western Himalaya.
  • The Nagas, Ahoms and many others too dominated the north-eastern part of the subcontinent.
  • Chero chiefdoms had emerged by the twelfth century in Bihar and Jharkhand. Akbar’s famous general Raja Man Singh attacked and defeated the Cheros in 1591.
  • The Mundas and Santals were among the other important tribes that lived in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa (now Odisha) and Bengal.
  • The Kolis, Berads and numerous other tribes were found in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
  • Far away south there were large tribal populations of Koragas, Vetars, Maravars and many others.
  • The tribe of Bhils were spread across western and central India.
  • Another tribe, the Gonds were found in good numbers across the present-day states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

→ How Nomads and Mobile People Lived?

  • Nomads who lived on milk and other pastoral products and moved over long distances with their animals are called nomadic pastoralists. They also exchanged wool, ghee, etc., with settled agriculturists for grain, cloth, utensils and other products.
  • The most important trader nomads were the Banjaras. Their caravan was called tanda.
  • To transport grain to the city markets, Sultan Alauddin Khalji used the Banjaras.

→ Changing Society: New Castes and Hierarchies

  • As the society grew, people with new skills were required hence, smaller castes, or jatis, emerged within varnas.
  • Artisans such as smiths, carpenters and masons were also recognised as separate jatis by the Brahmanas. Jatis became the basis for organising society rather than varna.
  • New Rajput clans, the Kshatriyas became powerful by the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They belonged to different lineages such as Hunas, Chandelas, Chalukyas and some others. Among them, some had been tribes earlier. They moderately replaced the older rulers especially in agricultural areas.
  • The tribal people had to follow the Rajput clans to the position of rulers as they set an example for them.

→ A Closer Look The Gonds

  • The Gonds practised shifting cultivation as they lived in a vast forested region called Gondwana or “country inhabited by Gonds”.
  • The Akbar Nama reveals the Gond kingdom of Garha Katanga that had 70,000 villages.
  • The kingdom was divided into garbs and each was controlled by a particular Gond clan. It was further divided into units of 84 villages called chaurasi. The chaurasi was again subdivided into barhots which were made up of 12 villages each.
  • The Gond raja of Garha Katanga Aman Das, assumed the title of Sangram Shah. His son, Dalpat, married princess Durgawati, the daughter of Salbahan, the Chandel Rajput raja of Mahoba.
  • She was very capable and brave and started ruling on behalf of her five-year old son, Bir Narain. In 1565, she was defeated by the Mughal forces under Asaf Khan and preferred to die than to surrender. Her son also died fighting after sometime.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 7 Tribes, Nomads and Settled Communities

→ The Ahoms

  • In the thirteenth century, the Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from present-day Myanmar. They created a new system of the bhuiyans means landlords.
  • They used firearms in 1530s and by that the Ahoms built a large state. They could even make high quality gunpowder and cannons by the 1660s.
  • In 1662, the Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the Ahom kingdom but they were defeated.
  • The state depended upon forced labour. Those who were forced to work for the state were called paiks.
    The new methods of rice cultivation was also introduced by Ahoms.
  • The society was divided into clans or khels. A khel often controlled several villages.
  • The Ahoms worshipped their own tribal gods. During the reign of Sib Singh (1714-1744), Hinduism became the predominant religion. But they did not completely give up their traditional beliefs after adopting Hinduism.
  • The historical works known as buranjis were written first in the Ahom language and then in Assamese. It was a very sophisticated society. Theatre was encouraged a lot.

→ Conclusion:
This period saw more interaction between varna based society and the tribal groups. Few established extensive states with well- organised systems of administration hence, became politically powerful.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

by

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

JAC Class 8th History Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation InText Questions and Answers

Page 85

Question 1.
Imagine you are living in the 1850s. You hear of Wood’s Despatch. Write about your reactions.
Answer:
Students need to do it on their own.
Hint:

  1. As an Indian one would be quite as¬tonished to reject knowledge of the east in total.
  2. Wood’s Despatch identified grave errors in our education system.
  3. The British believed that by learn¬ing English education we would be more rational, scientific but they have failed to understand our most reversed spiritual text.

