W.B.C.S. EXAMINATION - 2013
Optional Paper
HISTORY - PAPER I
Time Allowed -3 Hours Full Marks-100
Group-A
Answer any three questions
1. Answer any three questions (word limit : 200-250 words):
(a) Explain the terms — Archaeology, Numismatics
(b) Write in brief about the antiquity of the Indus civilization.(c) Write a short note on the Rig Vedic Triabal assemblies.
(d) Write a short note on the extent of Asoka's empire.
(e) What do you know about the various types of Taxes (revenue resources) prevalent during the Gupta period ?
(f) Write a short note on Sankaracharya. 5 x 3
2. Answer any two questions (word limit: 700-800 words) :
(a) "Reconstruction of Early Indian Hisoty is hardly possible without the help of Inscriptions and coins." Discuss.
(b) What are the popular explanations of the decline of the Indus civilization ?
(c) What light do the vedic texts throw on the Gender relations during the vedic period ?
Or, Is it historically correct to say that the vedic age was a golden age for the Indian women ?
(d) How have the historing assessed and explained the nature and structure of the Maurya empire ? 10 x 2
3. Write an essay on any one of the following (word limit: 1500 words) :
(a) The stages of evolution of the Indus civilization and principal features of the Mature Harappan phase:
(b) Expansion of trade ativity and India's commercial contact with the outside world (C. 300 BCE-300 CE)
(c) The Age of the Gupta -a classical age in the sphere of cultural development. 20
Group-B
Answer any two questions
4. Answer any three questions (word limit: 200-250 words) :
(a) Determine the significance of the Arab conquest of Sind,
{b) Assess the contributions of Ziauddin Barani as historian,
(c) What do you know about Balban's theory of kingship ?
(d) What were the essential features of Akbar's Rajput policy ?
(e) How would you explain the consequences of the incursions of the invaders. Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdall.
(f) Write a short note on the Mansabdari system introduced by Akbar. 5 x 3
5. Answer any one questions (word limit: 700-800 words)
(a) Briefly examine the nature and structure of the political administration of Delhi Sultanate.
(b) Examine the impact of the Bhakti ideology on the religious thought in Medieval India (13th-16th centuries).
(c) Give acritical account of Sher Shah's adminstration. 10
6. Write an essay on any one of the following (word limit: 1500 words) :
(a) Interaction and assilation of the cultural traditions and growth of Indo-lslamic culture in Medieval India.
(b) Spiritual awakening of Akbar and development of his relligious ideas.
(c) The process of State Formation in India in the 17th-18th centuries-the emergence of regional states. 20
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