Ch-2 Writing and City Life

Q1. What are the sources of information about Mesopotamian civilization? Why was Mesopotamia so
important to the Europeans and what did they hope to prove through archaeological excavation?

A1. 1)The sources of knowledge of the Mesopotamian civilisation have been discovered through
archaeological excavation which began in the 1840’s. Hundreds of buildings, statues, ornaments, graves,
tools, seals and written documents have been discovered.
2)Mesopotamia was important to the Europeans because it was mentioned in the Old Testament of the
Bible. It was called Shimar or Sumer, a land of brick built cities.
3)Through archaeological excavations, they hoped to find proof of the stories of the Bible. An expedition
from the British Museum came to Mesopotamia to search for a tablet with the story of Noah and the Great
Flood which was mentioned in the Bible. However no proof could be found.
4)After many decades of exploration it was understood that no proof of the Bible stories could be found.
Archaeologists and historians now started to examine the lives of the ordinary people in Mesopotamia.

Q2. Explain the geographical features of Mesopotamia and how they influenced the growth of civilization
A2. The Mesopotamian Civilisation lies in modern Iraq, and is known as the land between two rivers,
Euphrates and Tigris.
1) In the North East lie undulating plains, rising to tree-covered mountain ranges, with enough rainfall to
grow crops. Here agriculture began in about 6000 BCE.
2) In the North there is a stretch of upland called steppe which is suitable for animal herding, such as sheeps
and goats. This gave a supply of meat, milk and wool.
3) To the East, tributaries of the Tigris provided routes of communication with neighbouring Iran.
4) The south is a desert and here the first cities and writing emerged. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates carried
silt from the mountains to this area and flodeed the banks making it fertile for agriculture. Peas, barley, peas
and lentils were grown.
5) Fish was available in the rivers and date palm gave fruit in summer.
These geographical reasons gave rise to the Mesopotamian civilisation which was called Sumer at first, later
Akkad, then Babylonia and then Assyria.

Q3. Enumerate the causes of early urbanization in the Mesopotamian civilization.

Early cities emerged in Mesopotamia where the rivers Tigris and Euphrates brought fertile silt.
1)This led to high levels of agricultural production and rural prosperity
2) Towns grew when the economy developed in trade, manufacturing and services. Town people became
dependent on products and services of other people and ceased to be self-sufficient.
3)Division of labor is a mark of urban life. For example: The carver of a stone seal requires bronze tools
made by someone else. The tool maker needs the raw material such as copper and tin from someone else.
4) Organised trade and storage was required. Distribution of food supplies and coordinating of various
activities required the keeping of written records.
5) An efficient transport system was also required and this was available in the canals and channels of the
rivers, and Euphrates was known as the world route.

Q4. Write in detail about the system of writing in Mesopotamia and its uses.

A4. 1)Mesopotamians wrote on wet tablets of clay. A scribe would write with a reed on the wet clay and
make signs which were called cuneiform or wedge shaped. The tablet was dried in the sun and hundreds of
such tablets have been found.
2)The script was picture like and had hundreds of signs and symbols. The earlier language was Sumerian
and later it was Akkadian.
3)Literacy was not widespread because it required great skill. Mesopotamians were proud of their skill and it
was a sign of their superiority, as is seen from the story of Enmarkar.
4)The uses of writing were as follows
a)keeping of records and storing information
b)making dictionaries
c) giving legal validity to land transfer
d)narrating the deeds of kings
e) announcing the changes made by a king in the laws
f)sending messages
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the first work of fiction ever recorded, was etched on stone tablets in cuneiform.

Q5. What were the three kinds of cities that developed in Mesopotamia? Give examples.

A5) 1) Temple cities Example Ur and Uruk

2) centres of trade. Example Mari
3)imperial cities

Q6. Write what you know about life in a Mesopotamian city with reference to
a) Family life
b) Marriage customs
c) Town planning
d) Houses
e) Burial customs

A6.a)Family life: The nuclear family was the rule but married sons and the family also lived with his
parents.
b)marriage customs: A declaration was made about the willingness to marry. The bride’s parents gave their
consent t marriage. The groom’s people gave a gift. Later gifts were exchanged, they ate together and made
offerings at a temple. When the mother-in-law came to fetch the bride the father of the bride gave her her
share of inheritance. But the house, herds and fields were given to the sons.
c)Town planning. In Ur we find narrow winding streets and irregular shaped house plots which signify
absence of town planning. Drainage system as found in Mohenjodaro did not exist here.
d)Houses: Drains and clay pipes were found in the houses of Ur. The roof sloped inwards to collect rain
water which was stored in sumps in the inner courtyard. Light entered through the doorways which opened
into the courtyards.
e) Burial customs: Graves of royalty and commoners have been found in a cemetery but some were buried
under the floors of houses.

Q7. ‘Perhaps the greatest legacy of Mesopotamian to the world is its scholarly tradition in time reckoning
and maths.’ Explain.
A7. 1).Mesopotamians are responsible for the beginnings of mathematics – arithmetic, geometry, and
algebra
2) Tablets with multiplication and division, tables, square and square root tables and tables of compound
interest have been found.
3) They followed a precise 12 month calendar. The year was divided into 12 months, months into four
weeks, the day into 24 hours and the hour into 60 minutes.
4) These time divisions were transmitted from the Mesopotamians to the Romans, then to Islam, then to
medieval Europe and then to the modern worls.

Q8. Explain in brief the articles that Mesopotamians traded in

A8). 1) The Mesopotamians had an abundance of agricultural produce and textiles which they traded.
2) In return they imported wood, copper, tin, silver, gold, shell and various stones from Turkey, Syria,
Lebanon and Iran since its mineral resources were few and the wood was not of good quality. Copper came
from Cyprus
3) Mari was a prosperous trading town.
 Chapter 3 An Empire Across three Continents

Q1.Write in brief about the sources for the study of the Roman Empire?

Ans 1 1.Texts such as histories called ‘annals’, letters, speeches, sermons, and laws.
2. Documents such as stone inscriptions written in Greek and Latin have been found. Papyri, which
was a writing material made from a plant, has been found with contracts, accounts, letters and
official documents.
3. Material remains such as buildings, pottery, monuments, mosaics and coins have been found
through excavations.

Q2. Name the three main players in the political history of the Roman Empire? Write a note on the
importance of the army

Ans 2 The Empeor, the aristocracy and the Army were three players of the Roman Empire.
1. The Roman army was a paid professional army where soldiers had to put in a minimum of 25
years of service. This was a distinctive feature of the Empire. It was the largest single organised
body of the empire.
2. It could control the emperors or remove them from the throne.
3. The army demanded better wages and service conditions. If these were not given they would
mutiny.
4. The Senate was also afraid of the army because it was a source of violence.

Q3. Name the three main Pillars/Players in the political history of the Roman Empire and write a note
on the importance of the Senate between 509BCE and 27BCE

Ans3.1. During the period 509 BCE to 27 BCE, Rome was a Republic. The Senate was the body
which controlled power and ruled the Roman Republic.
2. The Senate was a small body of wealthy families who exercised power.
3. Membership of the Senate was for life. To become a member of the Senate the person had to be
wealthy. Mainly landowners were members of the Senate.

