His: The making of a global world

1. How did Silk Routes Link the World?

1. The silk routes are a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links
between distant parts of the world.
2. The name ‘silk routes’ points to the importance of West-bound Chinese silk cargoes
along this route.
3. Historians have identified several silk routes, over land and by sea, knitting together vast
regions of Asia, and linking Asia with Europe and northern Africa.
4. Chinese pottery also travelled the same route, as did textiles and spices from India and
Southeast Asia.
5. In return, precious metals – gold and silver – flowed from Europe to Asia.

2. Trade and cultural exchange always went hand in hand. Support this statement
1. Early Christian missionaries almost certainly travelled this route to Asia, as did early
Muslim preachers a few centuries later.
2. Much before all this, Buddhism emerged from eastern India and spread in several
directions through intersecting points on the silk routes
3.Food Travels: Spaghetti and Potato Or Food offers many examples of long distance cultural
exchange.support the statement.
1. Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled.
2. Take spaghetti and noodles.
3. It is believed that noodles travelled west from China to become spaghetti.
4. Arab traders took pasta to fifth-century Sicily, an island now in Italy.
5. Similar foods were also known in India and Japan, so the truth about their origins may
never be known.
6. Many of our common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies,
sweet potatoes, and so on were not known to our ancestors until about five centuries ago.
7. These foods were only introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus
accidentally discovered the vast continent that would later become known as the
Americas.

4. Write a short note on Pototo famine?

1. The new crops could make the difference between life and death.
2. Europe’s poor began to eat better and live longer with the introduction of the humble
potato.
3. Ireland’s poorest peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed
the potato crop in the mid-1840s, hundreds of thousands died of starvation.
4. During the Great Irish Potato Famine (1845 to 1849), around 1,000,000 people died of
starvation in Ireland, and double the number emigrated in search of work.
5. Why did the Europeans conquest the Americas? Or Give three examples to show that the
world changed with the discovery of new sea routes to America.
1. The pre-modern world shrank greatly in the sixteenth century after European sailors
found a sea route to Asia and also successfully crossed the western ocean to America.
2. For centuries before, the Indian Ocean had known a bustling trade, with goods, people,
knowledge, customs, etc. criss-crossing its waters.
3. The Indian subcontinent was central to these flows and a crucial point in their networks.
4. Before its ‘discovery’, America had been cut off from regular contact with the rest of the
world for millions of years.
5. But from the sixteenth century, its vast lands and abundant crops and minerals began to
transform trade and lives everywhere.
6. Precious metals, particularly silver, from mines located in present- day Peru and Mexico
also enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia.
7. Legends spread in seventeenth century Europe about South America’s fabled wealth.
8. Many expeditions set off in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold.

6. How did Portuguese and Spanish established their colonialisation in America? Or Why did
diseases spread so rapidly in the Americas after European explorers arrived? Or Explain how the
global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the Americas.
1. The Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonisation of America was decisively under
way by the mid-sixteenth century.
2. European conquest was not just a result of superior firepower.
3. In fact, the most powerful weapon of the Spanish conquerors was not a conventional
military weapon at all.
4. It was the germs such as those of smallpox that they carried on their person.
5. Because of their long isolation, America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against
these diseases that came from Europe.
6. Smallpox in particular proved a deadly killer.
7. It spread deep into the continent, ahead even of any Europeans reaching there.
8. It killed and decimated whole communities, paving the way for conquest.

DP: Gender, Religion and Caste

1. Define: Sexual division of labour

A system in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family, or
organised by them through the domestic helpers.

2. Define: Feminist
A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
3. Define: Patriarchy
1. Literally, rule by father, this concept is used to refer to a system that values men more and
gives them power over women.

4. Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated against or disadvantaged
in India.
Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways:
1. The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per cent among
men.
2. Because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys’ education rather than
spending equally on their sons and daughters.
3. Unpaid work, the proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still
very small.
4. On an average an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day.
5. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides that equal wages should be paid to equal
work.
6. However in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and fields,
women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.
7. Sex Ratio, sex-selective abortion led to a decline in child sex ratio (number of girl
children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 919.
8. In many parts of India parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child
aborted before she is born.
9. Women Harassment, There are reports of various kinds of harassment, exploitation and
violence against women.

