History Question Paper' 2013 [AHSEC Class 12 Question Papers]

1. Answer the following questions:                                          1x12=12

2. Answer in brief the following questions:                          2x12=24

3. Answer the following questions:                                          4x10=40

4. Draw an outline map of ancient India and mark Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Pataliputra, Sanchi, Mathura and Pragjyotishpura.                               3+3=6

5. Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions accordingly:                                 6x3=18

(a) Draupadi’s question

Draupadi is supposed to have asked Yudhisthira where he had lost himself before staking her. Two contrary opinions were expressed in response to this question.

One, that even if Yudhisthira had lost himself earlier, his wife reminded under his control, so he could stake her.

Two, that an unfree man (as Yudhisthira was when he had lost himself) could not stake another person.

The matter remained unresolved; ultimately, Dhritarashtra restored to the Pandavas and Draupadi their personal freedom.

Or

Just as the Buddha’s teachings were compiled by his followers, the teachings of Mahavira were also recorded by his disciples. These were often in the form of stories, which could appeal to ordinary people. Here is one example, from a Prakrit text known as the Uttaradhyayana Sutta, describing how a queen named Kamalavati tried to persuade her husband to renounce the world:

If the whole world and all its treasures were yours, you would not be satisfied, nor would all this be able to save you. When you die, O king and leave all things behind dhamma alone and nothing else will save you. As a bird dislikes the cage, so do I dislike (the world). I shall live as a nun without offspring, without desire, without the love of gain, and without hatred.

Those who have enjoyed pleasures and renounced them, move about like the wind, and go wherever they please, unchecked like birds in their flight………

Leave your large kingdom …… abandon what pleases the senses, by without attachment and property, then practice severe penance, being firm of energy ……….

(b) On horse and on foot

This is how Ibn Batuta describes the postal system:

In India the postal system is of two kinds. The horse-post, called uluq, is run by royal houses stationed at a distance of every four miles. The foot-post has three stations per mile; it is called dawa, that is one-third of a mile …. Now, at every third of a mile there is a well-populated village, outside which are three pavilions in which sit men with girded loins ready to start. Each of them carries a rod, two cubits in length, with copper bells at the top. When the courier starts from the city he holds the letter in one hand and the rod with its bells on the other; and he runs as fast as he can. When the men in the pavilion hear the ringing of the bell they get ready. As soon as the courier reaches them, one of them takes the letter from his hand and runs at top speed shaking the rod all the while until he reaches the next dawa. And the same process continues till the letter reaches its destination. This foot-post is quicker than the horse-post; and often it is used to transport the fruits of Khurasan which are much desired in India.

Or

This is how Abul Fazl describes the transactions between the hill tribes and the plains in the suba of Awadh (part of present-day Uttar Pradesh):

 From the northern mountains quantities of goods are carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of goats, such as gold, copper, lead, musk, tails of the kutas cow (the yak), honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together, pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith (a plant producing a red die) root, borax, zedoary (a root resembling turmeric), wax, woolen stuffs, woodenware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a king of bird), and other articles. In exchange they carry back while and coloured cloths, amber, salt, asafetida, ornaments, glass and earthenware.

(c) A riot petition

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

The sowkars (sohukars) ….. 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 us with money, clothes, and grain, which we obtain from them not without great difficulty, nor without their compelling us to earn 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 to 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 assure us that it will be credited to our account, but they do not actually make any mention of it in the account. They also refuse to pass us any receipts for the produce so removed by them.

Or

This is what Moon wrote:

For over twenty-four hours riotous mobs were allowed to rage thought this great commercial city unchallenged and unchecked. The finest bazaars were burnt to the ground without a short being fired to disperse the incendiaries (i.e. those who stirred up conflict). The ……. District Magistrate marched his (large police) force into the city and marched it out again without making any effective use of it at all.