Q4.Why were emperors respectful towards the Senate?

Ans 4. The Emperors respected the Senate because it had ruled Rome during the Republic era.
Emperors were judged according to how they behaved towards the Senate. A ruler who did not
respect the Senate was considered the worst kind of ruler.

Q5. Write a note on the system of slavery in the Roman Empire. What did Columella and other Roman
writers say about the management of slaves? ( long answer)

A5. 1. Slave labor existed in the Roman Empire. In the earlier days of the Republic slaves were
present in large number.
2. Slaves were treated like an economic investment and slavery was properly organised.
3. Slaves had to be fed and maintained throughout the year.
4. Slaves were captured during wars but later when wars decreased there was slave breeding.
5. Slaves were treated kindly by ordinary people but the upper classes were often brutal towards the
slaves.
6. Slaves who worked in gangs were chained together at the feet.
7. Some workers were branded so that they could be caught and recognised if they ran away.
Columella was a writer who has written about the management of slaves.
1. He advised slave owners to keep double the amount of tools than the number of slaves so that no
slave would be without work if his tool broke.
2. In order to supervise slaves properly, Columella said that slaves should be grouped in gangs of
10 slaves each so that it could be seen easily if anyone was not working properly.
3. Pliny the Elder, the author of a very famous ‘Natural History’, condemned the use of slave gangs
as the worst method of organising production, mainly because slaves who worked in gangs were
usually chained together by their feet.

Q6. Describe the areas of innovation/changes by Emperor Constantine

A6. 1.The emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire in the 4th
century CE.Before that the Romans were polytheists, worshipping many different Gods and
Goddesses.
2. His chief innovations were in the monetary sphere, where he introduced a new denomination,
called the solidus. This was a coin of 4½ gm of pure gold that would outlasted the Roman Empire
itself. Solidi were minted on a very large scale and their circulation ran into millions.
3.The other area of innovation was the creation of a second capital at Constantinople (at the site of
modern Istanbul in Turkey, and previously called Byzantium), surrounded on three sides by the sea.

Q7. What was the position of women in the Roman Empire? Explain with examples

A7. 1. In the Roman Empire, the wife did not transfer to her husband’s authority but retained full
rights in the property of her natal family.
2.The woman’s dowry went to the husband for the duration of the marriage.
3. The woman remained a primary heir of her father and became an independent property owner on
her father’s death.
4. Roman women enjoyed considerable legal rights in owning and managing property.. 5. Divorce
was relatively easy and needed no more than a notice of intent to dissolve the marriage by either
husband or wife.
6. But despite this, the real position was not so good for the women. Males married in their late
twenties or early thirties, women were married off in the late teens or early twenties, so there was an
age gap between husband and wife and this would have encouraged a certain inequality.
7. Marriages were generally arranged, and women were often subject to domination by their
husbands.
Augustine, the great Catholic bishop, tells us that his mother was regularly beaten by his father and
that most other wives in the small town where he grew up had a similar experience.
8. Finally, fathers had substantial legal control over their children –sometimes to a shocking degree,
for example, a legal power of life and death in exposing unwanted children, by leaving them out in
the cold to die.

Q8. What do you know about social hierarchies in the early and late Roman Empire?

A8. 1. In the early Roman Empire the leading social groups were as follows:
Senators; leading members of the equestrian class; the respectable section of the people, those
attached to the great houses; the unkempt lower class (plebs sordida) who were addicted to the circus
and theatrical displays; and finally the slaves.
 2.In the late empire : Aristocracy:The first two groups - the senators and the equites, had merged into
a unified and expanded aristocracy. This ‘late Roman’ aristocracy was enormously wealthy but less
powerful than the purely military elites.
3. The ‘middle’ class now consisted of the considerable mass of persons connected with imperial
service in the bureaucracy and army and also the more prosperous merchants and farmers.
4. Below them were the vast mass of the lower classes known collectively as humiliores. They
comprised a rural labour force of which many were permanently employed on the large estates;
workers in industrial and mining establishments; migrant workers who supplied much of the labour
for the grain and olive harvests and for the building industry; self-employed artisans; a large mass of
casual labourers, especially in the big cities; and of course the many thousands of slaves.

Q9. Write a note on the Roman economy . What technology did they use?

A9. Various economic activities prevailed in the Roman Empire.

1. There were harbours, mines, quarries, brickyards, olive oil factories, etc.
2. Wheat, wine and olive-oil were traded and consumed in huge quantities, and they came mainly
from Spain, the Gallic provinces, North Africa, Egypt and Italy, where conditions were best for
these crops.
3. Liquids like wine and olive oil were transported in containers called ‘amphorae’.
4. Many regions of the empire were very fertile, such as Campania in Italy, Sicily, Galilee,
Byzacium and southern Gaul. They were densely settled and were very wealthy.
5. Large parts of Roman territory were in a much less advanced state. For example, transhumance
was widespread in the countryside .The pastoral and semi-nomadic communities were often on
the move, carrying their oven-shaped huts with them.
6. The Romans used water power for milling, hydraulic mining techniques in the Spanish gold and
silver mines
7. They had a well-organised commercial and banking network, and the widespread use of money
8. All this tells us that the Empire was advanced and quite modern.

Q10. Explain the third century crisis of the Roman Empire

A10. 1. The Sasanian ruler of Iran defeated an army of 60,000 Romans in the 3rd
century and captured Antioch which was the eastern capital of the
Roman Empire.
2. Many Germanic tribes such as Alamanni, Franks and Goths attacked the Roman empire
frequently on the frontiers. This weakened the Empire.
3. Many emperors changed in quick succession in the empire, which was a sign of weakening of
the power of the Roman Empire.25 Emperors changed within 47 years.
4. So in the 3rd century the Empire had to fight on several frontiers simultaneously and this led to
the 3rd century crisis.

Q11.What was the traditional religion and culture of the classical world?
A11. 1. Polytheism.The traditional religious culture of the classical world, both
Greek and Roman, had been polytheist, i.e. worship of many Gods.
2. Many Roman gods were Jupiter, Juno, Minerva and Mars, as well as numerous Greek and
eastern deities were worshipped in thousands of temples, shrines and sanctuaries throughout the
empire.
1. The other great religious tradition in the empire was Judaism.
2. The people gradually became ‘Christian’ in the fourth and fifth centuries by a gradual process.
 Ch-4: The Central Islamic Lands

Q1. Describe with examples the various sources for the study of central Islamic lands (8)

A1. Sources to understand the history of central Islamic lands are:

1. Chronicles or tawarikh which narrate events date wise or time wise. Eg Tarikh of Tabari, written
in Arabic. Also, Persian Chronicles and Christian chronicles throw interesting light on the
history of early Islam
2. Semi-historical works, such as biographies or sira.
3. Records of the sayings and doings of the Prophet (hadith)
4. Commentaries on the Quran (tafsir) are also available.
5. A large collection of eyewitness reports (akhbar) transmitted over a period of time either
orally or on paper whose reliability was carefully established.
6. There are also legal texts, geographies, travelogues and literary works, such as stories and
poems.
7. Documentary evidence such as official orders or private correspondence is the most valuable and
comes from Greek and Arabic papyri and the Geniza records.
8. Archaeological excavations done at desert palaces, numismatic or study of coins and
epigraphic (study of inscriptions) sources are of great value for economic history, art history,
and for establishing names and dates.
9. Proper histories of Islam began to be written in the nineteenth century by university professors in
Germany and the Netherlands, and French and British researchers. Christian priests produced
some good works. These scholars are called Orientalists.

