Class VIII ( History : Chapter - 1) How, When and Where

 Question 1:

State whether true or False

(i) James Mil divided history on the basis of religion of the rulers of the times. so, he divided indian history into three periods: Hindu, Muslim, British.   (FALSE)

(ii) Official documents tell us only about what officials thought, what they were interested in and what they wished to preserve for posterity  (TRUE)

(iii) The British Believed that a country had to be properly known before it could be effectively administered.  (TRUE)   

 Question 2:

Q.(i) What is the problems with the periodization of Indian History that James Mill offers ?

Ans. James Mill divided history on the basis of the religion of the rulers of the times

This periodization ignores the Social, Political and Economic Changes From one era to another . one Cannot refer to any era as the era of any particular religion.

The  main Problem with the Periodization is that mill only looked from the point of the rulers, not From the point of view of native  Indian.

Q.(ii) Why Did the British preserve official documents ?

Ans. The British preserved official documents due to the Following reasons :

1 They liked to have a permanent record of every instruction, Plan, Policy, agreement etc

2. They  believed that things Could be properly Studied and debated once we had Such records.

3. This documentation process provides an administrative culture of memos, nothing and reports

4. The preserved documents Could be used as a point of reference whenever required.

Question 4 : How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports ?

Newspaper reports have nearly always been edited and often only provide an outline of the events. Note that though old newspapers can be useful, they are not generally regarded as reliable Sources. However, the information from old newspapers tells us about the feeling and actions of  other (comman) people of the country. However, still, we cannot completely trust on the reports printed in the newspaper as it may be biased by the view which is presented by the presenter.

On the other hand, one would expect police reports to be more detailed, but the information in police reports tells us only about what officials thought, what they were interested in and what they wished to preserve for posterity.