Lesson-9

Question 3:
How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The reformers believed that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practi
ses needed to be
done away with. They thought that the best way to ensure such changes was by per
suading
people to give up old practises and adopt a new way of life. Whenever they wishe
d to challenge
a practise that seemed harmful, they tried to find a verse or a sentence in the
ancient sacred texts
that supported their point of view. They then suggested that the practise as it
existed was against
early tradition. For example, Rammohun Roy used ancient texts to show that the p
ractise of sati
or widow burning had no sanction. Similarly, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar used ancie
nt texts to
suggest that widows could remarry.
Question 4:
What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The following were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to sch
ool.
(a) They feared that schools would take girls away from home, thereby preventing
them from
doing their domestic duties.
(b) They felt that travelling through public places in order to reach school wou
ld have a
corrupting influence on girls.
(c) They felt that girls should stay away from public spaces.
Question 5:
Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would so
me people
have supported them too? If so, for what reasons?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Like the reformers, the Christian missionaries too were involved in different re
form activities.
They set up schools for the underprivileged sections of society like the lower cas
tes and tribal
groups. They questioned the various social injustices. Like the reformers, they
too were opposed
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by the various conservative sections of society. Their attempts at reformation w
ould have been
seen by many as an attempt to destabilise the existing Indian social order. Thei
r reform activities
would also have been looked at with greater suspicion because of the close link
between their
religion and their actions. Many would have felt that at the heart of their acti
ons was the agenda
of religious conversion. So, the missionaries would naturally have been attacked
by many people
across the country.
However, as in the case of the reformers, there would also have been many who wo
uld have
supported the Christian missionaries and their activities. A majority of this su
pport base would
have consisted of those very people who benefited from the reform activities of
the missionaries,
such as the untouchables. Intellectuals and reformers who themselves were involv
ed in various
reform activities would also have supported the missionaries.
Question 6:
In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people who came from
castes that
were regarded as low ?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The British period saw the rise of the cities. Many of the poor living in the In
dian villages and
small towns at the time began leaving their villages and towns to look for jobs
that were opening
up in the cities. As the cities were growing, there was a great demand for labou
r labour for
digging drains, laying roads, constructing buildings, working in factories and m
unicipalities, etc.
This demand for labour was met by the population migrating from the villages and
towns. There
was also the demand for labour in the various plantations, both within the count
ry and abroad.
The army too offered opportunities for employment.
Many of these migrating people belonged to the low castes. For them, the cities
and the
plantations represented the opportunity to get away from the oppressive hold tha
t upper-caste
landowners exercised over their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered.
Question 7:
How did Jyotirao and the reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality i
n society?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The reformers questioned the brahmanical texts that supported the caste system a
nd the
inferiority of the so-called low castes and the superiority of the so-called high c
astes . They
challenged the brahmanical claims to power and authority.
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Jyotirao Phule claimed that the lower castes were the true children of the land
known as India.
According to him, the Brahmins who traced their genealogy back to the Aryans were
outsiders. The upper castes had therefore no right to their land and power. Like
Birsa Munda
who envisioned a golden age free from diksus and all other forms of evil, Jy
otirao Phule too
believed in a golden age free from the Aryans and their ideas of caste. He also
extended his
criticism of the caste system and linked it with all other forms of inequalities
and injustices
prevalent not only in Indian society but also in Western society. A case in poin
t is his linking of
the miseries of the black slaves in America with those of the lower castes in In
dia.
Shri Narayana Guru, another reformer who criticised caste inequality in society,
proclaimed the
ideals of unity of all people within one sect, a single caste and one guru.
Ambedkar criticised caste inequality on the basis of his belief that being a low
caste did not
imply that one was not a human being; all humans had the right to equality whether
they were
men or women, high castes or low castes.
