CBSE Question Paper 2013 Class 12 History

General instructions:

• Answer all the questions.  Some questions have an internal choice.  Marks are indicated against each question.
• Answer to questions carrying 2 marks (Part – A, 1 to 3) should not exceed 30 words each.
• Answers to questions carrying 5  marks (Part –  B, Section –  I to IV, Question No. 4  — 14) should not exceed 100 words each. Part B, Section –  IV is a  value based
• Answers to questions carrying 1O marks (Part C, Questions 15 and 16) should not exceed 500 words each.
• Part D questions are based on 3 sources.
• Attach the maps with the answer scripts (Part E).

PART – A

Answer all the questions given below:

1. Who was Cunningham? Mention any one account used by him to locate the early settlements of Harappa Civilization

2. Which dynasty did Krishnadeva Raya belong to? Mention any one of his expansion and consolidation policies.

3. Why is ‘objectives resolution of Nehru considered a momentous resolution? Give any two reasons.

PART-B
SECTION –  I

Answer any three of the following questions:

4.‘The most unique feature of Mohenjodara was the planned urban centre.’ Support the statement with examples.

5. The Mahabharata is a good source to study the Kinfolk’s values of ancient times.” Justify this statement with suitable arguments.

6. “The principle of ahimsa and renunciation emphasized by Jainism has left its mark.” Support the statement with Lord Mahavira’s messages.

7. How do the modern historians explain the development of Magadha as the most powerful Mahajanpada? Explain.

SECTION – II

Answer any two of the following questions:

8. “Bernier’s description of imperial French philosopher Montesquieu arguments.

9. Explain the features of Islamic religion which contributed to its spread through the sub-continent.

10. In what ways have the daily routine and special festivities associated with the Mughal court conveyed a sense of the power of the Mughal emperor? Explain.

SECTION – III

Answer any two of the following questions:

11. Why did the Fifth Report become the basis of the intense debate in England? Explain.

12. How have the different kinds of available sources helped the historians in reconstructing the political career of Gandhiji and the history of the national movement that was associated with it? Explain.

13. ‘The colonial cities offered new opportunities to women during the 19″ century.” Support the statement with facts.

SECTION – IV

14. Read the ‘value-based’ passage given below and answer the questions that follow

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled  to Calcutta on the plea that the

region was being misgoverned. The British government also wrongly assumed that

Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler. On the contrary, he was widely loved, and

when he left his beloved Lucknow, there were many who followed him all the way to

Kanpur singing songs of lament. The widespread sense of grief and  loss  at the

Nawab’s exile was recorded by many contemporary observers. One of them wrote: “The life

was gone out of the body, and the body of this town had been left lifeless . . . there was no street

or market and house which did not wail out the cry of agony in

separation of Jan-i-Alam.” One folk song bemoaned that “the came and took the country.” (Angrez  Bohadur ain, mulk  lai linho).

Questions:
(a) Why did people bemoan and show an emotional upheaval at? Explain.

(b) What human values are revealed in the above passage?

PART – C

15. Explain why  Abdur Razzak, a Persian Ambassador, was greatly impressed by the fortification of Vijayanagara Empire during the l5″  century.

OR

Explain the ways through which Mughal village Panchayats and village headmen which Mughal village Panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.

16. Explain how the Indian partition was a culmination of communal politics that started developing in the opening decades of the 20″ century.

OR

Explain how the Constitution of India protects the rights of the Central Government and the States.

PART – D

17. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:

A ryot petitions

This is an example of a petition from a ryot of the village of Mirajgaon, Taluka Karjat, to the Collector.  Ahmednagar. Deccan Riots Commission :

The sowbrs (sahukars) have of late begun to oppress us. As we cannot earn enough to defray our household expenses, we are actually forced to beg of them to provide the US with money, clothes, and grain, which we obtain from them not without great difficulty,  nor without their compelling us to enter into hard conditions in the bond.
Moreover, the necessary clothes and grain are not sold to us at cash rates. The prices asked from us are generally twenty-five or fifty percent more than demanded from customers making ready money payments  … The produce of our fields is also taken by the sowkars, who at the time of removing it assures us that it will be credited to our account, but they do not actually make any mention of it in the accounts. They also refuse to pass us any receipts for the product so removed by them.
(a) What kind of injustice was experienced by the ryots?
(b) Why was the harvest taken away by the money lenders and why was it not credited to the peasant’s account?
(c) Give details on the commission that investigated petitions and grievances of the concerned people.

OR

Ordinary life in extraordinary times

What happened in cities during the months of Revolt? How did people live through those months of tumult? How was normal life affected? Reports from different cities tell us about the breakdown in routine activities. Read these reports from the Delhi Urdu Akbar, 14 June 1857:

The same thing is true for vegetables and saag (spinach). People have been found to complain that even Adds (pumpkin) and baingan (brinjal) cannot be found in the bazaars. Potatoes and nrvi (yarn) when available are of stale and rotten variety. stored from before by farsighted kunjras (vegetable growers). From the gardens inside the city, some produce does reach a few places but the poor and the middle class can only lick their lips and watch them (as they are earmarked for the select)

. ..There is something else that needs attention which is causing a lot of damage to the people which is that the water-carriers have stopped filling water. Poor Shurfas (gentility) are seen carrying water in pans on their shoulders and only then the necessary household tasks such as cooking, etc. can take place. The halalkhors (righteous) have become haramkhors (comipt), many mohallas have not been able to earn for several days and if this situation continues then decay, death and disease will combine together to spoil the city’s air and an epidemic will spread all over the city and even to areas adjacent and around.

