JAC Board Class 8th Social Science Solutions History Chapter 1 How, When and Where
JAC Class 8th History How, When and Where InText Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Look carefully at Fig. 1 and write a paragraph explaining how this image projects an imperial perception.
Answer:
This image clearly and precisely portrays the imperial superiority. Superior power symbolises the lion. It shows that the empire is the giver and its subjects are always loyal to the throne. This figure also tries to suggest that Indians willingly gave their ancient texts (shashtras) to Britannia, the symbol of British Power. It shows they are asking for protection of Indian culture from them.
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Question 2.
Interview your mother or another member of your family to find out about their life. Now, divide their life into different periods and list out the significant events in each period. Explain the basis of your periodisation.
Answer:
Student need to do it on their own
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Question 3.
Look at Sources 1 and 2. Do you find any differences in the nature of reporting? Explain what you observe.
Source 1.
Reports to the Home Department In 1946 the colonial government in India was trying to put down a mutiny that broke out on the ships of the Royal Indian Navy’. Here is a sample of the kind of reports the Home Department got from the different dockyards.
Bombay.
Arrangements have been made for the Army to take over ships and establishment. Royal Navy ships are remaining outside the harbour.
Karachi.
301 mutineers are under arrest and a few more strongly suspected are to be arrested … All establishments … are under military guard.
Vizagapatnam.
The position is completely under control and no violence has occurred. Military guards have been placed on ships and establishments. No further trouble is expected except that a few men may refuse to work. Director of Intelligence, HQ. India Command, Situation Report No. 7. File No. 5/21/46 Home (Political), Government of India
Source 2.
Not fit for human consumption” Newspapers provide accounts of the movements in different parts of the country. Here is a report of a police strike in 1946. More than 2000 policemen in Delhi refused to take their food on Thursday morning as a protest against their low salaries and the bad quality of food supplied to them from the Police Lines kitchen. As the news spread to the other police stations, the men there also refused to take food … One of the strikers said. “The food supplied to us from the Police Lines kitchen is not fit for human consumption. Even cattle would not eat the chappatis and dal which we have to eat.“ Hindustan Times, 22 March, 1946”
Answer:
Yes, we find differences in the nature of reporting.
Source 1.
It describes the incident observed by the Director of Intelligence. Hence, it is a report provided by the Director.
Source 2.
It is a newspaper report of a police strike happened in 1946 and observations were done by reporters and editors. Hence, there may be some differences in the reports.
Question 4.
Imagine that you are a historian wanting to find out about how agriculture changed in a remote tribal area after independence. List the different ways in which you would find information on this.
Answer:
Hint. As a historian, I would like to seek information from administrative documents which are related to agriculture in tribal areas and survey records. Would refer to manuscripts and notes of the officials, also refer to document written by different historians.
JAC Class 8th History How, When and Where Textbook Questions and Answers
Question 1.
State whether true or false.
(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods – Hindu, Muslim, Christian.
(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of the country think.
(c) The British thought surveys were important for effective administration.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) False
(c) True
Let’s Discuss
Question 2.
What is the problem with the periodisation of Indian history that James Mill offers?
Answer:
James Mill divided Indian history into three periods Hindu, Muslim and British. This periodisation has its own problem.
- It is not correct to refer to any period of history as ‘Hindu’ or ‘Muslim’ because a variety of faiths existed simultaneously in these periods.
- It is also not justified to specify an age through the religion of the rulers of the time. To do so is to suggest that the lives and practices of the others do not really matter.
- Even rulers in ancient India did not all share the same faith which is worth noting.
Question 3.
Why did the British preserve official documents?
Answer:
The British preserved official documents because they believed that the act of writing was very important. Every instruction, plan, policy decision, agreement, investigation had to be clearly written up. Once this was done, things could be properly studied, discussed and debated. This conviction produced an administrative culture of memos, notings and reports.
Question 4.
How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports?
