Timeline and Sources of History — Mastery

Q1. The chapter opens with E.H. Carr's words that history is 'an unending dialogue between the present and the past'. Which conclusion best fits this quote?

• A. The past is irrelevant to present society
• B. We can fully understand the present only in the light of the past
• C. Only the future matters to historians
• D. History should record only kings

Q2. The chapter's cover image is the National Museum, New Delhi. Why are such museums important to the study of history?

• A. They sell ancient objects to collectors
• B. They preserve objects from the past — such as statues, coins and ornaments — that help us understand our history
• C. They predict future events
• D. They print the Gregorian calendar

Q3. A student claims, 'Since humans are the most important species, human history must cover most of Earth's history.' Using the chapter, this claim is

• A. correct, because humans have always existed
• B. incorrect, because human history is only a tiny, most recent part of the Earth's very long history
• C. correct, because Earth is only 3,00,000 years old
• D. impossible to judge from the chapter

Q4. Using the chapter's convention, the year India gained independence can correctly be written as

• A. 1947 BCE
• B. 1947 CE (or 1947 AD)
• C. 1947 BC
• D. 1947 before Common Era

Q5. Although the Gregorian calendar is common worldwide, the chapter notes that Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Chinese calendars are also used mainly for

• A. calculating the dates of festivals and other auspicious events
• B. counting leap years
• C. writing inscriptions
• D. measuring distances

Q6. In the chapter, the word 'auspicious' is explained as something that is

• A. very old and damaged
• B. favourable or bringing luck, as in 'an auspicious beginning'
• C. written on copper plates
• D. found only in museums

Q7. The chapter shows that only 3 years pass between 2 BCE and 2 CE. This is because

• A. there are extra leap years in between
• B. there is no year zero, so we add 2 + 2 and subtract 1
• C. BCE years are counted forward
• D. 2 CE actually comes before 2 BCE

Q8. In the chapter, an 'era' is defined as

• A. a distinct period of time
• B. a single calendar year
• C. a kind of fossil
• D. a list of festivals

Q9. King Chandragupta was born in 320 CE. To which century CE did he belong?

• A. 3rd century CE
• B. 4th century CE
• C. 5th century CE
• D. 2nd century CE

Q10. Rani of Jhansi was born in 1828 CE. Using the chapter's rule, which century did she belong to?

• A. 18th century CE
• B. 19th century CE
• C. 20th century CE
• D. 17th century CE

Q11. Fig. 4.1 shows a timeline of life on Earth using three colour bands. What do these bands measure?

• A. Days, weeks and months
• B. Billion years ago, million years ago, and years ago
• C. Centuries, millenniums and eras
• D. Distances on a map

Q12. On Fig. 4.3, near 8000 BCE the timeline marks the first settlements and beginning of

• A. copper metallurgy
• B. agriculture
• C. the Gregorian calendar
• D. iron tools

Q13. Which of these events shown on Fig. 4.3 is placed before the birth of the Buddha?

• A. Reign of Ashoka
• B. The Indus-Sarasvati civilisation
• C. The year 2000 CE
• D. The birth of Jesus

Q14. According to Fig. 4.3, where does the timeline locate the world's first cities?

• A. Mesopotamia
• B. Delhi
• C. Pataliputra
• D. Ujjayini

Q15. On Fig. 4.3, the label 'Pottery technology in Indian Subcontinent' is placed in the range of roughly

• A. the BCE millenniums (a few thousand years before the Buddha)
• B. 2000 CE
• C. the Ice Age, before 12,000 BCE
• D. 1 CE

Q16. In Fig. 4.4, which two items branch out as examples of 'Oral Sources'?

• A. Coins and copper plates
• B. Genealogical accounts and folklore
• C. Monuments and mounds
• D. Travelogues and chronicles

Q17. In Fig. 4.4, paintings, sculptures and panels are listed as examples of which source type?

• A. Artistic Sources
• B. Inscriptions
• C. Oral Sources
• D. Foreign Accounts

Q18. In Fig. 4.4, the Vedas and Itihasas, poems and plays, and collections of stories are grouped chiefly under

• A. Indian Literature (literary sources)
• B. Archaeological Sources
• C. Oral Sources
• D. Foreign Accounts

Q19. The chapter asks students to build a family tree of three generations and note the 'source of information' for each. This activity mainly teaches that

• A. only kings have a history
• B. ordinary families also have a past that we reconstruct from sources like photos, diaries and memories
• C. history needs no sources
• D. all family information comes from inscriptions

Q20. Over the last 50 years or so, which kinds of scientific studies have increasingly supplemented the usual sources of history?

• A. Studies of ancient climates, chemical studies of excavated materials, and genetics of ancient people
• B. Studies of future weather forecasts
• C. Studies of modern sports records
• D. Studies of computer programming

Q21. An activity asks: 'Can we compare historians to detectives?' Which answer best fits the chapter's view of how historians work?

• A. No, because historians never use clues
• B. Yes, because both gather clues from many sources, check whether they match, and decide which to trust
• C. No, because detectives only study the future
• D. Yes, because both always rely on a single source

Q22. Who, according to the chapter, contributes to the sources of history?

• A. Only historians, working entirely alone
• B. Historians along with archaeologists, epigraphists, anthropologists, language experts and scientists
• C. Only kings and their courts
• D. Only newspaper reporters

Q23. Why did early humans live in bands or groups, according to the chapter?

• A. To collect taxes from one another
• B. To help each other while facing many challenges from nature
• C. To build large temples together
• D. To trade coins

Q24. Which statement about early human groups is supported by the chapter?

• A. They used a single global written language
• B. They communicated using languages that are now lost, used fire, and made improved tools
• C. They never used fire
• D. They wrote on copper plates

Q25. Over time, early humans learned to make simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads and pendants made of animal teeth, which they sometimes

• A. buried with grain
• B. exchanged with other groups
• C. sold for coins
• D. melted into metal

Q26. The chapter suggests early humans had beliefs about natural elements and possibly some notion of 'afterlife', which means

• A. a life that begins after death
• B. the daily routine of hunting
• C. a kind of stone tool
• D. the warm season after the Ice Age

Q27. As communities grew more complex, who became responsible for the well-being of the people?

• A. Foreign travellers
• B. Leaders or 'chieftains'
• C. Palaeontologists
• D. Each child individually

Q28. In the chapter, the word 'welfare' is defined as

• A. health, prosperity and well-being
• B. a small settlement
• C. a written record
• D. a period of one thousand years

Q29. The chapter says this stage of growing villages, trade and new technologies 'prepared for' what, to be studied in Chapter 6?

• A. the emergence of 'civilisation'
• B. the end of the Ice Age
• C. the birth of the Buddha
• D. the invention of the Gregorian calendar

Q30. A student says river banks were chosen for settlement 'only because of water'. Using the chapter, the best correction is

• A. Water was not a factor at all
• B. Water mattered, but the more fertile soil there was also a key reason that made growing crops easier
• C. Only fertile soil mattered, not water
• D. They settled there to avoid farming