5. What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?

1. In India, the proportion of women in the legislature has been very low.
2. For example, the percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has touched 14.36
per cent of its total strength for the first time in 2019.
3. Their share in the state assemblies is less than 5 per cent.
4. India is behind the averages for several developing countries of Africa and Latin
America.
5. One way to solve this problem is. to make it legally binding to have a fair proportion of
women in the elected bodies.
6. Panchayati Raj has been done in India. One- third of seats in local government bodies in
panchayats and municipalities are now reserved for women.
7. Now there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local
bodies.
 8. Women’s organisations and activists have been demanding a similar reservation of at
least one- third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women.

6. How does communalism take various forms in politics? Explain any five.
Communalism can take various forms in politics:
1. The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs.
2. These routinely involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and
belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions.
3. This is so common that we often fail to notice it, even when we believe in it.
4. A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious
community. For those belonging to the majority community, this takes the form of
majoritarian dominance.
5. For those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a
separate political unit.
6. Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism.
7. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain
fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
8. In electoral politics this often involves special appeal to the interests or emotions of
voters of one religion in preference to others.
9. Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and
massacre.
10. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the Partition.
11. The post-Independence period has also seen large scale communal violence

7. Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
1. There is no official religion for the Indian state.
2. Our Constitution does not give a special status to any religion.
3. The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice
and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
4. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
5. At the same time, the Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion
in order to ensure equality within religious communities.
6. For example, it banned untouchability.

8. Explain the various forms of caste in politics.

1. When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of
the electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to muster necessary
support to win elections.
2. When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of
different castes and tribes find a place in it.
 3. Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to muster
support.
4. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their
representatives.
5. Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote compelled political
leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support.
6. It also brought new consciousness among the people of castes that were hitherto treated
as inferior and low.

9. “The focus on caste in politics can sometimes give an impression that elections are all about
caste and nothing else. That is far from true.” Explain by giving examples.
1. No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste.
2. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and
community to win elections.
3. No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
4. When people say that a caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means that a large
proportion of the voters from that caste vote for that party.
5. Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste (if that caste is believed
to dominate the electorate in a particular constituency).
6. Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no
candidate from their caste.
7. The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That
could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political
preferences.

Geo: Agriculture.

1.Write four points to stress the importance of agriculture in India.

Or
Why is India called an agriculturally important country? Write four supportive arguments.
Or
‘Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian Economy’ Explain the statement by giving
reason.
India is an agricultural country because of the following reasons:
1. Two-third of its population is engaged in agricultural activities which provide livelihood.
2. Agriculture is a primary activity and produces most of the food and food grains that we
consume.
3. It produces raw materials for our various industries, e.g., cotton textile and sugar industry.
 4. Some agricultural products, like tea, coffee and spices, are exported and earn foreign
exchange.
5. The share of agriculture in providing employment and livelihood to the population
continued to be as high as 63% in 2001.

2. What factors does primitive subsistence farming depend on?

1. Monsoons
2. Natural fertility of the soil
3. Suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.

3. Write main characteristics of ‘slash and burn’ agriculture.

Or
Write main characteristics of Primitive Subsistence Farming.
1. This type of farming is practiced in few pockets of India on small patches of land using
primitive tools and family/community labour.
2. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their
families.
3. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for
cultivation.
4. This type of shifting allows nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural
processes.
5. Land productivity is low as the farmer does not use fertilizers or other modem inputs.

4. Name some primitive tools used in ‘slash and burn’ agriculture.

1. Hoe, 2. Dao, 3. Digging sticks.

5. Primitive farming: different names in different parts of the country.

1. It is jhumming in north-eastern states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
2. Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, and in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands.
In world countries:
1. The ‘slash and burn’ agriculture is known as ‘Milpa’ in Mexico and Central America,
2. ‘Conuco’ in Venezuela, ‘Roca’ in Brazil, ‘Masole’ in Central Africa,
3. ‘Ladang’ in Indonesia,
4. ‘Ray’ in Vietnam.
In South India:
1. ‘Bewar’ or ‘Dahiya’ in Madhya Pradesh,
2. ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh,
3. ‘Pama Dabi’ or ‘Koman’ or Bringa’ in Odisha,
4. ‘Kumari’ in Western Ghats,
 5. ‘Valre’ or ‘Waltre’ in South-eastern Rajasthan,
6. ‘Khil’ in the Himalayan belt,
7. ‘Kuruwa’ in Jharkhand,
8. ‘Jhumming’ in the North-eastern region.

