CBSE Class 12 History Through The Eyes Of Travellers Assignment Set 02

Very Short Answer Questions :

Question. Who was ordered to proceed to china as the Sultan’s envoy to the Mongol Ruler.
Answer: Ibn-Battuta.

Question. Name any two traveliers who came India during the medieval period (11th to 17th C.E.)?
Answer: 1. Al Biruni (11th Century) from Uzbekistan
2. Ibn-Battuta (14th Century) from North western Africa, Morocco.

Question. Travels were more difficult and risky in 14th Century”. Do you agree with the state?
Answer: Yes, because –
– Always danger of robbers.
– Travellers felt home sickness and fell ill.

Question. When was Al-Biruni born.
Answer: Al-Biruni was born in 973 C.E..

Short Answer Questions :

Question. Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
Answer: 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 inferior to the western world.

Question. The bird leaves its nest
This is an excerpt from the Rihla:
My departure from Tangiermy birthplace, took place on Thursday … I set out alone, having neither fellow traveller… nor caravan whose party I might join, buts wayed by an over mastering impulse within me and adesire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So Ibraced my resolution to quit all my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my homeas birds forsake their nests …My age at that time was twenty-two years.
Ibn Battuta returned home in1354, about 30 years after he had set out.
(i) Who was Ibn Battuta? Which book did he wrote?
(ii) For how long did Ibn Batuta remain at the court of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq?
(iii) Name the countries which Ibn Battuta crossed before he came to India?
Answer: Ibn Batuta was a Moroccan traveller; He wrote a book called Rihla – description of his journey.
– For eight years at the court of Tughlaq.
– Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Persia, Oman, Eastern Africa, Mecca, Syria & reached Delhi in AD-1333.

Question. What were the elements of the practice of Sati that drew the attention of Bernier?
Answer: 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.

Question. How did Ibn Battuta describe Indian cities?
Answer: 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

Long Answer Questions :

Question. Discuss Al-Baruni’s is understanding of the caste system.
Answer: 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.

Question. Describe the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
Answer: 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.