RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 1 How, When and Where

Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 1 How, When, and Where  Important Questions and Answers.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Important Questions History Chapter 1 How, When, and Where 

Multiple Choice Questions 

Question 1. 
The first Governor-General of India was 
(a) Robert Clive 
(b) Warren Hastings 
(c) Dalhousie 
(d) Wellesley 
Answer:
(b) Warren Hastings 

Question 2. 
The last Viceroy of India was
(a) Lord Mountbatten 
(b) Lord Curzon 
(c) Irwin 
(d) Prince Charles 
Answer:
(a) Lord Mountbatten 

Question 3. 
Robert Clive gave the task to prepare the map of India to
(a) James Mill 
(b) Warren Hastings
(c) James Rennel 
(d) Duke of Konark
Answer:
(c) James Rennel

Question 4. 
The main source of Indian history is 
(a) Government documents
(b) Newspaper reports
(c) Travellers accounts
(d) All of the above 
Answer:
(d) All of the above

Question 5. 
The symbol of British power is 
(a) James Rennel 
(b) Robert Clive
(c) Britannia 
(d) Queen Victoria 
Answer:
(c) Britannia 

Question 6. 
Where did James Mill live?
(a) Ireland 
(b) Scotland
(c) Finland 
(d) Netherlands 
Answer:
(b) Scotland

Question 7. 
Calligraphists means
(a) those who write things beautifully
(b) those who are very happy
(c) those who have beautiful things
(d) None of these 
Answer:
(a) those who write things beautifully

Question 8. 
Printing technique spreads in India in
(a) the beginning of the 18th century
(b) in the second half of the 18th century
(c) until the mid 19th century
(d) in the 20th century
Answer: 
(c) until the mid 19th century

Fill in the blanks 

Question 1. 
In the common-sense notion, .................  was synonymous with dates.
Answer:
history

Question 2. 
To preserve important records, .................  were there.
Answer:
Museums

Question 3. 
................. are those people, who specialized in the art of beautiful writing.
Answer:
Calligraphists

Question 4. 
By the middle of the nineteenth century, .................technique also spread.
Answer:
printing

Question 5. 
Under ................. rule people did not have equality, freedom, or liberty.
Answer:
British

State True or False 

Question 1. 
In a common-sense notion, history was synonymous with dates.
Answer:
True

Question 2. 
Before British rule, there was a period of darkness.
Answer:
False

Question 3. 
Diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, etc. reveal the thinking of the common educated people.
Answer:
True

Question 4. 
The British felt that the documents did not have any importance.
Answer:
False

Match Correctly

(a)	(b)
James Renner	First Governor-General of India
Lord Mountbatten	Map of Hindustan Last
James Mill	Viceroy Economist and
Warren Hastings	Political Philosopher

Answer:

(a)	(b)
James Rennel	Map of Hindustan Last
Lord Mountbatten	Viceroy Economist and
James Mill	Political Philosopher
Warren Hastings	First Governor-General of India

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question  1. 
Can history be considered only synonymous with dates? Why or why not? 
Answer:
No, because many historic events can be a result of processes that happens over a period of time.

Question  2. 
Write the name of any four Governor-General of India.
Answer: 

1. Warren Hastings
2. Lord Dalhousie
3. Lord Curzon
4. Irwin.

Question  3. 
What was mainly described in the Indian history written by British historians?
Answer: 
The history written by them mainly describes the policies and actions of the Governors-General and Viceroy.

Question  4. 
Who was James Mill?
Answer: 
James Mill was a Scottish economist and political philosopher.

Question  5. 
Write the name of the book written by James Mill.
Answer: 
‘A History of British India’.

Question  6.
James Mill divides Indian history into how many periods?
Answer:
He divided Indian history into three periods - Hindu, Muslim, and British.

Question  7. 
What were Mill’s views regarding Asian societies?
Answer: 
Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe.

Question  8. 
Apart from British classification, how many periods historians have divided Indian history?
Answer: 
Moving away from British classification, historians have usually divided Indian history into 3 periods-

1. Ancient, 
2. Medieval and 
3. Modem. 

Question  9. 
Write any two important sources of the colonial history of India.
Answer: 

1. Government records were prepared by the British government.
2.  Autobiographies of important people.

Question  10. 
What information was collected from the census?
Answer: 
Through the census, detailed records of the number of people in all the provinces of India, noting information on castes, religions, and occupations were prepared.

