Practicing the CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 History with Solutions Set 5 allows you to get rid of exam fear and be confident to appear for the exam.
CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 History Set 5 with Solutions
Time: 3 Hours.
Max. Marks: 70
General Instructions:
- Question paper comprises five Sections – A, B, C, D and E. There are 34 questions in the question paper. All questions are compulsory.
- Section A – Question 1 to 21 are MCQs of 1 mark each.
- Section B – Question no. 22 to 27 are Short Answer Type Questions, carrying 3 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 60-80 words.
- Section C – Question no. 28 to 30 are Long Answer Type Questions, carrying 8 marks each. Answer to each question should not exceed 300-350 words.
- Section D – Question no. 31 to 33 are Source based questions with three sub-questions and are of 4 marks each.
- Section E – Question no. 34 is Map based, carrying 5 marks that include the identification and location of significant test items. Attach the map with the answer book.
Section – A (21 Marks)
Question 1.
Identify the given personality with the following set of information: [1]
I. He served as the first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India.
II. His main interest was in the archaeology of early history.
A. R.E.M. Wheeler
B. Alexander Cunningham
C. Daya Ram Sahani
D. William Jones
Answer:
B. Alexander Cunningham
Question 2.
What was the role of the Jatakas? [1]
A. They contain stories related to ordinary people.
B. They contain administrative stories only.
C. They contain information about the economy.
D. None of the above.
Answer:
A. They contain stories related to ordinary people.
Question 3.
Match the following and select the correct option: [1]
| List -1 (Places) | List – II (State) |
| 1. Dholavira | a. Pakistan |
| 2. Banawali | b. Gujarat |
| 3. Kalibangan | c. Haryana |
| 4. Harappa | d. Rajasthan |
A. 1 – b, 2- c, 3 -d, 4- a
B. 1 – a, 2- d, 3 -c, 4- b
C. 1 – c, 2- b, 3 -d, 4- a
D. 1 – d, 2- a, 3 -b, 4- c
Answer:
A. 1 – b, 2- c, 3 -d, 4- a
Question 4.
Which one of the following statements is the correct explanation of Purusha: [1]
A. Supreme Being
B. Inferior Being
C. Arrogant Being
D. None of the above
Answer:
A. Supreme Being
Question 5.
Identify the given image from the following options: [1]
A. Pashupati Seal
B. Horse Seal
C. Elephant Seal
D. Tiger Seal
Answer:
A. Pashupati Seal
Question 6.
Which of the following statements is NOT true concerning B.R. Ambedkar? [1]
A. He was the second Law Minister of independent India.
B. He was the chairman of the Drafting Committee.
C. He was a prominent lawyer.
D. He opposed the caste system in India.
Answer:
A. He was the second Law Minister of independent India.
Question 7.
Ibn Battuta found Indian cities full of exciting opportunities. Identify the appropriate reason from the following options. [1]
A. Large population, Bazaars, and efficient communication.
B. Crown ownership of land.
C. Autonomous and utilitarian village command.
D. Traders exported gold and silver.
Answer:
A. Large population, Bazaars, and efficient communication.
Question 8.
Fill in the blank:
The Lingayats were the devout followers of_______. [1]
A. Shiva
B. Vishnu
C. Goddess Lakshmi
D. None of the above
Answer:
A. Shiva
Question 9.
Find out the correct chronological order of ‘the books written by the famous travelers’ from the following options: [1]
I. Kitab-ul-Hind was written by A1 Biruni.
II. Rihla was written by Ibn Batuta.
III. Humayun Nama was written by Gulbadan Begum.
IV. Books on King Louis XIV were written by Bernier.
Options :
A. I,II, III & IV
B. II, III, IV & I
C. Ill, II, I & IV
D. IV, II, I & III
Answer:
A. I, II, III & IV
Question 10.
Given below are two statements, one labeled as Assertion (A) and the other labeled as Reason (R). [1]
Assertion (A): When the Shaikh died, his tomb shrine (dargah, a Persian term meaning court) became the center of devotion for his followers.
Reason (R): People believed that the dead saint was united with God and is closer to Him after death as compared to when he was living.
A. Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
B. Both (A) and (R) are correct, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
C. (A) is correct, but (R) is not correct.
D. (R) is correct, but (A) is not correct.
Answer:
A. Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Question 11.
Complete the following with the correct option: [1]
Sidhu : Santhals:: Francis Buchanan
A. British
B. German
C. Denmark
D. Netherlands
Answer:
A. British
Question 12.
