Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I - Chapter Kings, Farmers and Towns NCERT Solutions | How do historians reconstruct the lives

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.

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

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

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

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

List some of the problems faced by epigraphists.

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?

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

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.

How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.

Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.

List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.

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 how and why stupas were built.

Figs. 4.32 and 4.33 are two scenes from Sanchi. Describe what you see in each of them, focusing on the architecture, plants and animals, and the activities. Identify which one shows a rural scene and which an urban scene, giving reasons for your answer.

Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.

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

List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.

Read this short inscription and answer:

In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.

(a) How did Dhanavati date her inscription?
(b) Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?
(c) Who were the relatives she mentioned?
(d) What Buddhist text did she know?
(e) From whom did she learn this text?

Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta?

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.