Question  11. 
Who are calligraphists?
Answer: 
Calligraphists are those who are specialized in the art of beautiful writing.

Question  12. 
What is the modem period considered in the west?
Answer: 
In the west, the modem period is associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity - science, reason, democracy, liberty, and equality. 

Short Answer Type Questions

Question  1. 
What is history? Explain.
Answer: 

1. In the common-sense notion, history was synonymous with dates but only the study of dates is not history.
2. It is certainly about changes that occur at a time in society.
3. It is also related to how things were in the past and what changes had happened in them.

Question  2. 
What kind of issues and questions have modern historians started writing?
Answer: 
Historians now write on the following topics:

1. How people earned their livelihood.
2. What they produce and ate.
3. How cities developed and markets came up.
4. How kingdoms were formed how the new ideas spread, and how cultures and society changed. 

Question  3. 
Why do we divide history into chapters while writing it?
Answer: 

1. It is done so to give each chapter come incoherence.
2. It is to tell a story in a way that makes some sense and can be followed and remembered easily.
3. In the process, the focus is only on those events that help us to give shape to the story we are telling.

Question  4. 
Why do we try and divide history into different periods?
Answer: 
We try and divide history into different periods to capture the characteristics of a time and understand its central features as they appear to us. They reflect our ideas about the past. They show how we see the significance of the change from one period to the next.

Question  5. 
Which period is referred to as colonial by the historians?
Answer: 
Under British rule, people did not have equality, freedom, or liberty. Nor was the period one of economic growth and progress. Many historians, therefore, refer to this period as colonial.

Question  6. 
What is colonization?
Answer: 
When the subjugation of one country by another leads to this kind of political, economic, social, and cultural change, this process is called colonization.

Question  7. 
What efforts were made by the Britishers to control the economy of India?
Answer: 

1. Britishers collected revenue to meet all their expenses.
2. They brought goods that they wanted at low prices.
3. They produced crops they needed for export. 

Question  8. 
What is the importance of museums? 
Answer: 

1. Important documents are kept safe in them.
2. In the archives, we can see the letters and memos that moved from one branch of the administration to another in the early years of the nineteenth century.
3. We can also study the notes and reports that district officials prepared or the instructions and directives that were sent by officials at the top to provincial administrators.

Question  9. 
How were documents copied?
Answer: 
Calligraphists copied the documents carefully. By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the spread of printing, multiple copies of records were printed.

Question  10. 
Give the important surveys done during the British rule.
Answer: 
Many types of surveys were carried out during the British rule. The important surveys are as follows:

1. Revenue survey
2. Census survey
3. Botanical survey
4. Zoological survey
5. Archaeological survey
6. Anthropological survey
7. Forest survey.

Question  11. 
What was the motive for a survey done during the colonial administration?
Answer: 

1. To map the entire country.
2. To know the topography, the soil quality, the flora, the fauna, the local histories, and cropping pattern.
3. Collecting information for proper administration. 

Question  12. 
What do we know from official government records?
Answer: 
We get only the following information from the official government records:

1. What do the government officials think?
2. What they were interested in?
3. What do they wish to preserve for posterity? 

Question  13. 
What were the limitations of government- records? Explain.
OR
What will you keep in mind while studying government records as a source of history? 
Answer: 

1. Official records are not impartial. They justify government work.
2. Only "the government’s view was available for them.
3. Government records do not help to understand what other people of the country felt and what was the reason for their actions. 

Long Answer Type Questions

Question  1. 
In your opinion, why do you think it is wrong to set a date for an event or process that goes on for a long time?
Answer: 
It is actually incorrect to fix precise dates to processes that happen over a period of time because time cannot always be dated in terms of a particular year or a month. For example, people in India did not begin drinking tea one fine day; they developed a taste for it over time.

There can be no one clear date for a process such as this. Similarly, we cannot fix one single date on which British rule was established, the national movement started, or changes that took place within the economy and society. All these things happened over a stretch of time. We can only refer to a span of time, an approximate period over which particular changes became visible.