Q2. What were the features of the lives of the Bedouins in the early 7th century? What was
Muhammad’s message to them in 612?

A2. Way of life of the Bedouins

1. The Arabs were divided into tribes each led by a chief who was chosen for his personal
courage, wisdom and generosity. Arab tribes were nomadic (Bedouins), moving from dry to
green areas (oases) of the desert in search of food and fodder for their camels.
2. Muhammad’s own tribe, Quraysh, lived in Mecca and controlled the main shrine there, a
cube-like structure called Kaba,in which idols were placed.
3. Each tribe had its own god or goddess, who was worshipped as an idol in a shrine. Even
tribes outside Mecca considered the Kaba holy and installed their own idols at this shrine.
4. Making annual pilgrimages to the shrine at Mecca which was located on the crossroads of a
trade route was also the practice.

Muhammad’s message to Arab tribes

1. The Prophet Muhammad was an Arab by language and culture and a merchant by profession.
Around 612, Muhammad declared himself to be the messenger of God who had been
commanded to preach that only Allah should be worshipped.
2. The worship involved simple rituals such as daily prayers
3. Moral principles, such as distributing alms to the poor
4. And abstaining from theft.

Q3. How was the institution of Caliphate created? Trace the history of expansion of the Muslim
rule under the first four Caliphs after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE till 661 CE. (8)
The Caliphate and their contributions
 After Muhammad’s death in 632, no one could legitimately claim to be the next prophet of Islam
and there was no principle of succession. This created an opportunity for creation of the
institution of caliphate, in which the leader of the community became the deputy or khalifa of
the Prophet. The first four caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali continued the work of
the Prophet under the general guidelines he had provided. The aim of the caliphate was to
control the tribes and to raise resources for the state.
1. Abu Bakr
Following Muhammad’s death, many tribes broke away from the Islamic state. The first caliph,
Abu Bakr, suppressed the revolts by a series of campaigns.
2. Umar
The second caliph,Umar, shaped the Muslim’s policy of expansion of power. He carried out
expeditionary raids to collect booty and conquered lands belonging to the Byzantine Empire in
the west and the Sasanian Empire in the east.
He brought Syria, Iraq, Iran and Egypt under the control of Arabs.
3. Uthman644-656
The third caliph, Uthman, extended the control to Central Asia. Within a decade of the death of
Muhammad, the Arab-Islamic state controlled the vast territory between Egypt and Afghanistan.
Under Uthman the Meccan people gained in importamce in the administration. Opposition in
Iraq and Egypt, combined with opposition in Medina, led to the assassination of Uthman.
4. Ali (656-61)
With Uthman’s death, Ali became the fourth caliph. He fought two wars against the Meccan
aristocracy. His supporters came to be called Shias and his enemies as Sunnis. Ali defeated an
army led by Muhammad’s wife in the Battle of the Camel.
He was not able to suppress the faction led by Muawiya, a kinsman of Uthman and the
governor of Syria.
Ali was assassinated by a Kharji in a mosque at Kufa. After his death, his followers paid
allegiance to his son, Hussain, and his descendants.

Muawiya made himself the next caliph in 661, founding the Umayyad dynasty which lasted till
750.

Q4. What changes did the Umayyads make to consolidate their leadership within the umma?

A4. The Umayyads and the changes introduced by them in Politics or Administration

1. The first Umayyad caliph, Muawiya, moved his capital from Medina to Damascus.
2. He adopted the court ceremonies and administrative institutions of the Byzantine Empire.
3. He also introduced hereditary succession and persuaded the Muslims to accept his son as his
heir.
4. The Umayyad state was now an imperial power, no longer based directly on Islam but on
statecraft and the loyalty of Syrian troops.
5. There were Christian advisers in the administration, as well as Zoroastrian scribes and
bureaucrats. However, Islam continued to provide legitimacy to their rule. The Umayyads
always appealed for unity and suppressed rebellions in the name of Islam.
6. During the rule of Abd al-Malik Arabic was made the language of administration.
7. He introduced an Islamic coinage. The gold dinar and silver dirham that had been circulating in
the caliphate was reformed and now had Arabic inscriptions.
8. Abdal-Malik also developed an Arab-Islamic identity by building the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem.

Q5. Who were the Abbasids and when did they come to power? What changes were brought about
by the Abbasid Revolution?

A5. The Abbasid Revolution

1. The Abbasids were descendants of Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle and were a family of Meccan
origin. The Abbasids portrayed the Umayyad regime as evil and promised a restoration of the
original Islam of the Prophet.
2 A movement called dawa replaced the Umayyads with the Abbasids in 750.Their army was led
by an Iranian slave, Abu Muslim, who defeated the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan.
Administrative changes introduced by Abbasids
1. Under Abbasid rule, Arab influence declined, while the importance of Iranian culture increased.
2. The Abbasids changed their capital from Damascus to Baghdad.
3. The army and bureaucracy were reorganised on a non-tribal basis to ensure greater participation
by people of Iraq and Khurasan.
4. The Abbasid rulers strengthened the religious status and functions of the caliphate and
patronised Islamic institutions and scholars.
5. However, they maintained the magnificent imperial architecture and elaborate court
ceremonials of the Umayyads as well as the institution of monarchy.

Q6. What were the crusades and when were they fought?

The Crusades were wars fought by the European Christians against the Muslims of the eastern
Mediterranean to liberate the ‘Holy Land of Palestine’. The crusades were fought between 1095
and 1291.According to some sources the Pope gifted crosses to all the soldiers to fight in the
war. That is why the war was named so.

Q7. Explain the causes, events and results of the crusades. (8)

A7. Causes for the Crusade Wars

1. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and after it was conquered by the Arabs in 638 they always
wanted to get it back. This was an important factor for the Crusade wars.
2. Normans, Hungarians and Slavs (People of Eastern Europe) had been converted to Christianity,
and the Muslims alone remained as the main enemy of Christians.
3. There was also a change in the social and economic organization of the Western Europe in the
eleventh century which increased the hostility between Christian and the Islamic worlds.
Christians established political stability through economic growth based on agriculture and trade.
But Muslims tried the same through violence and plunder.
4. The death of the sultan of Baghdad in 1092 and the disintegration of his empire gave an
opportunity to the Christians under the Byzantine emperor and the Pope to revive the spirit of
Christianity and to liberate the Holy Land.