Which among the following is correctly matched? [1]
| List -1 | List – II |
| A. Tejchand | Raja of Burdwan |
| B. Lathyals | British agents |
| C. Jotedars | Poor peasants |
| D. Fifth Report | Zamindars Report |
Answer:
A. Tejchand- Raja of Burdwan
Question 13.
Given below are two statements, one labeled as Assertion (A) and the other labeled as Reason (R). [1]
Assertion (A): The implication of the Santhal revolt was the creation of the Santhal Paragon.
Reason (R): The Santhal Paragana was created by the British to stop further confrontation.
A. Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
B. Both (A) and (R) are correct, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
C. (A) is correct, but (R) is not correct.
D. (R) is correct, but (A) is not correct.
Answer:
A. Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Question 14.
Consider the following statements and select the correct one from the following options: [1]
I. Exogamy is the type of marriage that takes place outside the unit.
II. Endogamy is the type of marriage that takes place within the units.
III. Polygyny is the practice of a woman having several husbands.
Which of the following is correct?
A. I and II
B. I and III
C. I, II, and III
D. Only I
Answer:
A. I and II
Question 15.
Which one of the following statements is appropriate about Ibn Battuta? [1]
A. He was Qazi during Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s empire.
B. He had written Kitab-ul-Hind in Arabic.
C. He translated Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit work in Arabic.
D. He was a Physician, Philosopher and Historian.
Answer:
A. He was Qazi during Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s empire.
Question 16.
What was the significance of Dargah? [1]
A. It was the tomb shrine of the Sufis.
B. It became the centre for learning
C. The place was inhabited by the followers of the Sufi leaders.
D. All of the above
Answer:
D. All of the above
Question 17.
“Manusmriti” is written in which of the following languages? [1]
A. Tamil
B. Telugu
C. Sanskrit
D. Pali
Answer:
C. Sanskrit
Question 18.
Which of the following landmarks was not part of the new city of “Shahjahanabad”? [1]
A. Red Fort
B. Jama Masjid
C. Chandni Chowk
D. Hauz Khas
Answer:
D. Hauz Khas
Question 19.
Find out from the following pairs which one is NOT correctly matched: [1]
A. Bal Gangadhar Tilak- Maharashtra
B. Bipin Chandra Pal- Bengal
C. Lala Lajpat Rai -Punjab
D. Subhash Chandra Bose- Madras
Answer:
D. Subhash Chandra Bose- Madras
Question 20.
Who carried the work of refining and modifying the different drafts of the constitution? [1]
A. Committees and Sub-Committees
B. Drafting Committee
C. President of the Constituent Assembly
D. Ministers of the Government
Answer:
A. Committees and Sub-Committees
Question 21.
Why was the Indian Constitution the longest in the world? [1]
A. Due to its size and diversity
B. Due to its geography
C. Due to its adaptation from the British Constitution
D. Due to the tribal areas
Answer:
A. Due to its size and diversity
Section – B (18 Marks)
Question 22.
How was the Citadel separated from the Lower Town? [3]
Answer:
The settlements of the Harappan civilization reveal that the cities were divided into two parts. One was the higher mound which was meant for public building, the other was the lower part of the town which had residential quarters. The higher mound is also known as the Citadel. On the citadel, buildings were constructed on mud brick platforms. The Citadel was walled and the wall separated it from the Lower Town.
Question 23.
What did Bernier write about the Sati system? [3]
Answer:
Bernier said that it was a cruel practice in which the widow was made to sit on the pyre of her husband alive. She was forced to be sati. The people had no sympathy even for the child widows. The cries of the women going to be a sati did not move anyone. The Brahmans and the elderly women of the house participated in this practice.
Question 24.
What was the stand of the Muslim League and the Socialists on joining the Constituent Assembly? [3]
Answer:
The Socialists and the Muslim League were reluctant to join the Constituent Assembly due to different reasons as follows:
1. The Socialists held the view that the Constituent Assembly was the body that was created by the British due to which it did not represent the interests of all sections of India.
2. The League boycotted the Constituent Assembly as they put forward the demand of a separate nation Pakistan with a separate Assembly.
Question 25.
How did the policing powers and the justice powers of the zamindars end? [3]
Answer:
The policing powers and the justice powers of the zamindars ended with the introduction of the Permanent Settlement Act in Bengal. All these powers were transferred into the hands of the British officials generally known as the Collectors. The troops of the zamindars were disbanded and also the custom duties were abolished.
