Class 12 History Chapter 5 Through the Eyes of Travellers Important Questions in English
1 Marks Questions
Q1: Who was appointed as a qazi or judge of Delhi.
Ans: Ibn-Battuta.
Q2: Who was ordered to proceed to china as the Sultan’s envoy to the Mongol Ruler.
Ans: Ibn-Battuta.
Q3: Which French traveller travelled to India at least six times?
Ans: Travernier.
Q:4 What was the profession/ occupation of Travernier?
Ans: Jeweller.
Q5: What was the profession of Bernier?
Ans: He was a doctor, political philosopher & historians.
Q6: Who was the doctor of Prince Dara Shikoh?
Ans: Bernier.
Q7: Which traveller finaly settled down in India?
Ans: Italian Doctor Manucci.
Q8: Description of Daulatabad was given by which traveller?
Ans: Ibn – Battuta .
Q9: Name any two travelers who came India during the medieval period (11th to 17th C.E.)?
Ans.
Al Biruni (11th Century) from Uzbekistan
Ibn-Battuta (14th Century) from Northwestern Africa, Morocco.
Q10: What was Al-Biruni’s objective to come to India?
Ans. help those who want to discuss religious questions with them.
Q11. Name the plant found in India which amazed Ibn-Battuta.
Ans.
Coconut – He wrote that the nuts of coconut resembles a man’s head.
Paan – He wrote about Paan that the betel has no fruit and is grown only for the sake of his leaves…
Q12. When was Al-Biruni born.
Ans. Al-Biruni was born in 973 C.E..
Q13.Name two Portuguese writers who came to India.
Ans.
Jesuit Roberto Nobili – in 16th Cen.
Duarte Barbosa
Q.14. Name of the book which is written by Al-Biruni .
Ans. Kitab-ul-Hind” also known as “Tahkik-a-Hind”
3 Marks Questions
Q15.What were the elements of the practice of Sati that drew the attention of Bernier?
Ans.
According to Bernier, the treatment of women in western and Eastern societies has a lot of difference.
Child widows were forcefully burnt screaming in agony.
Duarte Barbosa – Wrote about trade & society of Southern India.
Q16. What does AL-Beruni write about the administration of justice in India?
Ans.
The administration of Justice in India was as follows
Crude and primitive in many ways – but also liberal and humane.
Written complaints, cases were decided on the testimony of witnesses.
Criminal Law was mild.
Brahmanas were exempted from taxation and capital punishment.
Q17. Give any one feature of the writing of the foreign travellers to India during the medieval period.
Ans.
To some extent, the personal prejudices and interests of the travellers colour the versions given by them.
In associating the historical data, the writer has to be extremely impartial.
They wrote about social & cultural life in India during medieval period.
Q.18 .Mention any three shortcomings of Ibn-Battuta’s account.
Ans.
He didn’t take notes of everything which he saw daily.
Many things out of his memory.
He also wrote those things which he heard from his friends.
So in his account one finds such terrible mistakes as “wrong routes” and “wrong names” of the rulers.
Q19. How did Ibn Battuta describe Indian cities?
Ans.
Indian Cities were densely populated.
Very prosperous
Streets were crowded.
Markets were bright and colorful & had a variety of goods.
The Market were the hub of social & cultural activities and economic transactions.
They had both a mosque and a temple.
They had spaces for public performers
Q20. Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
Ans. Ibn Battuta’s
Perspectives –
Narrative style.
Highlighted anything that was unfamiliar and different.
(b) Bernier’s Perspective –
He belonged to a different intellectual tradition.
He was concerned with comparing and contrasting things in India with
Europe.
He emphasized the superiority of Europe.
He perceived differences hierarchically and shows India was inferior to the western world.
Q21. Analyze the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.
Ans. Evidence for Slavery –
Slaves were openly sold in Market.
Different types of slaves.
Female slaves in the service of Sultan.
Slaves were used for different kind of domestic work.
Female slaves were appointed to keep an eye on the nobles of the Sultan.
It was tradition to present slaves as a gift.
Q22. Write a note on Kitab-Ul-Hind.
Ans.- It’s written by AL-Biruni in Arabic.
It’s simple, lucid and easy to understand.
It has 80 chapters.
Varied topics e.g. religion, philosophy to customs, social life, metrology.
Most of chapters beginning with a Questions followed by a description and concluded with a comparison with other culture.
Q23. Describe the Social condition of India as described by Al-Biruni in the 12th Century.
Ans.
Social Condition of India.
Child marriage.
Widows were not allowed to remarry.
Practice of Sati was in vogue.
Uncultured people were polytheists, but the cultured classes’ believed in one god.
No one popular Religion of India at that time.
About 42 religions in the country.
Hinduism was divided into number of sects.
Q24. According to Bernier, What were the evil-effect of the crown ownership of land?
Ans.
Absence of ownership of land,
landholders could not pass on their land to their children.
8 Marks Questions
Q25. Describe the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
Ans.
In the Mughal Empire all land was owned by the emperor.
Lack of Private property.
Crown ownership was disastrous for both economy and society.
Land couldn’t be inherited by their heirs.
Land holders ignored the improvement in land.
Resulted – decline in agricultural yields, oppression of the peasantry, decline in living standards of all sections of society.
There were only two classes – rich ruling class and poor class – no middle class existed in India.
Many European travellers were influenced by Bernier’s view. But this presents an erroneous picture.
Q26. Discuss Al-Baruni’s is understanding of the caste system.
Ans.
Caste System was influenced by Sanskrit texts.
There were four Vernas i.e. Brahman, Kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.
He pointed out about ancient Persian society which was also divided into four categories.
He was against the notion of pollution.
According to the law of nature anything which becomes impure, ultimately becomes pure again.
He realized that the caste system was not as rigid as portrayed in Sanskrit text.
Untouchables were expected to provide inexpensive labour to peasants and zamindars.
