NCERT Solutions Class 12 History Chapter 2 Kings Farmers and Towns

 NCERT Solutions Class 12 History Kings Farmers and Towns

1. Discuss  the  evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this  different from the  evidence from Harappan cities?

Answer:

• From Early Historic  Cities, archaeologists have excavated  artefacts such as fine pottery bowls and dishes (known as Northern Black Polished Ware), and ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, figurines made  of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta.

• Short  votive  inscriptions found  in a number of cities  tell us about  washing  folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, religious teachers, merchants and kings.

 1. Craft producers of Early Historic  Cities organised themselves into  guilds  (shrenis), whereas  Harappan craftspersons were not organised in this  manner.

 2. Guilds procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed the finished  product. In Harappan cities, raw material procurement was done by rulers; Harappans also went on expeditions to procure them.

 3. Early Historic  Cities produced  iron tools, whereas  in the Harappan cities, copper  tools  were produced.

2. Describe the  salient features of mahajanapadas.

Answer:

• while most  mahajanapadas were ruled  by kings, some, known  as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies, where  power  was shared  by a number of men (called rajas).

• Rajas controlled resources  such as land collectively.

•  Each Mahajanapada had a fortified capital  city.

•Resources to maintain the fortified cities, armies  and bureaucracies were collected  as taxes and tribute from  cultivators, traders  and artisans.

•Rulers were advised  to impose  taxes  on various communities engaged  in economic  activities.

•  Raids on neighbouring states  were recognised as a legitimate means of acquiring wealth.

• Some of states  had standing armies  and regular bureaucracies. Others  depended  on peasant  militia.

3. How  do historians reconstruct the  lives  of ordinary people?

Answer:

•  Ordinary people  rarely  left accounts  of their  thoughts and experiences.

• Nevertheless, historians are able to reconstruct their lives by examining stories  contained in anthologies such as the Jatakas  (written in Pali) and the Panchatantra.

 • Many of these  stories  were popular  oral tales, which were later  written down.

 •  A story  titled Gandatindu Jataka  describes  the plight of the  subjects  of a wicked  king.

 • To escape from  this  situation, people abandoned their  village  and went to live in the forest.

4. Compare and contrast the  list of things given  to the  Pandyan chief  (Source 3) with those produced in the  village of Danguna (Source 8). Do you notice any  similarities or differences?

 Answer:

 List of things given to the  Pandyan chief  are: Ivory, fragrant wood, fans made  of the  hair of deer, honey, sandalwood, red ochre, antimony, turmeric, cardamom, pepper, coconuts, mangoes, medicinal plants, fruits, onions, sugarcane, flowers, areca nut, bananas, baby tigers, lions, elephants, monkeys, bear,deer, musk  deer, fox, peacocks, musk cat, wild cocks and parrots.

 List of things produced in the  village of Danguna are:

Animal  hides for seats, charcoal, liquors, salt, mines, khadira  trees, flowers  and milk.

 Similarities or differences:

List of things  gifted  to the Pandyan chief  shows a number of forest  produce  and animals, while the things  in the village  of Danguna  have only few forest  produce, and the rest are manufactured goods such as a nimal  hides for seats, charcoal, liquors, salt and mines  (for  metals).

5. List some  of the  problems faced  by epigraphists.

Answer:

•Epigraphists face technical limitations in inscriptions:letters  are very  faintly engraved, and deciphering and translating them  is a difficult task.

• Also, inscriptions may  be damaged  or letters missing.

•Many of inscriptions discovered so far have not been deciphered, published and translated.

•Many of them  with  vital  information about  pasts have not survived the  ravages  of time.  This poses challenge  to epigraphists.

•More fundamental problem faced by epigraphists is that  they  do not find politically or economically significant information recorded  in inscriptions.

 •For instance, routine agricultural practices  and daily life experiences find no mention in them; mostly, they  focus on land grand  and ritual  ceremonies.

 • Content  of inscriptions is also influenced by the perspective of the rulers  who commissioned them. Epigraphists have to carefully analyse  them  to arrive at a better understanding of the  past.

