HISTORY Optional Paper I Sample Qs

Paper I [Part A : Ancient India] [29 July 2018]

Max Marks: 250                                                                               Max Time: 180 min

Answer all questions. Marks are indicated against each question.

1.       “The Rig Veda is pervaded with the aura of warring tribes. About 30 tribes and clans are mentioned”. Discuss.                                                                                                                 [15]

2.       “The Lokayata (literally, widespread in the world) philosophy was supposed to have been popular among the people” Examine.                                                                                 [15]

3.       “Marx remains the essential base of any adequate study of history, because-so far- he alone has attempted to formulate the methodological approach to history as a whole and to envisage and explain the entire process of human social evolution.”—Eric Hobsbawm.     Critically analyse.                                                                         

                                                                                                                                 [15]

4.       “Ashokan inscriptions corroborated by archaeological data are a reliable guide to the territorial extent of the Mauryan Empire.” Analyse                                                                           [15]

5.        The political system at the time of the Buddha was characterized by the existence of two distinct forms of government: monarchical kingdoms and clan oligarchies or gana-sanghas.  Do you agree?                            

                                                                                                                                   [15]

6.       Paint a picture of the society and economy of the post-Gupta period.                      [15]

7.       What is Levallois technique?  Discuss the significance of Ash mounds in southern Neolithic sites. What are Megaliths?                                                                                     [5+5+5=15]

8.       Discuss how the story of Sunahsepa manifests the family system in ancient India.  [15]

9.       Can we find any pattern and policy in the conquests of Samudragupta?                   [15]

10.    “As for early medieval South India, the empirical evidence does not correspond to Southall’s or Stein’s concept of a segmentary state.” Conceptually analyse.                                                      [20]

11.    Point out the theoretical conjectures regarding the origin and end of the Harappan Civilisation. [20]

12.     “Nagara and Dravida styles should be understood as architectural languages, in the sense that they provide a vocabulary, a range of elements, and a family of forms which can be put together in different ways”. Illustrate.                                                                                        [20]

13.    What do you know of ascetism and ‘life after death’ as perceived in ancient India?                    [10]

Advance Test Series [ATS 12 AUG 2018]

History Optional : Medieval India

Max Marks  250                                                                                        Max Time 180 min

All the questions are compulsory. Marks are indicated against each question.

Q1. Transoxiana (i.e. Land crossways the Oxus) is the region carved out through the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes (also recognized as, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya respectively). Both flow into the inland Aral Sea and are the two mainly significant rivers of Central Asia. The Arabs, who conquered Transoxiana in the eighth century (A.D.), described it Mawaraunnahr, literally meaning “that which is beyond the river”.

How did the geography and culture of Central Asia shape up the trajectory of medieval Indian history?                                                                                                      20

Q2.  

With respect to this, critically discuss, citing illustrations.                                 20

Q3. The first of the Khalji Sultans; Jalaluddin, did neither have will nor possessions to undertake any big-level expansionist programme. His six years, reign was gripped through the internal contradiction of having to reconcile flanked by the policies of the Sultan and the interests of his supporters. The resolution of this problem came in the unfortunate assassination of the Sultan. Alauddin Khalji, his assassin and successor, had a dissimilar imperial design. He was to herald an age of territorial annexation and expansion of the Sultanate which saw the frontiers of the Sultanate reaching secure to the tip of the Southern peninsula through the middle of the fourteenth century.

Post a comparative assessment of Jalaluddin and Alauddian Khalji.                 15

Q4. Religion and religious classes played a significant role in the political, social and economic life of the Vijaynagar empire. Would you agree?                             20

Q5.  Paint a pen-picture of Shivaji’s rise as a Maratha leader, his mode of warfare and the casus belli with the Mughals.                                                                           20

Q6. Closely study the map as under. What could be your possible inferences about Indian history during c. 600 – c. 1500 from it?                                                 15

Q7. Anastasy Nikitin, a Russian traveller who spent four years in the Bahmani sultanate, from 1470 to 1474, left us a report which is one of the most important European accounts of life in medieval India. He highlighted the great contrast between the enormous wealth of the nobility and the grinding poverty of the rural population. In this context, highlight the historiographical constructs of Bahmani and Vijaynagar kingdoms based on the narratives of foreign travelers.                                                     20

Q8. Sher Shah had great understanding and sensibility for architecture. Although Sher Shah was generous in providing support and patronage to religious divines and scholars, the Sur period was too brief to produce any remarkable work of note.