Question 26.
What are inscriptions? Describe some of its features in detail.
OR
Describe in detail the coinage system used by the Kushanas in their empire. [3]
Answer:
Inscriptions are the written text generally on hard surfaces that includes stones, potteries or several metal surfaces. Some of its features are:
1. They are historically important as they act as a source of information about the social and political situation in those times.
2. They generally gave information about the achievements of the Kings and were written by men under the service of the Kings.
3. The inscriptions also gave information about the religious donations made by the Kings.
4. Some of the earliest inscriptions were generally written in the Prakrit.
5. Few inscriptions also mentioned the date of their commission. In other cases, the actual dates of the inscriptions can be determined by several techniques.
OR
The Kushanas had one of the earliest and the best systems of coinage in the world. Coins were the medium of exchange in almost the whole of the Kushana Empire.
Some of the features of their system were:
1. The first gold coins were issued by the Kushana dynasty during the first century CE.
2. The coins issued were uniform and identical in weight similar to the coins issued by the Romans.
3. Large amounts of coins have been recovered from a plethora of sites in Northern and Central India.
4. Use of such a large amount of gold coins show’s that the transactions carried out in the empire were significant.
5. Instances of trade with the foreign nations have been found as coins of the Roman Empire were also discovered in India.
Question 27.
Discuss the features of the communities organised by the Sufis.
OR
How do Qalandars and Madaris interpret the Sufi ideals? [3]
Answer:
The Sufis used to organise communities around the hospices and used to appoint a teaching master known as Shaikh or pir.
1. The Shaikh used to make enrolments of disciples (murids) and also used to appoint a Khalifa who will carry out the reigns of the community once he will be gone.
2. The Shaikh also used to establish a code of conduct for the interaction between the inmates of the community and also between the disciples and master.
OR
These groups radically interpreted the ideals of the Sufi movement.
1. Some people did not inhabit the Khanqah and started observing celibacy.
2. They used to ignore the rituals and started observing the extreme form of asceticism.
Section – C (24 Marks)
Question 28.
What are some of the different sources used by the philosophers for the reconstruction of the past religious and cultural beliefs?
OR
How did the stupa at Sanchi manage to get preserved despite having hundreds of years of history? [8]
Answer:
Some of the important sources of information are:
1. The Buddhist texts such as the Tripitakas act as an important source for understanding the religious beliefs as well as the intrigues of Buddhism.
2. The religious texts of Jainism and Hinduism also act as useful sources for the reconstruction of the cultural and religious history of the society.
3. Other Brahmanical texts such as Puranas and Vedas are also an important source of information.
4. The excavations at religious sites such as the Sanchi stupa also provide a great amount of information.
5. The excavations from the other important architectural monuments also acted as a great source of information for reconstructing the cultural past.
OR
There are several reasons due to which Sanchi stupa managed to survive:
1. The Nawab of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum allocated a large number of funds for the preservation of the stupa.
2. They funded the museums that were built near the site and also a guesthouse. The activities like the publication of volumes on the site were also funded by them.
3. The stupa was also successful in escaping the eyes of the railway contractors and architectural engineers.
4. The European nations like France and British also showed liberal behaviour and did not carry the excavated objects back to their nation.
5. The preservation of the site was the collective effort of the British and the Nawab of Bhopal.
Question 29.
Discuss the importance of Virupaksha temple.
OR
Explain the reasons for the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire. [8]
Answer:
The importance of Virupaksha temple can be explained an under:
1. The Virupaksha temple was built over centuries.
2. While inscriptions suggest that the earliest shrine dated to the ninth-tenth centuries, it was substantially enlarged with the establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire.
3. The hall in front of the main shrine was built by Krishnadeva Raya to mark his accession.
4. This was decorated with delicately carved pillars.
5. He is also credited with the construction of the eastern gopuram.
6. These additions meant that the central shrine came to occupy a relatively small part of the complex.
7. The halls in the temple were used for a variety of purposes.
8. Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special programmes of music, dance, drama, etc.
9. Others were used to celebrate the marriages of deities, and yet others were meant for the deities to swing in.
10. Special images, distinct from those kept in the small central shrine, were used on these occasions.
OR
The reasons for the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire were:
1. All the power of the state was vested in the hands of the king. The people had no role in the administration of the state. So, they did not help the king at the time of crisis.
2. The successors of Krishnadeva Raya were troubled by rebellious nayakas or military chiefs. These rebellions weakened the position of the king.