Page 88

Question 2.
Imagine you were born in a poor fam¬ily in the 1850s. How would you have responded to the coming of the new system of government regulated path- shalas?
Answer:
I would have responded against the new system of government regulated pathshalas because children from poor families like me were able to attend the pathshala as the time table was flexible but the new system don’t have flexibility and have strict rules.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 3.
Did you know that about 50 per cent of the children going to primary school drop out of school by the time they are 13 or 14? Can you think of the various possible reasons for this fact?
Answer:
The various possible reason for this fact are:

  1. Poverty
  2. Unemployment
  3. Child labour
  4. Unavailability of schools in villages and backward areas
  5. Due to lack of knowledge and illiteracy, people don’t give importance to education.

Question 4.
Imagine you were witness to a debate between Mahatma Gandhi and Macaulay on English education. Write a page on the dialogue you heard.
Answer:
Students need to do it on their own with the help of teacher.
Hints:
Mahatma Gandhi:
In. the minds of millions of Indians, English education has created a feeling of inferiority.

Macauley:
People need to be more civilized and this can be done only by English education.

Mahatma Gandhi:
Education should be such that could help Indians to restore their self-respect and sense of dignity.

Macauley:
A single shelf of a good European Library is worth than the whole native Indian literature. And so on….

JAC Class 8th History Civilising the Native, Educating the NationTextbook Questions and Answers

(LePsRecair)

Question 1.
Match the following:

William Jones promotion of English education
Rabindranath Tagore respect for ancient cultures
Thomas Macaulay gurus
Mahatma Gandhi learning in a natural environment
Pathshalas critical of English education

Answer:

William Jones respect for ancient cultures
Rabindranath Tagore learning in a natural environment
Thomas Macaulay promotion of English education
Mahatma Gandhi critical of English education
Pathshalas gurus

Question 2.
State whether true or false:
(a) James Mill was a severe critic of the Orientalists.
(b) The 1854 Despatch on education was in favour of English being introduced as a medium of higher education in India.
(c) Mahatma Gandhi thought that promotion of literacy was the most important aim of education.
(d) Rabindranath Tagore felt that children ought to be subjected to strict discipline.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) True
(c) False
(d) False

(Let’s Discuss)

Question 3.
Why did William Jones feel the need to study Indian history, philosophy and law?
Answer:
William Jones felt the need to study Indian history, philosophy and law because only those texts could reveal the real ideas and laws of the Hindus and Muslims and only a new study of these texts could form the basis of future development in India.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 4.
Why did James Mill and Thomas Macaulay think that European education was essential in India?
Answer:
James Mill and Thomas Macaulay thought that European education was essential in India because the education should be useful and practical. They also thought that Indians are need to be civilized and should be made familiar with the Western culture and modernisation.

Question 5.
Why did Mahatma Gandhi want to teach children handicrafts?
Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi wanted to teach children handicrafts because he felt that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul. Literacy to read and write by itself did not count as education. People had to work with their hands, team a craft, and know how different things operated This would develop their mind and their capacity to understand.

Question 6.
Why did Mahatma Gandhi think that English education had enslaved Indians?
Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi thought that English education had enslaved Indians because of the following reasons:

  1. British education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.
  2. It made them see Western civilisation as superior and destroyed the pride they had in their own culture.
  3. Indians educated in these institutions began admiring British rule.

(let’s Do)

Question 7.
Find out from your grandparents about what they studied in school.
Answer:
Students need to do it on their own.

Question 8.
Find out about the history of your school or any other school in the area you live.
Answer:
Students need to do it on their own.
(Hint: Can write about as when the school was built and who built it. How many students are there? How the ‘ students make the school proud?)

