Ideas of History
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
- Silk was discovered in -(A) India (B) Rome (C) Persia (D) China
Ans : (D) China - The ‘Forbidden City’ is said to be – (A) Lhasa (B) Beijing (C) Rome (D) Constantinople
Ans : (A) Lhasa - ‘Bangadarshan’ was a – (A) Daily newspaper (B) Weekly newspaper (C) Fortnightly newspaper (D) Monthly magazine
Ans : (D) Monthly magazine - Rachel Carson was associated with – (A) Regional history (B) Women’s history (C) Environmental history (D) Urban history
Ans : (C) Environmental history - Bankim Chandra edited ‘Bangadarshan’ for – (A) Three years (B) Four years (C) Ten years (D) Twelve years
Ans : (B) Four years
Short Answer Questions (SAQ)
- What is social history?
Answer: Social history emerged from the 1960s onwards with historians like Edward Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. Instead of courtly history, it includes the daily lives of ordinary people, socio-economic relationships, religion, culture, and overall lifestyles in historical studies. Historians like Harold Perkin, Ranajit Guha, and Partha Chatterjee further enriched this trend. - What is the importance of newspapers as historical material?
Answer: News reports, editorials, letters, and various articles published in newspapers are particularly important in writing history. Information obtained from newspapers is considered primary historical material. As a messenger of contemporary society and politics, newspapers are especially helpful in writing the history of India’s independence movement and the formation of modern India. - Why did the British government stop the publication of the ‘Somprokash’ periodical in 1878 AD?
Answer: ‘Somprokash’ had protested against the oppression of indigo planters and criticized British policies in Kabul. As a result, under the Vernacular Press Act, the editor of Somprokash was asked to provide a bond and pay a fine. When the editor of Somprokash refused to provide the bond or pay the fine, the British government stopped its publication in 1878 AD.
Long Answer Questions (LAQ)
- Write a note on women’s history.
Answer: Re-evaluation of the role of the historically neglected women’s society is a key feature of historical studies.
Research: While the trend of women-centric history writing started in the latter half of the eighteenth century in the West, in countries like India, this practice is relatively new. Notable work in feminist history in India has been done by Neera Desai, B. R. Nanda, Malavika Karlekar, and others.
Correction of Male-Centric History: In prevalent history, the role of women is largely marginal. Moving away from that marginality and genuinely evaluating women’s roles in history is a key feature of feminist historiography. In fact, feminist history is essentially a revisionist historiography.
Establishment of Women’s Rights and Equality: Establishing women’s rights and gender equality is a key feature of feminist history.
Women’s Participation: Identifying women’s changing positions in society at different times, their roles in socio-economic and political life, women’s clothing, employment, participation in religious activities, songs, art, industrial production, etc., are central themes of feminist historiography.
Measure of Societal Progress: A society cannot progress at any time by excluding women, who are ‘half the sky’ and the embodiment of power. Indeed, the position and status of women in any society or civilization determine the progress or backwardness of that society. Therefore, women’s history has become a measure of the progress of civilization.
Although still relatively new in India, the field of feminist historiography is currently expanding significantly. The universal rights of women in modern Indian society are a true measure of the progress of Indian society. - Write a note on the new social history. Or, briefly discuss the diversity of modern historiography.
Answer: History used to stop at the accounts of kings and nobles, its reach ending with the tales of royal courts. But today, the realm of history has expanded its horizons. With the development of civilization, history has connected itself at various levels of society, in different streams of science, knowledge, technology, and culture. Modern historiography is both a seeker of totality and of diversity.
Subject Matter: Former history primarily focused on the lifestyles, activities, thoughts, and rise and fall of a specific section of society. But new social history attempts to speak about society as a whole. Everything that existed in society but did not find a place in former history is now the subject of modern history. Along with this, the evolution of games, military developments, and the history of women’s society are also key aspects of the diversity of modern history. In a word, new modern historiography is a comprehensive explanation of the overall life of human society.
The Annales School: This trend developed in France in 1929 with the publication of the journal ‘Annales of Economic and Social History’ by Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre. This school gave equal importance to various subjects like society, economy, culture, ordinary people, family, psychology, etc., apart from mere political events.
Subaltern Historiography: The historiography that focuses on the so-called lower classes of society, irrespective of caste, religion, color, gender, or class, is currently very popular worldwide and is known as subaltern historiography. In this type of historiography, the so-called unnamed people of the lower classes have become the true heroes of history. Some famous historians associated with this trend are Ranajit Guha, Partha Chatterjee, Gautam Bhadra, and others.