3. All the successors of Krishnadeva Raya were very weak. They had to fight many wars against the Deccan Sultanates. All these harmed the Vijayanagara Empire.
4. There was an alliance of the Sultanates against Vijayanagara.
5. The central control had shifted to another ruling lineage, that of the Aravidu in the 17th century.
6. In 1565 C.E., Rama Raya, the chief minister of Vijayanagara, fought a war against the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda at Talikota. He lost this war and was also killed. After his defeat, the victorious armies ransacked the whole city of Vijayanagara and the city was totally abandoned within a year.
Question 30.
“The revolt of 1857 marked first nationalist challenge to the English in India.” Explain by giving examples to the value imbibed and practiced by the rebels to set the beginning for it.
OR
Examine the nature of Indian leadership that emerged against British in the revolt of 1857. [8]
Answer:
Many historians may call it ‘The Sepoy Mutiny’ or ‘The Revolt of 1857’ or by any other name, but the uprising of 1857 was in fact the First War of Independence in India. The national movement in the twentieth century drew its inspiration from the events of 1857.
1. A whole world of nationalist imagination was woven around the revolt.
2. It was celebrated as the First War of Independence in which all sections of people of India came together to fight against the imperial rule.
3. Art and literature, as much as the writing of history, have helped in keeping alive the memory of 1857.
4. The leaders of the revolt were presented as heroic figures leading the country into battle.
5. Heroic poems were written about the valour of the queen, who, with a sword in one hand and the reins of her horse in the other, fought for the freedom of her motherland.
6. Rani of Jhansi was represented as a masculine figure chasing the enemy, slaying British soldiers and valiantly fighting till her last breath.
7. Children in many parts of India grow up reading the lines of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan: “Khoob lari mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi” (Like a man she fought, she was the Rani of Jhansi).
8. In popular prints, Rani Lakshmi Bai is usually portrayed in battle armour, with a sword in hand and riding a horse- a symbol of the determination to resist injustice and alien rule.
OR
Many leaders took part in the revolt of 18 some of them participated enthusiastically, while some other participated because they had no other option but to participate in the revolt. For these, the rebels sometimes turned to those who had been leaders before the British conquest.
1. One of the first acts of the sepoys of Meerut, was to rush to Delhi and appeal to the old Mughal emperor to accept the leadership of the revolt.
2. As he had very few options, he agreed to be the nominal leader of the rebellion.
3. Similar scenes were enacted though on a minor scale. In Kanpur, the sepoys and the people of the town gave Nana Sahib, the successor to leadership of the revolt in Kanpur.
4. So was Kunwar Singh, a local zamindar in Arrah in Bihar.
5. The populace in Lucknow celebrated the fall of British rule by hailing Birjis Qadr, the young son of the Nawab, as their leader.
6. Often, the message of rebellion was carried by ordinary men and women and in places byreligious men too. From Meerut, there were reports that a fakir had appeared riding on an elephant and that the sepoys were visiting him frequently.
7. In Lucknow, after the annexation of Awadh, there were many religious leaders and self-styled prophets who preached the destruction of British rule.
8. Local leaders emerged, urging the peasants, the zamindars and the tribals to revolt. Shah Mai mobilised the villagers of pargana Barout.
9. In Uttar Pradesh, Gonoo, a tribal cultivator of Singhbhum in Chotanagpur, became a rebel leader of the Koltribals of the region.
Section – D (12 Marks)
Question 31.
Read the following source carefully and answer the questions that follow: [4]
Here is an excerpt of a mantra from the Rigveda, which was probably inserted in the text c. 1000 BCE, to be chanted by the priest while conducting the marriage ritual. It is used in many Hindu weddings even today: I free her from here, but not from there. I have bound her firmly there so that through the grace of Indra she will have fine sons and be fortunate in her husband’s love. Indra was one of the principal deities, a god of valour, warfare and rain. ‘Here’ and ‘there’ refer to the father’s and husband’s house respectively.
(i) Why do people worship Indra?
Answer:
Indra was one of the principal deities of worship in ancient times and he was the god of valour, warfare and rain.
(ii) What is the meaning of the phrase “I free her from here, but not from there” used in the paragraph?
Answer:
The meaning of the phrase is that a girl after marriage has to leave her obligations from her father’s house and devote herself to her husband’s house.
(iii) Why women should receive the grace of Indra?
Answer:
Women should receive the blessings of Indra so that they could get love from her husband and can produce fine sons who will carry out the legacy of their family.
