Students must start practicing the questions from CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History with Solutions Set 10 are designed as per the revised syllabus.
CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 History Set 10 with Solutions
Time Allowed: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 80
General Instructions:
- 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.
- All questions are compulsory.
- You may attempt any section at a time.
- All questions of that particular section must be attempted in the correct order.
Section – A (10 Marks)
Question 1.
Multiple Choice Questions
(i) The Clay tablet depicts picture of: [1]
(A) A Poetry written by Mesopotamians
(B) A mathematical exercise with triangles and lines
(C) A science experiment
(D) A secret document with codes
Answer:
Option (B) is correct
(ii) The temple of goddess Inanna is found in Mesopotamian city of. [1]
(A) Uruk
(B) Ur
(C) Kish
(D) Lagash
Answer:
Option (A) is correct.
(iii) The first Mesopotamian town to be developed post-flood was. [1]
(A) Uruk
(B) Ur
(C) Kish
(D) Lagash
Answer:
Option (C) is correct
(iv) Who established the Prindpate and when? [1]
(A) King Augustus in 27 BCE
(B) King Augustus in 17 BCE
(C) King Augustus in 7 BCE
(D) King Augustus in 70 BCE
Answer:
Option (A) is correct.
(v) _______ was also known as Temujin. [1]
(A) Yesugei
(B) Oelun-eke
(C) Onon
(D) Genghis Khan
Answer:
Option (D) is correct.
(vi) Who gave the title of ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ to king Charlemagne? [1]
(A) The Clergy
(B) The Priest
(C) Pope
(D) The Nobles
Answer:
Option (C) is correct.
(vii) Who were the Franks? [1]
(A) Germanic tribe
(B) Sung tribe
(C) Scottish tribe
(D) French tribe
Answer:
Option (A) is correct
(viii) Who was Petrarch? [1]
(A) A great poet and historian of France
(B) A great poet and historian of Italy
(C) A great poet and historian of Australia
(D) A philanthropist of France
Answer:
Option (B) is correct.
(ix) _______ is a group of families related to the Borjigid clan. [1]
(A) Kiyat
(B) Kafila
(C) Kabila
(D) Onon
Answer:
Option (A) is correct.
(x) Why were the canals built in the 18th century? [1]
(A) To beautify the cities
(B) To transport coal to cities
(C) To use the excess money available
(D) All of the above
Answer:
Option (B) is correct.
Question 2.
Fill in the blanks.
(i) The most populated city in the middle of the 17th Century was _______. [1]
Answer:
Edo
(ii) In 1877 _______ University was established under the Meiji rule. [1]
Answer:
Tokyo
(iii) _______ were minted on a very large scale and their circulation ran into millions. [1]
Answer:
Solidi
(iv) Mesopotamia civilisation flourished between _______and _______ river. [1]
Answer:
Euphrates and Tigris
(v) The main animals of domestication of the ‘Mesopotamian’ civilisation were cows, goats, _______ and _______. [1]
Answer:
sheep and oxen
Question 3.
State whether true or false
(i) Feudalism is derived from the Latin word ‘Feud’ which means ‘a piece of land’. [1]
Answer:
False
(ii) Karl Marx described the American frontier as ‘the last positive capitalist Utopia. [1]
Answer:
True
(iii) The word Cuneiform is derived from two Latin words- Cuneus and forma. [1]
Answer:
True
(iv) In 1890, the USA had an underdeveloped economy. [1]
Answer:
False
(v) Mesopotamia was the land between the Euphrates and the Tunis rivers. [1]
Answer:
False
Section – B (9 Marks)
Question 4.
Why was the development of the art of writing important? [3]
Answer:
The earliest script used by the Mesopotamians was pictographic. They later evolved a proper system of writing called ‘cuneiform’.
The development of the art of writing was important because:
(i) As different transactions occurred at different times and involved many people and a variety of goods, writing helped to maintain records and facilitated trade.