6. What are the major differences between primitive subsistence farming and commercial
farming?
Differences between primitive subsistence farming and commercial farming:
Primitive Subsistence Farming:
1. This type of farming is practiced in few pockets of India on small patches of land using
primitive tools and family/community labour.
2. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their
families.
3. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for
cultivation.
4. This type of shifting allows nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural
processes.
5. Land productivity is low as the farmer does not use fertilizers or other modem inputs.
Commercial Farming:
1. In this, crops are mainly grown for commercial purposes.
2. In this type of agriculture, machines and modern technology are used.
3. There is higher use of modern agricultural in­puts, e.g., HYV seeds, fertilizers, irrigation,
etc. are used to obtain higher yields and production.
4. The degree of commercialization varies from one region to another. Rice is a commercial
crop in Punjab, while in Orissa it is a subsistence crop. E.g., Plantation agriculture.

7. What is the most important characteristic of commercial farming?

1. The main characteristic of commercial farming is the use of higher doses of modern
inputs, e.g., high yielding varieties seeds (HYVs), chemical fertilizers and pesticides to
increase productivity.
2. The degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies from one region to another.

8. Write six characteristics of plantation agriculture.

Characteristics of plantation agriculture:
1. A single type of crop is grown on a large area.
2. Plantation is carried out on large estates using lot of capital intensive units.
3. Migrant labourers work on these estates.
4. The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry. All the produce is used as raw
material in the respective industries.
5. The production is mainly for the market, i.e., commercial agriculture.
 6. A well developed network of transport and communication connecting the plantation
areas, processing industries and markets plays an important role in the development of
plantations.

9. Name some important plantation crops.

1. Tea, 2. Coffee 3. Rubber 4. Sugarcane 5. Banana

10. Name three cropping seasons of India. Write their sowing and harvesting time and major
crops of each season.
Rabi crops (Winter crops):
1. These are sown in winter from October to December.
2. Harvested in summer from April to June.
3. Important crops are wheat, barley, mustard, peas, gram etc.
Kharif crops (Rainy season):
1. These are sown with the onset of monsoon (June-July)
2. Harvested in September-October.
3. Important crops are rice, maize, millets, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton,
jute, groundnut and soyabean.
Zaid season (Summer season):
1. Between Rabi and Kharif season.
2. It is a short cropping season during summer months (mainly between March-April and
June-July in different parts of the country).
3. Important crops are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber and fodder crops, etc.

11. Name three states which raise three paddy crops in a year. Name these crops also.
1. Assam, West Bengal and Orissa grow three crops in a year.
2. The crops are Aus, Aman and Boro.

12. Which is the most important food crop of India? What is its position in world production?
1. Rice is the most important staple food crop of India.
2. India holds second position in rice production next to China.
3. It is a Karif crop.
4. It requires high temperature of 25°C and above
5. High humidity with annual rainfall of 100 cms is required.
6. Four major regions of rice cultivation are: Plains of North India, Plains of North-Eastern
India, Coastal areas, Deltaic regions.
7. Irrigated rice is produced in Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
8. Development of dense network of canals and tubewells has made it possible to grow rice
in these states which receive less rainfall.
13. Which is the second most important cereal crop of India? Write the geographical conditions
required for its growth? Name two major zones of wheat growth and name six major states of
wheat production.