E. V. Ramaswami Naicker (or Periyar) argued that the untouchables were in fact t
he true
upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture which had been subjugated b
y the Brahmin
outsiders. Like Jyotirao Phule, he too saw the Brahmins as having no claims to t
he power which
they used for oppressing the lower castes. He pointed out that unlike what all r
eligions would
have one believe, social divisions and inequalities were not God-given. He urged
the lower
castes and the untouchables to free themselves from falsities that had been prop
agated for
generations. Only then would social equality be achieved. He also criticised the
Hindu scriptures
by saying that these texts had been used for establishing the authority of the u
pper castes over the
lower castes and the domination of men over women.
Question 8:
Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American movement to free s
laves?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Jyotirao Phule was concerned with all forms of inequalities and injustices exist
ing in society
whether it was the plight of the upper-caste women, the miseries of the labourer
, or the
humiliation of the low castes. By dedicating his book Gulamgiri to the Ameri
can movement to
free slaves, he linked the conditions of the black slaves in America with those
of the lower castes
in India. This comparison also contains an expression of hope that one day, like
the end of
slavery in America, there would be an end to all sorts of caste discriminations
in Indian society.
Lesson- 10
Question 1:
Fill in the blanks:
(a) The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what the
eye saw is called
___________.
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(b) The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as a quaint, unexplored
land is called
__________.
(c) Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called ___
______.
(d) Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their vict
ories are called
____________.
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
(a) The art form which observed carefully and tried to capture exactly what th
e eye saw is called
portraiture.
(b) The style of painting which showed Indian landscape as a quaint, unexplore
d land is called
picturesque.
(c) Paintings which showed the social lives of Europeans in India are called K
alighat paintings.
(d) Paintings which depicted scenes from British imperial history and their vi
ctories are called
history paintings.
Question 2:
Point out which of the following were brought in with British art:
(a) oil painting (b) miniatures (c) life-size portrait painting (d) use of persp
ective (e) mural art
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Oil painting, life-size portrait painting and the use of perspective
Question 4:
Why did the scroll painters and potters come to Kalighat? Why did they begin to
paint new
themes?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Around the early nineteenth century, local village scroll painters and potters m
oved to Kalighat.
It was a time when the city of Calcutta was expanding as a commercial and admini
strative
centre. Colonial offices were coming up, new buildings and roads were being buil
t, markets were
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being established. The city appeared as the place of opportunity where people co
uld come to
make a new living. These village artists too came and settled in the city in the
hope of new
patrons and new buyers of their art.
After the 1840s, there was a shift in what the Kalighat artists produced from pain
tings related
to mythology and religion, they began to produce paintings on social and politic
al themes. In
these paintings, they depicted the social life under British rule. This change w
as the result of
living in a society where values, tastes, social norms and customs were undergoi
ng rapid
changes. Their paintings were their ways of responding to the world around them.
For example,
Kalighat paintings of this period often ridiculed the westernised baboo , cri
ticised the corrupt
priests and expressed the anger of the common people against the rich.
Question 5:
Why can we think of Raja Ravi Varma s paintings as national?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Raja Ravi Varma was one of the first artists who tried to create a style that wa
s both modern and
national. He used the Western art of oil painting and realistic life study to pa
int themes from
Indian mythology. He dramatised on canvas scene after scene from the Indian epic
s Ramayana
and Mahabharata . This portrayal of an Indian consciousness is what makes his
paintings
national. This was perhaps one of the reasons why his paintings were popular not
only among
Indian princes and art collectors but also among the masses.
Question 6:
In what way did the British history paintings in India reflect the attitudes of
imperial conquerors?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The British history paintings sought to dramatise and recreate various episodes
of British
imperial history. These paintings celebrated the British: their power, their vic
tories and their
supremacy. The imperial history paintings attempted to create a public memory of
imperial
triumphs. Victories had to be remembered, implanted in the memory of people, bot
h in India and
Britain. Only then could the British appear invincible and all-powerful.
Question 7:
Why do you think some artists wanted to develop a national style of art?