(ii) It enabled communication of ideas and enriched literature, while it also helped spread of education through mathematics and science.
(iii) It gave legal validity to land transfers and was also used to narrate the heroic deeds of the kings or the changes that were made to customary laws.
(iv) It made all the material available for the next generations. Moreover, today we are able to reconstruct the Mesopotamian history due to the availability of these numerous written records.
Question 5.
What were the effects of Japanese defeat in World War II? [3]
Answer:
The effects of Japanese defeat in World War II were:
- Japan’s attempts to become a colonial power were ended.
- Japan was demilitarised and new constitution was introduced. A no war clause was introduced as an instrument of state policy.
- Agrarian reforms were carried out and trade unions were re-established.
- The Zaibatsu or the large monopolistic business houses were dismantled.
- Political parties were revived and the first post war elections were held in 1946 in which women voted for the first time.
- The social cohesion was strengthened, allowing for a close working of the government, bureaucracy and industry.
Question 6.
What was the ‘Long March’? [3]
Answer:
In 1934, Mao took the communists on a 6,000 miles march from the southern provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi to Yenan, to escape extermination by Chiang Kai-Shek’s forces. He took to the mountains and concentrated on building the Red Army. However, early in 1934, Mao’s base was surrounded by KMT armies, poised to destroy Chinese communism.
For survival almost 10,000 communists moved to Yenan in North Western China. This movement over about 2000 kms is known as the Long March. It added to the popularity and support of the communists and has become a part of the Chinese legend.
Section – C (15 Marks)
Question 7.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: [5]
The Hadza
‘The Hadza are a small group of hunters and gatherers, living in the vicinity of Lake Eyasi, a salt, rift-valley lake. The country of the eastern Hadza, dry, rocky savanna, dominated by thorn scrub and acacia trees is rich in wild foods. Animals are exceptionally numerous and were certainly commoner at the beginning of the century.
Elephants, rhinoceros, buffalo, giraffes, zebra, waterbuck, gazelle, warthog, baboon, lion, leopard, and hyenas are all common, as are smaller animals such as porcupine, hare, jackal, tortoise and many others. All of these animals, apart from the elephant, are hunted and eaten by the Hadza. The amount of meat that could be regularly eaten without endangering the future of the game is probably greater than anywhere else in the world where hunters and gatherers live or have lived in the recent past.
Vegetable food- roots, berries, the fruit of the baobab tree, etc. -though not often obvious to the casual observer, is always abundant even at the height of the dry season in a year of drought. The type of vegetable food available is different in the six-month wet season from the dry season but there is no period of shortage. The honey and grubs of seven species of wild bee are eaten; supplies of these vary from season to season and from year to year.
Sources of water are widely distributed over the country in the wet season but are very few in the dry season. The Hadza consider that about 5-6 kilometers is the maximum distance over which water can reasonably be carried and camps are normally sited within a kilometre of a water course. Part of the country consists of open grass plains but the Hadza never build camps there. Camps are invariably sited among trees or rocks and, by preference, among both.
The eastern Hadza assert no rights over land and its resources. Any individual may live wherever he likes and may hunt animals, collect roots, berries, and honey and draw water anywhere in Hadza country without any sort of restriction. In spite of the exceptional numbers of game animals in their area, the Hadza rely mainly on wild vegetable matter for their food.
Probably as much as 80 percent of their food by weight is vegetable, while meat and honey together account for the remaining 20 percent. Camps are commonly small and widely dispersed in the wet season, large and concentrated near the few available sources of water in the dry season. There is never any shortage of food even in the time of drought.
(i) Discuss the diet of the people of Hadza.
(ii) Who were Hadzas?
(iii) Name some of the big animals found there.
Answer:
(i) The Hadza rely mainly on wild vegetable matter for their food. Probably as much as 80 per cent of their food by weight is vegetable, while meat and honey together account for the remaining 20 per cent.
(ii) The Hadza are a small group of hunters and gatherers, living in the vicinity of Lake Eyasi, a salt, rift-valley lake.