1. Wheat is the second most important cereal crop of India.

2. It is the main food crop in North and Northwest.
3. It is a Rabi crop.
Geographical conditions:
1. Cool and moist growing season.
2. Bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
3. Rainfall: 50 to 75 cm evenly distributed over the growing season.
4. Loamy soil is best for its growth.
Wheat growing zones in India:
5. The Ganga-Sutlej plains in the North-West and
6. Black soil region of the Deccan.
The major wheat producing states:
1. Punjab,
2. Haryana,

14. Mention two geographical conditions required for the growth of Maize crop in India.
Describe three factors which have contributed to increase maize production. Write four major
maize producing states.
Geographical conditions required for the growth of maize crop in India:
1. It is a kharif crop which requires temperature between 21°C to 27°C.
2. It requires moderate rainfall between 50-100 cm.
3. It grows well in old alluvial soils.
4. Maize is a crop which is used both as food and fodder.
5. In some states like Bihar, maize is grown in rabi season also.
6. Maize production in India has increased due to factors like: use of modern inputs such as
HYV seeds; use of fertilisers; and use of irrigation facilities.
7. Major maize producing state: Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh.

15. What is India’s position in the world regarding sugarcane production? Write the geographical
conditions required for its growth?
1. India is the second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil.
Geographical conditions:
2. It is a tropical as well as subtropical crop.
3. It grows well in hot and humid climate.
4. Temperature: 21°C to 27°C.
 5. Annual rainfall between 75 cm and 100 cms.
6. Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall.
7. It can be grown on a variety of soils.
8. It needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.

16. Write the major states that produce sugarcane? Name four products obtained from sugarcane.
1. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and
Haryana.
2. Sugarcane is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggery), khandsari and molasses.

17. Write the geographical and labour conditions required for the growth of tea.
Geographical conditions:
1. It grows well in tropical and subtropical climates.
2. It requires deep, fertile, well drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter.
3. It requires warm and moist frost free climate round the year.
4. Frequent showers evenly distributed through the year ensure continuous growth of tender
leaves.
5. Tea is a labour intensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour.
6. It is processed within tea gardens to restore its freshness.

18. Write the geographical conditions required for the growth of rubber. Name the item which
consumes the maximum share of rubber for its manufacture.
1. It requires a hot and humid climate.
2. Rainfall: 200 cms.
3. Temperature: above 25°C.
4. Maximum rubber is consumed in the manufacture of auto tyres and tubes and cycle tyres
and tubes.
5. They together consume about 57.8% of the total rubber production.

19. Give an account of fiber crop which is mainly grown in Deccan Plateau region under the
following heads:
(i) Its position in the world production
(ii) geographical conditions
(iii) major states of production.
1. Position: India is the 3rd largest producer of cotton in the world.
2. Geographical conditions:
a. Cotton requires a high temperature.
b. light rainfall or irrigation.
c. 210 frost-free days.
d. bright sunshine for its growth.
 e. black cotton soil which is very good for its growth.
f. It is a Kharif crop and requires 6-8 months to mature.
3. Major cotton producing states: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,

20. What are ‘Institutional Reforms’? Enlist various institutional reforms taken by the Indian
Government to bring about improvements in agriculture.
Steps taken by the government to bring about improvements in agriculture are termed as
‘Institutional Reforms’.
Some steps are:
1. Collectivisation and consolidation of land holdings to make them economically viable.
2. The green revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution
to increase milk production are important strategies which were initiated to improve
agriculture.
3. Cooperation with farmers and Abolition of Zamindari system.
4. Provision of crop insurance to protect the farmers against losses caused by natural
calamities, i.e. drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease.
5. Establishment of ‘Grameen Banks’, Cooperative Societies and Banks for providing loan
facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest.
6. Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other
schemes introduced by the government for the benefit of farmers.

Eco: Money and Credit

1. What is money?
Money acts as an intermediate in the exchange process, it is called a medium of
exchange.

2. What is a barter system?

Barter System is a system of exchange in which one commodity is exchanged for another
commodity.
Examples of barter exchange:
1. The worker working in the field of farmers gets wheat in return.
2. In villages generally grains are exchanged with pulses.
3. Shoes are exchanged for cloth.

3. Drawbacks of Barter Systems:

1. Lack of double coincidence of wants.
2. Lack of a common measure of value.
3. Indivisibility of certain goods.
4. Difficulty in making deferred payments.
5. Difficulty in storing value.
4. What is meant by the double coincidence of wants?
1. When both parties have to agree to sell and buy each other's commodities. This is
known as double coincidence of wants.
2. In a barter system where goods are directly exchanged without the use of money, double
coincidence of wants is an essential feature.

