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Class 12 History Chapter 6 Through the Eyes of Travellers (From the 10th to the 17th Century)
Selected Questions & Answers
A. Very Short Answer Questions: (Marks for each: 1)
1. Why did people generally travel before the modern age?
Ans: Before the modern age, people generally travelled from one place to another for purposes such as trade and commerce, pilgrimage, pursuit of knowledge, seeking relief from natural calamities, or gaining adventurous experiences.
2. What was the name of the ambassador from Samarkand who visited the Bahmani kingdom in the fifteenth century?
Ans: Abdur Razzak.
3. From which country was Al-Biruni a traveller?
Ans: Uzbekistan.
4. From which country was Ibn Battuta a traveller?
Ans: From Morocco in North-West Africa.
5. In which century did Ibn Battuta come to India?
Ans: In the fourteenth century.
6. When and where was Al-Biruni born?
Ans: Al-Biruni was born in 973 CE at Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan.
7. In which languages did Al-Biruni attain scholarship?
Ans: He attained scholarship in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit.
8. Under whose patronage did Al-Biruni work?
Ans: He received patronage from Mahmud of Ghazni.
9. What is the name of Al-Biruni’s travel account?
Ans: Kitab al-Hind.
10. Into how many chapters is Kitab-ul-Hind divided?
Ans: 40 chapters.
11. What is the name of the book written by Ibn Battuta about histravels? H. S. ’15
Ans: Rihla.
12. When did Ibn Battuta visit India?
Ans: In 1332–33 CE.
13. Who was the Sultan of Delhi when Ibn Battuta visited India?
Ans: Muhammad bin Tughluq.
14. Which countries did Ibn Battuta travel to?
Ans: He travelled across North Africa, West Asia, parts of Central Asia (possibly up to Russia), the Indian subcontinent and China.
15. The word “Hind” belongs to which language?
Ans: It is a word of the Persian language.
16. Who translated Patanjali’s grammar from Sanskrit into Arabic?
Ans: Al-Biruni.
17. When did the French traveller François Bernier visit India?
Ans: In 1665 CE.
18. Who was the Mughal Emperor when Bernier visited India?
Ans: Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
19. Which Mughal prince appointed Bernier as his personal physician?
Ans: Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan.
20. What is the name of Bernier’s travel account on India?
Ans: Travels in the Mughal Empire.
21. To whom did Bernier dedicate most of his writings?
Ans: To King Louis XIV of the Bourbon dynasty of France.
22. At what age did Ibn Battuta leave home to travel the world?
Ans: At the age of 22.
23. Which traveller compared the coconut to a human head?
Ans: Ibn Battuta.
24. Who was Abul Fazl?
Ans: Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak was the court historian of Emperor Akbar.
25. Who propounded the concept of “Oriental Despotism”?
Ans: Montesquieu.
26. Which traveller is referred to as “the bird that flew from the nest”?
Ans: Ibn Battuta.
27. What does “Ulak” mean?
Ans: In medieval India, “Ulak” referred to the postal system carried by horses.
28. What does “Dawa” mean?
Ans: In medieval India, “Dawa” referred to the postal system carried on foot or by runners.
29. Who was the Sultan of Delhi when Ibn Battuta visited India? H. S. ’19
Ans: Muhammad bin Tughluq.
30. Who was called a ‘Muqaddam’? H. S. ’19
Ans: The village headman was called a ‘Muqaddam.’
31. Who was the author of “Badshah Nama”? H. S. ’19
Ans: Abdul Hamid Lahori.
32. Which revenue system did the East India Company introduce in the Bombay Deccan? H. S. ’19
Ans: The Ryotwari system.
33. During the Revolt of 1857, where did Kunwar Singh lead the rebels? H. S. ’19
Ans: In Bihar.
34. Who was the author of ‘Fathiyah-i-Ibriyah’? H. S. ’18
Ans: Shihabuddin Talish.
35. Who was Pelsaert? H. S. ’20
Ans: Francisco Pelsaert was a chief official of the Dutch East India Company in India.
B. Short Answer Questions: (Marks for each: 2)
1. Mention two features of Al-Biruni’s writings.
Ans: Al-Biruni recorded his account of India in Kitab-ul-Hind. Two features of his writings are:
(a) The book was written in Arabic in a simple and comprehensible style.
(b) The book is divided into 40 chapters and contains detailed descriptions of various aspects of eleventh-century India, such as culture, politics, religion, geography, philosophy, science and mathematics.