JAC Class 8th History Civilising the Native, Educating the NationImportant Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
William Jones, a junior judge in Supreme court arrived in Calcutta in the year .
(a) 1785
(b) 1783
(c) 1789
(d) 1790
Answer:
(b) 1783

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 2.
……….. started the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
(a) William Jones
(b) Henry Thomas Colebrooke
(c) Nathaniel Halhed
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Question 3.
………. felt that the Indian languages should be the medium of teaching.
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Rabindranath Tagore
(c) Subhash Chandra Bose
(d) William Jones
Answer:
(a) Mahatma Gandhi

Question 4.
The poet who reacted against the introduction of Western education in India was………
(a) Premchand
(b) Rabindranath Tagore
(c) Sarojini Naidu
(d) None of the above
Answer:
(b) Rabindranath Tagore

Question 5.
William Carey was a…..
(a) Teacher
(b) British Officer
(c) Scottish missionary
(d) Merchant
Answer:
(c) Scottish missionary

Question 6.
In 1781, a madrasa was set up in ………to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law.
(a) Calcutta
(b) Delhi
(c) Bombay
(d) Surat
Answer:
(a) Calcutta

Question 7.
The English Education Act was introduced in the year.
(a) 1855
(b) 1846
(c) 1875
(d) 1835
Answer:
(d) 1835

Question 8.
Charles Wood was the:
(a) President of the Board of Control of the Company.
(b) Governor General in India.
(c) Viceroy.
(d) English Professor.
Answer:
(a) President of the Board of Control of the Company.

Question 9.
In Shantiniketan, school was started by
(a) Aurobindo Ghose
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
(d) Rabindranath Tagore
Answer:
(d) Rabindranath Tagore

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 10.
Adam found that there were over ….. pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar.
(a) 2 lakhs
(b) 3 lakhs
(c) 1 lakhs
(d) 4 lakhs
Answer:
(c) 1 lakhs

Very Short Answer Type Question 

Question 1.
What do you mean by linguist?
Answer:
A linguist is a person who knows and studies several languages.

Question 2.
William Jones was a linguist as well. What languages he knew?
Answer:
William Jones knew Greek, Latin, French, English, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit.

Question 3.
Who sharply attacked the orientalists?
Answer:
James Mill and Thomas Babington Macaulay attacked the Orientalists.

Question 4.
Who had the opinion that Colonial education created sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians?

Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi had the opinion that Colonial education created sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.

Question 5.
In which places the universities were first established by the company in India?
Answer:
Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were the places where the universities were first established by the company in India.

Question 6.
Which year did the East India Company decide to improve the system of vernacular education?
Answer:
After 1854 the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education.

Question 7.
What do you mean by Orientalists?
Answer:
Orientalists are those who had a scholarly knowledge of the language and culture of Asia.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 8:
In pathshalas, what kind of education was given to the children?
Answer:
In pathshalas, teaching was oral and the guru decided what to teach in accordance with the needs of the students.

Question 9.
What type of task was assigned to the pandit by the Company?
Answer:
The type of task was assigned to the pandit by the Company was to visit the pathshalas and try to improve the standard of teaching.

Question 10.
In which way were Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College viewed by the British?
Answer:
The Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madarsa and Benaras Sanskrit College were viewed as ‘temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay’.

Short Answer Type Question

Question 1.
What was the reason for the establishment of the Hindu College in Benaras?
Answer:
The reason for the establishment of the Hindu College in Benaras in 1791 was to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

Question 2.
In which way Mahatma Gandhi view literacy?
Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi viewed literacy as not the end of education nor even the beginning. It is only one of the means whereby men and women can be educated Literacy in itself is not education.

Question 3.
What did Thomas Macaulay urge the British government in India?
Answer:
Thomas Macaulay urged that the British government in India stop wasting money in promoting Oriental learning as it was of no practical use.

Question 4.
The East India Company opposed to missionary activities in India. Why?
Answer:
Until 1813, the East India Company was opposed to missionary activities in India because it feared that missionary activities would provoke reaction amongst the local population and make them suspicious of British presence in India.

Question 5.
What do you understand by Wood’s Despatch?
Answer:
The Court of Directors of the East India Company in London in 1854 sent an educational dispatch to the Governor General in India. This was issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of the Company and hence, it has come to be called as Wood’s Despatch.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

Question 6.
What were the provisions of English Education Act of 1835?
Answer:
The provisions of English Education Act of 1835 were as follows:

  1. English was made the medium of instruction for higher education.
  2. Promotion of Oriental institutions such as the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit College was stopped These institutions were seen as ‘temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay’.
  3. English textbooks began to be produced for schools.