I, II and III Crusade wars: Events:

1. In the first crusade (1098-99), soldiers from France and Italy captured Antioch in Syria, and
claimed Jerusalem. Their victory was accompanied by the slaughter of Muslims and Jews in the
 city.The Franks established four crusader states in the region of Syria-Palestine. Together these
territories were known as Outremer.
2. When the Turks captured Edessa in 1144, an appeal was made by the Pope for a second
crusade (1145-49). A combined German and French army made an attempt to capture
Damascus but they were defeated and forced to return home.
3. After this, there was a gradual erosion of the strength of crusader states. Saladin created an
Egypto-Syrian empire and gave the call for jihad or holy war against the Christians, and defeated
them in 1187. He regained Jerusalem, nearly a century after the first crusade.
4 A third crusade in 1189 was fought for the city of Jerusalem but the crusaders only gained a
few coastal towns in Palestine and got free access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims.
The Mamluks, the rulers of Egypt, finally drove the crusading Christians from Palestine in
1291and Europe gradually lost military interest in Islam.

Impacts of Crusade wars

1. The Crusades left a lasting impact on two aspects of Christian-Muslim relations. One was
the harsher attitude of the Muslim state towards its Christian subjects which resulted from the
bitter memories of the conflict as well as the needs for security in areas of mixed populations.
2. The other was the greater influence of Italian mercantile communities in the trade between the
East and the West even after the restoration of Muslim power.

Q8. Write a note on Agricultural Development in Arabia

A8. Agricultural Development in Arabia

1. Agriculture was the principal occupation in the newly conquered territories. Land was owned by
big and small peasants and by the state.
2. On land cultivated by Muslims, the tax was one-tenth (ushr) of the produce. On land cultivated
by non-Muslims, the tax levied was half of the total produce.
3. From the tenth century onwards, the state authorised its officials to claim their salaries from
agricultural revenues from territories, called iqtas.
4. In many areas, the state supported the construction of dams and canals, and the digging of
wells etc. Islamic law gave tax concessions to people who brought waste land under cultivation.
Many new crops such as cotton, oranges, bananas, watermelons, spinach and brinjals were
grown and even exported to Europe.

Q9. Discuss urbanization and growth of new cities in Arabia

A9. Urbanisation in Arabia

1. Islamic civilisation flourished as the number of cities grew and many new cities such as Kufa
and Basra in Iraq, Fustat and Cairo in Egypt were founded. The population of Baghdad had
reached around 1 million. The older towns such as Damascus, Isfahan and Samarqand grew in
size and population.
2. At the heart of the city were two building complexes radiating cultural and economic power:
the mosque and the central market place with shops in a row, merchants’ lodgings and the office
of the money-changer.
3. The administrators, scholars and merchants lived in the cities near the centre. Ordinary citizens
and soldiers had their living quarters in the outer circle, each fitted with its own mosque, church
or synagogue, market and public bath.
4. At the outskirts were the houses of the urban poor, a market for green vegetables and fruits,
caravan stations and shops for tanning or butchering. Beyond the city walls were inns for people
to rest when the city gates were shut and cemeteries.

Q10. Write a note on the trade route and articles of trade in the Muslim Empire. What was their
contribution towards business organization and the fiscal system?

A10.Trade route and articles of trade

1. The Muslim empire was situated between the trading zones of the Indian Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea.
2. Spices, textile, porcelain and gunpowder were shipped from India and China to the Red Sea
ports of Aden and Aydhab and the Gulf ports of Siraf and Basra. From here, the goods were
carried overland in camel caravans to Baghdad, Damascus and Aleppo.
3. At the Mediterranean end of these trade routes, exports to Europe from the port of Alexandria
were handled by Jewish merchants, some of whom traded directly with India.
4. From the tenth century, the Red Sea route gained greater importance due to the rise of Cairo as a
centre of commerce and power and growing demand for eastern goods from the trading cities of
Italy.
5. At the eastern end, caravans of Iranian merchants set out from Baghdad along the Silk Route to
China to bring Central Asian and Chinese goods, including paper. Islamic coins were used for
the payment of these goods.

Contribution towards business organization and the fiscal system

6. The fiscal system and market exchange increased the importance of money in the central Islamic
lands. Coins of gold, silver and copper were minted and circulated
7. Gold came from Africa and silver from Central Asia. Precious metals and coins also came from
Europe, which used these to pay for its trade with the East. The greatest contribution of the
Muslim world to medieval economic life was the development of superior methods of payment
and business organisation. Letters of credit (cheque) and bills of exchange (draft) were used by
merchants and bankers to transfer money from one place or individual to another.
8. Many tales from the Thousand and One Nights tell about medieval Islamic society, featuring
characters such as sailors, slaves, merchants and money-changers.

Q11. What do you know about the Shariat?

A11. Shariat
The ulamas or religious scholars prepared a body of laws called sharia to govern the
relationship of Muslims with God through rituals and with the rest of the humanity through
social affairs.
The sharia provided guidance on all legal issues within Sunni society such as marriage, divorce
and inheritance.

Q12. Write a note on Sufism.

A12. 1. A group of religious-minded people in medieval Islam, known as Sufis, sought a deeper
and more personal knowledge of God through asceticism and mysticism.
2. The Sufis sought to renounce the world and rely on God alone.
3. They believed that unity with God can be achieved through love or ishq for God.
4. They believed in submerging the self –fana, in God.
5. Through musical concerts called sama, they practiced love and devotion for God.

Q13. What is ‘adab’?

A13. In medieval Islamic societies, fine language and a creative imagination were among the most
appreciated qualities in a person. The term Adab means literary and cultural refinement. Adab
forms of expressions included poetry and prose which were meant to be memorized and used
when the occasion arose.

Q14. What are ghazals and rubais?

A14. New Persian poetry included new forms such as the short lyrical poem or ghazal and the
quatrain or rubai. The rubai is a four-line stanza in which the first two lines set the stage, the
third is finely poised, and the fourth delivers the point. The subject matter of the rubai is
unrestricted. The rubai reached its peak during the time of Umar Khayam.

Q15. Name some famous literary works and authors of the sultanate of Ghazni.

A15. Ghazni became the centre of Persian literary life in the 11th century. Mahmud of Ghazni
gathered around him a group of poets who composed anthologies and epic poetry.
1. The most outstanding was Firdausi, who wrote the Shahnama (Book of Kings), an epic of
50,000 couplets which has become a masterpiece of Islamic literature. The Shahnama is a
collection of traditions and legends which poetically depicts Iran from Creation to the Arab
conquest.
2. A large number of works were written in prose for the moral education and amusement of
readers. The oldest of these is a collection of animal fables called Kalila wa Dimna which is the
Arabic translation of the Panchtantra.
3. The most wide spread and lasting literary works are the stories of hero-adventurers such as
Alexander and Sindbad, or those of unhappy lovers known as Majnun or the Madman.
4. The Thousand and One Night sis another collection of stories told by a single narrator,
Shahrzad, to her husband night after night.
5. From the ninth century onwards, the scope of writing books was expanded to include
biographies, manuals of ethics, history and geography. Alberuni’s famous History of
India was the greatest attempt by an eleventh-century Muslim writer to look beyond the world
of Islam.