2. Who was Jean-Baptiste Tavernier? H. S. ’18
Ans: Jean-Baptiste Tavernier was a French gem merchant. He visited India six times in the early seventeenth century. His travel accounts provide descriptions of the social, political and commercial conditions of India. He also made comparative observations between India and the Ottoman Empire.
3. According to Bernier, what were the adverse effects of state ownership of land? H. S. ’19
Ans: According to Bernier, a major difference between Europe and Mughal India was that Indian subjects did not possess private property in land. He stated that the Mughal Emperor was the owner of all land and distributed it among the nobility. This system, in his view, had adverse effects on society and the economy. However, many historians argue that Bernier’s observation was not entirely accurate.
4. What is a Karkhana?
Ans: In the Mughal period, ‘Karkhana’ referred to workshops where artisans such as goldsmiths, painters, varnishers, carpenters, weavers, tailors and cobblers worked. Bernier mentioned Mughal Karkhanas in his writings.
5. What problems did medieval travellers face during their journeys?
Ans: The main problems were:
(a) They often faced thieves, robbers and bandits on the roads.
(b) They suffered from various diseases due to unfamiliar natural environments.
6. Who was Buchanan? How valuable are his notes in Indian history? H. S. ’15
Ans: Francis Buchanan-Hamilton was the personal physician of Governor General Lord Wellesley in India. He left detailed notes on India. Although his writings include personal observations, they are valuable for understanding the political conditions of that period from a historical perspective.
7. What is Metrology? Which traveller wrote about it?
Ans: Metrology is the science of measurement. Al-Biruni wrote about this subject.
8. Name two handicrafts dependent on women’s labour in sixteenth and seventeenth century India. H. S. ’19
Ans: Pottery-making and spinning yarn and weaving cloth.
9. Name two capital cities established by the Mughal Emperors.
Ans: Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.
10. Name any two Sufi saints of medieval India. H. S. ’20
Ans: Moinuddin Chishti and Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki.
11. Give two examples of artisans in rural India during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. H. S. ’20
Ans: Potters and carpenters.
12. According to Ibn Battuta, what were the two types of postal systems in India? H. S. ’20
Ans: The two types of postal systems in India, according to Ibn Battuta were:
(a) Horse-mounted postal system (Ulak) and
(b) Foot-runner postal system (Dawa).
13. Mention two reasons why zamindars initially failed to pay regular land revenue to the East India Company under the Permanent Settlement. H. S. ’20
Ans: Two reasons why zamindars initially failed to pay regular land revenue to the East India Company under the Permanent Settlement were:
(a) After the Permanent Settlement, the Company increased the revenue demand on zamindars.
(b) Due to frequent famines, zamindars could not collect rent from peasants on time.
14. What was ‘Damin-i-Koh’? How was it formed?
Ans: Damin-i-Koh was a region inhabited by the Santhals. The British employed the Santhals to clear forests and cut trees, and later settled them in the cleared areas. These settlements came to be known as Damin-i-Koh. No outsiders were allowed to interfere in that region, and it remained predominantly under Santhal control.
Historically, Damin-i-Koh was established in 1832 in the Rajmahal Hills(present-day Jharkhand) for the settlement of the Santhals.
C. Medium Answer Type Questions: (Marks for each – 4)
1. Describe what Ibn Battuta has mentioned about the Indian system of slavery.
Ans: The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta, in his travel account called‘Rihla’, described various aspects of fourteenth-century India such as its social, political, cultural and religious life, and he also presented a clear statement about the system of slavery prevailing in India. He wrote that slaveswere bought and sold in the markets. Sometimes slaves were also exchanged as gifts. Generally, slaves were employed in household work. The price offemale slaves used for domestic work was very low. Most wealthy families kept one or two slaves. The slave girls appointed in the service of the Sultan were skilled in dancing.
2. Discuss the kind of description Ibn Battuta gave about the city of Delhi in his notes. H. S. ’20
Ans: The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta, who visited India in the fourteenth century, in his travel narrative named ‘Rihla’, provided detailed descriptions of various aspects of India and also presented a realistic and eyewitness account of the city of Delhi. He wrote that the city of Delhi spread over a vast area. The city was surrounded by uneven but strong walls. The walls were about 11 feet thick. Inside the walls were the houses of gatekeepers and night watchmen. Within the fort there were storehouses of food, gunpowder, weapons and instruments used for attacking forts. Inside the fort, cavalry and infantry soldiers moved from one end of the city to the other. The walls had windows. The inner part
was illuminated through the open windows on the city side. The lower part of the walls was made of stone and the upper part of bricks. There were many domes nearby. There were 24 gates which were called ‘Darwaza’. The largest of these gates was known as ‘Buland Darwaza’. There was a grain market and a flower garden. There was also a beautiful graveyard in the city of Delhi. A circular structure was built over each grave. Various kinds of flowering plants were planted there, and flowers bloomed throughout the year.