Answer:
The information historians get from old newspaper is usually affected by the views and opinions of the reporters and editor. The information which the historians get from police reports are different from newspaper as the reports of police are usually true and realistic.
Question 5.
Can you think of examples of surveys in your world today? Think about how toy companies get information about what young people enjoy playing with or how the government finds out about the number of young people in school. What can a historian derive from such surveys?
Answer:
In the present day scenario various kinds of surveys are carried on both by the government as well as private enterprises. The government surveys include census in which various details of a family are collected. Private companies also carry surveys for the use of their products and to find the prospective customers. We can take example of the toy companies. These companies prepare a questionnaire and put them on a sheet of paper. They engage a number of representatives.
For this purpose, they visit school and distribute these papers among young people after the school is over. Young people are asked to take or cross options of their choice. Then they get these papers back through which they derive their conclusion about the toy liked by young people. The government carries out census every 10 years. Each household provides details of its children. It is from this detail that the government comes to know about the number of young people in the school. Historians study these data and come to know about the education level and other details.
JAC Class 8th History How, When, and Where Important Questions and Answers
Question 1.
The aim of the study of history is/are.
a. improving general awareness.
b. understanding changes that occur over time.
c. predicting future trends.
d. all of these
Answer:
d. all of these
Question 2.
……….. is/are the sources of historical information which is commonly used to learn about the lives of people who lived many years ago.
a. Old paintings
b. Old maps
c. Newspaper
d. All of these
Answer:
a. Old paintings
Question 3.
We ask many questions based on our curiosity which are actually historical. Like travelling in a train, what all questions you might ask?
a. When did railway service start in India?
b. Who invented the train?
c. Which was the first railway station in India and world?
d. All of these
Answer:
d. All of these
Question 4.
To most people, history is about………
a. numbers
b. politics
c. dates
d. none of these
Answer:
c. dates
Question 5.
The first map of India was made by James Rennel in………
a. 1765
b. 1782
c. 1865
d. 1872
Answer:
b. 1782
Question 6.
…………..thought that surveys were important for good administration.
a. British
b. Portuguese
c. Dutch
d. Spanish
Answer:
a. British
Question 7.
The last Viceroy of India was ………
a. Lord Wellesley
b. Lord Clive
c. Lord Mountbatten
d. Lord Ripon
Answer:
c. Lord Mountbatten
Question 8.
Calligraphers are those persons who
a. are specialized in the art of speaking.
b. are specialized in the art of painting.
c. are specialized in the art of music.
d. are specialized in the art of writing.
Answer:
d. are specialized in the art of writing.
Question 9.
The British felt that all-important ……. and letters needed to be carefully preserved.
a. toys
c. books
b. guns
d. documents
Answer:
d. documents
Question 10.
Census operations are held every………
a. five years
b. ten years
c. fifteen years
d. twenty years
Answer:
b. ten years
Very Short Answer Type Question
Question 1.
Who was the first Governor-General of British India?
Answer:
The first Governor-General of India was Warren Hastings in 1773.
Question 2.
What was the thinking of James Mills about all Asian societies?
Answer:
Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilisation than Europe.
Question 3.
When did The National Archives of India formed?
Answer:
The National Archives of India was formed in the 1920s.
Question 4.
How did paintings project Governor- Generals?
Answer:
Paintings projected Governor-Generals as powerful figures.
Question 5.
How have historians divided Indian history?
Answer:
Historians have usually divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modem’.
Question 6.
What do you understand by ‘colonisation’?
Answer:
When one country subjugate another country which leads to political, economic, social and cultural changes refer to colonisation.
Question 7.
Who is the author of “A History of British India”?
Answer:
The author of “A History of British India” was James Mill. He wrote this three volume book in 1817.
Question 8.
Who created the first map of India?
Answer:
An English geographer, historian and pioneer of oceanography who prepared the first map of India was Major James Rennell. He was directed by Major General Sir Robert Clive to prepare the map.
