New Getting Ahead In Social Studies Class 8 Solutions - History Chapter -11 | Colonialism and Urban Change | Solved Question and Answers

Part I: History

Chapter – 11

Colonialism and Urban Change

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       I.            Fill in the Blanks.

1.     1688

2.     Calcutta and Delhi

3.     Bombay and Thane

4.     Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker

 

   II.            Match the Columns

Darjeeling – hill station

Madras -  Fort St George

Vijayawada -  railway junction

Bombay – group of Island

New Delhi -  India Gate

Calcutta -  fishing village

 

III.            Match the Column

 

Madras -  Francis Day

Calcutta -  Job Charnok

Bomaby -  King Charles II

New Delhi -  Edwin Lutyens

 

IV.            Answer in Brief:

1.     Define deurbanisation. Why did it happen in the British Period?

Ans:- The process of people moving back from urban to rural areas is called ruralisation  or  deurbanisation.

It happened due to the decline of the economy.

 

2.     How was the Indian textile market ruined due to Industrial Revolution?

Ans: Duties on the imports of raw materials from India were abolished in Britain, while high taxes were imposed on imported Indian Textiles. Laws were also introduced in Britain, banning the import of finished textiles from India.

 

3.     Name two hill stations established by the British in India.

Ans: Simla Darjeeling, Ooty and Dehra Dun.

 

4.     Name two cities each that developed around ports and around railway junctions.

Ans: Ports: Calcutta and Bombay

Railway Junctions: Waltair and Vijayawada.

 

5.     What did the terms 'Black Town' and 'White Town' signify in British India?

Ans: The settlements around the fort where the British lived were called 'White Town', and the place where the Indians lived was called 'Black Town'.

 

6.     Identify any two features of the new urban centres.

Ans: The two features are:

i. Many of the new urban centres like Calcutta and Madras developed around forts.

ii. The new cities had broad roads and large and imposing public buildings like government offices, public libraries, museums and town halls.

 

 

   V.            Answer in detail.

 

1.     How were the new urban centers built by the British different from the coal ones? Explain the functions of the different types of cities built by the British giving examples.

 

Ans: The new cities had broad roads and large and imposing public buildings like government offices, public libraries, museums and town halls. They also had parks, markets and clock Towers.

         The part of the city where the British lived was generally divided into the Civil Lines and the military cantonment.  The British military and their families live in the cantonment. The rest lived in the Civil Lines which had bungalows with lots of open space in between.

 

2.     Why and how were municipal corporations created?

Ans: One of the main reasons for the creation of municipalities was the lack of funds faced by the British government in India.

         By levying taxes on roads, trade, ferries, etc., the municipality was able to finance its various activities like building roads, drainage systems and sewerage systems.

 

3.      Give a brief account of the origin and growth of Madras.

Ans:  In 1639, Francis Day and Andrew Cogan of the East India Company search for a suitable place on the Coromandel coast to set up a trading Centre.  They leased the village of Madraspatnam from the local ruler, Damarla Venkatapati Nayak. Here they built a factory and trading port.

         Madras became a naval base and the administrative centre of the British in South India. Madras was one of the three places (along with Bombay and Kolkata) where a University was established to promote Higher Learning.

 

4.     Describe the growth of Kolkata from a fishing Hamlet to the capital of British India.

Ans:- In 1690, Job Charnok, an agent of the East India Company, chose the fishing villages of Kalikata, Sutanuti and Gobindpur to set up a trading settlement. The settlement was soon fortified and called Fort William.

        As British power grew in India, so did the small port town of Calcutta. It emerged in the late 18^th century as the political, economic, social and cultural centre of British power in India.

 

5.     Describe the origin and growth of Bombay.

Ans:- Originally Bombay  was a grouped of seven island – Colaba, Mazgaon, Old Woman’s Island, Wadala, Mahim, Parel and Matunga – Sion.

    In 1853, the first passenger railway line in India was built between Bombay and Thane and in 1857; the University of Bombay was started. The opening of Suez Canal in 1869, export from Bombay, especially of cotton, increased greatly, leading to the accumulation of wealth.