(iii) Elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, waterbuck, gazelle, warthog, baboon, lion, leopard, and hyena.
Question 8.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: [5]
Everyone could not become a priest. Serfs were banned, as were physically challenged. Women could not become priests. Men who became priests could not marry. Bishops were the religious nobility. Like lords who owned vast landed estates, the bishops also had the use of vast estates and lived in grand palaces.
The church was entitled to a tenth share of whatever the peasants produced from their land over the course of the year, called a ‘tithe’. Money also came in the form of endowments made by the rich for their own welfare and the welfare of their deceased relatives in the afterlife.
Some of the important ceremonies conducted by the Church copied formal customs of the feudal elite. The act of kneeling while praying, with hands clasped and head bowed, was an exact replica of the way in which a knight conducted himself while taking vows of loyalty to his lord.
Similarly, the use of the term ‘lord’ for God was another example of a feudal culture that found its way into the practices of the Church. Thus, the religious and the lay worlds of feudalism shared many customs and symbols.
(i) Who all were banned from becoming a priest?
(ii) What were the sources of income of the Church?
(iii) Give two similarities between the feudalism and religions.
Answer:
(i) The Serfs, the physically challenged and women could not become priests.
(ii) The Church was entitled to a tenth share of whatever the peasants produced from their land over the course of the year, called a ‘tithe’. Money also came in the form of endowments made by the rich.
(iii) The act of kneeling while praying, with hands clasped and head bowed, was an exact replica of the way in which a knight conducted himself while taking vows of loyalty to his lord. Similarly, the use of the term ‘lord’ for God was another example of a feudal culture that found its way into the practices of the Church.2
Question 9.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. [5]
‘At sunset on the day before America [that is before the Europeans reached there and gave the continent this name], diversity lay at every hand. People spoke in more than a hundred tongues. They lived by every possible combination of hunting, fishing, gathering, gardening, and farming open to them.
The quality of soils and the effort required to open and tend them determined some of their choices of how to live. Cultural and social biases determined others. Surpluses of fish or grain or garden plants or meats helped create powerful, tiered societies here but not there. Some cultures had endured for millennia.
(i) Did people speak in one vernacular language?
(ii) What were the main occupations?
(iii) What factors determined the life of the natives?
Answer:
(i) No, People spoke in more than a hundred tongues.
(ii) Hunting, fishing, gathering, gardening, and farming.
(iii) The quality of soils and the effort required to open and tend them determined some of their choices of how to live. Cultural and social biases determined others. Surpluses of fish or grain or garden plants or meats helped create powerful societies.
Section – D ( 32 Marks)
Question 10.
Write an essay on society under Mesopotamian civilisation. Support with examples. [8]
Answer:
Gilgamesh Epic, apart from being outstanding literature, is rich in details about contemporary society and religion. Society under Mesopotamian civilization was marked by distinctions and constituted three classes. The higher class, the ruling elite was represented by the king, his relatives, the priests and the government officials.
The middle class consisted of the landlords, the merchants and the craftsmen while the lower class comprised of the labourers, prisoners of war and slaves. Temples and royal households had a large number of slaves working for them. Some were employed in agricultural production. Main occupations were agriculture, pastoralism, trade and craft.
Contemporary documentary evidence confirms that by 2000 BCE the Mesopotamian society had become highly stratified. For instance, Hammurabi’s Code of Law provided separate provisions in the code for various classes. Also, the ruling elite which were a small section of the society had a major share of wealth. This is evidenced by the enormous riches buried with some kings and queens at Ur while the burials of common people hardly had any valuables.
Nobles and warriors enjoyed a luxurious life and with wars and conflicts being frequent, they occupied a high position while in contrast, the condition of war prisoners and slaves was miserable. Women were respected and enjoyed a high position but over time patriarchy was strengthened. The head of the family was the father who controlled property and exercised absolute power over the household. Marriage was generally monogamous. A dowry settlement was made at the time of marriage.