Question 9.
What are the events that are usually recorded in history?
Answer:
The events that are usually recorded in history are crowning of events, wars, events related to kingdoms and lives of the rulers.
Question 10.
According to James Mill, what evil practices dominated the Indian social life before the British came to India?
Answer:
According to James Mill, the evil practices which dominated the Indian social life before the British came to India were religious intolerance, caste taboos and superstitious practices.
Short Answer Type Question
Question 1.
With what did the British historians associate the modern period?
Answer:
The British modem period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity – science, reason, democracy, liberty and equality.
Question 2.
What was an important aspect of the histories written by the British historians in India?
Answer:
In the histories written by British historians in India, the rule of each Governor- General was important.
Question 3.
What were the points which the official records didn’t tell? From where do we get such information?
Answer:
Official records do not tell us that what the citizen of the country felt and what lay behind their actions and works. For that we have diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims and travellers, autobiographies of important personalities, and popular booklets that were sold in the local bazaars.
Question 4.
Many historians refer to modern period as colonial. Why?
Answer:
Many historians refer to modem period as ‘colonial’ because under British rule people did not have equality, freedom or liberty. Nor was the period one of economic growth and progress.
Question 5.
By what criteria do we choose a set of dates as important?
Answer:
The dates we select, the dates around which we compose our story of the past, are not important on their own. They become vital because we focus on a particular set of events as important. If our focus of study changes, if we begin to look at new issues, a new set of dates will appear significant.
Question 6.
The British conquer India and establish their rule. How?
Answer:
British came to conquer the country and establish their rule, subjugating local nawabs and rajas. For this, they established control over the economy and society, collected revenue to meet all their expenses, bought the goods they wanted at low prices, produced crops they needed for export. They also brought changes about in values and tastes, customs and practices.
Question 7.
The invention of the printing press helped in spreading news and information. How it happened?
Answer:
In the early years of the nineteenth century documents were carefully copied out and beautifully written by calligraphists. By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the spread of printing, multiple copies of these records were printed as proceedings of each government department. As printing spread, newspapers were published and issues were debated in public. Leaders and reformers wrote to spread their ideas, poets and novelists wrote to express their feelings.
Question 8.
What was the reason behind the use of dates in history?
Answer:
There was a time when history was an account of battles and big events only. It was about rulers and their policies. Historians wrote about the year a king was crowned, the year he married, the year he had a child, the year he fought a particular war, the year he died, and the year the next mler succeeded to the throne. For events such as these, specific dates can be determined, and in histories such as these, debates about dates continue to be important.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
Historians have divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’. What problems does this division has?
Answer:
Historians have usually divided Indian history into ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modem’, if we move away from British classification. This division too has its many problems.
- It is a periodisation that is borrowed from the West where the modem period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity such as science, democracy, liberty and equality. Medieval was a term used to describe a society where these features of modem society did not exist.
- It is difficult to accept this description and depiction of the modem period because under British rule people did not have equality, freedom or liberty. Nor it was the period one of economic growth and progress. Many historians therefore refer to this period as ‘colonial’.
Question 2.
Surveys become important under the colonial administration. Explain briefly?
Answer:
The practice of surveying also became important under the colonial administration. The British believed that a country had to be properly known before it could be effectively administered. By the early nineteenth century detailed surveys were being carried out to map the entire country. In the villages, revenue surveys were conducted.
The main concern was to know the topography, the soil quality, the flora, the fauna, the local histories, and the cropping pattern and all the facts seen as necessary and important to know about to administer the region. From the end of the nineteenth century, Census operations were held every ten years. These prepared detailed records of the number of people in all the provinces of India, recording the information on castes, religions and occupation. There were many other surveys such as botanical surveys, zoological surveys, archaeological surveys, anthropological surveys, forest surveys.
JAC Class 8 Social Science Solutions