The Sahara desert, located in North Africa, is the world's largest hot desert. With an area of about 8.54 million square kilometres it encompasses 11 countries including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

A modern democracy has certain important features which are enshrined in its constitution.

1. Rule by the People: A democracy is a political system where the people choose the government through regular, free and fair elections. During elections people choose their representatives from competing parties. The people thus decide who will represent them in parliament. Thus, in a democracy, the people are the highest form of political authority. The leaders of government hold power only temporarily, i.e., as long as they enjoy the trust of the people.
2. Justice and Equality: Justice and equality are the two pillars of democracy. Justice is to give each one what is due to him or her as a person. Equality is defined by our constitution as “every citizen is equal before the law… there shall be no discrimination by virtue of caste, ***, religion, wealth, etc.” To enjoy the equality there should be justice.
3. Guarantee of basic human right to every citizen: In a democracy, every citizen has certain basic rights or fundamental rights that are guaranteed by the constitution of the country. These rights cannot be taken by the state. They include- The right to freedom of speech and action, The right to equality, The right to freedom of religion, The right to information, The right to travel and settle anywhere in the country, The right to associate, The right to assemble freely.
4. The rule of law: In a democracy, there are several laws to limit the power of the government, to maintain order and protect the rights of citizens. All citizens are equal in the eyes of law. No one is above the law, not even a king or an elected president. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of their race, religion, ethnic group or gender. No one may be arrested or imprisoned, without adequate reason. Torture or ill-treatment of prisoners is forbidden. This is known as rule of law.
5. Separation of powers: To ensure smooth and impartial governance, most democracies provide for the separation of the three bodies of government- the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
6. Governance for the public good: In a democracy the government is elected to work for the good of the public.
7. Participation of citizens in politics and civic life: The citizen of a democracy participate actively in its functioning. They are well informed about the issues facing the country and how they want the issues addressed. The success of a democracy depends on citizen’s peaceful participation.

The middle classes in medieval India consisted mainly of merchants, proficient classes and officials. There was high class professionalism among Indian merchants. They were experts in wholesale and retail trade. The wholesale traders were called Seth or Vorah and the retailers were Beoparies or Baniks. In south India, the Chettis formed the trading community. There was a special class called Banjaras who moved from place to place carrying food grains, salt, ghee etc.

An ecosystem is defined as a community of lifeforms in concurrence with non-living components, interacting with each other. 

An ecosystem can be as small as an oasis in a desert, or as big as an ocean, spanning thousands of miles. There are two types of ecosystem:

• Terrestrial Ecosystem
• Aquatic Ecosystem

An ecosystem is defined as a community of lifeforms in concurrence with non-living components, interacting with each other. 

An ecosystem can be as small as an oasis in a desert, or as big as an ocean, spanning thousands of miles. There are two types of ecosystem:

• Terrestrial Ecosystem
• Aquatic Ecosystem

The person who is elected by the people of a ward is called the municipal councilor or ward councilor.
Different committees are formed to look after planning and implementation of various programmes. These committees have councilors as their members. A particular committee takes decision about a particular aspect.

The parties involved in the “tripartite struggle” were the rulers belonging to the Gurjara - Pratihara, Rastrakuta and Pala dynasties who fought for the control over Kanauj. Because there were three parties in this long drawn conflict, historians often describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.

Role of the zamindar in Mughal administration:

1. Zamindars were local headmen of villages or powerful chieftains appointed by the Mughal emperor.
2. They played a role of source in running of the administration of the Mughals.
3. They collected tax on the produce of the peasantry which was the main source of income available to Mughal rulers.
4. In some areas the zamindars exercised a great deal of power and sometimes zamindars and peasants of the same caste allied in rebelling against Mughal authority.