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? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Many painters, towards the end of nineteenth century, wanted to establish a stro
nger connection
between art and nationalism. To do so, they tried to develop a style of art that
could be
considered both modern and Indian. This attempt to create a national style of ar
t can be seen in
the works produced by Raja Ravi Varma. He used the Western art of oil painting a
nd realistic
life study to portray scene after scene from the Indian mythology. However, ther
e never was a
clear consensus as to what defined an authentic Indian style of art. Nationalist
artists like
Abanindranath Tagore rejected the art of Ravi Varma and felt that a genuine Indi
an style of
painting needed to draw inspiration from non-Western art traditions, and try to
capture the
spiritual essence of the East. So, they turned to medieval Indian traditions of
miniature painting
and the ancient Indian art of mural painting. They were also influenced by the J
apanese art
tradition.
There were others who felt that an authentic Indian style of art would be one wh
ich explored the
real life instead of illustrating ancient books; one which looked for inspiratio
n from living folk
art and tribal designs rather than ancient art forms. Ultimately, what all these
artists aimed at
representing was a certain national consciousness with which each Indian could r
elate.
Why did some artists produce cheap popular prints? What influence would such pri
nts have had
on the minds of people who looked at them?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
By the late nineteenth century, mechanical printing presses were set up in diffe
rent parts of India.
This allowed prints to be produced in large numbers. These prints could therefor
e be sold cheap
in the market. As a result, even the poor could buy them. With the spread of nat
ionalism, the
popular prints of the early twentieth century began carrying nationalist message
s. Such popular
prints would have inspired people to fight British rule.
Lesson-11
Question 1:
Why were people dissatisfied with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
There was great dissatisfaction with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s. Some o
f the reasons for
this dissatisfaction are as follows:
(a) The Arms Act - Passed in 1878, this Act disallowed Indians from posses
sing arms.
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(b) The Vernacular Press Act - Passed in the same year as the Arms Act, th
is Act was aimed at
silencing those who were critical of the government. Under this Act, the governm
ent could
confiscate the assets of newspapers if they published anything that was found obj
ectionable .
(c) The Ilbert Bill controversy - In 1883, the government tried introducin
g the Ilbert Bill. This
bill provided for the trial of British or European individuals by Indians, and s
ought equality
between British and Indian judges in the country. However, the white opposition
forced the
government to withdraw the bill. This enraged the Indians further.
Question 2:
Who did the Indian National Congress wish to speak for?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The Congress, according to Badruddin Tyabji (its first president), was composed
of the
representatives of all the different communities of India. Thus, it was an organ
isation that wished
to speak for India as a whole, in all its diversity.
Question 3:
What economic impact did the First World War have on India?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The First World War led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Governm
ent of India.
The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profit
s. Increased
military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in pri
ces which created
great difficulties for the common people. On the other hand, business groups rea
ped fabulous
profits from the war. The war created a demand for industrial goods such as jute
bags, cloth and
rails, and caused a decline in the imports from other countries into India. As a
result, Indian
industries expanded during the war.
Question 4:
What did the Muslim League resolution of 1940 ask for?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The Muslim League resolution of 1940 asked for Independent States for Muslims in t
he North-
Western and Eastern areas of the country.
Question 5:
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Who were the Moderates? How did they propose to struggle against British rule?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
In the first twenty years of its existence, the Congress was moderate in its objec
tives and
methods. Its Moderate leaders practised what was called by the Radicals as the po
litics of
petitions . They would raise various political, administrative and economic issues
, place their
demands before the government, and expected the government to take action accord
ingly.
They wanted to develop public awareness about the unjust nature of British rule.
They published
newspapers, wrote articles, and showed how the British rule was leading to the e
conomic ruin of
the country. They criticised British rule in their speeches and sent representat
ives to different
parts of the country to mobilise public opinion. They felt that the British had
respect for the
ideals of freedom and justice, and so would accept the just demands of Indians.
What was
necessary was to express these demands and make the government aware of the feel
ings of
Indians.