Question 32.
Read the following source carefully and answer the questions that follow: [4]
Cash or Kind
The Ain on land revenue collection. Let him (the amil-guzar) not make it a practice of taking only in cash but also in kind. The latter is effected in several ways. First, kankut: in the Hindi language Kan signifies grain, and kut, estimate. If any doubts arise, the crops should be cut and estimated in three lots, the good, the middling and the inferior and the hesitation removed. Often, too the land taken by appraisement gives a sufficiently accurate return.
Secondly, batai, also called bhaoli, the crops are reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the presence of the parties. But in the case several intelligent inspectors are required; otherwise, the evil-minded and false are given to deception. Thirdly, khet-batai when they divided the fields after they are sown. Fourthly, lang batai; after cutting the grain, they form it in heaps and divide it among themselves, and each takes his share home and turns it to profit.
(i) Explain the term Kankut.
Answer:
In Hindi language, Kan signifies grain, and kut means estimate.
(ii) Explain the system of data or Shaolin system of land revenue collection.
Answer:
The crop were reaped and stacked and divided by agreement in the parties. But in this case several intelligent inspectors were required, otherwise, the evil-minded and false were given to deception.
(iii) Explain the system of lang batai. Do you think this system was better than the other?
Answer:
After cutting the grain, they used to form it in heaps and divided it among themselves, and each took his share home and turned it to profit. Yes, I think langbatai was better than other systems because they divided an equal amount among them and got equal profit.
Question 33.
Read the following source carefully and answer the questions that follow: [4]
Why the Salt Satyagraha?
Why was salt the symbol of protest? This is what Mahatma Gandhi wrote: The volume of information being gained daily shows how wickedly the salt tax has been designed. In order to prevent the use of salt that has not paid the tax which is at times even fourteen times its value, the Government destroys the salt it cannot sell profitably. Thus, it taxes the nation’s vital necessity; it prevents the public from manufacturing it and destroys what nature manufactures without effort. No adjective is strong enough for characterizing this wicked dog-in-the-manger policy. From various sources I hear tales of such wanton destruction of the nation’s property in all parts of India.
Mounds if not tons of salt are said to be destroyed on the Konkan coast. The same tale comes from Dandi. Wherever there is a likelihood of natural salt being taken away by the people living in the neighborhood of such areas for their personal use, a salt officer is posted for the sole purpose of carrying on destruction. Thus valuable national property is destroyed at the national expense and salt is taken out of the mouths of the people. The salt monopoly is thus a fourfold curse.
It deprives the people of a valuable easy village industry, involves wanton destruction of property that nature produces in abundance, the destruction itself means more national expenditure, and fourthly to crown this folly, an unheard-of tax of more than 1,000 percent is exacted from a starving people. This tax has remained so long because of the apathy of the general public. Now, that it is sufficiently roused, the tax has to go. How soon it will be abolished depends upon the strength of the people. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), Vol. 49.
(i) Why was salt monopoly introduced by the British considered as a curse by the Indians?
Ans. Because it deprived the people of a valuable easy village industry, and involved the wanton destruction of property that nature produced in abundance, the destruction itself means more national expenditure and more starving of people.
(ii) How did Gandhiji illustrate his tactical wisdom with regard to salt monopoly?
Answer:
Gandhiji announced that he would lead a march to break one of the most widely disliked laws in British India, which gave the state a monopoly in the manufacture and sale of salt. For, in every Indian household, salt was indispensable, yet people were forbidden from making salt even for domestic use, compelling them to buy it from shops at a high price. To make it target, Gandhiji hoped to mobilize a wider discontent against British rule.
(iii) Explain the significance of Gandhiji’s challenge of salt protest.
Answer:
Significance of the Gandhiji’s challenge of salt protest includes:
1. The march was widely covered by the European and American press. This made Gandhiji popular.
2. It was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large numbers.
3. This salt march made people come together and forced upon the British the realization that their Raj rule would not last forever.
Section – E (5 Marks)
Question 34.
1. On the given political map of India, locate and label the following with appropriate symbols: [3]
I. Bharhut- A Major Buddhist Site
II. Dholavira- A Mature Harappan Site
III. Amber- A Territory Under Babur, Akbar and Aurangzeb
OR
Taxila- Capital of Gandhara
2. On the same outline map, two places have been marked as ‘A’ and ‘B’, as the Centres of the National Movement. Identify them and write their correct names on the lines drawn near them. [2]
Answer:
