H6/NCERT SOLUTION/Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation

Question 1 Why did William Jones feel the need to study Indian history, philosophy and law?
Answer:

• William Jones came to represent a particular attitude towards India. He shared a deep
respect for ancient cultures, both of India and of the West.

• Jones and Colebrooke felt that India had attained its glory in the ancient past. It declined later
on. In order to understand India, it was necessary to discover the sacred and legal texts
produced in the past.

• These texts would reveal the ideas and laws of Hindus and Muslims and would form the basis
of future development.

• Jones and Colebrooke believed that their project would help the British learn from Indian
culture. Indians would also rediscover their own heritage. In this way the British would
become guardians and masters of Indian culture.

Question 2. Why did James Mill and Thomas Macaulay think that European education was essential in
India?
Answer:

• James Mill was the strongest critic of the Orientalists.

• He declared that the British should not teach what the natives wanted, or what they
respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”.

• The £pm of education should be to teach what was useful and practical.

• Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had
made, and not the sacred literature of the Orient.

• Macaulay urged the British government in India to stop wasting public money in promoting
Oriental learning, for it had no practical use.

• He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the
world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and
philosophy.

• The teaching of English could thus be a way of civilizing people, changing their tastes, values,
and culture.

Question 3. Why did Mahatma Gandhi want to teach children handicrafts?

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi wanted to teach children handicraft because of the following reasons:

• People would work with their hands.

• The craft would develop their minds.

• It would also develop their capacities to understand.

Question 4. Why did Mahatma Gandhi think that English education had enslaved Indians?
Answer:
1. According to Mahatma Gandhi, colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds
of Indians. He said it made them see Western civilisation as superior which destroyed the
pride they had in their own culture.
He said: It was sinful—it enslaved Indians—it cast an evil spell on them.

2. Charmed by the West, appreciating everything that came from the West, Indians educated in
these institutions admired British rule.

3. Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity
and self-respect.

4. Mahatma Gandhi -strongly was in favour of Indian languages to be the medium of teaching.

5. Education in English crippled Indians and distanced them from their own social surroundings.
This made them “straneers in their own lands”. Speaking a foreign tongue (language)
despised local culture.

6. Mahatma Gandhi further said that western education focused on reading and writing rather
than oral knowledge;

i) It valued textbooks rather than life experience and practical knowledge.

ii) He said education should develop a person’s mind and soul.
7. Literacy or simply learning to read and write—by itself did not count as education.
8. People had to work with their hands and learn a craft. They should know how different things
operated.

EXTRA QUESTIONS

Question 5. Why was Calcutta Madrasa set up?

Answer: Calcutta Madrasa was set up to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and
Islamic law.
Question 6. Why was the Hindu College established in Benaras?
Answer: The Hindu College was established in Benaras to encourage the study of
ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the. administration of the country.

Question 7. Name two individuals who sharply attacked the Orientalists.

Answer:James Mill and Thomas Babington Macaulay.
Question 8. What did Thomas Macaulay urge the British government in India?
Answer: Thomas Macaulay urged the British government in India to stop wasting
public money in promoting Oriental learning for it was of no practical use.

Question 9. What task was assigned to the pandit by the Company?

Answer:The Company assigned the pandit to visit the pathshalas and try to improve
the standard of teaching.

Question 10. Name two Indians who reacted against Western education.
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
 Question 11. Why did many Company officials in India want to promote Indian rather
than Western learning?
Answer: Many Company officials felt that institutions should be set up to encourage
the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry.
These officials were of the opinion that Hindus and Muslims ought to be taught what
they were already familiar with and what they valued and preserved, not subjects that
were alien to them. They believed that only by doing this the British could win the
hearts of the Indians, only then they could expect to be respected by their subjects.
Question 12. What were the views of other Company officials?
Answer:Other Company officials did not approve the ideas of the Orientalists. They
began to criticise the Orientalist- vision of learning. They saved that the knowledge of
the East was full of errors and unscientific thought. They saw Eastern literature as
non-serious and light-hearted. So, they argued that it was wrong on the part of the
British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit
language and literature.
Question 13. What measures were taken by the English Education Act of 1835?
Answer: The following measures were taken under the English Education Act 1835:
1. English was made the medium of instruction for higher education.
2. Promotion of Oriental institutiohs like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Sanskrit
College was stopped. These institutions were seen as temples of darkness that were
falling of themselves into decay.
3. English textbooks began to be produced for schools.
Question 14. What measures were taken by the British after issuing of Wood’s
Despatch?
Answer:
Following measures were taken:
1. Education departments of the government were set up to extend control over all
matters regarding education.
2. A system of universities education was introduced. Universities were established in
Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
3. Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school
education.
H7/NCERT SOLUTION/ Women, Caste and Reform

1. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws?
Answer: The reformers tried to convince people that widow burning, caste
distinctions, child marriage, etc had no sanction in ancient texts. Their knowledge of
ancient texts gave them immense confidence and moral support which they utilised in
promoting new laws. They did not get feared when people raised voice against the
reforms they had brought.
2. What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school?
Answer: Vidyasagar in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and many other reformers in Bombay.
(now Mumbai) set up schools for girls.
(i) When the first schools were opened in the mid-nineteenth century, many
people were afraid of them.
(ii) They feared that schools would take girls away from home.
(iii) They would prevent them from doing their domestic duties.
(iv) Girls had to travel through public places in order to reach school. This would
have a corrupting influence on them.
(v) GMs should stay away from public spaces.
3. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would
some people have supported them too? If so, for what reasons?
Answer: Christian Missionaries were attacked in the country by many people because
they suspected that they were involved in forced conversion and conversion using
money power of poor and tribal people from Hinduism to Christianity. If some people
supported them, that was because they felt this might improve the economic
condition and education of the poor and tribals.
4. In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people who came from
castes that were regarded as “low”?
Answer: With the expansion of cities, new demands of labour created. Drains had to
be dug, roads laid, buildings constructed and cities cleaned. This required coolies,
diggers, carriers, bricklayers, sweepers, rickshaw pullers, etc. This labour came from
people who belonged to the “low” caste. They left their villages and small towns and
shifted to the cities to get work. Some went to work in plantations in Assam,
Mauritius, Trinidad, and Indonesia. Although it was not easy to work in the new
locations, poor people saw this an opportunity to get away from the exploitations of
the upper-caste.
5. How did Jyotirao, the reformer, justify their criticism of caste inequality in society?
Answer:
(i) Jyotirao Phule, born in 1827, was the most vocal amongst the “Low-caste”
leaders.
(ii) He attacked the Brahmans’ claim of their superiority to others. He argued the
Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent.
(iii) They defeated and subjugated the true children of the country and looked at
the defeated population as inferior.
 (iv) According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power. In
reality, the land belonged to the so-called low castes.
(v) Phule opined that there existed a golden age when warrior-peasants tilled the
land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fairways.
(vi) He proposed that the Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras
(untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination.
(vii) The Satyashodhak Samaj association founded by Phule propagated caste
equality.

5. Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American movement to free slaves?
Answer: Jyotirao Phule wrote a book in 1873. He named the book 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. He did this in order to establish a link between the conditions of the lower castes
in India and the black slaves in America.
6. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement?
Answer: Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family. In childhood, he experienced
various forms of caste prejudices in his everyday life.
(i) Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935.
(ii) His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.

7. Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswami Naicker critical of the national movement?
Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way?
Answer:
(i) Both Jyoti Rao Phule and Naicker were critical of national movement in their
own times.
(ii) Jyoti Rao Phule was critical of nationalism preached by upper castes. He wrote
that they give advice to Shudra, Muslim and Parsi youth to forget their
differences and come together for progress of nation, later it will be “Me here
and you over there” all over again.
(iii) E V Ramaswamy Naicker became member of Congress. But left it in disgust
when he found out that at a feast, organised by nationalists, seating
arrangement was based on caste distinctions.
(iv) Their assertions, forceful speeches and writings did lead to rethink and self-
criticism among the upper caste nationalist leaders.
 EXTRA QUESTIONS

8. How did reformers bring changes in society?

Answer: They brought changes in society by persuading people to give up old
practices and adopt a new way of life.
9. Who published the book named Stripurushtulna? What is it about?
Answer: Tarabai Shinde published Stripuru-shtulna. It is about the social differences
between men and women.
10. Give an account of the movement that spread in different parts of the country in
favour of widow remarriage. Did the movement get success?
Answer: The movement in favour of widow remarriage spread in different parts of the
country by the second half of the 19th century. Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an
association for widow remarriage in the Telugu- speaking areas of the Madras
Presidency. Around the same time young intellectuals and reformers in Bombay
pledged themselves to work for the same cause.

In the north the founder of the Arya Samaj Swami Dayanand Saraswati also supported
widow remarriage. However, the movement did not get much success. The number of
widows who actually remarried remained low. Those who remarried were not easily
accepted in the society. The conservative people never approved the new law.
H8/NCERT SOLUTION/The Making of the National Movement 1870s-1947

Ques 1. Why were people dissatisfied with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s?

Ans. People were dissatisfied with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s due to the following reasons.

i) The British passed the Arms Act in 1878 which disallowed Indians from possessing arms.

ii) In the same year they passed the Vernacular Press Act. This Act snatched the freedom of the
speech and expression. It allowed the government to confiscates the assets of newspapers including
their printing presses if the newspapers published anything that was objectionable to the
government.

iii) In 1833, the Illbert Bill was introduced. The bill provided for the trial of British or European persons
by Indians and sought equality between British and Indian judges in the country. But the white
opposition forced the government to withdraw the bill.

Ques 2. Who did the Indian National Congress wish to speak for?

Ans. i) The need for an all-Indian organisation of educated Indians had been felt since 1880.

ii) The Ilbert Bill controversy deepened this desire.

iii) A retired British official, A.O. Hume, also played a role in bringing Indians from the various regions
together.

iv) The Indian National Congress wished to speak for the entire people belonging to different
communities of India.