 

6.      Describe the features of Lutyens's New Delhi.

Ans:- Edwin  Lutyens was specifically directed by the Viceroy to ‘harmonise externally with the traditions of India art’. So the buildings of New Delhi were made of red sandstone and included feature like domes, Chhatris, and jalis.

    There were offices building on either President’s Palace, like mirror images. The secretariat building, and building that housed different offices, were on either side of the main road, called King’s Way. 

 

Multiple choice questions

 

 

1.   b

2.   d

3.   d

4.   c

5.   a

6.   d

7.   b

8.   a

9.   a 

10.  c

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Getting Ahead In Social Studies Class 8 Solutions - History Chapter -10 Challenging the Caste System | Solved Question and Answers

Part I: History

Chapter – 10

Challenging the Caste System

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      I.            Fill in the blanks.

1.     Kshatriya

2.     Mahavir and Buddha

3.     Jotirao Phule

4.     Anti Untouchability

5.     Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

 

   II.            True or False.

1.     True

2.     False

3.     True

4.     False

5.     True

 

III.            Answer in brief:

 1.     Name the four major castes that existed in Vedic Times.

Ans: The four major causes did existed in Vedic times were - Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (Warriors) and Vaishya (traders and farmers) and Shudra (labourers).

 

2.     Who were the poor outside the caste system? What were their occupations?

Ans: The untouchables were the people outside the caste system.

The untouchables did the work that was seen as polluting, such as cleaning toilets, washing clothes, burying or cremating the death, sweeping the streets and skinning dead animals.

 

3.     How was the caste system hindrance to individual progress?

Ans: The Curse system was a hindrance to individual progress because it did not recognise the individual talent.

 

4.     Name any four reformers who fought against the caste system in Modern Times.

Ans: The four reformers where Mahatma Jotirao Phule (Maharashtra)   Sree Narayana Guru (Kerala)  Kandukuri Veeresalingam (Andhra Pradesh) and Periyar E V  Ramasami (Tamil Nadu).

 

5.     Describe in brief the work of Jotirao Phule in Maharashtra.

Ans: Jyotirao Phule was one of the most committed social reformers of the 19th Century. He worked tirelessly for the uplift of the lower castes, and disapproved of the supremacy of the priestly class. His work earned him  the title of 'Mahatma'. He founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873 in Maharashtra.

 

6.     What is affirmative action?

Ans: A set of actions taken to remove existing discrimination and to remedy the effects of past discrimination, was taken by the government.

 

 

IV.            Answer in details.

 1.     Describe the origin and establishment of the caste system.

Ans: The caste system originated in the early Vedic period based on occupations.  There were four varnas or castes - Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (Warriors) and Vaishya (traders and farmers) and Shudra (labourers).By the Later Vedic Period, the caste system became more rigid. Caste became something permanent a person was born into.

 

2.     What are the ill effects of the caste system?

Ans: The ill effects of the caste system are;

a.      The 'privileged' castes ill-treated the 'oppressed' caste as the latter did not have any rights.

b.      With several sub caste arising in time. India society became fragmented. People identified first with their caste and only then with the nation.

c.      Caste Divisions were a hindrance to individual progress; they did not recognise individual talent.

 

3.     Explain in details the work of three social formers in South India to uplift the downtrodden.

Ans:   i) Sree Narayana Guru(1827-1890):  In Kerala Sree Narayana Guru was one of the first to fight against the evils of the caste system. He helped found the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam(SNDP) in 1903 to Reform society. He established the Aruvipuram temple where people of all castes were allowed entry. He established a number of educational institutions, primarily for the education of the oppressed classes.

 

ii.) Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848-1919): Kandukuri Veeresalingam took the work of the Brahmo Samaj in Andhra Pradesh. He fought for the right of women and raised his voice against untouchability and superstitious religious beliefs. He started the Hitakarini Samajam in 1906 to take up reforms in society. He started a school for girls in Dowlaiswaram, and conducted widow remarriage.