Question  2. 
Why do people continue to associate history with a string of dates?
Answer: 
Many people associate history with a string of dates. This association has a reason. There was a time when history was an account of battles and big events. It was about rulers and their policies. Historians wrote about the year a king was crowned, the year he married, the year he had a child, the year he fought a particular war, the year he died, and the year the next ruler succeeded to the throne. For events such as these, specific dates can be determined, and in histories such as these, debates about dates continue to be important.

Question  3. 
Give the general features of history written by British historians in India.
Answer: 
In the histories written by British historians in India, the rule of each Governor-General was important. These histories began with the rule of the first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, and ended with the last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten. In separate chapters, we read about the deeds of others - Hastings, Wellesley, Bentinck, Dalhousie, Canning, Lawrence, Lytton, Ripon, Curzon, Harding, and Irwin. It was a seemingly never-ending succession of governors- Generals and Viceroys.

All the dates in these history books were linked to these personalities - to their activities, policies, and achievements. It was as if there was nothing outside their lives that was important for us to know. The chronology of their lives marked the different chapters of the history of British India. They described very little about the other aspects of Indian society. 

Question  4. 
What were James Mill’s views towards the Asian society, culture, and civilization, especially India?
Answer: 
James Mill’s views on Asian society, culture, and civilization were prejudiced. He considered British rule a symbol of progress and civilization. Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe. According to his telling of history, before the British came to India, Hindu and Muslim despots ruled the country. Religious intolerance, caste taboos, and superstitious practices dominated social life. British rule, Mill felt, could civilize India. To do this it was necessary to introduce European manners, arts, institutions, and laws to India.

Mill, in fact, suggested that the British should conquer all the territories in India to ensure the enlightenment and happiness of the Indian people. For India was not capable of progress without British help. In this idea of history, British rule represented all the forces of progress and civilization. The period before British rule was one of darkness. 

Question  5. 
Apart from the classification suggested by the British, what are the problems with the way in which Indian history has been divided by historians into chronicles?
Answer: Historians have divided Indian history into ancient, medieval, and modem. This division has the following problems :
1. It is a periodization that is borrowed from the West.

2. Modem period was associated with the growth of all the forces of modernity - science, reason, democracy, liberty, and equality. Medieval was a term used to describe a society where these features of modem society did not exist.

3. Under British rule, which is called the modem period, the people of India did not have equality, freedom, or liberty. Nor was the period one of economic growth and progress.

Question  6. 
Which understanding of the British led to a culture of governance based on memos, notings, and reports?
Answer: 
The British believed that the act of writing was important. Every instruction, plan, policy decision, agreement, and investigation had to be clearly written up. The British felt that all important documents and letters needed to be carefully preserved. Once this was done, things could be properly studied and debated. This conviction produced an administrative culture of memos, notings, and reports.

Question  7. 
Describe the major sources of knowing the history of the last 250 years of India.
Answer: 
The major sources of knowing the history of the last 250 years of India are as follows:
1. Administrative records: 
The official records of the British administration were an important source for historians The British believed that the act of writing was important. The British felt that all important documents and letters needed to be carefully preserved. So they set up record rooms attached to all administrative institutions. Specialized institutions like archives and museums were also established to preserve important records. These available government records and documents help a lot in knowing the past history of India.

2. Surveying reports:
Many surveys were done under the colonial administration. These survey reports also help us in knowing the history of the last 250 years of India.

3. Other sources:
From the above two reports, we mainly get to know only about the official thoughts. To know the thoughts of other people in India, diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims, autobiographies of important people, and different books, and newspapers were used as a source. 

Question  8. 
What do you think are the sources to know about the views of other people of the country except for government officials?
Answer: 
The views of government officials came from the official government records. Besides these, other sources are needed to know about 
the views of other people in the country. For this, we have diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims and travelers, autobiographies of important personalities, and popular booklets that were sold in the local bazaars. As printing spread, newspapers were published and issues were debated in public. Leaders and reformers wrote to spread their ideas, and poets and novelists wrote to express their feelings.
All these sources, however, were produced by those who were literate.