Q16. Describe by giving examples the features of art (development of calligraphy and arabesque)
and architecture (with special reference to the mosque and palaces) of the Islamic Civilization
(8)

Architecture in central Islamic land

1. Religious buildings were the greatest external symbols of Islamic world. Mosques, shrines and
tombs from Spain to Central Asia showed the same basic design –arches, domes, minarets and
open courtyards –and expressed the spiritual and practical needs of Muslims.
2. The mosque had an open courtyard where a fountain or pond was placed.
3. It had a hall which could accommodate long lines of worshippers and the prayer leader.
4. Inside the hall there was a niche in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca
5. And a pulpit from where sermons were delivered during noon prayers on Friday.
6. The same pattern of construction – of buildings built around a central courtyard appeared
in caravanserais, hospitals and palaces. The Umayyads built ‘desert palaces’ modeled on
Roman and Sasanian architecture, which were decorated with sculptures, mosaics and paintings
of people.

Art in central Islamic land

7. The rejection of representing living beings in the religious art of Islam promoted two art
forms: calligraphy (the art of beautiful writing) and arabesque (geometric and vegetal
designs). Small and big inscriptions, usually of religious quotations, were used to decorate
architecture.
8. Calligraphic art has been best preserved in manuscripts of the Quran dating from the eighth and
ninth centuries. Literary works were illustrated with miniature paintings. In addition, a wide
variety of illumination techniques were introduced to enhance the beauty of a book. Plant and
floral designs, based on the idea of the garden, were used in buildings and book illustrations.
 Theme 6 The Three Orders
Q1. Enumerate the sources to understand Medieval European society and Feudalism.

A1. Sources to understand Medieval European society

1. There is a lot of material in the form of documents, such as details of landownership, prices and legal
cases.
2. Churches had kept records of births, marriages and deaths.
3. The inscriptions in churches give information about traders' associations.
4. Songs and stories give information about festivals and community activities. All these can be used to
understand economic and social life.
5. Marc Bloch was one of the earliest scholars of France who worked on the concept of feudalism. He
argued that history is not all about political history and lives of great people.
6. He stressed on the importance of geography in determining human history
7. He gave importance to the need to understand the collective activities of groups of people.
8. The name of his book is ‘Feudal Society’ and describes the European society between 900 and 1300.

Q2. What do you understand by the term feudalism? Explain.

A2. Meaning of Feudalism

The term 'feudalism' is derived from a German word 'feud' which means 'a piece of land'. Historians used the
term feudalism to describe the economic, legal, political and social relationships that existed in Europe i.e.
France, England and Italy in the medieval era.
Feudalism refers to a kind of an agricultural production which was based on the relationship between the
lords and peasants. The peasants cultivated their own land and worked on the lands of the lords also. In lieu
of labour service, peasants received military protection from the lord. The lords also decided the judicial
matters of the peasants. Therefore, besides economic aspects, feudalism also began to cover the political and
social aspects of life.

Q3. Name the three Orders of feudal Europe. Write in detail about the First Order and monks

A3. The three orders of the European society between the ninth and and sixteenth centuries were:
The Ist Order was ‘The Clergy or Christian priests’.
The 2nd Order was ‘The Nobility’ or land owners and
The 3rd Order was the peasants, both free and un-free.
The First Order:
The Clergy: 1. The head of Christian church was the Pope, who lived in Rome. The Pope together with
bishops, clerics, and priests made the first order of the feudal society. They guided and controlled all
Christians. The Bishops owned lands like lords, had vast estates and lived in grand palaces.
2. The Catholic Church was very powerful and did not depend on the king. The church had its own laws and
owned land granted by the king. It collected taxes of its own. The church collected one tenth of share from
peasants' produce every year called the ‘tithe'. The church also got money in the form of donations by the
rich.
3. Each village had a church, where people gathered on Sunday to pray and listened to the sermons of the
priests. Men who became priests could not marry. Serfs, the physically challenged and women could not
become a priest.
4. Several rites and rituals of feudal nobles were copied by the church to increase its influence. A)The act of
kneeling while praying, with hands clasped and head bowed was copied from the way in which a knight
conducted himself while taking vows of loyalty to his lord. B)The use of the word 'Lord' for God was also
copied from feudal customs.

Monks and Monasteries

There were some very religious Christians in feudal society known as monks. They lived in isolation outside
the towns and villages in religious communities called abbeys or monasteries. They took a vow to stay in the
abbey for the rest of their life. They spent their time in worship, study and manual labour like farming. There
were separate abbeys for men and women. Monks and nuns did not marry. Two well-known monasteries
were one established by St. Benedict in Italy in 529 and another of Cluny in Burgundy in 910.

Q4. How did the church influence the lives of the people?

A4. Relation between the Church and Society

Christianity entered Europe and influenced most of the people. Christmas and Easter became important dates
from the fourth century. They replaced old pre-Roman festivals which were based on solar calendar.
Holydays or holidays were welcomed by over worked peasants as free days. Pilgrimages to holy shrines of
martyrs or big churches were a common practice.

Q5.Who belonged to the Second Order? Enumerate the rights and privileges of this order.

A5. The Second Order:

The Nobility
1. The nobility controlled land. They were big land holders and used to be vassals of the king. This was
the result of the old custom known as 'vassalage'.
2. The peasants were vassals to the land owners. A noble accepted the king as his lord in all matters
and king had to give a promise that he would protect the vassals. A ritual was held in which the king
and the vassal had to take vows on the Bible in the church. The vassal received a written charter or a
staff or even a clod of earth as symbol of land granted by the king or his lord.
3. The nobles enjoyed several privileges. They had judicial powers. They could issue coins. They also
had power to raise their army known as feudal levies.
4. A noble was lord of each and every person settled on his land. He possessed huge tracts of land
which included his house called manor, his personal fields as well as pastures and the fields of
peasant-tenants. The peasants cultivated their own fields and worked as cultivators on his fields.
They became soldiers in time of military need.

Knights: A Distinctive Group of the second order

5. Knights were a new section of people in feudal society who were created as a result of frequent
localised wars in Europe. The peasant soldiers were not well trained and were not enough in number.
There was also a shortage of good cavalry.
6. Knights were under the lord. The knight paid his lord a regular fee and promised to fight for him in
war. The lord granted a piece of land called fief to the knight and promised to protect it.
7. The fief was hereditary and consisted of a house for him and his family, a church and other
establishments for his dependants, together with a water mill and wine press. The peasants cultivated
the land of the fief.
8. A knight could serve more than one lord but remained loyal to his own lord.
Q6. What was a manor? Describe the way of life on a manorial estate.

A6. The manor was the name given to the house of the Lord in feudal society.
The Manorial Estate
The manorial estate controlled 100’s of peasant villages which were part of it.
It had woodlands and forests where the lord did hunting.
The estates also contained pastures where his cattle and his horses grazed.
There was a church on the estate.
There was also a castle for defence. The castles became centres of administration and military strength under
the feudal system.
The manorial estates were almost self-sufficient economic centres, where each and every requirement of
daily life was available. Salt, millstones and metalware had to be obtained from outside sources.Luxury
items also were obtained from outside, such as musical instruments, ornaments and rich furnishings.
The grains were grown in the fields.
Blacksmiths and carpenters maintained the lords equipment and refurnished the ornaments.
Stone masons managed their building.
The women prepared fabrics and children worked in lord's wine-presses.

