Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow :

Colin Mackenzie

Born in 1754, Colin Mackenzie became famous as an engineer, surveyor and cartographer. In 1815 he was appointed the first Surveyor General of India, a post he held till his death in 1821. He embarked on collecting local histories and surveying historic sites in order to better understand India’s past and make governance of the colony easier. He says that ‘‘it struggled long under the miseries of bad management ... before the South came under the benign

influence of the British government.’’ By studying Vijayanagara, Mackenzie believed that the East India Company could gain ‘‘much useful information on many of these institutions, laws and customs whose influence still prevails among the various Tribes of Natives forming the general mass of the population to this day.’’

(1) Who was Colin Mackenzie?

(2) How did Mackenzie try to rediscover the Vijayanagara Empire?

(3) How was the study of the Vijayanagara Empire useful to the East India Company?

‘‘The communal politics that started during the early decades of the 20th century was largely responsible for the partition of the country.’’ Examine the statement.

OR

‘‘Partition of India had made nationalists fervently opposed to the idea of separate electorates.’’ Examine the statement.

Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow :

‘‘Proper’’ Social Roles

Here is a story from the Adi Parvan of the Mahabharata :

Once Drona, a Brahmana who taught archery to the Kuru princes, was approached by Ekalavya, a forest-dwelling nishada (a hunting community). When Drona, who knew the dharma, refused to have him as his pupil, Ekalavya returned to the forest, prepared an image of Drona out of clay, and treating it as his teacher, began to practise on his own. In due course, he acquired great skill in archery. One day, the Kuru princes went hunting and their dog, wandering in the woods, came upon Ekalavya. When the dog smelt the dark nishada wrapped in black deer skin, his body caked with dirt, it began to bark. Annoyed, Ekalavya shot seven arrows into its mouth. When the dog returned to the Pandavas, they were amazed at this superb display of archery. They tracked down Ekalavya, who introduced himself as a pupil of Drona.

Drona had once told his favourite student Arjuna, that he would be unrivalled amongst his pupils. Arjuna now reminded Drona about this. Drona approached Ekalavya, who immediately acknowledged and honoured him as his teacher. When Drona demanded his right thumb as his fee, Ekalavya unhesitatingly cut it off and offered it. But thereafter, when he shot with his remaining fingers, he was no longer as fast as he had been before. Thus, Drona kept his word: no one was better than Arjuna.

(1) Why did Drona refuse to have Ekalavya as his pupil?

(2) How had Drona kept his word given to Arjuna?

(3) Do you think Drona’s behaviour with Ekalavya was justified? If so, give a reason.

Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow :

‘‘Tomorrow we shall break the salt tax law’’

On 5 April 1930, Mahatma Gandhi spoke at Dandi :

When I left Sabarmati with my companions for this seaside hamlet of Dandi, I was not certain in my mind that we would be allowed to reach this place. Even while I was at Sabarmati there was a rumour that I might be arrested. I had thought that the Government might perhaps let my party come as far as Dandi, but not me certainly. If someone says that this betrays imperfect faith on my part, I shall not deny the charge. That I have reached here is in no small measure due to the power of peace and non-violence: that power is universally felt. The Government may, if it wishes, congratulate itself on acting as it has done, for it could have arrested every one of us. In saying that it did not have the courage to arrest this army of peace, we praise it. It felt ashamed to arrest such an army. He is a civilised man who feels ashamed to do anything which his neighbours would disapprove. The Government deserves to be congratulated on not arresting us, even if it desisted only from fear of world opinion.

Tomorrow we shall break the salt tax law. Whether the Government will tolerate that is a different question. It may not tolerate it, but it deserves congratulations on the patience and forbearance it has displayed in regard to this party. ...

What if I and all the eminent leaders in Gujarat and in the rest of the country are arrested? This movement is based on the faith that when a whole nation is roused and on the march no leader is necessary.

(1) What were the apprehensions of Mahatma Gandhi when he started his Dandi March?

(2) Why did Gandhiji say that the Government deserved to be congratulated?

(3) Why was the ‘Salt March’ very significant?

(1) On the given political outline map of India (on page 15), locate and label the following appropriately:

(a) Amritsar - an important centre of National Movement.

(b) Agra - a territory under Babur.

(2) On the same political outline map of India, three places which are major Buddhist sites have been marked as A, B and C. Identify them and write their correct names on the lines drawn near them.