Question 7.
Explain the measures introduced by the British following the 1854 Wood’s Despatch.
Answer:
Following the 1854 Wood’s Despatch, several measures were introduced by the British as follows:

  1. Education departments of the government were set up to extend control over all matters regarding education.
  2. Steps were taken to establish a system of university education. Universities were established in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
  3. Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school education.

Question 8.
Many British officials criticised the Orientalists. Why?
Answer:
From the early nineteenth century many British officials criticized the Orientalist vision of learning because they said that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thoughts. Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted Hence, they argued that it was wrong on the part of the British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit language and literature.

Question 9.
William Jones discover many things in Calcutta. What were they?
Answer:
William Jones mainly discovered the ancient Indian heritage. He discovered through his studies on ancient Indian texts on law, religion, arithmetic, medicine, science, philosophy. Soon he discovered that the interests were shared by many British officials living in Calcutta that time.

Question 10.
List the main features of educational method followed in pathshalas.
Answer:
The main features of educational method followed in pathshalas were as follows:

  1. There were no formal schools.
  2. Teaching was oral and guru decided what to teach.
  3. The system of education was flexible.
  4. In some places, classes were held in open spaces.
  5. There were no fixed school fees, no books, no annual exams, no regular time-table.

Long Answer Type Question

Question 1.
Describe in brief the irregularities of pathshalas which were checked by the Company.
Answer:
Steps taken by the Company to check the irregularities of pathshalas were:

  1. It appointed a number of government pandits. Each incharge of four to five schools. The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try to improve the standard of teaching.
  2. Each guru was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable.
  3. Teaching was now to be based on textbooks and learning was to be tested through a system of annual examination.
  4. Students were asked to pay a regular fee, attend regular classes, sit on fixed seats and obey the new rules of discipline.

Question 2.
Which type of education did Mahatma Gandhi want in India?
Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi’s views on education was as follows:

  1. Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self-respect.
  2. Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages should be the medium of teaching. Education in English crippled Indians, distanced them from their own social surroundings, and made them ‘strangers in their own lands’.
    Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation
  3. Speaking a foreign tongue, despising local culture, the English educated did not know how to relate to the masses.
  4. He argued that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul. Literacy to read and write by itself did not count as education.
  5. People had to work with their hands, learn a craft, and know how different things operated This would develop their mind and their capacity to understand.

Question 3.
Explain about Rabindranath Tagore and his school Shantiniketan.
Answer:
Rabindranath Tagore like many, also did not approve Western education wholeheartedly. At the time when several Indians urged the British to open more and more schools, colleges and universities in order to spread English education in India, Rabindranath Tagore reacted strongly against such education. He was a great educationist though he hated going to school because he saw it oppressive. In fact, he wanted to establish a school where the children were happy and were free to explore their thoughts and desires without feeling any suppression.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 7 Civilising the Native, Educating the Nation

He advocated for giving children natural surroundings where they would be able to cultivate their natural creativity. In the year 1901, Rabindranath Tagore established Shantiniketan. He regarded it as an ‘abode of peace’. He set up his school 100 kilometres away from Calcutta in a rural setting in order to provide children a very peaceful environment. Here, they could develop their imagination and creativity. Tagore had the opinion that existing schools were killing the natural desires of the children to be creative. Hence, it was necessary to help them develop their curiosity by providing them good teachers who could understand them. By establishing an institution like Shantiniketan he did a great job in the field of education.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

by

JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

JAC Class 8th Civics Why Do We Need A Parliament? InText Questions and Answers

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament- 1
Question 1:
What do you think the artist is trying to convey through the image of Parliament?
Answer:
The artist is trying to convey through the image of Parliament is that it is based on people’s strength and power. These people come from various background and shows unity is strength.

Page 32

Question 2.
Give one reason why you think there should be universal adult franchise.
Answer:
There should be universal adult franchise because it will help to establish equality in the society.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 3.
Do you think there would be any difference if the class monitor was selected by the teacher or elected by the students? Discuss.
Answer:
Yes, there would be a difference if the class monitor was selected by the teacher or elected by the students. If the
class monitor is chosen by the teacher then it will not be a democratic process. But, if the students of the class elect the monitor then he will be representative of the class and this shows a democratic process.