 

iii.)  Periyar Ramasami(1879-1973): E V Ramasami, fondly called Periyar by his followers, was a crusader for the cause of the downtrodden in Tamil Nadu. He believed that all women and men should be given equal opportunities to develop. He was against the superiority of the priestley class, and other privilege classes. He started the Self- Respect Movement and was a prominent leader of the justice party.

 

4.     Describe the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi to eradicate the evils of the caste system.

Ans: Mahatma Gandhi is mainly remember for his role in the freedom struggle of India, his contributions to the social uplift of the people is equally noteworthy. Gandhi knew that there could be no true freedom for India as long as millions of Indian suffered from the scourge  of untouchability. Gandhiji fought for their entry into temples.  He also started the Anti untouchability League.

 

5.     Describe briefly the life of Doctor Ambedkar and his struggles against the caste system.

Ans:  Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is the father of the Indian Constitution. Ambedkar spent his life fighting to give the Dalits their rights, and to ensure that they could lead a life of dignity. He fought for their right to enter temples, and to draw water from public wells. He asked the Dalit to cast aside the religious and superstitious that they had bound to them to servitude.

 

6.     What are the steps taken by the government after independence for the abolition of the caste system, and to uplift the people belonging to the oppressed castes?

 

Ans:  The steps taken by the government are- 

  i) The Constitution of India guarantees equality to everyone.

ii) The constitution assured all its people equality, and freedom from any form of discrimination.

iii) Untouchability became punishable by law.

 iv) People who suffer operation due to the caste system were given reservations in job and education.

v) The Indian government scheduled the Dalits and the tribal people for affirmative action by including them in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

 

 

 

MCQ

 

1.     d)

2.     d)

3.     b)

4.     a)

5.     c)

6.     d)

7.     b)

8.     a)

 

 

 

 

 

New Getting Ahead In Social Studies Class 8 Solutions- History Chapter - 14 - The Struggle for Independence (1919 - 1947)

Part I: History

Chapter – 14

The Struggle for Independence (1919 – 1947) 

I.        Fill in the blanks:

1.     South Africa

2.     1919

3.     Swaraj

4.     Lahore

5.     Sabarmati to Dandi

6.     1942

7.     Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

8.     Lord Mountbatten

9.     Sovereign Republic

 

II.               True or False

1.     True

2.     False

3.     False

4.     True

5.     True

6.     False

7.     True

III.           Answer in Brief:

1.     Name a few element of the Constructive Programme of Gandhi

Ans: The elements of the Constructive Programme of Gandhiji are spinning kaadi, Hindu-Muslim unity and the removal of the untouchability.

 

2.     Write a short note on the Non- cooperation Movement.

Ans:    It was called the Non Cooperation Movement because it asked people to boycot British goods, and refuse to work or corporate with the British. Large quantities of foreign goods were burnt at many places. The charka (spinning wheel) and the Khadi became symbols of this programme.

 

3.     Why did Indians boycott the Simon Commission?

Ans:    Because the commission, which was to decide India's political future, did not include a single Indian. Therefore the Congress the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha decided to boycott the commission.

 

4.     What was the revolutionary act committed by Bhagat Singh? What was the sentence awarded to him by the British?

Ans:    The revolutionary act committed by Bhagat Singh was that he killed Saunders, the British officer who had ordered the lathi charge.

He was hanged to death on 23rd March 1931.

 

5.     What was the ‘two nation theory’?

Ans: According to this theory Hindu and Muslims were not merely separate religious communities, but they were also culturally and racially different.  So, they were, therefore two separate nations.

 

6.     Why did the Congress ministries resign in 1939?

Ans: The Congress Ministries resign in 1939 because the British government gives no satisfactory reply to the Congress demand for complete Independence.

 

7.     Who formed the main base of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army?

Ans:    Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

 

8.     Why did the Simla Conference fail?

Ans:    The Shimla Conference failed owing to the lack of agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League.

 

9.     Which party called for the Direct Action Day? What was its result?

Ans:   The Muslim League.