A devadasi is the name given to a girl ‘dedicated’ to a deity in a temple for worship and service of the deity for the rest of her life. This was prominent in southern and parts of western India. The dedication of the girl takes place in a ceremony similar to marriage and is called ‘pottukattu’. Originally, the girls learned and practiced the arts like Bharathanatyam, Odissi or other classical dance forms, apart from taking care of the temple and engaging in rituals. They traditionally enjoyed a high status in society as music and dance were integral parts of worship in temples. They generally married wealthy patrons and engaged their time pursuing and bettering their artistic skills, instead of becoming a housewife. The job of the housewife belonged to the other wife of the patrons. The Devadasis’ children were also taught music and dance.

By the seventh century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the sub-continent. Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas. They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.

Indian society has been patriarchal since inception. Female gender is considered inferior to males and males are always given preference and privileges as compared to females. Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslim girls are mostly drop out of schools due to the following reasons:
1) Social Discrimination: The caste system in our society discriminates against lower castes people and majority religion less tolerate minority religion
2) Poverty: This is the major reason why girls cannot pursue their secondary education and some cannot even complete primary education because their parent cannot afford fees and girl children are forced to work at home.
3) Lack of Good School Facilities: These communities are discriminated even by the schooling system. They are given less preference.
4) Uneducated Background: The parents mostly uneducated don't see any good in educating their children while spending money.

A new kind of bhakti evolved in South India in the seventh to ninth century, comprising of the emergence of new religious movements which were led by Nayanars and Alvars. Nayanars were saints devoted to Shiva and Alvars were saints devoted to Vishnu. The main principles of Bhakti movement were : (1) God is one, (2) To worship God-man should serve humanity, (3) All men are equal, (4) Worshipping God with devotion is better than performing religious ceremonies and going on pilgrimages, and (5) Caste distinctions and superstitious practices are to be given up. Bhakti, (Sanskrit: “devotion”) in Hinduism, a movement emphasizing the mutual intense emotional attachment and love of a devotee toward a personal god and of the god for the devotee.

The Jats: The Jats were prosperous agriculturists. The towns like Panipat and Ballabhgarh emerged as popular trading centres in the areas dominated by them. The Jats also consolidated their power during the late 17th and 18th centuries. They acquired control over the following areas, under their leader Churaman:

• The territories situated to the west of Delhi.
• By the 1680s, the region between the two imperial cities of Delhi and Agra.

Salvation in Christianity, or deliverance or redemption, is the "saving [of] human beings from death and separation from God" by Christ's death and resurrection.

In a tribal society, many people adapt to the new social structure due to economic growth and change in caste-based society. Smaller castes joined in Varna, new caste people joined with Brahmins, whereas kshatriyas started new Rajput. The society comes out with more caste and religion."

After being organised into a state tribal societies changed a lot. Their administrative system began to be centralised. Their kingdom was divided into garhs. Each garh was controlled by a particular tribal clan. This was further divided into units of 84 villages called chaurasi. The chaurasi was further divided into barhots, which were made up of 12 villages each. Tribal kings or rajas began to grant land to Brahmanas, poets and scholars. They also wised to be recognised as Rajputs. So Aman Das, the tribal king assumed the title of Sangram Shah. Tribal kings also annexed smaller neighbouring kingdoms. We can cite the example ofAhom. It annexed the kingdoms of the Chhutiyas and of Koch-Hajo. The Ahoms built a large state and for this they used firearms.

The difference between Gothic and Baroque Architecture –

Gothic design was in the mid to late Middle Ages (400 – 1400’s). Gothic architecture is made of stone, the inside designs are carved out of wood. The Gothic style is the form of design of many of the greatest churches and cathedrals in Europe. Gothic is very basic on the inside. The term is normally used to refer to buildings which have pointed arches, ribbed roofs, large windows and unique and fancy outsides.

Baroque began in the late 16th century (1500’s). The Catholic Church wanted to keep the people from leaving the church and going to Protestant churches. So they made their churches so much fancier hoping that the people would feel more heavenly in the their churches.  The architecture was often based on the use of ovals and circles, which were thought to heighten emotion and spirituality. It has lots of very detailed work. It has a lot of paintings on the walls and the ceilings.

Most of the buildings in Salzburg are of the Baroque style.