Glimpses of the Past - Worksheets

CBSE WorkSheet 01
Glimpses of the Past
  1. Which regulation was passed in 1818 to oppress the Indians?
  2. Name the person who tried to reform the society.
  3. What did the British think about the Indians of the 18th century?
  4. Why had the Indians lost respect in the eyes of the British?
  5. How did Indians decide to fight collectively against the British?
  6. Who was Tipu Sultan? What happened to him?
  7. What did Raja Ram Mohan Roy tell the British when he went to England?
  8. The extract is given below and answers the following questions:(1x5 = 5)
    Being merchants, the British wanted quick profits,
    their heavy taxes forced farmers to abandon their
    fields.
    But your men are taking all my crop!
    You are still in arrears. If you don’t pay next week. I
    will send you to jail. Inevitably famines followed.
    Between 1822 and 1836 fifteen lakh Indians died of
    starvation.
    1. Why were the farmers unable to pay arrears?
    2. How did the British threaten the farmers?
    3. What characteristic trait of the British made them earn huge profits?
    4. How many Indians died during the years 1822 and 1836?
      1. Ten thousand
      2. Fifteen lakh
      3. Fifty thousand
      4. Forty lakh
    5. What was the reason behind all these deaths?
      1. Floods
      2. Famines
      3. Earthquake
      4. Volcanic eruptions
CBSE WorkSheet 01
Glimpses of the Past
Solution
  1. According to this regulation, an Indian could be jailed without trial.
  2. The person who tried to reform the society was Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
  3. The British said that the natives were unworthy of trust. They called them dishonest.
  4. The Indians lost their respect before the British as the Indians were incapable of honesty and this the British realized very soon. They also understood that the natives were only keen to fight with other natives and so the British took advantage of this drawback too. 
  5. The British exploited Indian handicrafts. They also adopted all the mean and foul tactics to take over the princely states. They forced Indians to adopt the Christian religion. They employed Indians only for clerical jobs and paid them very low wages. Hence, all the sections of the society and also the Indian soldiers were displeased with them. So Indians decided to fight collectively against the British.
  6. Tipu Sultan was a far-sighted and brave ruler of Mysore. He was dead against the British and their policies. He fought them till his death.
  7. Raja Ram Mohan Roy told the British that Indians accepted them as rulers. He asked them to accept Indians as subjects. While doing so, he asked them to remember the responsibilities a ruler owes to his subjects.
    1. The entire crop of farmers was being taken away by the British thus they were not able to pay the arrears. Furthermore, the famines destroyed the crop, so the farmers had no profits but losses and no income.
    2. The Indian farmers were threatened by the threat of being put into jail, if they did not pay the arrears to the British.
    3. The British were merchants. Hence, they were good at earning profits by focussing on the dynamics of the market.
    4. Fifteen lakh Indians died during the said period.
    5. Famines was the main cause of deaths.