It condemned the Congress and the British government and declared that Muslims should resort to direct action to achieve their goal of Pakistan.

  

IV.           Answer in detail:

 

1.     Write short notes on:

i)                   The Simon Commission

ii)                The Nehru Report

Ans: i)The Simon Commission:        The British government appointed Commission under Sir John Simon in 1927 . The main purpose of the Simon Commission was to take a decision on self- government for India but no Indian members was included in the Simon Commission, therefore the Congress, the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha decided to boycott the commission. When the Simon Commission arrived in India from England in February 1928, it was greeted with demonstrations,  black flags and the slogan 'Simon Go Back '.

 

ii)The Nehru Report Nehru report is a committee headed by Motilal Nehru to draft a constitution. The report of the committee known as the Nehru Report, recommended that India will be granted dominion status (self government within the British Empire) immediately, and demanded fundamental rights for Indian citizens.

 

2.     Write an account of the Dandi March by Gandhi.

Ans:    Dandi March was undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi and many of his supporters as a mark of protest against the grossly unjust salt laws the British government had imposed on Indians. So Mahatma Gandhi walked 400 km from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi. There on 6th April 1930, he picked  a handful of salt that had been formed along the shore by the evaporation of sea water. This symbolic act broke the British salt laws.

 

3.     Describe the Non- cooperation Movement. Why did Gandhi withdraw the movement?

Ans: In December 1920, the Congress adopted a new program of struggle against the government. It was called the Non Cooperation Movement because it asked people to boycot British goods, and refuse to work or corporate with the British. Large quantities of foreign goods were burnt at many places. The charka(spinning wheel) and the Khadi became symbols of this programme.

 

Because the enforcements of law and ordered by the government resulted in clashes and bloodshed, almost 30,000 people were imprisoned and all important Nationalist leader were behind bars.

4.     What events and differences in view caused a breach between the Congress and the Muslim League?

Ans: With Congress Ministries in place in some of the provinces and poor showing of the Muslim League in the 1937 elections, the Muslim League was now bitterly opposed to the Congress. It began to claim that the interests of the Muslim minority could not be protected by the Hindu majority. So in 1940, the Muslim League pass a resolution demanding the partition of India and the creations of an independent Muslim state to be name as Pakistan.

 

5.     What event was the main reason for the announcement of the Quit India Movement? What were the results of the movement?

Ans: The main reason for the announcements of the Quit India Movement was the failure of the Cripps Mission. The Congress decided to take active steps to compel the British to grant complete Independence to India. So the All India Congress Committee met in Bombay on 8 August 1942 and passed the historic Quit Indian Resolution. It proposed starting 'a mass struggle or nonviolence lines on non-violent on the wildest possible scale under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi'.

 

6.     Describe the event that preceded and led to the partition of India. What were the effects of partition on India and Pakistan?

Ans:    In March 1947, Lord Mountbatten came to India is the last Viceroy. In June Mountbatten presented a plan for the partitions of British India into two independent States- India and Pakistan. The Congress leaders a agreed to the partitions to avoid further bloodshed between Hindus and Muslim.

Partition saw some of the worst communial riots in the history of the World. Lakhs of peoples were killed, many more displaced, homes broken and lives destroyed.

7.     Write short notes on the Constituent Assembly, and the adoption of the Constitution of India.

Ans: The constituent assembly was formed under the provisions of the cabinet mission plan. The main task of the Assembly was to frame a constitution for India, so diverse in its culture, language and religion.

Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the chairman of the assembly and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee. After 3 years of careful planning and discussions, the final draft of the Indian Constitution was passed on 26th November 1949. On 26 January 1950, India was declared a sovereign democratic republic. Ever since, the day is celebrated as Republic Day throughout the country.

 

 

Multiple Choice Question

 

1.     c)

2.     a)

3.     d)

4.     b)

5.     c)

6.     b)

7.     c)

8.     d)

9.     b)

10.   d)

11.   b)

12.   b,c, d)

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