Question 6:
How was the politics of the Radicals within the Congress different from that of
the Moderates?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The Radicals were opposed to the politics of prayers followed by the Moderates wit
hin the
Congress. They explored more radical objectives and methods. They emphasised the
importance
of self reliance and constructive work. They argued that people must rely on the
ir own strength,
not on the good intentions of the government (as was the stated policy of the Mode
rates). They
believed that people must fight for swaraj .
Question 7:
Discuss the various forms that the Non-Cooperation Movement took in different pa
rts of India.
How did the people understand Gandhiji?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The call for non-cooperation with the British was understood and enacted in diff
erent ways by
different individuals, classes and groups.
(i) Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges
(ii) Many lawyers gave up their practises
(iii) British titles were surrendered
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(iv) Legislatures were boycotted
(v) People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth
In most cases, the calls for non-cooperation were related to local grievances.
(i) In Kheda, Gujrat, Patidar peasants organised non-violent campaigns against t
he high land
revenue demand of the British.
(ii) In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed.
(iii) In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants protes
ted against the
colonial state for restricting their use of forest resources. They staged a numb
er of forest
satyagrahas , sometimes sending their cattle into forests without paying grazing
fees.
(iv) In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt maha
nts supported by
the British from their gurudwaras.
(v) In Assam, tea garden labourers demanded a big increase in their wages. When
the demands
were not met, they left the British-owned plantations.
For most of the people, Gandhiji was a kind of messiah, someone who could help t
hem
overcome their misery and poverty. Peasants believed that he would help them in
their fight
against zamindars , while agricultural labourers felt that he would provide t
hem with land.
Slogans like Gandhi Maharaj ki Jai and the likening of Gandhiji to the Gods of
Hindu
mythology show that Gandhiji was indeed considered a divine being. People took G
andhiji s
name and undertook various actions, and when successful, they credited Gandhiji
with their
achievements. However, many-a- times, these actions did not conform to Gandhian
ideals. For
example, in Februray 1922, a crowd of angry peasants set fire to a police statio
n in Chauri
Chaura, killing twenty-two policemen. This incident led Gandhiji to call off the
Non-
Cooperation Movement.
Question 8:
Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
In 1929, the Congress resolved to fight for complete independence or Purna Swa
raj . Mahatma
Gandhi knew that Purna Swaraj would never come on its own. It had to be foug
ht for. Knowing
that the need of the hour was direct action, in 1930, Gandhiji declared that he
would lead a march
to break the salt law. According to this law, the state had a monopoly on the ma
nufacture and
sale of salt. Gandhiji believed that it was sinful to tax salt as it was an esse
ntial part of food. He
led a march to the coastal town of Dandi, where he broke the salt law by gatheri
ng natural salt
found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt. This march related
the general
desire of freedom to a specific grievance shared by everybody, and thus, did not
divide the rich
and the poor.

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Lesson-12
Question 1:
Name three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced.
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
Three problems that the newly independent nation of India faced :
(i) As a result of Partition, 8 million refugees had come into the country from
what was now
Pakistan. These people had to be found homes and jobs.
(ii) The maharajas and nawabs of the princely states (almost 500) had to be pers
uaded to join the
new nation.
(iii) A political system had to be adopted which would best serve the hopes and
expectations of
the Indian population.
Question 2:
What was the role of the Planning Commission?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The Planning Commission was set up to help design and execute suitable policies
for the
economic development of India.
Question 3:
Fill in the blanks:
(a) Subjects that were placed on the Union List were ________, ________ and ____
_______.
(b) Subjects on the Concurrent List were __________ and _________.
(c) Economic planning by which both the state and the private sector played a ro
le in
development was called a ________ _________ model.
(d) The death of ___________ sparked off such violent protests that the governme
nt was forced
to give in to the demand for the linguistic state of Andhra.
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
(a) Subjects that were placed on the Union List were taxes, defence and foreig
n affairs.
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(b) Subjects on the Concurrent List were education and health.
(c) Economic planning by which both the state and the private sector played a
role in
development was called a mixed-economy model.
(d) The death of Potti Sriramulu sparked off such violent protests that the go
vernment was
forced to give in to the demand for the linguistic state of Andhra.