Q7. Which category of people belonged to the Third Order? Write in detail about their way of life.

A7. The Third Order : Peasants, Free and Unfree

The third order consisted of vast majority of people who were mainly cultivators. The cultivators were of
two types: free peasants and serfs.
The free peasants held their farms as tenants of the lord.
1. They had to give military service for least forty days in a year.
2. They had to work on lord's fields for three days in a week in the form of labour-rent.
3. They also provided unpaid services for works like digging ditches, gathering firewood, building
fences and maintaining roads and buildings.
4. Women and children worked on fields and performed tasks such as spinning thread, weaving cloth,
making candles and preparing wine from grapes.
5. The free peasants had to pay a tax 'taille' to king from which clergy and nobles were exempted.

The serfs
1. They tilled the land of lord and did not get paid.
2. Most of the produce was submitted to the lord.
3. They were not allowed to leave the estate without permission from the lord.
4. Serfs could use only lord's flour mill, his oven to bake their bread and his wine-presses to distil wine
and beer.
5. The lord decided whom a serf should marry or might give the blessing to the serf's choice on a
payment of a fee.

Q8. Discuss the technological changes in the field of agriculturein the 11th century and their impact on the
food conditions.

A8. Technological Changes in the Field of Agriculture

There were many changes in the field of agriculture in the 11th century:
 1. The heavy iron-tipped ploughs and mould-boards replaced old wooden tools. These ploughs dug
much deeper and mould -boards turned the topsoil properly. With this the nutrients from the soil
were better utilized.
2. The shoulder-harness replaced neck-harness of animals that allowed animals to wield greater power.
3. Use of iron horseshoes prevented foot decay of horses.
4. There was increased use of wind and water energy for grinding corn and pressing grapes .
5. There was introduction of three field system for land use in place of older two field system. Now a
peasant could use two out of three fields by sowing one crop in autumn and another crop in spring.
They could grow wheat or rye in autumn in one field then in second field they could grow peas,
beans and lentils during spring and could grow oats and barley for horses also. The third field was
left fallow and by that they could rotate the use of all three fields every year.

Impact of Changes
1. With the improvement in agricultural technology there was increase in food produced from every
unit of land.
2. The greater use of plants like peas and beans meant increase in protein diet of Europeans
3. There was better source of fodder for animals.
4. Now cultivator could produce more food from small land. Small holdings reduced the requirement of
labour and could be efficiently cultivated which gave time to peasants for other creative activities.

Q9. Which factors led to the growth of town in Europe after the 11th century?

A9. Factors leading to growth of New towns

1. Increase in agricultural production lead to growth of population and increased life span of people.
2. Peasant needed a place to sell their surplus produce and buy tools and cloth. So regular fairs were
held in small townships. These townships gradually developed into towns with features like town
square, a church, streets where merchants built shops and homes, an office where administrators of
city could meet.
3. The towns developed along large castles, bishops' estates or large churches.
4. Towns offered the prospect of paid work and freedom for young people of peasantry.Many serfs
escaped from their masters and hid themselves in towns. If they successfully completed one year and
a day without being discovered by their master, they could become freemen.
5. Later there was a need of skilled individuals like lawyers and bankers. The bigger towns had
population of around 30,000 which might form the fourth order.
6. One of the ways that rich merchants spent their money was by making donations to churches. From
the twelfth century, large churches called cathedrals were built. . As they were being built, the area
around the cathedrals became more populated, and when they were completed they became centres
of pilgrimage. Thus, small towns developed around them.

Q10. What were guilds? What were their functions?

A10. Guilds were the basis of economic organisation in the medieval Europe. Each craft or industry was
organised into guild.
Functions:
The guild was an association which controlled the quality, price and the sale of the goods.
The heads of all the guilds had formal meetings in the guild- hall which was a part of every town.
Q11. What factors caused the slowing down of Europe’s economic expansion in the 14th century?

A11.The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century

By the early fourteenth century, Europe's economic expansion slowed down.

1. In 13th century the warm summers of the previous years had given way to bitterly cold summers.
Seasons for growing crops were reduced by a month.
2. Storms and oceanic flooding destroyed many farmlands that reduced the income in taxes for
governments.
3. Shortage of resources resulted in famine.
4. Trade was hit by a severe shortage of metal money because of the short fall in the output of silver
mines in Austria and Serbia.
5. The ships came from distant places with rats carrying the deadly bubonic plague infection(Black
death).20-40 per cent of the people of the whole of Europe died.
6. Serious imbalances were created between agriculture and manufacture.
7. Prices of agricultural goods dropped as there were fewer people to buy.
8. Wage rates increased because the demand for labour rose after the Black Death. The surviving labour
force could now demand twice their earlier wages

Q 12.Discuss the political changes in Europe in the 15th and 16th century, after the dissolution of the feudal
system of lordship and vassalage

A12. Political Changes between 15th and 16th century

1. In the 15th and 16th centuries, emergence of triumphant rulers in Europe was stimulated by the social
changes of 13th and 14th centuries as the feudal system weakened.
2. Both the powerful new states and the economic changes that were occurring were significant for
Europe. The historians called these kings' the new monarchs'. For example The kings like Louis XI in
France, Maximilian in Austria, Henry-VII in England and Isabelle and Ferdinand in Spain were
absolute monarchs.
3. They started the process of organizing standing armies,a permanent bureaucracy and national
taxation and,in Spain and France began to play a role in European expansion overseas.
4. The monarchs dispensed with the system of feudal levies for their armies and initiated professionally
trained infantry equipped with gun and siege artillery directly under their control.
5. The resistance of the nobility collapsed in the face of the military efficiency of the kings. The
centralized power did not establish easily confrontation of aristocracies. The nobility managed a
tactical transfer from being opponents to the new regime into loyalists.
6. The king was at the centre of an elaborate courtier society and a network of patron-client
relationships. All rulers powerful or weak required the assistance of those who could control power
which could be arranged or acquired by way of money.
7. The merchants and bankers acquired an important role because they could solve problem of money
for the kings by lending it to them. Therefore,they got easy access to royal court.
8. Kings, thus made way for non-feudal constituents in the state scheme. The later history of France and
England was to be shaped by these changes in the power structure.
 Ch-7 Changing Cultural Traditions

Q1. Name the book written by Jacob Burckhardt and briefly describe his views on writing history with
reference to the Renaissance period.
A1. Jacob Burckhardt (1818-97) and his view about Renaissance
1. He was a scholar from Switzerland.
2. He wrote the book named 'The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy'
3. He thought that History should not only be written about political affairs of the past only by consulting
files of Government departments.
4. He felt cultural aspects must also be included in history writings. In his book he attracted his readers’
attention to literature, architecture and painting of the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. He also
wrote about a new ‘humanist’ culture in Italian towns which was characterised by a new belief – that
man, as an individual, was capable of making his own decisions and developing his skills. He was
‘modern’, in contrast to ‘medieval’ man whose thinking had been controlled by the church.
Similar to Q1.
Q1 .What were the views of Jacob Burckhardt on humanist culture and humanism? (Same answer as above)
He believed that a new humanist culture flowered in Italian towns between the 14th to 17th century
which was characterised by a new belief – that man, as an individual, was capable of making his own
decisions and developing his skills. He was ‘modern’, in contrast to ‘medieval’ man whose thinking
had been controlled by the church.