5. Why is money accepted as a medium of exchange?

1. It is accepted as a medium of exchange because the currency is authorised by the
government of the country.
2. In India, the Reserve Bank of India issues currency notes on behalf of the central
government.
3. As per Indian law, no other individual or organisation is allowed to issue currency.
4. Moreover, the law legalises the use of rupee as a medium of payment that cannot be
refused in settling transactions in India.
5. No individual in India can legally refuse a payment made in rupees.
6. Hence, the rupee is widely accepted as a medium of exchange.

6. What is Credit? What are the Terms of Credit?

1. Credit (loan) refers to an agreement in which the lender supplies the borrower with
money, goods or services in return for the promise of future payment.
2. Interest rate, collateral and documentation requirement, and the mode of repayment
together comprise what is called the terms of credit.

7. What is Collateral? or Why do lenders ask for collateral while lending?

1. Collateral is an asset that the borrower owns (such as land, building, vehicle, livestocks,
deposits with banks) and uses this as a guarantee to a lender until the loan is repaid.
2. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender has the right to sell the asset or
collateral to obtain payment.
3. Property such as land titles, deposits with banks, livestock are some common examples
of collateral used for borrowing.

8. Difference between formal sector loans and informal sector loans?

Formal sectors loans (credit) Informal sector loans (credit)

1. RBI supervises the functioning 1. There is no organisation which

of formal sources of credit. supervises the credit activities.
2. Example: Banks 2. Example: Moneylenders, traders,
ancccooperatives. employees, relatives and friends,
etc.
 3. Thesese sources of credit are
registered by the government
and have to follow its rules and
regulations.
4. They generally charge lower
rates of interest.
5. Their main motive is social
welfare.
6. There is asking collateral,
documents.
3. These include those small and
scattered units which are largely
outside the control of the
government.
4. They charge much higher rates of
interest.
5. Their main motive is
profit-making.
6. No need collateral and
documents.

9. Role of Reserve Bank. Explain

1. The Reserve Bank of India supervises the functioning of formal sources of loans.
2. For instance, we have seen that the banks maintain a minimum cash balance out of the
deposits they receive.
3. The RBI monitors the banks in actually maintaining cash balance.
4. Similarly, the RBI sees that the banks give loans not just to profit-making businesses
and traders but also to small cultivators, small scale industries, to small borrowers etc.
5. Periodically, banks have to submit information to the RBI on how much they are
lending, to whom, at what interest rate, etc.

10. Why do we need to expand formal sources of credit in India? or Cheap and affordable credit
is crucial for the country’s development. Support this statement.
1. Banks and cooperative societies need to lend more.
2. This would lead to higher incomes and many people could then borrow cheaply for a
variety of needs.
3. They could grow crops, do business, set up small-scale industries etc.
4. They could set up new industries or trade in goods.
5. Cheap and affordable credit is crucial for the country’s development.

11. What is the basic idea behind the SHGs for the poor? Explain in your own words.
1. The idea is to organise rural poor, in particular women, into small Self Help Groups
(SHGs) and pool (collect) their savings.
2. A typical SHG has 15-20 members, usually belonging to one neighbourhood, who
meet and save regularly.
3. Saving per member varies from Rs 25 to Rs 100 or more, depending on the ability
of the people to save.
4. Members can take small loans from the group itself to meet their needs.
5. The group charges interest on these loans but this is still less than what the
moneylender charges.
6. After a year or two, if the group is regular in savings, it becomes eligible for
availing loan from the bank.
7. Loan is sanctioned in the name of the group and is meant to create self
employment opportunities for the members.
Functions of SHGs:
1. The SHGs help borrowers overcome the problem of lack of collateral.
2. They can get timely loans for a variety of purposes and at a reasonable interest rate.
3. Moreover, SHGs are the building blocks of organization of the rural poor.
4. Not only does it help women to become financially self-reliant, the regular meetings of
the group provide a platform to discuss and act on a variety of social issues such as
health, nutrition, domestic violence, etc.