CBSE Class 8 History Women Caste and Reform Extra Questions

1. In which language women of the aristocratic Muslim households of North India learnt to read and write the Koran?
   1. Hindi b. Arabic c. Persian d. English
2. The Brahmo Samaj was founded by
   1. Vivekananda
   2. Dayanand Saraswati
   3. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
   4. Raja Rammohun Roy
3. Name this great social leader from Kerala who proclaimed the ideas of unity of all people within one sect, a single caste and one guru.
   
   1. Shri Narayana Guru
   2. Pandita Ramabai
   3. Haridas Thakur Matua
   4. Ghasidas
4. Which one among the following was founded in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste?
   1. Brahmo Samaj
   2. Prarthana Samaj
   3. Paramhans Mandali
   4. Arya Samaj
5. A teacher at the Hindu College, Calcutta in 1820s promoted radical ideas and encouraged his pupils to question all authority. Name the brain behind this Young Bengal Movement.
   1. Rabindranath Tagore
   2. Gopal Krishna Gokhale
   3. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio
   4. Raja Ram Mohan Roy

6. Match the following:

   Column A	Column B
   (i) The Brahmo Samaj	(a) Madras
   (ii) The Singh Sabha Movement	(b) Calcutta
   (iii) Veda Samaj	(c) Bombay
   (iv) The Prarthana Samaj	(d) Amritsar

7. Fill in the blanks:

   1. _________ was one of the main leaders of the Brahmo Samaj.
   2. Henry Louis Vivan Derozio was a teacher at _______ College, Calcutta.
   3. _______ was the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
   4. _______ Samaj was established in 1867.

8. State True or False:

   1. When the British captured Bengal they framed many new laws to regulate the rules regarding marriage, adoption, inheritance of property, etc.
   2. Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue for reform in social practices.
   3. Reformers got full support of all sections of the people of the country.
   4. Brahman priests were outraged when dalits used water from the temple tank.
9. Describe the Child Marriage Restraint Act.
10. Who was Swami Dayanand Saraswati?
11. How did reformers bring changes in society?
12. What was the Satyashodhak Samaj? Who founded it?
13. How did women involve themselves in their upliftment?

Ch-9 Women Caste and Reform

Answer

1. 2. Arabic, Explanation: In aristocratic Muslim families in North India women learnt to read the Quran in Arabic.They were taught by women who came home to teach.
   4. Raja Rammohun Roy, Explanation: Through Brahmo Samaj, Raja Rammohan Roy wanted to bring changes in society and do away with the unjust practices.
   1. Shri Narayana Guru, Explanation: A guru from Ezhava caste, Shri Narayana Guru, proclaimed the ideals of unity for his people. He argued against treating people unequallyon the basis of caste differences. According to him all human kind belonged to the same caste.
   3. Paramhans Mandali, Explanation: Paramhans Mandali was a secret socio-religious group in Bombay.It was started by Mehtaji Durgaram, Dadoba Pandurang and a group of his friends. They were primarily interested in breaking caste rules.
   3. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, Explanation: Referred to as the Young Bengal Movement, Henry Louis Vivian’s students attacked tradition and custom, demanded education for women and campaigned for the freedom of thought and expression.
   1. The Brahmo Samaj – (d) Amritsar
   2. The Singh Sabha Movement – (a) Madras
   3. Veda Samaj – (b) Calcutta
   4. The Prarthana Samaj – (c) Bombay
   1. Keshab Chander Sen was the one of the main leaders of the Brahmo Samaj.
   2. Henry Louis Vivan Derozio was a teacher at Hindu College, Calcutta.
   3. Swami Vivekananda was the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
   4. Prarthana Samaj was established in 1867.
   1. True
   2. False
   3. False
   4. True
2. According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act passed in 1929, no man below the age of 18 and woman below the age of 16 could marry.
3. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was the founder of the Arya Samaj. He raised his voice in favour of widow remarriage.
4. They brought changes in society by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt a new way of life by referring the ancient texts.
5. The Satyashodhak Samaj was an association that propagated caste equality. It was founded” by Jyotirao Phule.
6. By the end of the 19th century, Indian women themselves began to work for their upliftment. They began to get higher education in universities. Some of them trained to be doctors, some became teachers. Many women began to write and publish their critical views on the status of women in society. The name of Tarabai Shinde is worth mentioning here. She got education at home at Poona. She published a book, Stripurushtulna, meaning a comparison between men and women. She criticised the social differences between men and women. Another woman, Pandita Ramabai, was a great scholar of Sanskrit. She criticised Hinduism which was so oppressive towards women. She wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women. She established a widow home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been ill-treated in their families. From the early 20th century, Muslim women such the Begums of Bhopal and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain played active role in spreading education among Muslim girls. They founded schools for them. Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain fearlessly criticised the conservative ideas. She argued that religious leaders of every faith accorded an inferior position to women. The orthodox Hindus and Muslims got alarmed to see all this. Several Hindu nationalists felt that Hindu women were adopting Western ways which would corrupt Hindu culture and erode family values. Orthodox Muslims were equally worried about the impact of these changes. Unaware of all these, women, from the early 20th century, began to form political associations, pressure groups to push through laws for female suffrage and better health care and education for them. Some of them even joined various kinds of nationalist and socialist movements from the 1920s.

Chapter Wise Extra Questions for Class 8 Social Science