W.B.C.S. EXAMINATION-2011
Optional Paper
HISTORY - PAPER I
Time Allowed-3 Hours Full Marks -100
If the questions attempted are in excess of the prescribed number, only the questions attempted first up to the prescribed number shall be valued and the remaining ones ignored.
Answers may by written either in English or in Bengali but all answers must be in one and the same language. All questions carry equal marks.
Group-A
Answer any three questions
1. Assess the importance of archaeological sources for the study of ancient Indian History.
2. Give a brief but critical account of the principal aspects of the Harappan civilization. How is it different from and anterior to the culture of the Vedic' period ?
3. What were the different policies adopted by samudragupta to establish his supremacy over his contemporaries and how far was he successful ?
4. How far did the interaction between Hinduism and Islam affect Indian society and thought in medieval India ?
5. "The Din-l-llahi was a monument of Akbar's folly, not of his wisdom". (Smith) comment on this statement with reference to Akbar's motives behind this religious experiment.
6. Was the Partition of India in 1947 inevitable and unavoidable ?
Group-B
Answer any two questions
7. Was Maurya administration highly bureaucratic and centralized ?
8. How would you characterise Sher Shah an innovator or a reformer ?9. What is exactly the significance of the Hussain Shahi rule in the history of Bengal ?
10. "Vidyasagar had the genius and wisdonn of an ancient sage, the energy of an English-man and the heart of a Bengalee mother". —Justify Vidyaagar's nomenclature of "traditional moderniser" in the light of the statement and in the context of his various reform work.
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