Write a short  essay  (about 500 words) on the following:

6. Discuss  the  main features of Mauryan administration. Which  of these elements are evident in the  Asokan  inscriptions that you have studied?

Answer:

• There were five major political centres  in the empire- the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
• Administrative control  was strongest in areas around the capital  and the provincial centres.
• Provincial  centres  were carefully chosen for economic reasons;  for example, TaxiIa and Ujjayini were situated on important long-distance trade  routes, while Suvarnagiri (in Karnataka) was popular  for its gold mines.
• Communication along  both  land and riverine routes was organised  properly.
• Journeys  from  the capital  to the provinces took only a few weeks. Maurayan army  played  significant role in arranging provisions and protection for the soldiers and tarvellers.
• According  to Megasthenes, there  was committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity.
• Major  tasks of the six subcommittees were:

1. Looking  after  the navy

2. Managing  transport and provision

3. Looking  after  foot-soldiers

4. Looking  after  horses

5. Maintaining chariots

6. Looking  after  elephants

 •  Asoka propagated dhamma to hold his empire together. He appointed special officers, known  as the dhamma mahamatta to spread  the message  of dhamma.

Elements evident in the  Asokan  inscriptions:

Five major  political centres  in the empire  - the capital and the  provincial centres  are mentioned in Asokan inscriptions. Asoka's efforts to spread  dhamma  are also evident in them.

7. This is a statement made by one of the  best­ known epigraphists of the  twentieth century, D.C. Sircar: "There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the  Indians that is not  reflected in inscriptions." Discuss.

Answer:

Epigraphist, D.C. Sircar's  statement is partially true because not all cultural aspects and activities of the Indians are reflected in inscriptions.

•More fundamental problem faced by epigraphists is that  they  do not find politically or economically significant information recorded  in inscriptions.

•For instance, routine agricultural practices  and daily life experiences find no mention in them; mostly, they  focus on land grand  and ritual ceremonies.

•However, short  votive  inscriptions of the second century  tell  us about  washing  folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, merchants and their  crafts.

 • They also mention the guilds  (shrenis), organisations of craft  producers and merchants and their  various production activities.

8. Discuss  the  notions of kingship that developed in the  post-Mauryan period.

Answer:

• In the  post-Mauryan period, many chiefs and kings (the  Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam, the Satavahanas and the Shakas)  became  very  powerful due to the wealth  gained  from  long-distance trade.

• One means  of claiming high status  was to identify with  a variety of deities.

 • For exam pie, Kushanas  projected their  claim  for the status  of a 'divine kingship' in their  coins and sculpture.

 • Colossal statues  of Kushana rulers  were installed  in a shrine  at Mat near Mathura  (Uttar Pradesh)  and also in a shrine  in Afghanistan.

 • They considered themselves godlike  and adopted  the title  devaputra (son of god).

 • By the fourth century, many  of larger  states (including the Gupta Empire)  depended  on samantas.

 • Samantas maintained themselves through control over land, offered  homage  and provided military support  to rulers.

 •Powerful samantas could become  kings: conversely, weak rulers  were reduced  to positions of subardination.

 • Gupta rulers  were also praised  in literature, coins and inscriptions.

9. To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the  period under consideration?

Answer:

•From the  sixth  century BCE, iron-tipped ploughshare was used to turn  the alluvial soil in the Ganga and the Kaveri.

 • It increased  the  production of paddy.  However, the use of iron  ploughshare was restricted to certain parts of the subcontinent; semi-arid areas such as Punjab and Rajasthan  did not adopt  this  technology.

 •Use of irrigation also increased  agricultural production. Communities and kings constructed wells, tanks  and canal.

 • Though these technologies increased  agricultural production, there  was a growing differentiation amongst people.

 •  Large landholders and village  headman  emerged  as powerful figures, and controlled land and cultivators.

 •  According  to the Sangam  texts, there  were three categories  of people  living  in the villages  of Tamilakam - large  landowners or vel/alar,