Q2. Enumerate the factors that led to the revival of Italian Cities.

A2.Factors that led to the revival of Italian Cities

1. After the decline of the Roman Empire, the towns of Italy which were political and cultural centers,
declined and were ruined. Western Europe was restructured by feudal bonds and Eastern Europe went
under the rule of Byzantine Empire and Islam was building a common society further west.
2. At this time, Italy was weak and fragmented. All these developments helped in the revival of the
Italian culture. The ports on the Italian coast revived because of the developments of trade between the
Byzantine Empire and the Islamic countries.
3. From the 12th century, the Mongols opened up trade with China through the Silk Route. This led to
increase of trade with European countries, and especially Italian cities. These cities kept their identity
as independent city states. Florence and Venice were among the republics.
Many cities came into existence because their administration was in the hands of rich merchants and
bankers, free from the control of clergy or feudal lords and this helped the idea of citizenship.

Q3. What do you understand by ‘Humanism’ as it developed during the Renaissance period? What were the
features of humanist thought?
A3. Humanism
1. The ‘humanist’ culture in Italian towns was characterised by a new belief – that man, as an individual,
was capable of making his own decisions and developing his skills. It was now believed that human
nature was many-sided, which went against the three separate orders that feudal society believed in.
2. He was ‘modern’, in contrast to ‘medieval’ man whose thinking had been controlled by the church.
New thoughts were formed through discussions and debates of individuals. The ancient Greek thinkers
 such as Plato and Aristotle also believed in discussion and debate and the people now were reminded
of them.
3. New subjects such as grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history and philosophy were taught in Italian
universities. Medicine and theology slowly began to be introduced in schools, in Italy and in other
European countries as well.
4. Importance was given to reviving the ancient writings and knowledge of the Greek and Romans,
especially related with the study of law. Francesco Petrarch stressed the importance of reading the
words of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

The views of Humanists on history : The humanists thought that an age of darkness existed for centuries
after the decline of the Roman Empire, which they termed as 'dark age'. Later scholars assumed that 'new
age' began after the 14th century. The period of thousand years(a millennium) after the fall of Roman
Empire was considered as 'Middle Ages'or 'Medieval Period'. About 'middle ages, they said that religion
or church controlled the minds of all men in a way that all the learning of the Greeks and Romans had
been washed out. The humanists termed the period from the 15th century as 'modern'

Q4. Write a note on ‘Realism’ in painting and sculpture and give examples of famous artists of the
Renaissance period (3)
A4. Artists and Realism
1. Humanist ideas were also spread through art. The artists were inspired by studying the works of the
past, namely in the ruins of ancient Rome and other deserted cities.
2. Italian sculptors were influenced with perfectly proportioned male and female figures. Donatello
began to make life like statues.
3. The artists were helped by the scientists by making accurate human figures. The artists went to
laboratories of medical schools for studying bone structures.
4. Painters painted as realistically and their pictures had a three-dimensional effect due to the use of light
effect of colours. They found that the use of oil as a medium for painting also gave a greater richness
of colour to paintings than before.
5. The use of anatomy, geometry and physics together with logic of 'what is beautiful' created a quality
called realism introduced in Italian art which continued up to the 19th century.
6. Several persons were expert equally as painters and sculptors. Michaelangelo is remembered for his
work in Rome such as the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the sculpture called 'The Pieta'.

Q5. Write a note on Italian architecture in the 15th and 16th century with special reference to the work
of Michelangelo and Brunelleschi.(3)
A5. Architectural Developments of the 15th and 16th century
1. In the 15th century, Rome made its mark in a spectacular way. The ruins in Rome were carefully
excavated by archaeologists. This inspired a ‘new’ style in architecture, which was actually a revival
of the imperial Roman style
2. Popes, wealthy merchants and aristocrats employed architects who were familiar with classical
architecture.
3. Michelangelo designed the dome of St Peter’s Church, in Rome. Brunelleschi designed the
spectacular Duomo of Florence
4. Artists and sculptors decorated buildings with paintings, sculptures and reliefs. For examples
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and made the sculpture called ‘The Pieta’.
Q6.Artists used art and architecture as a way to express humanism’. Evaluate the validity of this statement.(8)
(NOTE: Q6 is a combination of Q4 and Q5 in which you will link it with humanism in introduction)

Q7. When and by whom was printing first invented? What were the effects of this discovery? (1+3)
A7. Invention of Printing technology
1. Texts were hand written before the invention of printing. Johannes Gutenberg, a German, made the
first printing press and printed 150 copies of the Bible in 1455.
Effects
2. All classical texts in Latin had been printed in Italy by 1500 AD.
3. With the availability of printed books, the dependency of students over lecture notes was ended.
4. The ideas, opinions and information spread widely and rapidly through the printed books. Now
individuals could buy and read books. This led to the spread of humanist culture to different parts of
Europe by the end of 15th century.

Q8. Write a note on the causes of the rise and spread of the Protestant Reformation? Name some of the
Reformers./ Evaluate the social conditions of Europe that necessitated the protestant reformation (3).
A8. Changes within Christianity
1. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the professional scholars of the humanist movement influenced the
members of the church. They discarded the meaningless rites which they considered as later additions
and directed the Christians to follow the religion mentioned in ancient texts of their religion. The
Christian humanists like Thomas More of England and Erasmus of Holland assumed that the church
had become a centre of greed and took money forcibly from the common men. They sold them
‘indulgence’ documents by promising the people to free them from the sins committed by them in the
past.
2. By reading the printed Bible in local languages Christians learnt that their religion did not allow such
practises .The peasants ,commons and the princes began to rebel against taxes imposed by the Church
and their increasing interference in the work of the state.
3. In 1517, Martin Luther, a German monk, started the protestant Reformation against the Catholic
Church. He said that a person did not need priest to set up contact with God. That led to the break-up
of German and Swiss Churches with the Pope and Catholic Church. In Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli
and Jean Calvin followed Martin Luther's ideas .These reformers had greater popular support in towns
and rural areas. In England, the rulers broke the connection with the Pope.

Q9. Discuss the changing role of women in social life during the Renaissance period.
A9. Women were not included in the new ideals of individuality and citizenship of the Renaissance period.
However, the writings of women of that period revealed their confidence that they should have
economic power, property and education to get individuality in a world dominated by men.
1. Men from aristocratic families led the public life and were the decision-makers of their families. The
sons were provided with education to lead a family business or public life. Women had no say in
business matters though their dowries were invested in family business, marriages were a means to
support business alliances. Those girls whose dowry was not arranged were sent to convents to lead
the life of nuns. The women were looked upon as keeper of households only. The new ideas like
individuality and citizenship regarding human beings excluded women.
 2. The condition of women in families of merchants was different. They assisted their husbands in
running the business. The wives of merchants and bankers looked after their business when they were
away. The early death of a merchant forced his widow to play a bigger public role rather than the
women of aristocratic family.
3. Several women were intellectual humanists. For example Cassandra Fedele from Venice was known
for her knowledge of Greek and Latin. She criticized the republic favoring the wishes of men over
those of women. Another outstanding woman was the Marchesa of Mantua, Isabella d'Este. She ruled
the state in the absence of her husband.

Q10 Copernicus' views on universe uprooted all the old notions about the universe. In the light of this
statement examine the significance of Copernicus theory. (3)
A10.The Copernican Revolution
1. The scientists had questioned the old Christian notion of man as a sinner. The Christians believed that
the earth was a place of sin and the burden of sin made it stationary. The earth was centre of universe
around which celestial planets moved.
2. Copernicus developed a theory that earth together with other planets revolved around the sun. He
handed over his manuscript ‘ De Revolutionibus’ to his disciple Joachim Rheticus before his death but
did not publish his writings for fear of the church.
3. His ideas became known almost half a century later through the writings of astronomers such as
Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei

Q11. Write briefly on the achievements of Leonardo da Vinci and name two of his paintings.
A 11. Leonardo Da Vinci had a vast knowledge of botany, anatomy, mathematics, art etc.
His famous paintings are the Monalisa and The Last Supper.
He dreamed for ability to fly and designed a flying machine.
He used to sign his name 'Leonardo da Vinci' meaning 'disciple of experiment.

Q12. Write briefly on the achievements of Michaelangelo and name his famous works.
A12. A12.Michelangelo (1475-1564) was a skilled painter, sculptor and architect.
He designed the dome of St Peter’s Church, in Rome.
His famous paintings are the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
He carved the famous sculpture called ‘The Pieta’and many others.

Q13. How did the cities of Venice and Genoa differ from other parts of Europe? (3)
A 13. Venice, and Genoa were different from other parts of Europe – the clergy were not politically dominant
here, nor were there powerful feudal lords. Rich merchants and bankers actively participated in
governing the city, and this helped the idea of citizenship to strike root.

Q14. 'Arab contributions to Renaissance philosophy and science are valuable’. Examine the validity of this
statement.
A14. Arab's Contribution
1. The monks and clergymen were familiar with the works of Greek and Roman scholars from the
'middle Ages' but they did not let them get known to common people. The Arabs translated the ancient
books of Greek writers like Plato and Aristotle.
2. Some Europeans read Greek works in Arabic translation and translated Arabic and Persian scholars
works into European languages. By 14th century many scholars started to read these translations These
 works were on natural science , mathematics, astronomy, medicine and chemistry. The Almagest of
Ptolemy was written in 140 CE on astronomy in Greek language and was translated into Arabic.
3. Examples: Ibn Sina, an Arab physician and philosopher of Bukhara and al-Razi the author of medieval
encyclopaedia were considered as men of knowledge in Italian states. Ibn Rushd was an Arab
philosopher of Spain.

Q15. A typical feature of Renaissance in the 14th century was the revival of classical learning and
culture. On the basis of this statement evaluate the features of Renaissance? (8)
NOTE: This is a combined question of 8 marks. No need to do in the copy because you have answered
all the topics in 3 marks questions.
Points to be included in the answer are
• Universities and Humanism
• Artists and Realism
• Architecture
• Aspirations of women
ONE MARK EXTRA QUESTIONS

Name the following:

1. Two City States which were Republics: __________________

2. Humanities is derived from the Latin word__________________
3. Meaning of Humanitas________________
4. Author of Canterbury Tales__________________
5. Define ‘Renaissance Man’(one sentence)
6. During Middle Ages _____________________ had complete control over men’s minds, that all the
learning of the Greeks and Romans was blotted out.
7. Greek work on Astronomy written before 140CE translated by Arabs: Author: Ptolemy Book_______
8. Name the Arab physician of Bukhara, who wrote a medical encyclopaedia__________________
9. The Pieta was sculpted by __________________
10. Who was the first doctor to dissect the human body
11. What was the term used to describe the new quality of Italien Art?_____________________
12. By what name was the imperial Roman Style of architecture called during the Renaissance period?
___________________
13. Dome of ______________ Church in Rome was designed by Michelanegelo
14. Filippo Brunelleschi designed the Duomo of which city?________________________
15. Name the first book to be printed__________________
16. Name the Inventor of printing and the country__________________, _____________________
17. Give one reason for the spread of humanist culture at the end of 15th century (one sentence)
18. Christian humanists like _____________in England and ___________ in Holland felt that the Church
had become an institution marked by greed, extorting money at will from ordinary people.
19. In 1517, a young German monk called ______________ launched a campaign against the Catholic
Church and argued that a person did not need priests to establish contact with God.
20. The movement called ____________________ led to the churches in Germany and Switzerland
breaking their connection with the Pope and the Catholic Church.
21. _____________ asserted that the planets, including the earth, rotate around the sun.
22. The theory of the earth as part of a sun-centred system was made popular by
________________________ in his book Cosmographical Mystery, which demonstrated that the
planets move around the sun not in circles but in ellipses.
23. Galileo Galilei wrote the book____________________
24. Theory of gravitation was given by ____________________

MCQ’S

Q1.The author of 'The Civilization of the Renaissance Italy'

a.Jacob Burkhardt b.Peter Burke c.Thomas More d.Geoffrey Chaucer
Q2.A city known by its great citizens and its wealth
a.Padua b.Bologna c.Venice d.Florence
Q3.The term humanities was used by
a.Cicero b.Petrarch c.Dante Alighieri d.Giotto
Q4.According to humanists, dark age is
a.5th -9th century b.9th-11th century c.11th -14th century d.15th century
Q5.Almagest,a work on astronomy was written by
a.Ptolemy b.Ibn Sina c.Al-Razi d.Ibn-Rushd
 Q6.The professor of Padua University who dissected the human body for the first time
a.Donatello b.Andreas Vesallius c.Da Vinci d.Michaelangelo
Q7.Who invented the printing press
a.Johannes Gutenberg b.Johannes Kepler c.Francesco Barbaro d.Lorenzo Valla
Q8.Who started the protestant Reformation in Germany
a.Ulrich Zwingly b.Jean Calvin c.Martin Luthur d.Ignatius Layola
Q9.The author of De revolutionibus
a.Cassandra Fedele b.Isabelle d' Este c.Isaac Newton d.Copernicus
Q10. The term ‘Renaissance Man means
a)A person who is very strong b) A person who is very clever
c) A person who is very bold d)A person with many interests and skills.
Q11. The person who popularised the protestant ideas in Switzerland
a)Martin Luthur b)Ulrich Zwingli c) Thomas more d)Donatello
Q12. Society of Jesus was set up by................
a)Erasmas b) William Harvey c)Ignatious Loyola d) Francesco Barbaro

NOTE: You can take print outs of the one mark questions and tick the correct options for MCQ’s and fill the
blanks on the print out and stick the printouts in your copy.