THE ASIAN SCHOOL

KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

GRADE: 8 2024-25 SUBJECT: HISTORY

CH- 1 – HOW, WHEN AND WHERE

I. Short answer type questions

1. How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in
police report?
The information in police reports tells us only about what officials thought, what they were
interested in and what they wished to preserve for prosperity. However, the information from
old newspapers tell us about the feelings and actions of other (common) people of the country.

2. What do official records not tell? How do we come to know about them?
Official records do not always help us to understand what other people in the country felt.
a) For that we have diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims and travelers, autobiographies of
important personalities, and popular books etc.
b) With the spread of printing press, newspapers came to be published and issues began to be
debated in public. Leaders and reforms wrote to spread their ideas, poets and novelists wrote to
express their ideologies.

3. How did the British conquer India and establish their rule?
The British conquered India in the following ways:
a) They subjugated local Nawabs and Rajas
b) They established control over the economy and society collected revenues to meet all their
expenses.
c) They brought changes in rulers and tastes, customs and practices.
d) Thus, they molded everything in their favour and subjugated the country very soon.

4. What did the British do to preserve important official documents and letters?
The British felt the need to preserve all the important official documents and letters. For this, they
set up record rooms attached to all administrative institutions. The village tahsildar’s office, the
collectorate, the commissioner’s office, the provincial secretariats, the law courts – all had their
record rooms. The British also established specialized institutions such as archives and museums to
preserve important records.

II. Long answer type questions

1. What is the problem with the periodization of Indian history that James Mill offers?
James Mill has divided Indian History into three periods – Hindu, Muslim and British. James
Mill’s views have several defects given below:
a) According to his telling of history, before the British came to India, Hindu and Muslim despots
ruled the country.
b) According to his view, all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization when compared
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 to Europe.
c) Religious intolerance and superstitious practices dominated social life before the British came
to India.
d) He felt that only British rule could civilize India.

2. How did surveys become important under the colonial administration?

British carried out detailed surveys by the early 19th century.
a) They conducted revenue surveys in villages.
b) They made efforts to know the topography, the soil quality, the flora, fauna and the cropping
patterns.
c) They also conducted census operations held at the intervals of every ten years.
d) The British also carried on several other surveys such as botanical surveys, zoological
surveys, archaeological survey, forest survey etc.

III. Assignment

1. Who and when wrote the book History of British India?

2. Who was the first Governor General of India?

3. Who prepared the first map of Hindustan?

4. How do dates become important in History?

5. What is a census?

6. What was Mill’s opinion, about the Asian societies?

7. Why did the British preserve official documents?