(a) Explain what happened in Delhi city during the months of the 1857 Revolt?
(b) How did people live through those months of tumult?
(c) How did the routine activities disturb the people?

18. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
In this extract Abu’l Fazl gives a vivid account of how and from whom he collected his information:
….. to Abu’l Fazl, son of Mubarak . .. this sublime mandate was given. ‘Write with the pen of sincerity the account of the glorious events and of our dominion-conquering victories . .. Assuredly, I spent much labor and research in collecting the records and narratives of His Majesty’s ac0ons and I was a long time interrogating the servants of the State and the old members of the illustrious family. I examined both prudent, truth- speaking old men and active-minded, right actioned young ones and reduced their statements to writing. The Royal commands wore issued to the provinces, that those who from old service  Mth certainty or with adminicle of doubt, the events of the past, should copy out‘the notes and memoranda and transmit them to the coun. (Then) a second command shone forth from the holy Presence-chamber; to wit – that the materials which had been collected should be . . . recited in the royal hearing, and whatever might have to be written down afterward, should be introduced into the noble volume as a     supplement, and that such details as on account of the minuteness of the inquiries and the mtniitne of affairs, (which) could not then be brought to an end, should be inserted afterwards at my leisure.

Being relieved by this loyal order – the interpreter of the Divine ordinance — from the secret anxiety of my heart, I proceeded to reduce into writing the rough draughts (drafts) which were void of the grace of arrangement and style. I obtained the chronicle of events beginning at the Nineteenth Year of the Divine Era when the Record Office was established by the enlightened intellect of His Majesty, and from its rich pages, I gathered the accounts of many events. Great pains too, were has taken to procure the originals or copies of most of the orders which had been issued to the provinces from the Accession up to the present-day … I also took much trouble to incorporate many of the reports which ministers and officials had submitted, about the affairs of the empire and tfie events of foreign countries. And my labor- loving soul was satiated by the apparatus of inquiry and research. I also send myself energetically to collect the rough notes and memoranda of sagacious and well- informed men. By these m  earns, I constructed a reservoir for irrigating and moistening the rose garden of fortune.
(a) Who was Abul Fazl?
(b) Enumerate the sources he used to compile his work.
(c) Name any two administrative and two literary projects compiled by him at the order of Emperor Akbar.

OR

Kings and traders

Krishnadeva  Raya (ruled  1509-29),  the most famous ruler of Vijayanagara, composed a work on statecraft in Telugu known as the Amukiamalyada. About traders he wrote:
A king should improve the harbors of his country and so encourage its commerce that horses, elephants, precious gems, sandalwood, pearls, and other articles are freely imposed . . . He should arrange that the foreign sailors who land in his country on account of storms, illness, and exhaustion are looked after in a suitable manner. . . . Make the merchants of distant foreign countries who import elephants and good horses are attached to yourself by providing them with the daily audience, presents and allowing decent profits. Then those articles will never go to your enemies.
(a) Who was the most famous ruler of Vijayanagara and why?
(b) Mention the name and theme of the work compiled by him.
(c) Why do you think the King was interested in encouraging trade? Explain.

19. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

Buddhism In practice

This is an excerpt from the Sutta Pitaka and contains the advice given by the Buddha     to a wealthy householder named Sigala:
In five ways should a master look after his servants and employees . . . by assigning them to work according to their strength, by supplying them with food and wages, by tending them in sickness; by sharing delicacies with them and by granting leave at times . . .

In five ways should the clansmen look after the needs of Samanas (those who have renounced the world) and Bralimanas by affection in act and speech and mind, by keeping open house to them and supplying their worldly needs? There are similar instructions to Sigala about how to behave with his parents, teacher, and wife.
(a) What advice was given by Buddha to Sigala regarding the relationship between a master and his servants and employees?
(b) List the instructions given by  Buddha to the clansmen for  Samaras and Brahmanas.
(c) According to you what suggestion Buddha would have advocated regarding parents and teachers?

OR

A divine order?

To justify their claims, Brahmanas often cited a verse from a hymn in the Rigveda known as the Purusha Sukta, describing the sacrifice of Purusha, the primeval man. All the elements of the universe, including the four social categories, were supposed to have emanated from his body:
The Brahmana was his mouth, of his arms was made the Kshatriya. His thighs became the Vaishya, of his feet the Shudra was born.
(a) How does Rigveda describe the sacrifice of Punisha?
(b) According to Rigveda how did the elements of the universe and four social categories emanate?
(c) How did the Brahmanas enforce these norms?

PART – E

20. On the given Political Outline Map of India mark and name the following
(a) Kuru (b) Rajgir (c) Magadha (d) Avanti (e) Ujjain

OR

On the given political Outline Map of India, mark and name the following :
(a) Golconda (b) Vijayanagar (c) Mysore (d) Quilon (e) Tirunelveli
Note: the following questions are only for the Visually Impaired Candidates in lien of map Question no 20:
(a). Name five important apadas.

OR

(b)Mention five important centres of the national movement.

21. On the given political outline map of India, five centres of the Revolt of 1857 are marked as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Identify them and write their names on the line given against each on the map.
Note: The following question is for the Visually Impaired Candidates only in lieu of Question No. 21:

Mention any five centres of the Revolt of 1857.

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