On an outline map of India, trace the major rivers and hill ranges. Plot ten cities mentionedin the chapter, including Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, and prepare a brief note on why the importance of any two cities that you have marked (one colonial and one pre-colonial) changed in the nineteenth century.

What are the problems of using official sources in writing about the history of peasants?

How did the Paharias respond to the coming of outsiders?

Why was the jotedar a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal?

What were the concerns that influenced town planning in the nineteenth century?

Why was the charkha chosen as a symbol of nationalism?

What do visual representations tell us about the revolt of 1857? How do historians analyse these representations?

How did the American Civil War affect the lives of ryots in India?

How did women experience Partition?

In what way was the livelihood of the Paharias different from that of the Santhals?

Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?

To what extent are census data useful in reconstructing patterns of urbanisation in the colonial context?

Discuss the extent to which religious beliefs shaped the events of 1857.

Why did the salt laws become an important issue of struggle?

What were the concerns that influenced town planning in the nineteenth century?

Why was the revolt particularly widespread in Awadh? What prompted the peasants, taluqdars and zamindars to join the revolt?

Why is Partition viewed as an extremely significant marker in South Asian history?

How was non-cooperation a form of protest?

Why did the mutinous sepoys in many places turn to erstwhile rulers to provide leadership to the revolt?

How was the term minority defined by different groups?

How did the Paharias respond to the coming of outsiders?