Question Answers: NCERT Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I

Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.

Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?

How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.

Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed.

On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.

Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.

Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.

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.

List some of the problems faced by epigraphists.

This is what a famous historian of Indian literature, Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature ... and contains so much and so many kinds of things, … (it) gives(s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.” Discuss.

Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.

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

On Map 1, use a pencil to circle sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.

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

Discuss how and why stupas were built.

To what extent does knowledge of Buddhist literature help in understanding the sculpture at Sanchi?