Ques 3. What economic impact did the First World War have on India?

Ans. i) World War I altered the economic and political situation in India.

ii) Defence expenditure of the Government of India rose manifold. As a consequence taxes on
individual incomes and business profits increased several times.

iii) Increased military expenditure and demands for war supplies, resulted in sharp rise in prices,
causing great difficulties for the common people.

iv) Business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war.

a) The war created a demand for industrial goods (jute, bags, cloth, rails) and caused a decline of
imports from other countries into India.

b) Indian industries expanded during the war. Indian business groups began to demand greater
opportunities for development.

Ques 4. What did the Muslim League resolution of 1940 ask for?

Ans. i) The Muslim League resolution of 1940 asked for ‘Independent States’ for Muslims in the north-
western and eastern areas of the country.

ii) The resolution did not mention partition or the name Pakistan.
iii) From the late 1930s, the League began viewing the Muslims as a separate nation from the Hindus.

iv) It also feared that Muslims may even go unrepresented.

v) The Congress rejection of League desire to form a joint Congress League government in the United
Provinces in 1937 also made the League angry.

Ques 5. Who were the Moderates? How did they propose to struggle against British rule?

Ans. i) The moderates were against taking extreme actions. They had deep faith in the good intention
of the government. They were of the opinion that slowly and steadily they would make the British go
to their own land.

ii) The moderate leaders developed public awareness about the unjust nature of British rule. They
published newspapers, wrote articles and showed how British rule was leading to the economic ruin
of the country to mobilise public opinion.

iii) They believed that the British had respect for the ideals of freedom and justice and therefore they
would definitely accept all the demands of the people of India.

iv) Their main task was to acknowledge the British government with these demands.

Ques 6. How was the politics of the Radicals within the Congress different from that of the
Moderates?

Ans. By the 1890s a large number of Indians began to raise question on the

political style of the Congress.

i) In the Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala
Lajpat Rai began to explore more radical objectives and methods.

ii) They criticised the moderates for their “politics of prayers”.

iii) They emphasised the importance of self-reliance and constructive work.

iv) They argued that people must rely on their own strength, not on the “good” intentions of the
government.

v) They also opened that people must fight for swaraj.

vi) Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it”.

Ques 7. Discuss the various forms that the Non-Cooperation Movement took in different parts of
India. How did the people understand Gandhiji?

Ans. Non-cooperation movement took place in different parts of India and in various forms. In many
cases, people resisted British rule non-violently, and in either case people linked their movements to
local grievances. People also took Gandhiji in different way and linked their movements to local
grievances.

i) In Kheda of Gujarat, Patidar Peasants organised non-violent campaigns against the high land
revenue demand of the British.

ii) In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed.
iii) In Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a number of “forest
Satyagrahas”. Believing about Gandhiji that Gandhiji would get their taxes reduced and have the
forest regulations abolished.

iv) In many forests, peasants proclaimed swaraj and believed that “Gandhi Raj” was about to be
established.

v) In Sind, Muslims traders and peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat call.

vi) The Khilafat – Non – cooperation alliance gave enormous communal unity and strength to the
national movement in Bengal too.

vii) In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikh sought to remove corrupt mahants supported by the
British from their gurudwaras. The movement got closely associated with Non-Cooperation
movement. All the above incidents show how people thought about Gandhiji. They took Gandhiji at
their Messiah as someone who could help them overcome their misery and poverty.

Ques 8. Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?

Ans. i) In 1930, Gandhiji led a march to break the salt law.

ii) According to this law, the state had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt.

iii) Mahatma Gandhi along with other nationalists reasoned that it was sinful to tax salt since it is such
an essential item of our food.

iv) The Salt march related the general desire of freedom to a specific grievance share by everybody.
Hence it did not divide the rich and the poor.

v) Gandhiji and his followers marched for over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi.

vi) Here they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore. They also
boiled sea water to produce salt.

Ques 9. Discuss those developments of the 1937-47 period that led to the creation of Pakistan.

Ans. The Congress failure to mobilise the muslim masses in the 1930s allowed the League to widen its
social support.

i) It sought to enlarge it support in the early 1940s when most congress leaders were in jail.

ii) At the end of the World War II in 1945, the British opened negotiations between the congress, the
League and themselves for the independence of India.

iii) The congress failed to accept this claim since a large number of Muslims still supported it.

iv) In march 1946 the British cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine this demand
and to suggested a suitable political framework for a free India.

v) But it could not get the Congress and the Muslim League to agree to specific details of the
proposal.

vi) Partition now became more or less inevitable.

vii) After the failure of the Cabinet mission, the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning
its Pakistan demand.
viii) It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”.

ix) Thousands of people were killed and numerous women had to face untold brutalities during the
partition.

x) So, the joy of our country’s independence from British rule came mixed with the pain and violence
of partition.