Page 35

Question 4.
Use the table to answer the questions below: Results of the 16th Lok Sabha Elections, (May 2014) Political Party No. of MPs National Parties

  • Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 282
  • Communist Party of India (CPI) 1
  • Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) 9
  • Indian National Congress (INC) 44
  • Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 6
  • State Parties (Regional Parties)
  • Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 4
  • All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 37
  • All India Trinamool Congress 34
  • All India United Democratic Front 3
  • Biju Janata Dal (BJD) 20
  • Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) 2
  • Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) 2
  • Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party 3
  • Janata Dal (Secular) 2
  • Janata Dal (United) 2
  • Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) 2
  • Lok Jan Shakti Party 6
  • Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 4
  • Samajwadi Party (SP) 5
  • Who will be present for discussions in the Lok
  • Shiromani Akali Dal 4
  • Shiv Sena 18
  • Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) 11
  • Telugu Desam (TDP) 16
  • Other Regional Parties 7
  • Registered Unrecognised Parties 16
  • Independents 3

Grand Total 543

  1. Who will form the government? Why? Sabha?
  2. Is this process similar to what you have read about in Class VII?

Answer:

  1. BJP will form the government because they have the majority.
  2. The MPs will be present for discussions in the Lok Sabha.
  3. Yes, this process similar.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 4.
The photograph on page 28 shows results from the 3rd Lok Sabha elections held in 1962.
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament- 2
Use the photograph to answer the following questions:
(a) Which state has the highest number of MPs in the Lok Sabha? Why do you think this is so?
(b) Which state has the least number of MPs in the Lok Sabha?
(c) Which political party has won the most seats in all states?
(d) Which party do you think will form the government? Give reasons why.
Answer:
(a) Uttar Pradesh. This state has the largest population as compared to other states.
(b) Manipur.
(c) The Congress Party
(d) The Congress Party will form the government because they have won in majority.

Page 38

Question 5.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question uestion No: 48 Answered On: 15.12.2017 Converge of Schemes for Children Manoj Rajoria Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to converge various schemes and policies for children in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
Answer:
Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development (Dr. Virendra Kumar). (a) to (c) The Ministry has developed the National Plan of Action for Children 2016 which largely draws upon the existing programmes and schemes of various Ministries/Departments.

It provides a framework for convergence and co-ordination between Ministries/Departments and State/ UTs Governments and encourages collective action from all stakeholders to address multi dimensional vulnerabilities experienced by children. The National Plan of Action for Children 2016 categorizes children’s rights under four key priority areas.

(i) Survival, Health and Nutrition,

(ii) Education and Development,

(iii) Protection and

(iv) Participation. It identifies key programmes, schemes and policies as well as stakeholders for the implementation of different strategies. In the above question, what information is being sought information from the Minister of Women and Child Development? If you were a Member of Parliament (MP), list two questions that you would like to ask.
Answer:
The information which is being sought from the Minister of Women and Child Development were:

  1. whether the Government proposes to converge various schemes and policies for children in the country;
  2. if so, the details thereof; and;
  3. if not, the reasons therefore.

If I were a MP, then I would have asked the following questions:

  1. What is the government doing for women to bring at the level of men?
  2. What is the government doing to give education to every child?

Page 39

Lok Sabha Election Years Voter Turnout (%)
1st 1951-52 61.16
4th 1967 61.33
5th 1971 55.29
6th 1977 60.49
8th 1984-85 64.01
10th 1991-92 55.88
14th 2004 57.98
15th 2009 58.19

Looking at this table would you say that people’s participation during the past 65 years has: decreased/increased/been stable after initial increase?
Answer:
After initial increase, it decreased and then increased again. It has been fluctuating.