Religion was marked with the worship of many gods. Each city had their own god and goddesses. The main deity of the city had a big Ziggurat dedicated to him. Through myths and rituals, religious cults were accommodated and assimilated.
Question 11.
Why did Genghis Khan feel the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings? [8]
Answer:
Genghis Khan felt the need to fragment the Mongol tribes into new social and military groupings because:
He wanted to control and discipline his nomadic hordes as many new members had entered his army and it had become a heterogeneous mass of people.
The Mongols as hunters and gatherers formed the armed forces as per requirements. He wanted to form an organised military by erasing the old system.
He included groups like Turkic Uighurs who accepted his authority willingly and accommodated defeated people like the Kereyits.
He wanted to scrape the old tribal identities of the different groups in his confederacy. As members of a clan and tribe were organised into a particular unit as per the old Steppe system, there were more possibilities of a revolt. He wanted to improve this system.
Thus, introducing a new system, he organized new military units called ‘Tuman” which was the largest unit of soldiers. It included 10,000 soldiers from different tribes and clans. This helped weaken the rebellious notions of different tribes and clans and also forestalled any threat that his sons could face in ruling the empire collectively.
Question 12.
How did Reformation contribute to the growth of the nation-states? Describe the political system that developed in nation-states in Europe. [8]
Answer:
The reformation enhanced the power of kings leading to the growth of the nation-states. The success of the reformists against the Roman Catholic Church empowered the heads of the states to follow the religion of their choice. As a consequence, countries like Germany, England and Sweden refused to recognise the authority of the Pope. It assumed the form of nationalism particularly in England and Germany.
The Kings of England broke away from the Catholic Church and the king/queen became the head of the church in England. In 1559 Anglican Church was established in England. The combination of religious and administrative powers in the royalty boosted loyalty among the masses that encouraged national unity.
The features of the new political system that developed in the nation-states in Europe were:
(i) Absolute Monarchy: The kings were despotic monarchs that assumed all power in their hands. They were treated as God’s representatives on earth and ruled on their behalf.
(ii) Supporters of the king: The rich middle class supported and financed the king that strengthened his position further.
(iii) Courts of Appeal: The powerful monarchies had strong courts of appeal. The courts could challenge and condemn the decisions of the feudal lords.
(iv) Independent kings: Now the king was free of intervention from the Pope and the feudal lords.
Question 13.
What were the effects of the Japanese defeat in World War II? Describe the military and the economic reforms introduced under the Meiji’s. [8]
Answer:
The effects of the Japanese defeat in World War II were:
- Japan’s attempts to become a colonial power were ended.
- Japan was demilitarised and a new constitution was introduced. A no-war clause was introduced as an instrument of state policy.
- Agrarian reforms were carried out and trade unions were re-established.
- The Zaibatsu or the large monopolistic business houses were dismantled.
- Political parties were revived and the first post-war elections were held in 1946 in which women voted for the first time.
- The social cohesion was strengthened, allowing for a close working of the government, bureaucracy and industry.
Reforms:
Military: An army based on the European model was established. Military service declared universal and obligatory, soldiers were recruited at the age of twenty. They served for three years in the active army and four years in the reserve. A national army thus came into existence. European officers were called to train them. In addition, dockyards and arsenals were constructed. The military was put under the direct command of the emperor.
Economy: An agricultural tax was levied to raise funds. The first railway line was built in 1870-72 between Tokyo and Yokohama. Textile machinery was imported from Europe and foreign technicians were employed to train the workers. Japanese students were sent abroad to study. In 1872 modern banking institutions were established. Companies like Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were given subsidies and tax benefits to becoming major ship-builders so that the Japanese trade was from now on carried in Japanese ships.
Section – E (4 Marks)
Question 14.
(i) On the given map of Italy, locate the following. [2]
(A) Padua
(B) Genoa
(ii) Identify the two cities marked on the map. [2]
Answer:
