Students must start practicing the questions from CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History with Solutions Set 1 are designed as per the revised syllabus.

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions

Time Allowed: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

  1. The Question paper is divided into five sections: Section A: MCQs 10 marks, Section B: Short Answer Type Questions 9 marks, Section C: Source based questions 15 marks, Section D: Long Answer Type Questions 32 marks, Section E: Map based 4 marks.
  2. All questions are compulsory.
  3. You may attempt any section at a time.
  4. All questions of that particular section must be attempted in the correct order.

Section – A (10 Marks)

Question 1.
Multiple Choice Questions
(i) What was the name of Charles Darwin’s book? [1]
(A) Survival of the fittest
(B) On the origin of species
(C) The new species
(D) The story of fossils
Answer:
(B) On the origin of species

(ii) What is meant by the term Shogun? [1]
(A) In Japanese history, the hereditary Commander-in-Chief of the army.
(B) In Chinese history, the hereditary Commander-in-Chief of the army.
(C) In French history, the hereditary Commander-in-Chief of the army.
(D) In American history, the hereditary Commander-in-Chief of the army.
Answer:
(A) In Japanese history, the hereditary Commander-in-Chief of the army.

(iii) The civilization of Mesopotamia is known: [1]
(A) For prosperity and urban life
(B) For the rich and rich literature
(C) For mathematics and astronomy
(D) All of the above
Answer:
(D) All of the above

(iv) What defined the ‘identity’ of the USA? [1]
(A) A nation of tribes
(B) A nation of blacks
(C) The democratic spirit
(D) A nation of diversity
Answer:
(C) The democratic spirit

(v) Which of these is a source for the reconstruction of the history of the Mesopotamians. [1]
(A) Mathematical texts
(B) Archaeological remains
(C) Water resources
(D) None of these
Answer:
(B) Archaeological remains

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions

(vi) Which were the principal materials for mechanization that were available in plenty in England? [1]
(A) Coal and Magnesium
(B) Coal and Iron
(C) Iron and Steel
(D) Coal and Steel
Answer:
(B) Coal and Iron

(vii) Mesopotamia is widely known due to: [1]
(A) Records of Literature and Poetry
(B) Availability of sources including clay tablets in abundance
(C) Availability of records in English
(D) All of above
Answer:
(B) Availability of sources including clay tablets in abundance

(viii) Mesopotamia is widely known due to: [1]
(A) Records of Literature and Poetry
(B) Availability of sources including clay tablets in abundance
(C) Availability of records in English
(D) All of above
Answer:
(C) Availability of records in English

(ix) When did the Roman Empire become a Republic? [1]
(A) 505 BCE
(B) 905 BCE
(C) 509 BCE
(D) 100 BCE
Answer:
(C) 509 BCE

(x) Which of these factors was responsible for the 14th century crisis? [1]
(A) Policy changes
(B) Growth of new ideas
(C) Environmental changes
(D) Both (A) & (C)
Answer:
(C) Environmental changes

Question 2.
Fill in the blanks.
(i) The King and Chiefs of Mesopotamia built _____ to offer their booty to the gods. [1]
Answer:
Temples

(ii) Fukuzawa Yukichi was born in an impoverished _____ family. [1]
Answer:
Samurai

(iii) The ‘Trail of Tears’ incident occur in _____. [1]
Answer:
1830-40

(iv) A Muslim writer _____ was regarded as a man of wisdom in the Italian world. [1]
Answer:
Ibn Sina

(v) The Theory of Rome being a republican state was given by _____. [1]
Answer:
Diocletian

Question 3.
State whether true or false.
(i) Cuneiform was the script of the Nigerians. [1]
Answer:
False

(ii) Cotton weavers destroyed power looms as they found their jobs threatened by the new machines. [1]
Answer:
True

(ii) Ethnography is the study of contemporary ethnic groups. [1]
Answer:
True

(iv) The beginning of modern China can be traced from its encounter with the west in the 14th and the 15th centuries. [1]
Answer:
False

(v) Dome of the Rock was built by Abd al-Malik. [1]
Answer:
True

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions

Section – B (9 Marks)

Question 4.
The kingdom of Mari was not militarily strong, yet it was exceptionally prosperous. Discuss. [3]
Answer:
After 2000 BCE the capital of Mari flourished and was exceptionally prosperous. The main reasons were:
(i) The southern plain, where it was situated, was agriculturally highly productive.
(ii) Animal rearing was another profitable occupation.
(iii) It occupied an advantageous position on the Euphrates as it profited from trade both upstream and downstream among Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.
(iv) Clay tablets refer to the exchange of agricultural produce for metals like tin which is essential to make bronze. Therefore, the exchange was of great importance and a source of prosperity for Mar(i)

Question 5.
What story of the flood mentioned in the Bible, had a similarity in Mesopotamian tradition? [3]
Answer:
According to the Bible, a great flood occurred which was meant to destroy all life on earth. However, Noah was chosen by God to ensure the continuance of life after the flood. He built a huge boat and took a pair of each known species of animals and birds and saved them from the flood. There is a strikingly similar story in Mesopotamian tradition, where the main character was called Ziusudra or Utnapishtim.

Question 6.
How did the long term changes in population level affect economy and society in Europe? [3]
Answer:
Long term changes in population affected the economy and society in Europe as follows :
(i) It led to an increase in agricultural production as weE as good quality of food. It helped to increase the life expectancy.
(ii) Many new towns came into prominence which became important trade and commerce centers. Peasants sold their surplus grains in cities and bought tools and cloth.
(iii) As the need for specialised skills like bankers, lawyers grew, a fourth order came into existence.

Section – C (15 Marks)

Question 7.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. [5]
‘Kathy my sister with the torn heart,
I don’t know how to thank you
For your Dreamtime stories of joy and grief
Written on paperbark.
You were one of the dark children
I wasn’t allowed to play with
Riverbank campers, the wrong colour
(I couldn’t turn you white.)
So it was late I met you,
Late I began to know
They hadn’t told me the land I loved
Was taken out of your hands.’

(i) Who was Judith Wright?
(ii) What was called ‘Dreamtime’ in the native tradition?
(iii) When and how did things change for the natives of Australia?
Answer:
(i) Judith Wright was an Australian writer and a champion of the rights of Australian ‘aborigines’.
(ii) In the native traditions, the natives did not come to Australia but had always been there. The past centuries were called the ‘dream time’, something difficult for the Europeans to understand.
(iii) Things began changing for the natives from the 1970s. From 1974 Australia adopted a policy of ‘multiculturalism’ whereby the ‘non-white’ policy was eliminated. Henceforth equal respect was given to native cultures.

Question 8.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: [5]
From the ninth century, there were frequent localized wars in Europe. The amateur peasant soldiers were not sufficient, and good cavalry was needed. This led to the growing importance of a new section of people the knights. They were linked to the lords, just as the latter was linked to the king. The Lord gave the knight a piece of land (called ‘fief’) and promised to protect it.

The fief could be inherited. It extended to anything between 1,000 and 2,000 acres or more, including a house for the knight and his family, a church and other establishments to house his dependants, besides a watermill and a wine press. As in the feudal manor, the land of the fief was cultivated by peasants. In exchange, the knight paid his lord a regular fee and promised to fight for him in war.

To keep up their skills, knights spent time each day fencing and practicing tactics with dummies. A knight might serve more than one lord, but his foremost loyalty was to his own lord. In France, from the twelfth century, minstrels travelled from manor to manor, singing songs which told stories- partly historical, partly invented about brave kings and knights.

In an age when not too many people could read and manuscripts were few, these traveling bards were very popular. Many manors had a narrow balcony above the large hall where the people of the manor gathered for meals. This was the minstrels’ gallery, from where singers entertained nobles while they feasted.

(i) Who has written these lines?
(ii) To whom is the Knight referring?
(iii) Who were the Knights? What were their duties?
Answer:
(i) These lines were written by a13th century French poet (Doon de Mayence), recounting the adventures of the Knights.
(ii) The Knight is referring to his lord.
(iii) Knights were professionally mounted warriors. They were linked to the lord by the same promising relationship between the king and the lord. The Lord gave the knight a piece of land called the ‘fief ‘.The duties of the Knights were to protect the piece of land, payment of a regular fee, and fight for the lord in wars.

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions

Question 9.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. [5]
Soon afterward the City Prefect, Lucius Pedanius Secundus, was murdered by one of his slaves. After the murder, ancient custom required that every slave residing under the same roof must be executed. But a crowd gathered, eager to save so many innocent lives; and rioting began. The senate-house was besieged.

Inside, there was feeling against excessive severity, but the majority opposed any change [The senators] favouring execution prevailed. However, great crowds ready with stones and torches prevented the order from being carried out. Nero rebuked the population by edict, and lined with troops the whole route along which those condemned were taken for execution.

(i) In whose reign did the incident occur? What does the passage reflect about the treatment of slaves?
(ii) Why did the slave labour decline after the first century?
(iii) Was Roman society a slave society? Give two points in support of your argument.
Answer:
(i) This occurred in the reign of Emperor Nero. The slaves were treated as the property of the master, his authority over the slave was absolute. Slaves had no identity of their own and suffered complete legal deprivation. And this denied them any sort of place in society.

(ii) Slave labour declined after the first century because it was a period of peace, usually, it was the war prisoners who were made slaves. As the wars decreased, so did the number of war prisoners.

(iii) Slaves were found in all sectors of the economy, agriculture, handicraft production, mining, etc. Yet it was not a slave society because:
(a) The bulk of the labour may have been performed by the slaves in the republican period in large parts of Italy but it was not true for the empire as a whole.
(b) There were other kinds of labour also like peasants, small freeholders, labourers, tenants, and sharecroppers.