3. What opinion did Bernier express about the practice of Sati?
Ans: The famous French physician François Bernier came to India in 1668during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In his travel account, he left valuable descriptions of the social, political, cultural and land systems of India of that time. In his writings, he also gave a vivid description of the practice of Sati prevailing in Hindu society. He wrote that when the husband of a Hindu woman died, she had to burn herself alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. Some widows were forced to commit self-immolation against their will. He once witnessed a very young woman being forcibly thrown into the funeral fire by her relatives.
4. What views did Bernier express about land ownership in India?H. S. ’19
Ans: The French traveller François Bernier visited the Mughal Empire in 1665 and travelled to different places in India. He wrote a valuable book titled‘Travels in the Mughal Empire’ in which he discussed the social, political and economic conditions of India. Comparing land ownership in India and Europe, Bernier expressed the view that a major difference between Europe and India was that Indian citizens did not possess private ownership of land. According to him, the Emperor was the sole owner of all land in the Mughal Empire and distributed it among the nobles. As a result, the economy was adversely affected. The common people suffered greatly. The nobles collected revenue from the peasants through oppression. However, many historians argue that Bernier’s comment was not entirely correct.
D. Essay Type Questions: (Marks for each – 6)
1. Give an account of the notes written on India by the French traveller François Bernier, who visited India in the seventeenth century.
Ans: The famous French physician François Bernier came to India in 1668 during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In his travel account, he provided valuable descriptions and comments on the social, political, cultural and land systems of India of that time. Bernier commented on Dara, the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, stating that Dara did not possess good qualities and found it difficult to trust people; as a result, he failed to obtain proper advice from worthy persons. RegardingShah Shuja, the second son of Shah Jahan, Bernier remarked that he had developed the habit of engaging in conspiracies against others. Commenting on Aurangzeb, he said that among the sons of Shah Jahan,
Aurangzeb was very intelligent, wise, and a skilled diplomat, though he was narrow-minded in religious matters. About Murad, the fourth son of Shah Jahan, Bernier stated that he was foolish and weak, but simple, gentle, and polite in nature. Bernier also commented on the land system of the Mughal period, stating that the citizens had no private ownership of land. The Emperor was the sole owner of all land and distributed it among the nobles, which adversely affected society and the economy. However, many historians believe that Bernier’s view was not completely accurate.
2. Describe what Ibn Battuta mentioned about the postal system of India.
Ans: The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta, in his travel account ‘Rihla’, described various social, political, and economic aspects of fourteenth-century India and also wrote an important note on the postal system of that time. He mentioned that two types of postal systems were prevalent in India—horse relay post and foot-runner post. In the horse relay system, a horse was kept at every four-mile interval. In the foot-runner system, three men were stationed at every mile. They were called ‘dawa’. At every one-third of a milethere was a rest house or tent where the runners stayed ready. Each of them carried a two-foot-long staff with a copper bell attached to it on their head. When a letter carrier began his journey, he held the letter in one hand and ran as fast as possible, ringing the bell with the other. On hearing the sound of the bell, the runner waiting at the next post prepared himself. As soon as the onerunner arrived, the other took the letter and ran towards the next runner. This process continued until the letter reached its destination. Ibn Battuta mentioned that this system was faster than the horse relay system. He also personally observed that sometimes fruits were brought from Khurasan through this system.
3. Who was Al-Biruni? What did he say about the caste system of India? H. S. ’20
Ans: Al-Biruni was a foreign traveller who came to India in the early eleventh century. He was born in 973 CE in present-day Uzbekistan. He accompanied the invaders during the campaigns of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni to India. He travelled to different parts of India and wrote a book describing the political, social, and religious systems of the country. In his account, he also wrote about the caste system prevailing in India at that time. From his description, it is known that the caste system was very prominent in Indian society. The Brahmins occupied a high position in society and enjoyed special privileges and honour. They received various royal favours and were exempted from all kinds of taxes. On the other hand, artisans, peasants, carpenters, and miners were considered lower castes. They had to bear the burden of various taxes and were not allowed to perform religious rituals. Social evils such as Sati and child marriage were also prevalent in society.