Discuss.                                                                                                              15

Q9. The trading community in Mughal India, especially in the port towns, included some of the richest merchants who were comparable in wealth and power to the merchant princes of Europe. The Portuguese merchant, Godinho, stated in 1663 that the Surat merchants were "very rich", some of them worth more than 50 or 60 lakhs of rupees. Elaborate.                                                                                                          20

Q10. Regarding the Hindus, it is true that Babur declared the war against Sanga a "jihad', and assumed the title of "ghazi" after the victory, forbade wine, and broke the wine-jars. These, obviously, were politically motivated actions. Opine.           10

Q11. Unlike Shah Jahan, there is no official history of Aurangzeb after the tenth year, so that it is difficult to know the precise number of mansabdars. However, on the basis of a careful study, Athar Ali has shown that the total number of mansabdars holding zat ranks of 1000 zat and above increased as follows:

Mughal Emperor	Shah Jahan	Aurangzeb	Aurangzeb
Period	1628-58	1658-78	1679-1707
Mansabdars	437	486	575

Thus, there was only 31 per cent increase during the entire reign of Aurangzeb. Athar Ali points out that:

"... the increase in the number of ranks was not anywhere near the scale witnessed between 1595 and 1656-57, an increase of 4.2 times (ranks of 500 zat and above), and totally out of proportion with the actual increase of territory within that period". He concludes: "One can only hold that Aurangzeb did his best to hold back the pressures for higher mansabs with greater vigour than his predecessors were able to do."

That Aurangzeb worked with reasonable efficiency the system of administration he had inherited may be readily conceded. But he brought the system under tremendous pressure by his religious and political policies. Also, he took no new initiatives to cope with the emerging administrative and military problems.

Centering on the above, make a comparative assessment of Aurangzeb and his predecessors.                                                                                             25

Q12. Write short notes in 150 words on each of the following:            5 x 10 = 50
 

a.       The Sufis and the State

b.      The Mughal and the Ottoman empires in the 16^th century

c.       The Nobility during the Sultanate regime

d.      Slavery as an institution during c. 1200 to c. 1700

e.       Muhammad bin Tughluq’s experiments with administration

                        

Paper I [Ancient + Medieval India]

Max Marks: 250 marks                                                                      Max Time: 180 mins

Question Nos. 1 & 5 are compulsory. Answer any three questions from the rest, taking at least one question from each section. Marks are detailed against each question.

Section A

1.      Identify the following places marked on the outline map supplied to you and write short notes of about 30 words on each of them. Locational hints for each of the places marked on the map are given below seriatim : -     [21/2 x 20 = 50]

(i)                  An important port on the coromandel coast for trade with Romans

(ii)                Famous for ochre coloured pottery

(iii)               PGW & NBPW discovered

(iv)              Seat of power in Bengal, alternated with Gaur

(v)                Capital of Hoysala empire during the 12^th and 13^th centuries

(vi)              Famous port of the Pandya rulers

(vii)             Known for its school of miniature painting

(viii)           This place was ruled by a dynasty founded by Pushyavarman

(ix)              Famous for 16^th century temple architecture

(x)                A great centre of Buddhism

(xi)              Considered to be the birthplace of Jain tirthankara Neminath

(xii)             Most important place of Buddhist pilgrimage

(xiii)           Important port during the Vijaynagar empire

(xiv)           Famous Stupa site

(xv)            Very important trade centre during the ancient period

(xvi)           Ancient port & trading centre

(xvii)         Harappan site

(xviii)        Ancient stone-built city

(xix)           Capital of the eastern chalukyas

(xx)            Capital of the kakatiya kingdom during 12^th and 13^th centuries

2A. Evaluate the significance of seals and sealings in the reconstruction of socio-economic and religious life of the Harappan people.

2B. Justify Pliny’s statement that Rome was being drained out of its gold by India during the first century of the Christian era.

2C. Discuss the peculiarities of the Daimabad art. What is your inference about Megalithic cultures?                 [15+15+20=50]

3A. Assess the educational system in early India and identify important educational institutions of the period.
3B. “The Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft for a king and discusses a potential, not an actual state.” Critically analyse.
3C. To what extent the Rig Veda documents the social and religious lives of the people? [15+15+20=50]

4A. Discuss what the Smriti Literature has to say about land ownership during the Gupta period.  

4B. “The Ahar culture phase was followed by the Malwa culture. Navdatoli (west Nimar district), on the southern banks of the Narmada, is the largest settlement of this culture.” Comment.

4C. Analyse the vibrant cultural activities in peninsular India during 550-750 CE. Compare and contrast it with the situation in contemporary North India.    [20+10+20=50]

Section B

5. Write short notes in not more than 150 words on each of the following [10x5=50]

a. Science and Technology between 1526 to 1707 CE

b. Bengal under the Palas and Senas

c. The Mongol incursions during the Sultanate period

d. Ibn Battuta’s account of the Delhi Sultanate

e. Social Welfare schemes by the Mughal state

6A. The Sultanates did not alter many of the social institutions inherited from ‘Indian feudalism’. Critically examine.

6B. Examine the regional variations of architecture during the medieval era of Indian history, especially citing Malwa and Jaunpur.

6C. Trace the rise of the Bahmani kingdom. Prepare a brief on the rule of Zainul Abidin of Kashmir.      [10+20+20=50]

7A. How did the Mansabdari system evolve from Akbar’s reign to Shah Jahan’s ?

7B.” Wahdat al-Wujud and Akbar” – bring out the connection.  

7C. Can it be said that Aurangzeb had psychosomatic disorders?    [20+15+15=50]

8A. Elaborate on the growth of non-Persian and non-Arabic literature in the medieval era, especially during 1200 CE to 1707 CE.

8B. Present a brief on the Indian mercantile class in the 16^th and 17^th centuries.

8C. “Indian music and painting entered a richly productive phase in the Mughal period.” Comment.     [20+15+15=50]