Section – D (32 Marks)

Question 10.
List some important features of the late Empire which set it apart from the Early Empire. [8]
Answer:
The significant features of the late empire that set it apart from the early empire are:
In the early empire, the main title of the emperor had been Princeps. It was not a royal title but with the coming of Diocletian to power, they pretense that Roman state was still theoretically a RepubHc was given up. The emperor was no longer called Princeps but addressed as “dominus et Deus” (divine lord and master).

Emperors gave up the simple dress, Dietician started the practice of wearing richly adorned dresses and introduced court ceremonials (e.g. prostration), several of which were borrowed from Hellenistic kingdoms, Egypt and Iran. The emperor projected himself as the divine monarch.

Constantine founded the second capital of the city of Constantinople. It completed the process begun by Diocletian of the shift to the east. Constantinople became the main administrative centre of the empire and the political role of Rome declined. The geographical focus moved from Italy to the eastern Mediterranean.

A parallel Senate was established in Constantinople. Its members unlike the senate at Rome, its members were drawn from the provincial elites of the east. Moreover, it was completely subservient to the emperor. The imperial bureaucracy too was expanded to include the middle class.

The traditional culture of the early empire was polytheist as it involved a multiplicity of cults that included both Roman and Italian gods like Jupiter, Juno, Minerva and Mars as well as numerous Greek deities and Judaism. The late empire saw momentous developments in religious life with the emperor Constantine deciding to embrace Christianity and making it the official religion.

After 395 CE, the empire was permanently split into two halves – the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire). In reality, there was only an empire in the east with Constantine as capital. In the west, there was no centralized state structure. The empire fragmented with the invasion of Germanic tribes.

The late empire was also marked by strong urban prosperity, as the ruling elites were wealthier and more powerful than ever before. Papyri which have survived from these times show a relatively affluent society, where money was in extensive use, and the rural estates generated vast incomes in gold.

Question 11.
Give a brief account of the military system of Genghis Khan. [8]
Answer:
The astute leadership and organizational skills of Genghis Khan, the Mongols of Central Asia, established one of the largest nomadic, transcontinental empires that included Europe and Asia during the 13th and 14th centuries. His astounding military achievements were a result of his innovative skills to transform different aspects of steppe combat into effective military strategies.

  1. Genghis Khan systematically erased old tribal identities of different groups who joined the confederacy by dividing the old tribal grouping(decimal units) and distributing their members into new military units.
  2. He enforced and ensured strict discipline within the units by administering harsh punishments on any individual who tried to move from his original or allotted group without permission.
  3. The largest unit of soldiers approximating 10,000 soldiers included fragmented groups. By integrating different lineages and clans, Genghis Khan provided the military system with a new identity.
  4. Since the new identity was derived from Genghis Khan, this insured the allegiance of the armed forces.
  5. The new military contingents were required to serve under his four sons and specially chosen captains of his army units called ‘noyan’.
  6. Those who served Genghis Khan loyally through adversities for many years were publicly honoured as his blood brothers ‘anda’. This set an example for others to follow.
  7. Free men of humbler rank were given special ranking as his bandsmen (naukar) a title that marked their dose relationship with their master and set them apart from the rest.
  8. Thus, ranking did not preserve the rights of old chieftains. The new aristocracy derived its status from a dose relationship with the Great Khan.

Question 12.
Why did renaissance appear in Italy first? What changes did it bring about in the contemporary life of the people? [8]
Answer:
Renaissance first appeared in Italy because of the following reasons:
(i) Fall of Constantinople: The learned Christian scholars due to fear of being persecuted by the Turks, fled to Italy and brought good literary ideas with them that helped them to share knowledge.
(ii) Decline of Feudalism: It helped in the emergence of new towns and cities based on trade and commerce.
(iii) Geographical location of Italy: As Italy was situated halfway between Europe and the Middle East, the Italian cities became centres of prosperous trade and commerce.

Changes brought about by Renaissance included:
(i) The old-age thinking of religious superstitions was given up and Humanism was encouraged.
(ii) New ideas and a rational outlook with scientific beliefs were adopted.
(iii) It inspired the contemporary artists and writers and philosophers to write about ‘man’ and his accomplishments.
(iv) Many new universities were established that taught humanism.
(v) With the coming of the printing press education and knowledge spread quickly.

Question 13.
What was the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution? What was its result? [8]
Answer:
Conflicts became common among Mao’s supporters, who wanted to create a socialist man and those who objected to his stress on ideology. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of 1965 was the result of this conflict. Mao started this revolution to face these critics. The Red Guards, mainly the students and the army, were used to start a campaign against the old culture, old customs and old habits. Students and professionals formed the common masses. The ideology of being a communist became more important than having professional knowledge. Rational debates were replaced by denunciations and slogans.

As a result, there was turmoil in the country with the Cultural Revolution. The Economy and educational system were disrupted but the situation started to change from the late 1960s. In 1975, the party once again started to give stress on strict social discipline and the need to build a strong nation.

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions

Section – E (4 Marks)

Question 14.
On the given map, mark the following: [4]
CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions
(A) Taiwan
(B) Australia
(C) Canberra
(D) Nagasaki
Answer:
CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 1 with Solutions 1