Page 40

Question 7.
Why do you think there are so few women in Parliament? Discuss.
Answer:
People don’t want to accept women as rulers as our society is still a male dominating society. Hence, they avoid giving crucial roles to women. But, now, slowly perceptions are changing and women are coming in politics

JAC Class 8th Civics Why Do We Need A Parliament? Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why do you think our national movement supported the idea that all adults have a right to vote?
Answer:
Our national movement supported the idea that all adults have a right to vote because the British government did not allow all adults to vote nor could people participate in decision making. Hence, in the struggle for independence people from all walks of life participated. They came from various backgrounds and were united in their aspirations for a free, equal and independent nation where decision-making would be in the hands of the people. The only way in which this would be possible through elections which will allow common people to have consent to and approve of a government that they have a right to choose.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 2.
In this 2004 map of Parliamentary constituencies alongside, roughly identify the constituencies in your State. What is the name of the MP from your constituency? How many MPs does your state have? Why are certain constituencies coloured green while others are coloured blue?
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament- 3
Answer:

  1. Students need to do it on their own.
  2. Certain constituencies are coloured green while others are coloured blue because they are reserved constituencies for SC and ST respectively.

Question 3.
You have read in Chapter 1 that the ‘Parliamentary form of government’ that exists in India has three tiers. This includes the Parliament (centra! government) and the various Sta Legislatures (state governments). Fill in the following table with information on the various representatives from your area:

Objective State Government CentralGovernment
Which political party/parties is/ are currently in power?
Who (name) is the current representative from your area?
Which political parties currently form the Opposition?
When were elections last held?
When will the next elections be held?
How many women representatives are there (from Question ‘our state)?

Answer:
Students need to do it on their own with the help of teacher.

JAC Class 8th Civics The Why Do We Need A Parliament? Important Questions and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
In democratic India, people elect their representatives to the Parliament, then, one group from among elected representatives forms the government. How long members are elected for?
(a) Five years
(b) Eight years
(c) Seven years
(d) Ten years
Answer:
(a) Five years

Question 2.
In which year Indian Parliament came to existence?
(a) 1952
(b) 1949
(c) 1950
(d) 1947
Answer:
(d) 1947

Question 3.
The election for Lok Sabha is usually occur once every five years. The elected candidates are known as
(a) Ministers of State
(b) Members of Parliament
(c) Members of Constitution
(d) None of these
Answer:
(b) Members of Parliament

Question 4.
Which of the following function/s the Parliament needs to perform?
(a) To make law
(b) To select the national government
(c) To control, guide and inform the government
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Question 5.
It may happen that one political party does not get a clear majority in election. In such a situation a group of parties come together to form a government. This type of government known as a……..
(a) coalition government
(b) admission government
(c) commission government
(d) opposition government
Answer:
(a) coalition government

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 6.
……. functions primarily as the representative of the states of India in the Parliament.
(a)The Prime Minister
(b) The Judiciary
(c) The Rajya Sabha
(d) The President
Answer:
(c) The Rajya Sabha

Question 7.
Who is the leader of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha?
(a) The President
(b) The Vice President
(c) The Prime Minister
(d) The Chief Minister
Answer:
(c) The Prime Minister

Question 8.
There are elected members plus members nominated by the President.
(a) 233; 12
(b) 133; 15
(c) 233; 15
(d) 123; 20
Answer:
(a) 233; 12

Question 9.
The Parliament keeps a heck on the ministers and their work. MPs have the right to question the ministers about the working of their department. This is usually done during .
(a) the answering hour
(b) the question hour
(c) the listening hour
(d) the analysis hour
Answer:
(b) the question hour

Question 10.
The seats are reserved in Parliament for…….
(a) the people from the army
(b) the royal family members
(c) SCs and STs
(d) both a and c
Answer:
(c) SCs and STs

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What do you mean by EVM?
Answer:
EVM means Electronic Voting Machine.

Question 2:
When were EVMs used for the first time?
Answer:
EVMs were used throughout the country for the first time in the 2004 general elections.

Question 3.
Name the two Houses of Parliament.
Answer:
The two houses of Parliament are the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

Question 4.
How does the Parliament session begins?
Answer:
The Parliament, session begins with a question hour.

Question 5.
What do you mean by constituency?
Answer:
Constituency is an area whose voters elect a representative to a legislative body.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 6.
What is the main purpose of parliament?
Answer:
Parliament enables citizens of India to participate in decision making and control the government.

Question 7.
Who presides over Lok Sabha?
Answer:
Lok Sabha (House of the People), with a total membership of 545, is presided over by the Speaker.

Question 8.
How many members does the President nominates in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
Answer:
The President nominates 2 members to the Lok Sabha and 12 members to the Rajya Sabha.