Question 4:
State whether true or false:
(a) At independence, the majority of Indians lived in villages.
(b) The Constituent Assembly was made up of members of the Congress party.
(c) In the first national election, only men were allowed to vote.
(d) The Second Five Year Plan focussed on the development of heavy industry.
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
(a) At independence, the majority of Indians lived in villages .
True
(b) The Constituent Assembly was made up of members of the Congress party .
False
(c) In the first national election, only men were allowed to vote .
False
(d) The Second Five Year Plan focussed on the development of heavy industry
.
True
Question 5:
What did Dr Ambedkar mean when he said that In politics we will have equality, an
d in social
and economic life we will have inequality ?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
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According to Dr Ambedkar, political democracy had to be accompanied by economic
and social
democracy. Giving the right to vote would not automatically lead to the removal
of other
inequalities such as between rich and poor, or between upper and lower castes. H
e believed that
India needed to work towards eradicating all forms of inequality in the economic
and social
spheres. Only then would the equality granted by the Constitution in the sphere
of politics (i.e.,
one vote for every adult Indian citizen) be of any value. Otherwise, India would
just be a land of
contradictions following the principle of one man, one vote and one value in its pol
itical life,
and denying the principle of one man, one value in its economic and social lives.
Question 6:
After Independence, why was there a reluctance to divide the country on linguist
ic lines?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
In the 1920s, the Congress had promised that once the country won independence,
each major
linguistic group would have its own province. However, after independence, it di
d not take any
steps to honour this promise. There was a reason for this. India had already bee
n divided on the
basis of religion. The joy of freedom had come along with the tragedy of Partiti
on. This Partition
had led to the killing of a million people in riots. Fresh divisions were not co
nsidered to be
feasible. Congress leaders believed that any further divisions of the country wo
uld only disrupt
its unity and progress. They felt that the need of the hour was for India to rem
ain strong and
united, and work towards becoming a nation, and anything that hindered the growt
h of
nationalism had to be rejected.
Question 7:
Give one reason why English continued to be used in India after Independence.
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
The question of language is an important one in the Indian setup. India is a lan
d of several
regional languages. In 1956, the Indian states were reorganised on the basis of
language. In such
circumstances, imposing any one of the regional languages on the entire country
would have
proved divisive, as it did in the case of Pakistan (which imposed Urdu on the Be
ngali-speaking
East Pakistan) and Sri Lanka (which made Sinhala the sole official language of t
he country,
disregarding the Tamil-speaking minority who lived in the North of the island).
While discussing the language question in the Constituent Assembly, many members
wanted
Hindi to take over as the sole official language in place of English. However, t
hose who did not
speak Hindi were of a different opinion. They did not wish Hindi to be imposed o
n them. A
compromise was finally arrived at: namely, that while Hindi would be the official
language of
India, English would be used in the courts, the services, and communications bet
ween one state
and another.
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Question 8:
How was the economic development of India visualised in the early decades after
Independence?
? Answer
? Discussion
? Share
How economic development of India was visualised in the early decades after inde
pendence :
Objectives - Lifting India and Indians out of poverty, and building a modern
technical and
industrial base were among the major objectives of the new nation.
Planning Commission and Five Year Plans - A Planning Commission was set u
p to help
design and execute suitable policies for economic development.
Mixed-economy - A mixed -economy model was agreed upon. In this economic mo
del, both the
State and the private sector would play important and complementary roles in inc
reasing
production and generating jobs.
Focus on heavy industries and dams - In 1956, the Second Five Year Plan was
formulated.
This focussed strongly on the development of heavy industries such as steel, and
on the building
of large dams.
The focus on heavy industry, and the effort at state regulation of the economy (
which was to
guide the economic policy for the next few decades) had many critics. This appro
ach was
criticised because:
(i) It put inadequate emphasis on agriculture
(ii) It neglected primary education
(iii) It did not take into account the environmental implications of concentrati
ng on science and
machinery

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