Q 3 – During which period did Ambedkar lead three temple entry movement? (a) Between 1900 to 1927 (b) Between 1927 to 1935 (c) Between 1935 to 1940 (d) Between 1940 to 1945
Q 5 – With respect to ancient India, a list of statements related to the untouchables are given below. Point out the one that is not true. (a) They were not allowed to draw water from the wells used by the upper castes (b) They were not considered as inferior human beings (c) They were not allowed to bathe in ponds where the upper caste bathed (d) They were not allowed to enter temples
Ans. (b) They were not considered as inferior human beings
Q 6 – Followers of Brahmo Samaj started another one in Bombay in 1867. Name this Samaj that fought against social customs like child marriage and remarriage for widows. (a) Ramakrishna Mission (b) Theosophical Society (c) Prarthana Samaj (d) Arya Samaj
Q 7 – Name the person who founded the Theosophical Society in India. (a) Madame Blavatsky and Col (b) Sarojini Naidu (c) Rama Bai Ranade (d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Q 9 – Under which Governor General did Raja Ram Mohan Roy initiative to ban Sati? (a) Lord Mountbatten (b) William Bentick (c) Lord Dalhousie (d) Lord Ripon
Q 11 – Few important points with respect to Raja Ram Mohan Roy are given below. Select the one that is not true. (a) Through Brahmo Samaj he attempted to reform Hindu society
(b) Rajaram Mohan Roy encouraged the study of local languages and wanted to abolish Western education. (c) He tried to show through his writings that the practice of widow burning had no sanction in ancient texts. (d) Rabindranath Tagore called him as the Father of Indian Renaissance
Ans. (b) Rajaram Mohan Roy encouraged the study of local languages and wanted to abolish Western education.
Q 12 – Name the personality, from the list given below, who secretly learned to read and write in the flickering light of candles at night. (a) Rashsundari Debi (b) Ragma Bai Ranade (c) Annie Besant (d) Sarojini Naidu
Q 13 – What is coolie ship? (a) Luggage lifter at railway platform (b) A ship that carried many Indians to Mauritius (c) Association of Coolies (d) None of the above
Q 16 – The first Urdu novels began to be written from (a) the late sixteenth century (b) the late seventeenth century (c) the late eighteenth century (d) the late nineteeth century
Ans. The Satnami movement in Central India was founded by Ghasidas who worked among the leatherworkers and organised a movement to improve their social status.
Q 21 – What was the childhood experience of Dr Ambedkar because of his belonging to the Mahar Community?
Ans. Dr Ambedkar was bom into a Mahar family. As a child he experienced what caste prejudice meant in everyday life. In school he was forced to sit outside the classroom on the ground. He was not even allowed to drink water from taps that upper-caste children used.
Q 22 – What was the argument of E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker about the untouchables?
Ans. E.V. Ramaswamy argued that untouchables were the upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture which had been subjugated by BrahmAnswer: He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God-given. Untouchables had to free themselves from all religions in order to achieve social equality.
Q 23 – How did Muslim women play a notable role in promoting education among women?
Ans. Muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women. They founded primary school for girls at Aligarh. Another remarkable woman named Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta. She also argued that religious leaders of every faith accorded an inferior place to women.
Look at the picture given below and answer the following questions:
Q 24 –
(i) Name the following and was drawn by whom? (ii) Who were not allowed to enter the temples?
Ans. In 1927, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from the temple tank. Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.
Ans. Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family. In 1927, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from the temple tank. Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.
Q 28 – What social ideas did the following people support?
Ans. Rammohun Roy – Ban on Sati Dayanand Saraswati – Widow Remarriage Veerasalingam Pantulu – Widow Remarriage Jyotirao Phule – Caste Equality Pandita Ramabai – Equality and Freedom for Women Periyar – Equality for Untouchables Mumtaz Ali – Women’s Education Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar – Widow Remarriage
Q 29 – What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school ?
Ans. In 1873, Phule wrote a book named Gulamgiri, meaning slavery. Some ten years before this, the American Civil War had been fought, leading to the end of slavery in America. Phule dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to free slaves, thus establishing a link between the conditions of the “lower” castes in India and the black slaves in America. This comparison also had the expression of hope that one day, like the end of slavery in America, there would be an end to all sorts of caste discriminations in Indian Society.
Q 31 – What do you know about Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai? What did they do for improving the condition of women?
Ans. Tarabai Shinde, a woman educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna, (A Comparison between Women and Men), criticizing the social differences between men and women.
Pandita Ramabai, a great scholar of Sanskrit, felt that Hinduism was oppressive towards women, and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women. She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husbands’ relatives. Here women were trained so that they could support themselves economically.
Q 32 – How did Jyotirao the reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality in society?
Ans. Jyotirao developed his own ideas about the injustices of caste society. He did not accept the Brahmans’ claim that they were superior to others, since they were Aryans. Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent, and defeated and subjugated the true children of the country – those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans. As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at the defeated population as inferior, as lowcaste people. According toPhule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power: in reality, the land belongedto indigenous people, the so-called low castes.
Q 33 – In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people who came from castes that were regarded as “low”?
Ans. Many new opportunities opened up for people who came from castes that were regarded as “low” during British period.
There was work in the factories that were coming up, and jobs in municipalities.
Expansion of cities in created new demands of labour. Drains had to be dug, roads laid, buildings constructed, and cities cleaned. This required coolies, diggers, carriers, bricklayers, sewage cleaners, sweepers, palanquin bearers, rickshaw pullers.
Some also went to work in plantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia.
The army, for instance, offered opportunities. A number of Mahar people, who were regarded as untouchable, found jobs in the Mahar Regiment.
Q 34 – Why were changes necessary in Indian society?
Ans. Both Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker were critical of the national movement. Phule believed that mostly the upper caste leaders were involved in the nationalist movement against the British. He believed that once the British would leave, the people of upper caste would again use their power and authority oppress and subjugate the people belonging to lower castes. This would result in division amongst the people.
Naicker had joined Congress early in his years. He gradually realised that even Congress was not free from the evil practice of casteism. When a feast was organised by the nationalists within the party, different seating arrangements were made for the people of upper and lower castes. This made Naicker to believe that the lower castes have to fight their own battle.
Their criticisms did help in the nationalist movement. The forceful speeches, writings and movements of lowercaste leaders did lead to rethinking and some selfcriticism among upper-caste nationalist leaders.