Question 9.
What is the principle of universal adult franchise?
Answer:
The principle of universal adult franchise means that all adult citizens of the country have the right to vote.

Question 10
Who makes the opposition party?
Answer:
The opposition in Parliament is formed by all the political parties that oppose the majority party/coalition formed. The largest amongst these parties is called the Opposition

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Which house of parliament is more powerful with regard to financial matters and how?
Answer:
Lok Sabha is more powerful with regard to financial matters because money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Hence, it controls the finances of the government.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 2.
Why do you think that there are reservation of seats in Parliament for SCs and STs?
Answer:
Some seats are reserved in Parliament for SCs and STs. This has been done so that the MPs elected from these constituencies will be familiar with and can represent Dalit and Adivasi’s interests in Parliament.

Question 3.
What is the role of opposition in’ democracy?
Answer:
The opposition parties play a crucial and important role in the healthy functioning of a democracy. They highlight drawbacks in various policies and programmes of the government and mobilise popular support for their own policies.

Question 4.
What are the basic ideals of democracy?
Answer:
The basic ideals of democracy are:
(i) The ideas of participation in decision-making.
(ii) The need for all democratic governments to have the consent of their citizens.

Question 5.
What are the major functions of the parliament?
Answer:
The major functions of the parliament are:

  1. To select the National Government
  2. To control, guide and inform the government
  3. Law-Making for the people of the country.

Question 6.
What are the main components of Indian Parliament?
Answer:
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a two chambered legislature composed of the President of India and the two houses- the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People).

Question 7.
Which are the three categories of ministers that assist the Prime minister?
Answer:
The three categories of Council of Ministers are:

  1. The Cabinet Ministers:
    The Cabinet Ministers hold important portfolios like Home, Defence, Finance, External Affairs, Railways, etc.
  2. Ministers of State:
    They may or may not hold an independent charge of any portfolio.
  3. Deputy Ministers:
    They assist the Cabinet Ministers and the Council of Ministers.

Question 8.
‘With the coming of Independence we are going to be citizens of a free country’. What did it imply?
Answer:
With the coming of independence, we were going to be citizens of a free country. This implies that the government could not do what it felt like and the government had to be sensitive to people’s needs and demands. The dreams and aspirations of the freedom struggle were made concrete in the Constitution of Independent India that laid down the principle of universal adult franchise, i.e., that all adult citizens of the country have the right to vote.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 3 Why Do We Need A Parliament?

Question 9.
What were the demands of the Indian National Congress in 1885?
Answer:
The nationalists began to openly criticise the British government and make demands. The Indian National Congress in 1885 demanded that there be elected members in the legislature with a right to discuss the budget and ask questions.

Question 10.
What do you mean by reserved constituencies? What is the purpose behind such constituencies?
Answer:
Reserved constituencies are those constituencies in which seats are reserved for SCs and STs on the basis of their population. This has been done so that the MPs elected from these constituencies will be familiar with and can represent Dalit and Adivasi’s interests in Parliament.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How the political party forms the government? How are the representatives elected to the Parliament in India?
Answer:
After the Lok Sabha elections, a list is prepared showing how many MPs belong to each political party. For a political party to form the government, they must have a majority of elected MPs. Since there are 543 elected (plus 2 Anglo-Indian nominated) members in Lok Sabha and to have a majority a party should have at least half the number, i.e., 272 members or more. The Parliament in our system has immense powers because it is the representative of the people.

Elections to the Parliament are held in a similar manner as they are for the state legislature. The Lok Sabha is usually elected once every five years. The country is divided into numerous constituencies. Each of these constituencies elect one person to the Parliament. The candidates who contest elections usually belong to different political parties. Once elected, these candidates become Members of Parliament or MPs. These MPs together make up the Parliament.

Question 2.
Why do you think our national movement supported the idea that all adults have a right to vote?
Answer:
Our national movement supported the idea that all adults have a right to vote because in our struggle for independence people from all walks of life participated. They came from various backgrounds and were united in their aspirations for a free, equal and independent nation where decision-making would be in the hands of the people. The only way in which this would be possible would be through elections-allowing common people advantage point from where they can consent to and approve of a government that “they” have a right to choose.

JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions