Prasanna

You can Download Structural Change Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 1 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 1 Structural Change

Structural Change Questions and Answers

Question 1.
When did the tea industry begin in India?
a) 1850
b) 1851
c) 1880
d) 1881
Answer:
1851

Question 2.
Who was the Chairman of the National Planning Committee formed in 1939?
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) K.T. Shah
c) M.N. Roy
d) Rajendra Prasad
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehru

Question 3.
………. means a specific region, where people live in unity and ruled by a sovereign government.
Answer:
Nation-State

Question 4.
Production of goods with the help of machinery run by steam or electricity is called ………..
Answer:
Industrialization

Question 5.
In 1938 the Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee with ………. as its chairman.
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehm

Question 6.
………… said that when villages and cities have mutual contacts, Indian villages will be subject to urbanization.
Answer:
M.S.A. Rao

Question 7.
The knowledge of ………. opened a way for Indians to the global market.
Answer:
English

Question 8.
In 1690 an English merchant named ……… made arrangements to take three Indian villages on lease. 1690 …………
Answer:
jobChamock

Question 9.
In 1698, the British built ………. for defence.
Answer:
Fort William

Question 10.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 11.
What are the features of capitalism?
Answer:
Capitalism is an economic system in which means of production like factory, land, etc. are in the hands of private individuals. Capitalist production of goods is aimed at the market, its aim is profit. “Profit, maximum profit” is the slogan of capitalism. Capitalism has the capacity and energy to grow and spread. These are the tendencies that capitalism showed even at the beginning. To get maximum profit, capitalism modernized production, using technology and labour.

Question 12.
Explain the relation between colonialism and nationalism.
Answer:
They are contradictory concepts. Democratic rights are anti-colonial. Colonial rule is foreign rule. Nationalism shows the freedom of the people and their sovereignty. Our leaders knew this paradox. They declared that freedom is our birthright. They fought for our political and economic freedom.

Question 13.
What is colonialism?
Answer:
Colonialism is the rule imposed by one country on another. Here, colonialism is considered a foreign rule. But actually foreign rule is only a part of colonialism. Colonialism is, in fact, a structure and a system. It is a robbery organized by the capitalist countries to exploit other countries.

Question 14.
Describe how the industrialization process in Britain affected India during the colonial rule.
Answer:
As a matter of fact, British industrialization proved to be destructive to India. It led to the ruin of Indian industries. The urban centres in India were also destroyed. The machine-made goods from England • flooded our markets and our goods could not compete with the cheap goods from England. Slowly the traditional industries in India were ruined. The conquest of the Native States by Britain also affected our industries adversely. Industries that produced top quality goods for the kings and queens and nobles and the rich were closed down. The workshops attached to the palaces also stopped working. Thus there was over-all ruin of Indian industries during the colonial rule.

Question 15.
Compare the industrialization and urbanization of England with India.
Answer:
Sociologists have often discussed the paradoxes in colonialism. They have compared the growth of Western industries and the prosperous Middle Class with the experiences in India. These studies show that industrialization is not merely producing goods using machines. It also includes the rise of new social classes and their interrelationships. Industrialization in India brought many changes in the Indian society and the studies discuss them.

Question 16.
Discuss the role played by independent India in encouraging industrialization.
Answer:
Independent India did a lot to boost industrialization. Even during the freedom struggle, our national leaders were aware of the need for industrializing India. India was exploited by the colonial rulers. The leaders believed that pre-colonial India was rich and prosperous and it was the colonial rule that made India poor and backward. They thought they could build a strong economic base by reviving the old industries.

The Swadeshi Movement, which was a result of the Division of Bengal, exhorted people to boycott British goods and use swadeshi goods. This boosted our industrialization. This tradition was taken up by the government of India, after freedom. People were made aware that only industrialization^pould lift them from the pit of poverty into which they had fallen during the colonial rule.

Leaders understood that only the development of heavy industries, machine manufactured goods, growth of the public sector and the co-operative sector, could bring about industrialization in the country. Nehru said that a modern and prosperous India must be built on giant steel factories, huge dams and power stations. Leaders like Nehru also gave importance to industrialization, it was given priority in the Five Year Plans.

Question 17.
Describe the urbanization process in independent India
Answer:
First of all, we see that people from villages are migrating into towns and cities seeking employment. They leave their family members behind in the villages and stay in cities. Most of these people, nearly 75%, who work in the cities, send money to their relatives in the villages. They also visit their kith and kin 4 or 5 times a year. A good number of people have also migrated to foreign cities. For example, many people from Gujarati villages have gone to cities in Africa and Britain. They build beautiful homes in their villages and invest their money in land and industry. They have also founded educational institutions and other Trusts. Secondly, in the villages close to the industrial cities, there is another kind of influence from urbanization.

For example, when a township like Bhilai was established in the middle of many villages, some villages were completely wiped out. Land belonging to many other villages was also taken by making the people vacate the* homes. To those lands, people from other places migrated. This increased the demand for houses. There developed a market. There were also problems of clash between the locals and those who came from faraway places.
Thirdly, some villages located around the cities were absorbed into the cities making them part of the metropolitan or megacities. Entire lands, which were used for cultivation and grazing, were now used for city development.

Question 18.
Discuss the differences in colonization before the capitalist system and during the capitalist system.
Answer:
Sonne foreigners came to India, looted its wealth and resources and went back to their countries. They attacked and established their authority here before the start of the capitalist system. Britain and some other colonial powers came to India during the capitalist time. There were big differences between the colonization before capitalism and after it. those came to India before capitalism just to loot her wealth. They also took tributes from Indian rulers. They did not interfere with the Indian economic system. They went back to their homes after looting India and collecting tributes. Many of those who attacked India later became Indians, like the Mughals. They also lost their foreign traits.

Question 19.
Write a note on the National Planning Committee.
Answer:
1939, the Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee. Its chairman was Jawaharlal Nehru and its General Secretary was K.T. Shaw. Although the Committee started working in 1939 itself, Nehru was arrested by the British. In the meantime, the Second World War started. In spite of all these setbacks, the Committee went ahead with its work. There were 27 sub-committees which were grouped into 8. The Committee gave importance to the following areas:
a) Agriculture
b) Industry
c) Profession and Population
d) Exchange and Finance
e) Transport and Communication
f) Health and Housing
g) Education
h) The role of women in the planned economic system. The Committee made a plan for the comprehensive development of India. Even before India had got its independence, many of the subcommittees submitted ad-hoc reports or their final reports. During the 1948 – 49 period, all these reports were published. In March 1950, the government appointed a Planning Commission. Its Chairman was Nehru. It is this Commission that prepared the Five Year Plan.

Question 20.
Describe the beginning of industrialization in India.
Answer:
Industrialization started in India with the establishment of plantation industry. Indigo, tea and coffee were the main plantation industries. Tea plantations were developed mainly in Assam, Bengal, South India and Himachal Pradesh. Government gave all kinds of help to the British plantation owners. It even collaborated with the owners to hire labourers and to force them to work. The owners used all kinds of unjust means to make the workers do maximum work for their own profits. Democratic laws of human values did not mean anything to these profit-motivated British.

Tea industry in India dates back to 1851. Most of the tea plantations were in Assam. At the beginning of the 20th century, some 6 lakh labourers worked in these plantations. Since the population of Assam was small, labourers from other provinces were brought. They were promised high wages by agents because it was risky to work in plantations due to different kinds of diseases including malaria. But owners were not ready to give high wages. They tried cheating and forced to get labourers into their plantations. To help the owners, government also passed some penal laws.

You can Download Suggestions for Project Work Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 7 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 7 Suggestions for Project Work

Suggestions for Project Work Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What is Research?
Answer:
Research is a search. Through research, the boundaries of knowledge are expanded. There are some differences between what we read about research and the actual research. Research is something that do after entering a field. First, we choose a problem or a question. To get the answer we go into the field.

Question 2.
What do you understand by the research method?
Answer:
A most important factor in research is choosing an appropriate method for it. Once the problem or question is selected, the next step is deciding the research method.
There are different research methods. They include interviews, observations, surveys and so, son. Sometimes it is possible that the answer to the research problem may not be found by following just one method. In that case, researchers may have to use more than one research method.

When choosing a research method, some factors need special consideration. These factors include technical criteria to practical considerations. Technical criterion means the relation between the questions and the style. Practical consideration includes the time available for the research, the availability of documents and records, the circumstances at the places where research is to be done and so on.

Question 3.
What are the three methods of data collection?
Answer:
The first method interviews. By conducting interviews with different students in different schools you can collect data. You can ask for their honest opinions. You can compare the answers of one group of students with another group from another school. The second method is observation. You can use this method for research. For this you may have to spend time in different kinds of schools, schools for boys, schools for girls and co-education schools: You should then observe how students behave in these different places. By making close observations, you may be able to get the answer to your research problem.

The third method is survey, For this a questionnaire is prepared. The questionnaire should be made in such a way that students should be able to give their franks opinions about their schools. After that, an equal number of the questionnaire should be distributed to each kind of school. After getting them filled, collect them and analyze the answers.

Question 4.
What are the difficulties faced in a research?
Answer:
Researchers may find certain practical difficulties. Imagine that you are doing a survey as part of the research. First of all, you have to get enough copies of the questionnaire. For this you need money, time and efforts. To distribute the questionnaire among the students you will need permission from their teachers. The first time, you may be denied permission. You may be asked to come back at a later date.

Even if you distribute copies of the questionnaire, many students may not fill them and return them. Sometimes they may leave some questions unanswered. Then you will have to decide how to solve.the problem. Or you may take only those copies which are fully answered, and reject those which are only partly answered. You should be able to face any problem that might come up during your research work.

Question 5.
Describe the features of survey method.
Answer:
Survey is the method of collecting information directly from people by making answer a questionnaire you have prepared. Depending on the subject, the number of persons included in the survey could be small or big. After preparing the questionnaire, there are two ways of getting answers. One is reading the questions to the respondent and getting immediate answers. The other is distributing copies of the questionnaire and collecting them later with answers. There are advantages and disadvantages to the survey method.

The biggest advantage is that you can include many people in the survey. Since there are many respondents representing different groups of people, the researcher may get comprehensive answers, One disadvantage of this method is that you can’t make changes in the questionnaire once it is prepared and copies taken, if the questions are understood in a wrong way by the respondent, it will reflect in the answers. If the respondent gives an interesting answer, the researcher can’t ask more questions to get more things from him. Questionnaires are like photographs taken and they can’t be changed at will.

Question 6.
Describe the interview method.
Answer:
Interview is quite different from survey. In survey, information is collected from different people answering the same type of questions. But in
interview, information comes from individuals. In survey there are many people, interview is limited to a few.

Interviews can be structured (planned) or (unstructured) unplanned. When questions are ready-made, the interview will be structured. But when questions are developed on the spot, depending on the answers of the respondent, it will be called unstructured.

Interviews can be intense. The researcher may have to spend a lot of time with the interviewee. Sometimes a person may have to be interviewed more than once.
Interview is an old method of research. In this, researcher can renew the questions, alter them and include new questions. He can forward by correcting, altering and adding. But the problem here is that only a few people can be interviewed. Only opinions of a few selected people can be obtained. This is the major defect of interview method.

Question 7.
Explain the Observation method,
Answer:
Observation involves orderly observation and precise recording. Here the researcher observes what happens in the circumstances which are related to the chosen subject. This may look an easy method. But practically it is not so. The researcher should be able to decide among the things he observes, without prejudice, what is relevant to the research and what is irrelevant.

Sometimes it is possible that things that did not happen might be more interesting and important than the things actually observed. Imagine your research topic is “How are people belonging to different classes making use of certain public places.” The poor or middle-class people may have never come to these public places: For example how many people might have stayed in “The Gateway Hotel at Marine Drive, Kochi? Imagine how important is the thing that has not happened!

You can Download The Challenges of Cultural Diversity Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 6 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 6 The Challenges of Cultural Diversity

The Challenges of Cultural Diversity Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Individuals develop their sense of being (identity) through
Answer:
Socialization

Question 2.
A large group of people that successfully claims legal monopolistic rights to use force within a particular region is called ……….. by Max Weber.
a) community
b) country
c) nation-states
d) nation
Answer:
Nation

Question 3.
In 1953, under the leadership of …….. a State Reorganization Commission was appointed,
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) DrB.R.Ambedkgr
c) Faisal Ali
d) Drs. Radhakrishnan
Answer:
Fazal Ali

Question 4.
Who was the Congress leader that fasted demanding a new Andhra State based on language?
a) Sriramulu
b) Faisal Ali
c) Gandhiji
d) Nehru
Answer:
Sriramulu

Question 5.
“Minorities are an explosive power. If it explodes the entire nation will crumble.” who said it?
Answer:
Dr.Ambedkar

Question 6.
Article… says that all groups of people will have the right to protect their language, script and culture,
a) Article 27
b) Article 28
c) Article 29
d) Article 30
Answer:
Twenty-nine (29)

Question 7.
Article … says that all minorities will have the right to establish and run educational institutions to suit their interests.
a) Article 27
b) Article 28
c) Article 29
d) Article 30
Answer:
Thirty (30)

Question 8.
Narrow mindedness based on religious dogma, prompting violence is, …………..
a) communalism
b) Casteism
c) Regionalism
d) Secularism
Answer:
communalism

Question 9.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 10.
What is the meaning of cultural diversity?
Answer:
Diversity means difference. When we say that India is land of cultural diversities we mean that there are different kinds of social groups and communities here. These communities are formed on the basis cultural symbols like language, religion, sect, caste, and jati. When these communities live as part of a nation, there is bound to be cooperation and confrontation.

Question 11.
Why does cultural diversity bring strong challenges?
Answer:
In communities united by language or religion, there will be strong cultural bonds. These bonds are capable of organizing people into strong groups. Challenges are not raised merely by cultural differences. Economic and social inequalities also make problems complex. When steps are taken to end the injustices to one group, other groups often object to such steps. When OBCs were given reservations, the upper caste people came out protesting. Things become worse when limited resources like river water, jobs, and government funds are to be shared.

Question 12.
What are the factors that work against the unity and? indivisibility of India?
Answer:
There are many evil powers that work against the unity of our land. Communal riots, jati-fights, demand for separate countries and regions, etc. are activities against the unity of the country. It is true that many people do not have any patriotic feelings. When we examine the past history of India, we will realize that these kinds of divisive tendencies are not new in the country. Even before independence, such problems existed.

Question 13.
What are the bases of community’s being (identity)?
Answer:
bases of community’s being are birth and inclusion.

Question 14.
What are the features of community being (identity)?
Answer:
Some of the important features of community being are the qualities of being ‘accidental’, unconditional and un-escapable. These qualities emotionally weld an individual to the community. The community gives meaning to the world of the individual and gives the awareness of who he is. That is why when the community is threatened, individuals react emotionally and violently.

The other thing about community is its universality. The members of a particular community will have one land of birth, one mother tongue, one family and one faith. This may not be true for all. But generally, this is the case.

Question 15.
Define nation.
Answer:
A political community with some prerequisites is called a nation. A fixed region, people, a government, and sovereignty are the important factors that make up a nation. A nation has political and legal institutions to control the people who live in that region. Max Weber defines a nation as a large group of people that successfully claims legal, monopolistic rights to use force within a particular region.

Question 16.
“Desom” is different from community. Comment.
Answer:
The question raised here is whether design is different from Tribal group, religious community or regional community. There is no ideological difference between design and community. Any large community can form a de som any time. But it may . not be possible for a particular community to form a de som.

Question 17.
Describe the national policy of integration.
Answer:
India is a land of many languages, regions, and religions with different habits and customs. It is a land of diversity. Integrating the different people here is not an easy task. In some countries, they use force to integrate the people. They suppress regional, religious and linguistic minorities and force them to accept the cultural values and rules of the majority community. This is very unfair. But in India national integration is done keeping the linguistic, regional and religious diversities intact. We seek unity in diversity.

Question 18.
“The right and practical way is allowing the cultural diversities to co-exist.” Give your comment.
Answer:
Countries that suppress minorities alienate them. They develop enmity and hatTed for the nation. Very often such suppressions bring the opposite result, instead of destroying the communal spirit of the suppressed, it increases that spirit. The best way is to allow the cultural difference to co-exist.

Question 19.
Discuss the India approach to communal being.
Answer:
India has a positive approach to communal being since it is a nation of different faiths and beliefs. From the very beginning, India had accepted equal treatment to all manners of people. Although some leaders of the majority community wanted India to be a Hindu nation, the leaders of the country did not approve it. India stresses national integration. The Constitution declares India to be a secular State. But the fact remains that we have not been able to integrate ourselves fully. Even now we have evil things like “Jati’ in our midst.

• India gives strong protection to the religious minorities.
• In India, there is no shortage of ideas or rules. But the difficulty is inputting the rules into practice.
• In spite of our limitations, India is a good example of a secular, democratic State.

Question 20.
Critically examine Regionalism in India.
Answer:
Regionalism has taken deep roots in India. Regionalism comes from one’s loyalty to language, region, religion, culture, and tribe. When all these things are concentrated in one place, the regional tendencies grow fast. The feeling that they are exploited or neglected makes regionalism flare-up. It is hoped that Federalism will be a solution to the problems raised by regionalism.

Question 21.
How were the Indian States formed? Was language the only criterion?
Answer:
Even before independence, the idea that States should be organized on a linguistic basis was discussed. In the 1920s, this idea was approved by the Indian National Congress. Provincial Units of the Congress were made on linguistic basis. Thus there were the unit of Marathi speakers, Oriya speakers and so oh. Gandhiji and other Congress leaders promised that after independence States would be formed on language basis.

But when independence was got, in Congress itself there were different opinions. Some leaders felt that if States are formed on linguistic basis, it would promote regionalism, causing the nation to disintegrate. Nehru, Patel and Rajaji opposed the formation of States on language basis. But a good number of leaders stood firm in their former decision. In this situation of uncertainty, people began to agitate demanding States based on language. Bengalis, Tamils and Telugus joined the agitation.

It was in the Telugu speaking areas that this agitation was the strongest. Sriramulu, a Congress leader and Gandhian, started a fast and he died. His death made the agitation flare-up. People fought on the streets. Finally, the government had to grant Andhra State. In 1953, a State Reorganization Commission under Fazal Ali was appointed. The Commission gave its report. On 1 November 1956, the report was enforced. According to this, 14 States and 5 Centrally administered regions came into existence.

Some leaders including Nehru were afraid that the division of States on linguistic basis might cause disintegration of the country. But things happened the other way. The linguistically formed States helped in unifying the country. It also strengthened democracy. Above all, the language States approved the concept of unity in diversity.

It should, however, be noted that not all states were formed on language basis. In 2000, three States – Chhatisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand – were formed. Language did not have a role in their formation. Here the considerations were cultural and economic. India now has 29 States and 2 Central Areas. By merely forming States based on language, regional feelings won’t be satisfied. There is a need for a guarantee for their existence. This is done by the Constitution. It defines clearly the powers jf the States and the Centre.

Question 22.
In India, how has the Constitution allotted administrative subjects?
Answer:
The Indian Constitution has divided the subjects into three: Central List, State List, and Concurrent List. The Central Government has full authority to make laws on the subjects in the Central list. The State government can legislate on their subjects. In the Concurrent List, both States and the Centre can legislate. In the Upper House of the Parliament, members are chosen from the State Assemblies. Moreover, when occasion demands, Committees and Commissions are appointed to determine center-state relations.

Question 23.
What are the problems faced by Federalism in India?
Answer:
Although – Federalism is functioning satisfactorily, many problems and arguments are going on. Things got worse from the 1990s, after implementing the liberalization policies. When Indians and foreigners invest in the country, regional equality was not kept. Many States were ignored. Private investors want to invest in the States which are already rich in industries. They do that because in the developed States there will be roads and such other infrastructure facilities essential for industries.

Market economy will only widen the gap between the developed and developing or under-developed States. In short, liberalization has created regional inequalities and increased them. The only solution to this problem is government and the public sector taking the initiative and do things to bring the underdeveloped States at par with the developed ones.

Question 24.
What are some of the basic problems we face?
Answer:
Some of the basic problems we face are:
a) Secularism Vs Communalism
b) Majority Vs Minority
The problems of secularism and communalism are related to the religious stance of the government. India is a secular State and communalism has no place here. The Majority Vs Minority problems are related to issues of number – a huge group on one side and certain smaller groups on the other side. There are suggestions to the government how it should act towards different religious-linguistic cultural groups which are unequal. India has protected the interests of its minorities through the Constitution itself.

Question 25.
Who are the minorities?
Answer:
Sociologically speaking, minorities are not just people less in number, but also those who are disadvantaged in different ways. Therefore rich people with special rights can’t be called minorities. At the most we can say that they are minorities with special rights. Minorities actually mean people who are less in number and also suffer from certain problems. Sociologically speaking, a small number of people with sufferings of some kind can be called a minority. Statistically, other minorities are those who are left- ‘ handed, born on 29 February and so on.

But they are not considered minorities. There are minorities who suffer in one sense but are economically well off, The Parsis and Sikhs in India are minorities but they are well off economically. But culturally, their condition is not very good. Before the vast majority of Hindus, their number is very small.

Question 26.
What is Communalism?
Answer:
Communalism is narrow-mindedness in which a person thinks that only his religion is right and others are wrong. It often leads to clashes. Those who are blinded by communalism consider followers of other religions as low and even as enemies. Communalism is very dangerous as it often leads to clashes between followers of different religions. It was communalism that caused India’s partition.

Communalism comes from the word communal. If we look into the dictionary meaning of ‘communal’ it means ‘shared by all members of a community’ or ‘for common use’. But in India, it has acquired this negative meaning of blind adherence to one’s religion with enmity for other religions. A word with a positive meaning has been changed into negative meaning.

Question 27.
Codify the special features of communalists
Answer:
All communalists believe in a ‘being’ based on religion. They also show hatred towards followers of other religions. Communalists are often violent. They insult and attack people who do not follow their tenets. Communalism gives too much importance to religion. They believe that religion is above everything else. A person’s wealth, profession or political leanings are not at all important. Only his religion is important. The many similarities among religions and their followers are denied by communalists.

Question 28.
Write a note on the communal riots in India
Answer:
Communalism is an evil that spoils India. It is the source for all kinds*iaf conflicts. During communal riots, persons lose their human face and they become instruments in the hands of communal leaders. They become ready to do anything, to kill, rape or loot just to show their hatred for the other community. They justify their heinous crimes saying that they are taking revenge for what the other community had done to their ancestors or relatives in the past of present. Every region of India has become a prey to communal riots. The minority communities have suffered the most in these riots.

• In the riots, government and political parties have a big role.
• • The worst rioting after independence were witnessed in 1984 and 2002. In 1984 the riots were against the Sikh community, following the murder of Indira Gandhi. In 2002, there are anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, following the burning 6f a train in Godhra. There were communal riots in India even during colonial rule. Many people believe that the riots were the results of the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’.

Question 29.
What is secularism?
Answer:
Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. This is a concept that is related to modernity, science and rationalism. Instead of depending on religious dogma to understand the world, secularism suggests alternative methods.

Question 30.
What is the meaning of a ‘secular’ State (Nation)?
Answer:
In India, we use the word ‘secular1 as the opposite of communal. ‘Secular’ nation therefore means a nation that does not show any special liking forany particular religion. It is a concept against the narrow¬mindedness of communalists. Secularism not against any religion, but it does not have any special preference forany religion. All religions are equal in the eyes of a secular nation.

Question 31.
“India is loyal to secularism and at the same time it is also protecting the minorities.” Is this statement true?
Answer:
This statement istme. It may look paradoxical. On the one hand, we say we are secular. On the other hand, we protect the minorities by giving them special considerations. In India, such a policy is essential because of our peculiar situation. We must not forget that we have so many minority groups and unless they are protected they will be in danger. This paradoxical attitude of the Nation is a highly complex matter.

Question 32.
When we do stray away from the aims of the Nation?
Answer:
The nation strays away from its aims when its citizens are denied their legitimate rights. Despotic nations do not respect the human rights of their citizens. They either deny completely or seriously limit freedom of opinion, freedom of the media, political freedom, freedom from injustice, freedom to go to court etc. Corruption, inefficiency, lack of resources and so on spoil the image of a Nation. Because of these negative things, the institutions of the nation do not respond positively to the needs of the people. Thus often the nation moves away from its real aims. So we have to be vigilant.

Question 33.
What are citizen Groups?
Answer:
Citizenry (Citizen group) is whole body of citizens which goes beyond family, community, market, or region. Here individuals come on their own and form organizations and institutions. It is a field where citizens are active. Here individuals take up social problems and try to exert pressure on authorities for the welfare of people. It consists of voluntary organizations, political parties, media houses, labor organizations, religious organizations, and non-governmental organizations. It works for the common good of the citizens.

Question 34.
The Emergency (1975-77) was a big shock to the people of India. Examine this statement.
Answer:
The emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975 was a big shock to the people. People came out strongly against the Emergency. This resulted in the formation of many citizen organizations. Many social organizations also came up during this period. Today the working of citizen organizations has extended to different spheres. Some of them are strong enough to influence national and international agencies.

Question 35.
Write a note on citizen groups and Right to Information.
Answer:
One of the important spheres where citizen groups work is in the area of Right to Information. This started in the villages of Rajasthan. In the 1990s, a Citizens’ Organization named Mazdoor-Kisan Sakti Sangham wanted to get the records showing how the government money for village development was spent. Soon such demands came from different parts of the country. In spite of the strong objections from officials, government was forced to pass the Right to Information Bill. This ensured that the government has obligations to the people and the country and people can demand information on things they want to know.

Question 36.
Give a description about the Right to Information Act.
Answer:
This Act was passed by the Parliament on 15 June 2005. On 13 October, it became law. With this, the people of India, except in Jammu-Kashmir, got the right to get government documents. Before this law came there were some other laws in India regarding the right of people for information. With the coming of the new law, all other laws of the past in this regard have become irrelevant. With this Law, anybody can seek information from authorities. In 30 days the authorities should reply to the requests. The law demands that each official should keep the information related to his office in the computer. This will help people to get quick replies. This Law empowers the citizens:

• To seek any kind of information.
• To get certified copies of documents related to the subject.
• To get copies as print or on disc, tape, floppy or video cassette.

You can Download Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 5 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 5 Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion

Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The process by which people are categorized into different levels is called…. by Sociologists,
a) social inequality
b) Social exclusion
c) Social stratification
d) Social control
Answer:
Social inequality

Question 2.
Keeping, individuals away from all activities of the society is called
a) social inequality
b) Social exclusion
c) Social stratification
d) Social control
Answer:
Exclusion

Question 3.
Who called the untouchables as Harijans (Children of God) and publicized that name?
a) Ambedkar
b) Ayyankali
c) Sri Narayana Guru
d) Gandhiji
Answer:
Gandhiji

Question 4.
Which was the first Backward Community Commission in India?
a) Netter Commission
b) Mandal Commission
c) Kothari Commission
d) Kaka Kalelkar Commission
Answer:
Kaka Kalelkar Commission

Question 5.
Who was the head of the second Backward Community Commission in India?
Answer:
B.P. Mandal

Question 6.
Who was the Chairman of the Backward Community Commission appointed he Kerala government in 1970?
B.P.Mandal
b) V.P. Singh
c) KakaKalelkar
d) Nettur
Answer:
Nettur

Question 7.
Who started the Bengali Social Reform Movement?
a) JyotibaPhule
b) SirSayyed Ahmed Khan
c) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
d) Mahadev Govind Ranade
Answer:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Question 8.
Who formed the Brahma Samaj?
Answer:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Question 9.
Match the following.
Answer:

Question 10.
Social inequality and seclusion are realities in the life of the Indian society. Explain.
Answer:
Social inequality and seclusion are realities in the life of the Indian society. On the street, we see so many beggars. We also see small children employed to work in households. We see them working as helpers in construction sites, tea shops, and temporary food outlets. We see them engaged in cleaning jobs. We see small children working as servants in households carrying the school bags of children who are much bigger than them.

Often these sights don’t affect us. We may not feel that forcing children to work at their school-going age, preventing them from learning, is injustice. We often read how children are segregated or discriminated in school, we hear about violence against women, hatred to minorities, contempt for the physically or mentally challenged, etc. These news items also may not affect us much. All these are examples of social inequality and seclusion.

Question 11.
What are the social implications of social inequality and seclusion?
Answer:
There are three answers to this question.
a) Firstly, they are not related to individuals. They are concerned with groups and therefore they are social issues.
b) Secondly, they are not economic problems. In this, they are social issues.
c) Thirdly, they are well-established and structural. Social inequalities have a definite pattern.

Question 12.
How can we classify social resources?
Answer:
We can classify social resources into capitals of three kinds:
a) financial (economic) capital.
b) cultural capital.
c) social capital

• Economic capital refers to material wealth and income.
• Cultural capital refers to education and positions.
• Social capital refers to the chains of relations and social organizations.

Question 13.
Explain the principles that help in the stratification of people.
Answer:
a) Social stratification is a feature of society: Social stratification is a feature of society. It is not merely the difference between individuals. It is something that permeates (covers) the entire society. Stratification implies that the societal resources are inequitably distributed among the different classes of people. In backward societies, production was very little and therefore stratification was also only nominal, or very minimal. Societies that lived by hunting and collecting foods are examples for this. But where societies achieved technological progress, stratification was seen in its full color. In such societies, people produced surplus, more than what they required. These resources were unequally distributed among the people of different classes. The innate abilities of people were not considered here.
b) Social stratification has been in existence for generations: Social stratification is related to the family and also to the societal resources that one generation receives from the previous one as hereditary property. The social status of a person is imposed on him. A person gets the social status of his parents. For example, a Dalit is supposed to do only traditional jobs like farming, scavenging or leatherwork. Because of that, he had very limited chances of getting jobs with higher pay. Such social inequalities were further aggravated by rules like marrying in the same caste. This prevented people from removing the boundary lines through mixed marriages.
c) The ways of faith or ideologies support Social stratification: If Social stratification is to continue through generations it must be proved to be inevitable. For example, the Jati system was justified through the ‘Purity-Pollution’ (suddha-asuddha) concept. This made Brahmins high caste and Dalits low caste merely by birth and profession. Not everyone approves inequality as a legitimate system. People with special privileges in the society support systems like Jati and Varna. But those who suffer contempt and negligence raise their voice against them.

Question 14.
What are prejudices? What are their social repercussions?
Answer:
Prejudices are the biased feelings and attitudes people of one class have about members of other classes. This is an opinion formed about a familiar thing without taking into consideration any evidence against it. Some prejudices are developed on mere hearsay. A prejudiced person refuses to examine any evidence. Even if he gets evidences to the contrary, he refuses to give up his previous opinion.

Prejudice can be positive or negative. Usually, it is used in a negative sense. But sometimes it can be positive also. For example, one may feel that his Caste is better than other Castes. Very often such prejudices are found when it comes to women in one’s Caste.

Question 15.
Discrimination is a feature of social inequality and seclusion. Explain.
Answer:
Discrimination is definitely a feature of social inequality and seclusion Prejudices talk about biased opinions and attitudes. But discrimination shows one’s behavior towards people of another class or group, or an individual.

Denying opportunities because of Jati, religion, or gender can be considered discrimination. Denying a job because of gender is discrimination. Discrimination is difficult to prove. Very often discrimination is cleverly hidden behind other reasonable explanations. For example, if a person is refused to be appointed to a post because of his Jati, nobody will tell him that he was rejected because of his Jati. He will be told that he is unfit for the job because of some other reasons.

Question 16.
What is meant by social seclusion?
Answer:
Social seclusion means keeping away individuals from participating in the activities of the society. By these individuals or groups of individuals are denied the opportunities available to the majority of others. To have a reasonable life, persons need food, clothes, and shelter. I.n addition to these essential requirements, they also need education, health, transport, insurance, social security, banking, police services, and court. When these things are denied to people, there is social seclusion.

Social seclusion is hot accidental. It is well established. It is related to the structure of the society, tt is not something that is done with one’s consent. It is done without considering the feelings of the secluded. It is against their will.

Question 17.
How has the Jati System categorized people?
Answer:
Historically, Jai system has classified people based on profession and status. Each Jati is connected with a particular profession. Persons born in particular Jati are supposed to do the work of only that Jati. The Jati rules don’t allow them to choose other jobs. In the same way; in the stratification of classes, their Jati will have a particular slot.

Another feature Jati system is the differentiation between social status and economic status. For example, Brahmins who have high social status are under kings or rulers who belong to Kshatriyas in non-religious matters. At the same time kings, in spite of their wealth and power, are under Brahmins in religious matters like pooja and other rituals.

Question 18.
What is the relation between social status and economic status?
Answer:
There are close relations between them in spite of the differences. Normally, people who have high social status will also have high economic status. The financial status of the lower castes will below. But this situation has changed since the 19th century. The strictness with Jati and profession has been reduced. The religious and ritual control over professions could not be imposed in the changed situation. Now people can choose any job they like without any caste consideration. Now people change jobs as they like.

The relation between Jati and economic power has also weakened. The situation is quite different from the one some 50 or 60 years ago. There are rich people and poor people in all Castes. However, if we look very carefully we can still see that the relation between social class and economic status has some relevance.

Question 19.
What is untouchability? What is its basis?
Answer:
Untouchability is the worst part of the Jati System. Jati system imposes severe social controls and restraints on the lower castes. The suddha-asuddha (Purity- Pollution) concept is behind this heinous system. Those who are outside the Jati system were considered untouchables. They are impure. Even their touch can pollute members of other Jatis. If the Untouchables touch members of the Upper Castes, they would be given severe punishments. Those who were touched by the Untouchables had to undergo complex purification processes.

Question 20.
Describe the three measures of Untouchability.
Answer:
They are:
a) Seclusion
b) Ridicule and submission
c) Exploitation
Seclusion is to be suffered only by the Untouchables. Other Jatis don’t suffer from it. It is the Dalits who suffer the worst form of seclusion. They could not draw water from public wells. They could not worship with other Jatis or take part in any functions of festivities. But they are forced to do low jobs. For example, they were forced to beat the tom-toms (chenda) during religious functions.

Ridicule and submission are important aspects of Untouchability. Dalit and other lower castes are to do certain symbolic signs in public to show respect to the higher castes. They had to remove their head- cover, hold their slippers in their hand, stand with bowed heads, and not wear clean and colorful clothes. They were often scolded and ridiculed public.

Economic exploitation was another factor of Untouchability. Dalits and lower castes were exploited in various ways. They were forced to work without payment or with very little payment. Their properties were often confiscated by the higher castes.

Question 21.
Untouchability is an Indian phenomenon. Comment.
Answer:
Untouchability is certainly an Indian phenomenon. There might be some variations in its intensity and forms, depending on regional, historical and social background.

Untouchables were known by different names in different centuries. In the ancient period, they were called ‘Chandalas’. All those names were contemptuous and degenerative. Some of the names are used even today as abusive words, even though it is a criminal offense. In the 1930s, with a view to remove the contempt in the names, Gandhiji gave the Untouchables a new name ‘Harijans’. It means children of God. He made that name popular.

But the untouchable groups and their leaders gave them their own name ‘Dalits’. Today this name is widely used. ‘Dalit’ means suppressed. Dr. Ambedkar never used this name. But the echo of his philosophy and his Empowering Movement is heard in this name. In the 1970s, during the Jati revolts in Bombay, the word ‘Dalit’ received great popularity. The Dalit Panthers was a revolutionary group from Western India and they used this name to uphold their being and individuality.

Question 22.
What are the legal steps that the Government took against Caste discrimination?
Answer:
Government passed many laws to prevent caste discrimination and to punish offenders. One of them is the Freedom of Religion Act of 1850. This Law says that the rights of citizens should not be reduced or denied if they change their Caste or Religion.

The 93rd Amendment to our Constitution in 2005 also is on similar lines. It came into effect from 23 January 2006. Both the 1850 Act and the 2006 Constitution Amendment Act are related to education. The 1850 Law gave the Dalits admission to government schools. The 2006 Amendment made reservations to Other Backward Classes in our Higher Educational Institutions.

Between 1850 and 2006, many laws were enacted by various governments. The Indian Constitution (1950) itself is one such law. In 1989 the “Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act” came into force. This law was enacted with the specific purpose of preventing atrocities to the members of scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This law recommended severe punishments to those who committed offenses against Dalits and Adivasis. By the 17th article of the Constitution, Untouchability was abolished.

Question 23.
Codify the steps taken by the Nation to prevent discrimination based on Caste and Tribe.
Answer:

• Reservation
• provisions in the Constitution
• Different kinds of Laws
• Act of 1850
• Act of 1980
• Act of 2006
• Abolition of Untouchability

Question 24.
Give examples of struggles for social justice,
Answer:
Even before independence, people like Jyotiba Phule, lyodi Das, Periyar (E.V, Ramaswami Naicker) and Ambedkar had fought against Caste discriminations. There are many organizations today that fight for the rights of Dalits. The Bahujan Samaj Party of UP, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti in Karnataka, etc. are prominent among them. Dalit writers have given valuable contributions to the literature of various Indian languages like Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi and they have beep highlighting the problems of Dalits and seeking solutions.

Question 25.
What were the struggles against discrimination from non-governmental agencies?
Answer:

• Struggles by Social Reformers
• Dalit Movements
• Contributions in the field of literature

Question 26.
The main problem of Adivasis is migration by other people. Explain.
Answer:
The Adivasi problem is made worse because of migration by other people. Today except in the North-Eastern States, there is no region where only Tribals are living. Only in some places, there are their concentrations. From the mid 19th century, non-Tribals began to migrate into the Tribal districts of Central India. The Tribals in these areas left their habitat and went to other places seeking jobs in estates, mines, and factories.

The economic condition of the Tribals in places where they have concentrated is much worse than the non- Tribals there. Adivasis stay in circumstances of poverty and exploitation. It is the exploitation done by rulers and their agents that pushed the Adivasis into their present miserable situation.

Question 27.
What are some of the challenges that Adivasis face?
Answer:
The Sardar Sarovar Dam in the Narmada River in Western India and the Polavaram Dam in Godavari in Andhra Pradesh have made thousands of Adivasis leave their homes, pushing them into poverty. In the 1990s there were the economic liberalization policies and this has made their condition even worse. With the liberalization policy, many corporate companies appeared. They drove away the Adivasis from their land giving them very little compensation and started schemes to exploit the natural resources there. The word Adivasi means ‘real settlers’ or ‘first settlers’. This word was used as a part of the struggle against those who trespassed into the habitat of Adivasis as part of the Colonial Government’s schemes for the so-called development.

Adivasis are people who have been losing their land and forest in the name of development. This word has also the symbolic meaning of political awareness and claiming their rights.

The Tribals have fought seriously protesting against discrimination and exploitation. They have fought against the intruders and the government. Because of their struggles, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh became States. At this level, the struggles of Adivasis are different from those of Dalits. As Adivasis live in large numbers in nearby areas, they could demand States of their own. But Dalits are so scattered all over, they can’t make such demands.

Question 28.
Describe the struggles of women for equality with men.
Answer:
From time immemorial, women have been victims of exploitation and inequality. As the Reform Movements of modern India took the problems of women seriously, they were brought to public attention. There were regional differences in the Social Reform Movements that came up in the 19* century. They are often called Middle-Class Reformation Movements.

It is so because most of the Reformists were Middle-Class men who had got western education. Western concepts about democracy and the ancient democratic traditions of India had influenced them in equal measure. Many of them used these ideas in their fight against inequality. Rajaram Mohan Roy in Bengal, Mahadev Govind Ranade in Bombay Presidency and Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan among the Muslims fought for the rights of women. Rajaram Mohan Roy especially fought for women’s rights. Ranade fought for widow-remarriage. Jyotirao Phule fought against gender discrimination. Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan struggled for reforms in Islam.

It was Rajaram Mohan Roy that started the first Reform Movement in Bengal. He tried to bring changes in the Indian society and Hinduism. In 1928 he founded Brahma Samaj. He had started is fight against Sati even before that. Sati was the first ‘problem’ that grabbed public attention. Roy formulated an ideology that was a mixture of European rationalism and Indian tradition. He used both these concepts to fight against Sati. He proved that Sati was anti-human and anti-religious.

Widows in the Upper Castes had to suffer a lot. Their bad condition was noticed by the Reformists. They took up their case. They fought for the rights of widows and also for their right to remarry. Ranade made use of books like “Analogy of Religion, Three Sermons on Human Nature” by Bishop Joseph Butler. Ranade’s books like the “Texts of the Hindu Law “, “Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows”, and “Vedic Authorities for Remarriage” established that widow remarriage had the sanction of the Vedas.

Rajaram Mohan RdV and Ranade were Middle-Class Upper Caste Reformists. Reformists from the lower classes also fought for women’s equality. Jyoti Rao Phule from Maharashtra is an example. He fought heroically against gender discrimination and Jati system. He founded a Movement called Satyasodhak Samaj”, seeking truth. This Organization did a lot for the benefit of women and Untouchables.

In the light of Western ideas, Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan tried to reform the Islamic community. He recommended reforms keeping himself within the framework of religion. He argued for the education of Muslim girls. He said that this education could be given in places near their homes. Like Swami Vivekananda, he also stood for women education. He said that in their curriculum, religious principles, training for running a home, skills in handicrafts, and childcare should be included: We must evaluate him by looking at the circumstances in which he made these suggestions. His contributions for women education were really great.

Question 29.
Was it only men that fought for women’s rights? Explain.
Answer:
Some people have said that it was men who actually fought for women’s rights and their ideas were imported from Western nations. Both these ideas are wrong.

There were many women who fought for women’s rights. Pandita Ramabai, Mataji Maharani Thapaswini, Anandibai and Sr. Subbalakshmi were some of them. There were many writers who highlighted the problems of women with their powerful writing. They include Tharabai Shinde and Begum Rokea Sakhawat Hussain.

Question 30.
What were the declarations of the Karachi Meeting of the Congress?
Answer:
The Karachi Meeting of the Congress was in 1931. It made a declaration regarding the fundamental rights of Indian citizens. It highlighted woman-equality. Here are the main points of the declaration:

• All are equal before law irrespective of caste, religion, class, and gender.
• There will be no discrimination against anybody on the basis of religion, caste, class or gender for taking up government jobs, occupying positions of authority and getting any titles. Each person will have the right to do whatever profession he chooses.
• Voting right will be based on adult franchise.
• Women will have the right to vote and take up public positions.

Question 31.
Even after independence, there are unsolved women problems. Explain with examples.
Answer:
Two decades after independence, in the 1970s, women’s problems again came to the forefront. Reform Movements of the 19th century were mainly against evils like Sati and child marriage, They also tried for women education and widow-remarriage. But in the 1970s the problems were ‘modem’. Raping of women in police custody, murders in the name of dowry, women representation in public offices and media, gender discrimination in jobs and positions, etc. were some of them.

In the 1980s there was a demand to restructure laws related to women. Activists pointed out that there were no changes in the laws that were made in the 1911 century.

In the 21^st century, new issues of gender equality surfaced. The most significant of them was the reduction in female population. The fall in the number of females shows society’s wrong attitude towards women. This raises new challenges. Only through prolonged struggles can these injustices be ended.

Question 32.
What are the general concepts about differently-abled people?
Answer:
Everywhere in the world, there are common concepts about differently-abled people. Here are the main points:

• Handicap is a biological phenomenon.
• The problems of the differently-abled person come from his/her handicaps.
• Differently-abled people are considered ‘victims’.
• A person’s handicap is related to his self-respect.
• The very word handicap suggests that the person needs help.

Question 33.
What are the views of the society about handicapped people?
Answer:
Any handicap was seen as a negative feature of that person. Even in the Indian mythology, handicapped term ‘Differently-abled’ for handicapped people challenges the old concepts. It is argued that it is not biological factors that make somebody handicapped, but the attitude of the society. Brisendine has rightly said: “Handicap lies in the structure of the society, and not in the physical condition of the individual.” All structures including courts were built by the society and all this was done without giving any consideration to the handicapped.

They create obstacles for the handicapped. Thus they are denied opportunities for education and jobs. We have now seen that handicap is something that society has made. It has another aspect also. There is a close relation between handicap and poverty. Children with handicaps are born mainly in families suffering from malnutrition. Lack of proper health of parents, regularly repeated childbirth by the mother, lack of preventive medicines, accidents that happen in crowded homes, etc. are main causes for handicaps. This is the reason for having more handicapped people among the poor than among the rich.

Just like poverty creates handicap, handicap creates poverty. People tend to ostracise handicapped persons and this increases their financial problems. The family of the handicapped also falls into poverty. There is no doubt that the poorest people in India are the handicapped, or, to use a more politically correct language, differently-abled people.

You can Download The Market as a Social Institution Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 4 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 4 The Market as a Social Institution

The Market as a Social Institution Questions and Answers

Question 1.
In the 18th century, economics was known as …
a) Social economy
b) Political economy
c) Cultural economy
d) Technical economy
Answer:
Political Economy

Question 2.
Who was the most important political economist of the early period?
a) Karl Marx
b) AmartyaSen
c) Alfred Marshal
d) Adam Smith
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 3.
………… said that individual transactions affect the market system.
a) Karl Marx
b) Adam Smith
c) Alfred Marshal
d) AmartyaSen
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 4.
The French word ……… means giving freedom in the matters connected with market and industry (non- regulated market).
a) Laissez-faire
b) Marketization
c) Globalization
d) Liberalization
Answer:
Laissez-faire

Question 5.
Economic activities of the ……… are similar to those of the capitalists.
Answer:
Nagarathars (Also known as Nattukkottai Chettiars)

Question 6.
What is the most important book of Adam Smith?
a) Capital
b) Wealth of Nations
c) Communist Manifesto
d) Market
Answer:
Wealth of Nations

Question 7.
Who is the person who coined the term ‘invisible hand’?.
a) Karl Marx
b) Engels
c) Alfred Marshal
d) Adam Smith
Answer:
Adam Smith

Question 8.
Anthropologist who made studies in the Dorai village pointed out the social importance of market,
a) Adam Smith
b) Alfred Gell
c) Karl Marx
d) Engels
Answer:
Alfred Gell

Question 9.
Who said that In the capitalist production system, labour itself becomes goods’?
a) Adam Smith
b) Karl Marx
c) Alfred Gell
d) Alfred Marshal
Answer:
Karl Marx

Question 10.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 11.
What are the different meanings of ‘market’?
Answer:
These are the different meanings of market:

• A place for selling and buying things (fruit market, wholesale market).
• The coming together of people for buying and selling (weekly market).
• Trade-Business sector (Car market, Ready-made clothes market).
• Demand for special products or services (market for mobiles phones, market for computer professionals).

Question 12.
What are the sociological views about Markets and Economic System?
Answer:
The main aim of economics is to understand and explain how markets work in the modem capitalist economy. For example, how are prices determined? What are the benefits of certain kinds of investment? What are the factors that make people earn money and spend it? All these questions are answered by economics. Here the question is what contribution the sociologist can make in the study of markets. Sociology tries to go beyond the things that economics tells us. That means, Sociology tells us things about the market which Economics does not tell us. Sociology looks at the changes markets bring in the society.

Question 13.
What role does Sociology have in the study of markets?
Answer:
To answer this question, we have to look into the England of the 18th century and the starting of Economics. Economics was then called political economy. Among the early political economists, the most famous was Adam Smith. He is known as the Father of Economics. He published a book called “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776. In his book, Smith tried to understand the market system that started at that time.

Smith argued that economic system is made by individual transactions, like a series of buying and selling. It slowly becomes a self-working, orderly system. Market system is not something anybody deliberately creates. The millions of people that made transactions did not have any intention to create a market system. Each individual looks at his personal interest or gain.

When we try for our personal interests, automatically the interests of the society get protected. In other words, what individuals do for their benefit will prove beneficial to the society as a whole. Smith argued that this is brought about by an invisible power. He called this invisible power as “invisible hand”. In his opinion, the capitalist economy is propelled forward by the selfish interests of individuals. It is when buyers and sellers take rational decisions, protecting their interests that the capitalist economy goes forward smoothly.

Smith used the concept of ‘Invisible Hand’ to argue that when people pursue their selfish interests in the market, it proves beneficial to the Society. When they work for their personal interests, it awakens the economy and that way more wealth is produced. Because of this Smith supported the idea of free market. Free market means a market without controls from the government or any other agency. This idea is called laissez-faire. It is a French word. It means leave something alone to do its work.

It is from the ideas presented by early political economists like Adam Smith, modern Economics is developed. Modern economics says that the system of wealth should be studied as a separate part of the society. Economic system works with its own principles. It does not worry about the social and political background. But sociologists had an entirely different viewpoint. They tried to study economics within the larger sociological framework. Thus they developed an alternative method for studying economic institutions.

Sociologists look at markets as social institutions. They observe that markets are formed through special cultural ways. For example, markets are organized and controlled by special social classes. They have special relations with other institutions, social processes and structures.

Sociologists say that wealth systems are set in the society. They point out two examples. One is the weekly market of the Tribal Groups, and the second is the traditional business community and its business chains in colonial India.

Question 14.
What is free market?
Answer:
Free market means a market which is not controlled in any way by the government or any other agency. This economic vision is called laissez-faire.

Question 15.
Describe the features of weekly markets.
Answer:
Weekly markets are a central feature of the social and economic activities of agricultural communities. Weekly markets bring people from different villages together. They sell their products and buy those things that are not available in their own villages. Traders from outside, money lenders, artist of various kinds, fortune tellers and such other people also came to the weekly markets with their own purposes. In the Indian villages, there are also special markets at fixed short-term intervals. For example, there are the cattle markets. Such markets bring the economic systems of different places together. They thus get connected to the urban economy and finally to the national economy.

Question 16.
Give a picture of the Doke Market.
Answer:

Question 17.
What were the changes brought into the Indian society by the coming of Colonialism?
Answer:
Studies show that with the coming of Colonialism, the unchanging economic system of India began o crumble. With the establishment of colonial rule, a new economic system came up in money, market and trade. It even penetrated the local agricultural economy. Gradually this agricultural economy became part of a wide exchange chain. With this, self-sufficient villages collapsed.

The old studies say that the coming of the colonial rule brought revolutionary changes in the village and urban communities of India. But modern studies do not support this view. The old studies say that before the colonial rule, the Indian economy was immobile. It was self-sufficient. There, exchanges (barters) took place without any interference of market forces. Economy based on money was not there.

All these arguments were denied by the new studies conducted by Bailey, Burton Stein and Sanjay Subramanian. New studies point out that just before the colonial rule, the system of collecting taxes in cash was started in India. Trade was also done using money. There is no doubt that in many villages of India there still was the barter system as found in the Jajmani system. At the same time, many agricultural products and other goods were also sold for cash in the markets. Recent researches show that extensive trade and business chains were in existence in India before the colonial rule.

Question 18.
How were the indigenous trade chains organized in India?
Answer:
The history of the t mottukkottai Chettiars (Nagarathars) of Tamil Nadu will help us to know about this. The Nagarathars were a famous trade and business community in Tamil Nadu. They had a banking system based on Jati and an extensive business chain. Their community, relatives and family were interested in trade matters. Therefore all their trade activities worked within this social structure. Their banks were institutions run by joint families. Similarly, their trade and banking activities were done through the connections of Jati and relatives. For example, they had extensive Jati-based relations in South East Asia and Sri Lanka. This helped them to extend their business interests into those areas. Some people. say that the economic activities of the Nagarathars were some of kind indigenous capitalism. This raises an important question: Did India have capitalist systems different from those of Europe?

Question 19.
How was the social structure of the markets?
Answer:
ln India there were many traditional trade communities like the Nagarathars. There is a close relation between Jati system and economic system. This relation can be seen in things like ownership of land and differences in professions. For example, the big land (estate) owners during the colonial times were people belonging to the Upper Classes. It was Jati that determined the profession for each Caste. The relations between Jati and economy are also found in trade and market.
The main profession of Vaisyas, one of the 4 Vamas, is trade! It shows that even in ancient India trade and traders had a high status in society.

There are many Vaisya communities here which have taken up trade as their traditional profession. The Banias of North India are good examples. But trade and business were not the monopoly of Vaisyas. In the traditional trade communities of India, there were. Parsis, Sindhis, Bohras, Jains and also members of other communities. In the trade communities, there were also people who did not have a high status in the society. For example, during the colonial period, it was the Banjaras who controlled the export trade of salt. Banjaras are Low Caste Tribals.

Question 20.
Describe the changes that colonial rule brought to India.
Answer:
Describe the changes that colonial rule brought to India.
a) It destroyed the handloom industry. When cheap factory manufactured clothes came to India, the Indian handloom industry could not survive in the competition.
b) The Indian economy was strongly linked to the world capitalist system.
c) Before colonisation, India was a country exporting manufactured goods to the world market. But after colonization, India became a place for collecting raw materials for the British factories, agricultural products for their consumption and market to sell their finished goods. Thus all the benefits went to England.
d) New groups – especially Europeans – entered the. trade and commerce market. The new groups either worked with the existing trading communities or ousted them from their trade.
e) In India, a market economy came. It helped some new trade communities to grow. They tried to take advantage of the new circumstances. These communities continued to remain powerful even after independence.

Question 21.
Show how the.new trade communities made use of the opportunities provided by the colonial rule, citing the example of Marwaris.
Answer:
Marwaris are the most famous and widespread trade community in India. That community includes business magnates like Birla and also the small traders found all over the cities and towns of India. It was during the colonial rule that the Marwaris became so successful in their trade. They took advantage of the opportunities offered by the colonial rule in cities like Calcutta. To engage in trade and money-lending business, they spread across India. Like the Nagarathars, they were able to make use of extensive trade chains and acquire the confidence of the business world.

Many Marwari families made huge amounts of money through trade. They worked like bankers by giving money on interest. Thus they also helped in the development of British trade policies. Towards the end of the colonial rule, and even after independence, the Marwaris continue to march forward successfully. Many Marwari families became modem industrialists. Even now amongst all communities, Marwari community has the biggest share of Indian industries. This story of the Marwaris shows the importance of social background in economic processes.

Question 22.
Examine the evaluation of Marx on capitalism.
Answer:
Marx saw capitalism as a system for the production of goods. All productions in capitalism aim the market. For production, hired labour is used. In Marx’s view, all economic systems are also social systems. Each style of manufacture (slavery, feudalism, capitalism) gives birth to a certain class structure. Marx pointed out that in the economic system, the only important thing is not just the goods. Relations between people are an important aspect also. People are connected through the manufacturing (Production) process.

In the capitalist production system, labour itself becomes a kind of goods. The workers are forced to sell their work power in the market. This creates two important classes – capitalists and workers.

Question 23.
Write about the views of Marx about Capitalist and Labour classes.
Answer:
Capitalists are the owners of the means of production like factory, machinery and land. Labourers are those who live by selling their labour. A product has value because of the work of the labourers. It is the workers

that convert a cheap raw material into a product of high value. The entire profit is taken by the capitalists. (Profit = the cost of the product – production. expenses.) Capitalists try to maximise their profit by giving workers minimum wages. Marx imagined that the labours will fight against this exploitation by organizing themselves and fighting against the capitalists, establishing a Socialist-Communist society. The theory of Marx regarding capitalist economy and society helped in the making of many theories and debates regarding the nature of capitalism.

Question 24.
What is the meaning of materialization?
Answer:
Two important features of capitalist society are materialization and consumerism. As capitalism grew, markets began to spread all over the world. Markets came in all aspects of human life. With this, the process of materialization also started. Materialization takes place when things not available in the market until then become available. It is a process by which non-goods are changed into goods and made part of the economy. For example, drinking water was not an item for sale. Nobody bought and sold water. When drinking water is bottled and sold – in the market, it becomes ‘goods’ for sale. Materialization takes place. Like that, labour, and skill have been materialized.

Question 25.
A special feature of capitalism is consumerism. Clarify.
Answer:
Consumerism is a special feature of capitalism. This is becoming more and more significant. Consumerism has symbolic meanings. This, and not economic reasons, makes the importance of consumerism greater.

In the modern society, consumerism creates social differences. When a consumer buys some things and shows them off he is showing his social and economic status or his cultural concerns. Companies, which want to sell their products, attract customers by presenting them as symbols of status and culture. In the advertisements, we see on television, in the media and even on the advertising boards, these techniques for sale are used.

Question 26.
What is globalization? What are it features?
Answer:
Globalization era means an era when the entire world is mutually connected. The world is connected economically, politically and culturally. This mutual relation is the mark of globalization.

There are many tendencies in globalization. The main tendency liere is the flow of goods, money, information, and people from one country to another. Technology (computer, telecommunication, transport) and internal structure are also factors of globalization. The, most important feature of globalization is the expansion of markets and their linkage.

Question 27.
What are the changes globalization brought in the market?
Answer:
As a result of globalization, markets expanded in a big way. Not only that important markets of the world have also been linked. With this, the change in one market began to affect other markets also. For example, following the 11 September 2001 (9/ 11) terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, there was a crisis in the American economy. It seriously affected the software industry in India. It adversely affected our business and professional fields. Many lost their jobs. It is through Software industry, BPO industries like Call-Centres, etc. we get connected to the global economy. Many Indian companies give cheap services to many consumers in developed nations. Indian software industry and other services have a world market.

Question 28.
What do the liberalization policies show?
Answer:
It was the liberalization policy started in India at the end of the 1980s that led to globalization here. The policy included selling public (government) companies to private organizations, removing control over capital and labour market, reduction of customs and duties on imported goods, allowing foreign companies to start industries in India, etc.

The policy of liberalization is often called marketization. It is solving social, political and economic problems using markets. This includes reducing and removing economic controls, privatizing industries, removing governmental control over prices and wages, etc.

The proponents of marketization believe that it will hasten economic growth and prosperity. It is seen that private industries are far more efficient than public or government industries.

Question 29.
Critically examine the changes liberalization and marketization brought in the Indian economic system.
Answer:
Liberalization and marketization brought many changes in the Indian economic system. They stimulated economic growth and opened Indian markets to foreign goods. Many things that were not available in the Indian markets are now available here. There was an increase in foreign investment. It was hoped it would help economic growth and create employment opportunities. It was also hoped that the privatization of government enterprises would make them more efficient and also reduce the responsibility of the government to run them. But liberalization had mixed results. Some people feel that liberalization and globalization had negative results in India.

Some industries were benefited by globalization. Software industry, technology, fish farming and fruit farming made good progress as they could enter foreign markets and make gains. But areas like automobile industry, electronics and oil seeds suffered setbacks as they could not compete with foreign competitors.
Indian farmers are facing serious competition from foreign farmers. The reason for this is the permission given to import agricultural products here. In the past Indian farmers were protected from foreign competition by the government, giving them subsidies and base prices for their products. Such support helped the farmers. By giving them base price, the government promised the farmers to buy their products at a minimum price.

Since they were given subsidies to farm, their expenses were not high. But liberalization was against such policies of giving subsidies and base prices. It demanded the slow reduction and final abolition of both subsidies and support prices. With this, it was certain that farmers could not live comfortably with the little they got from their farms. The many suicides of farmers in India show the evils of liberalization and globalization. Globalization adversely affected small manufacturers and traders. They faced stiff competition in the market. Foreign goods and foreign brands captured the markets. Many small manufacturing units had to close down. Many small shops were also had to close because of stiff competition.

Globalization brought serious loss of jobs in some areas. Many lost their jobs in the organized sector. But this increased jobs in the non-organized sectors. While organized labour suffered, un-organized labour gained. But this was not beneficial to the workers. In the organized labour sector, workers are ensured stability of jobs and better wages. But in the un-‘ organized sector nothing of this kind is available.

You can Download The Demographic Structure of Indian Society Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 2 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 2 The Demographic Structure of Indian Society

The Demographic Structure of Indian Society Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The subject which studies things about birth, death, emigration, marriage, divorce etc. is called
a) Demography
b) Formal demography
c) Social Demography
d) Census
Answer:
Formal Demography

Question 2.
The first census in the world is the American census of the year. ?
Answer:
1790

Question 3.
Who is the social scientist that found that there are personal reasons as well as societal reasons behind every suicide?
Answer:
Emile Durkheim

Question 4.
The function of ……….. is analyzing the features involved in changes in the population.
Answer:
Demography

Question 5.
………. is the scientific study of population.
Answer:
Demography

Question 6.
Who wrote “An Essay on the Principle of Popula¬tion”?.
Answer:
Thomas Malthus

Question 7.
According to the 2011 Census, what is the gender ratio in India?
a) 934
b) 927
c) 933
d) 940
Answer:
940

Question 8.
When did the new Population Policy of India come into force?
Answer:
1, February 2000

Question 9.
Match the following:

Answer:

Question 10.
Which State of India has the highest literacy rate?
Answer:
Kerala

Question 11.
What is the difference in the gender ratio in India according to the 2011 Census?
(i) 16.7 %
(ii) 21,7 %
(iii) 24.8 %
(iv) 26.7 %
Answer:
16.7%

Question 12.
Who was the person who found that increase in population is the cause for poverty?
Answer:
Malthus

Question 13.
Who introduced the Demography Mutation Theory?
Answer:
Kingsley Davis

Question 14.
What is demography?
Answer:
Demography is the scientific study of populations. This word comes from Greek. ‘Demos’ means people. ‘Graphein’ means to write or describe. By combining these two words we get demography. It means describing people. It studies the trends and processes that affect populations.

Question 15.
What is the difference between formal demography and social demography?
Answer:
Formal demography is mainly concerned with measurements. It is concerned with things like birth, death, emigration, marriage, divorce, etc. Social demography stresses the social, economic and political aspects of the population.

The main function of formal demography is measuring and analyzing the components of population change. It stresses evolutionary analysis. For this, it uses mathematical and statistical methods. It is a method that helps in foreseeing changes in population growth and its structure.

Social demography or population studies study the reasons for changes in population and its structures and their results (repercussions). Social demographers believe that demographic processes are controlled by social processes and structures. People like social scientists, demographers also try to find out the social causes for demographic tendencies.

Question 16.
What are the two processes that helped in the growth of demography?
Answer:
pThe two processes are the formation of national states and the growth of statistical science. With the advent of the modern age, national states came up in Europe as important political organizations. With this, the role and responsibility of the modern nations began to increase. For example, administering public health, economic policies related to manufacturing and industry, tax, its collection, increasing incomes, urban management – all these needed the attention of the nation.

The growth of numerical (statistical) science was also important. As the areas of activity of nations increased, there was a need to have precise statistical data. Statistical data were needed in the case of population and economic systems with regard to their number, size and measure.

Question 17.
Who were the people that came out with demographic theories?
Answer:
Different theories about demography have been proposed by different scholars. The theories of Malthus, the Liberals, Marx and Kingsley David have been extensively discussed.

Question 18.
Explain the demographic theory of Malthus.
Answer:
One of the most popular theories on demography is that of Thomas Robert Malthus. He was an economist from England. In 1798 he published a book titled “An Essay on the Principle of Population”. In this book, he explained his demographic theory. His theory is pessimistic. Here are the important ideas – of his theory.

Malthus argued that population is increasing on a much faster rate than the increase in the means of livelihood (food, clothes, agricultural products etc). He pointed out that there is tremendous growth in population but there is no proportional growth in food production. Therefore mankind id destined to live in permanent poverty. The increase in population always exceeds the increase in agricultural production.
Population increases geometrically (in the order 2, 4, 8, 16.. 32, 64, 128, etc.). But food production increase is only arithmetical or parallel.

In short, increase in population will always keep food production behind. So Malthus tried to show that mankind will be faced with serious food shortages and ultimate ruin.

Malthus argued that the only way to make progress is by controlling population growth. He said there were two ways of controlling it One is moral restraints like marrying late, celibacy etc. The other is natural controls which inside wars, famine and diseases. Unfortunately, the power of mankind to limit population growth by moral control is very limited. Therefore Malthus believed that only natural controls will help in limiting population growth. He explained that natural controls are Nature’s way of solving the problem created by the geometrical growth of population and the arithmetical growth of good production.

The Theory of Malthus remained influential for long. ’ But theoreticians who showed that economic growth will be greater than population growth proved Malthus wrong. The experiences of European countries showed that the theory of Malthus is not right By the 2nd half of the 19th century there were changes in. the population growth. By the beginning of the 20th century, these changes were quite dramatic.

Birth rate reduced drastically. (The reason for this is the use of various means of birth control.) Contagious diseases were checked. (This was helped by progress in medical science.) There was tremendous increase in food production. (Improved technologies helped this.)

Although there was considerable increase in population, food production increased and the living standards became better. Thus the predictions of Malthus were proved wrong.

The theory of Malthus that the increase in population caused poverty was severely criticised by the Liberals and Marx. They argued that poverty and hunger are not the results of population growth, but the result of inequitable distribution of wealth and other resources. They showed that in an unjust society, the few wealthy live in great luxury whereas the majority of people live in, poverty.

Question 19.
What are the means of population control as suggested by Malthus?
Answer:

Question 20.
Explain the theory of Demographic Transition.
Answer:
Demographic Transition is another important theory in demography. This theory was presented in the 1940s by the American Social Scientist Kingsley Davis. His theory was an optimistic one. This theory argued that population growth is related to all-round economic development. He showed that each community or society follows its own development model in accordance with its population growth. The Theory of Demographic Transition says there are three basic stages in population growth.

In the first stage the society is not developed and the economic condition is backward. At this stage, both birth rate and death rate will be high. Therefore the growth in population will be small.

In the 2nd stage iff a transition stage. There is technological growth in the society and there is a big jump in the growth of population. The birth rate is high and the death rate is low. The growth in population will be very high.

The 3rd and last sage start when there is extensive industrialization. At this stage, birth rate and death rate will below.

It is during the transition between the 1st and 3d stage there is high growth of population or population explosion: When disease control, public health care, and nutritious food bring down the death rate, the birth rate remains high. There is thus population, explosion. The society will take some time to get adjusted to the new situation. The nature of procreation that was in existence during the time of poverty and high death rate will take some time to get used to the new situation of technological progress and high longevity.

This kind of transition took place in Europe at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. This kind of transition (changing the nature of procreation to suit the new circumstances) is also followed by the developing nations. These nations are trying hard to reduce the birth rate as deaths are getting reduced. The transition stage is not yet complete in India. Although death rate is drastically reduced, it has not been possible to reduce birth rate drastically.

Question 21.
What is birth rate and death rate?
Answer:
Birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people per year in a place (a country, a State, a district or a geographical region).
Date rate is the number of deaths per 1000 of a population perversion a place.

Question 22.
What are the common indicators affecting population?
Answer:
There are many indicators that affect population.
a. Birth rate: Birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people per year in a place (a country, a State, a district or a geographical region).
b. Death rate: Date rate is the number of deaths per 1000 of a population per year in a place.
c. The rate of growth in population: The growth in population is the difference between birth rate and death rate. When this becomes 0 or very low, we can say that the population is stable. In some societies, there is negative growth rate. This is when birth rate is less than the death rate in those societies.
d. Fertility rate: This is the number of live births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 49 years. The ages 15 to 49 show the period when women can conceive.
e. Total fertility rate: This is an imaginary rate. It represents the number of children that would be born alive to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years (5-49) and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.
f. Child death (mortality) rate: The under-5 mortality rate is the number of children who die by the age of five, per thousand live births per year.
g. Maternal mortality rate (MMR): This is the annual number of female deaths during delivery, per thousand deliveries. The high child and maternal death rates indicate poverty and backwardness.
h. Longevity: This is complex concept related to population. It shows the number of years an average person will live.
i. Gender Ratio: It shows how many females are there for thousand males in a region.
j. The Age Structure of the Population: It shows the number of persons in various age groups in proportion to the total population.
k. Dependency Ratio: Many persons cant-do any work either because they are children or they are too old. They have to depend on others. The dependency ratio is a measure showing the number of dependents (aged 0-14 and over the age of 65) to the total population (aged 15-64).

Question 23.
What are the common concepts and indicators of population?
Answer:
The common concepts and indicators of population are:

• Birthrate
• Death rate
• Growth rate
• Fertility rate
• Total fertility rate
• Maternal death rate
• Longevity
• Gender ratio
• Age Structure of the Population
• Dependency Ratio

Question 24.
Describe the size and growth of the Indian population
Answer:
After China, India has the largest population in the world. According to the 2011 Census, the population of India is 121 crores (1.21 billion). The growth rate in India is not always high. Between 1901 and 1951, the annual rate of growth never exceeded 1.33%. This is a moderate growth. In fact, the growth rate between 1911 and 1921 was drastically reduced to the negative growth of -0.03%. In short, the growth until 1921 was very slow. There are some reasons for it. In 1918-19 there was an epidemic which kept population under check. In the epidemic 12.5 lakh people, i.e. 5% of the total population, died. Killer diseases like plague and malaria and famine killed lakhs of people.

During the post-independent period, population growth increased considerably. In the period 1961-1981, it went up to 2.2%. After that, even though our growth rate was reduced, India still continues to be one of the most highly populated countries of the world. The , following table gives the population and the growth rate during the various census years.

Indian Population1901-2011

Question 25.
What are the reasons for the decreased death rate. after 1921?
Answer:
There were two reasons that were responsible for the reduced rate after 1921. One is the control over famines and the other i.sthe control of epidemics. Of these two, the second one is more important. The worst killers of the past were different kinds of fever, plague, smallpox, malaria and cholera. The plague in the 1918-19 period killed 12.5 lakh people, 5% of the total population. It was known as Spanish Plague and it was a global killer. Progress in the treatment of this kind of epidemics, preventive vaccinations, improved hygiene and so on helped in the prevention of these killer diseases.

However, even now diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, dysentery, bloody diarrhoea and so on are killing people. But the death rate is not as high as before. In 1994, there was a plague in Surat. In 2006, diseases like dengue fever and chikungunya were reported from different parts of the country. There were also different kinds of bird flu in the country not long ago. Death rate was reduced because of effective control of famines. Famines caused heavy loss of life in the past. With their control deaths are reduced.

Question 26.
Explain the Age Structure of the Indian population.
Answer:
The majority of Indians are young. Thus India has a youthful population. The average age of India is less compared to many other countries. In 1971 persons below 15 were 42%. From this, in 2001, it was reduced to 34%.

The percentage persons between 15 and 60 increased from 53 to 59. People above 60 increased from 5 to 7% during the period 1971-2001.
AGE STRUCTURE: Depending on age, people are divided into children, adults and senior citizens (old people). Children 0-14; Adults 15-60; Above 60 senior citizens.

Question 27.
There are regional variations in the age structure. Clarify.
Answer:
There are wide variations in regional age structures. States like Kerala have begun to achieve an age- structure that is similar to the one in developed countries. But in Uttar Pradesh, the picture is quite different. There the ratio of young people is more and that of the old people is less. When we look at India as a whole, the age ratio is in between these two extremes, because India has States like Kerala and also like Uttar Pradesh.

Question 28.
Describe the features of gender ratio in India,
Answer:
In the structure of population, gender ratio has an important place. It shows the gender equilibrium. Gender ratio means how many women are there for 1000 males. Historically gender ratio favoured women. It means there were more women than men. But for almost a century the gender ratio shows there are more men than women.

At the start of the 19th century, the gender ratio was 972: 1000. It means 972 women for 1000 men. In the 21^st century, the ratio is 933:1000.
The reduction in the number of women has been going on for the last 4 decades. This is a matter for great concern. In 1961 it was 941: 1000; in 2011, it is 940 : 1000.

Question 29.
Describe the apprehensive change in the gender ratio of children.
Answer:
A fact that shocked demographers, policymakers, social workers and even ordinary citizens is the drastic reduction in the gender ratio of children. It was from 1961 that gender ratio related to age was calculated. The ratio of children aged up to 6 is called child gender ratio. This used to be higher in the past, but unfortunately, it has been seriously decreasing. In the 1991-2001 period, the female-male ratio was 933:1000, which was the highest. It had increased by 6 points from the previous 927:1000. At the same time, child gender ratio went down to 927 from 945, showing a decrease of 18 points. Thus for the first time, the child gender ratio became lower than the common gender ratio.

The decrease in the child gender ratio in some States is cause for greater concern. In 6 States and in the Centrally Administered Regions, the child gender ratio is even lower than 90Q girls to 1000 boys. Punjab is the worst in this case. There it is 798:1000. It is the only state that is below 800 females for 1000 males. Just behind Punjab, there are Haryana, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

In Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the ratio is less than 925. In Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jammu-Kashmir, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Orissa, the ratio is above the national average of 914, but it is below 950.

The best ratio is in Kerala. But even here things are not so fine, as the ratio is just 964. Mizoram has the highest ratio in India. There it is 971:1000. Demographers and social scientist point out many reasons for the decrease in the gender ratio, with less women and more men. The most important of them are reasons of health and the attitude of the society towards females.

Question 30.
What are the main reasons for the decrease in the female-male (gender) ratio in India?
Answer;
Demographers and social scientist point out many reasons for the decrease in the gender ratio, with less women and more men. The most important of them are reasons of health and the attitude of the society towards females.

Women have greater health problems than men because of conception and childbirth. In some cases, women die during delivery. The question whether this is the cause for the inequality in gender ratio has much relevance. In the past deaths during or after delivery were common. But with the progress in medical science, such deaths are reduced to a minimum. Maternal death rate has been seriously reduced because of nutritious food, education, awareness, improved medical facilities and transport and communication. So it would e difficult to support the argument that maternal deaths during delivery are a major cause for the unequal gender ratio.
The other reason is said to be the behaviour and attitude of the society to women.

In some societies, birth of females is considered a curse and a burden. In such societies, there are many female foeticides and female infanticides. During pregnancy, through scanning, it is determined whether the child is male or female. If the foetus is female, then abortion is done. This is female foeticide. Some times in some superstitious societies female children are killed (female infanticide) even after their births because of certain cultural and religious superstitions. This points to a serious social issue.

There are evidence that even now this kind of heinous acts are done in India. Using technology like sonograms (ultra-sound echo) the gender of the child is determined before birth, and if it is proved to be female, abortion is done. In all the hospitals we see notices against the determination of child sex using this technology. But unscrupulous gynaecologists take bribes and let the parents know the sex of the unborn child.

Question 31.
What are the uses of literacy?
Answer:

• It empowers people.
• It helps people to choose their jobs.
• It helps in the social and cultural prosperity of the society.

Question 32.
In a table, show the growth in India’s literacy rate.
Answer:
LITERACY RATE IN INDIA

Question 33.
Explain the inequality in literacy fate between male and female.
Answer:
Literacy rate gets different depending on the gender, region and social communities. Female literacy rate is far below male literacy rate. According to the 2011 census, male-female gap in literacy rate is 16.7. Depending on the social communities also, there will be difference in the female literacy rate. Among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, female literacy rate is very low.

Regional differences also cause disparity in the female literacy rate. States like Kerala are having 100% literacy rate or are very close to it. Kerala has the best literacy rate, both male and female. But States like Bihar are far behind in literacy rate, especially that of female.

The disparities in literacy are very significant. It will create generation gap very acute. Illiterate parents may not be very keen on giving their children higher education. They may not have the circumstances for it. Naturally, then, the present inequality will continue.

Question 34.
The majority of Indians live in villages. Comment.
Answer:
It is very true that the majority of Indians live in villages. According to the 2011 census, 69% of Indians live in villages. Only 31% live in cities and towns. But the urban population is steadily increasing. At the start of the 20th century, the urban population was 11%. By the beginning of the 2181 century, it went up to 28%. Thus in one century, the urban population increased 214 times. The urban population is increasing because of the modem development plans.

Question 35.
The main reason for the increase in urban population is the migration of people from villages to urban areas (cities and towns). How did urban life become more attractive? Why do the rural population migrate to urban centres?
Answer:
Mass media and television played a big role in making rural people migrate to urban centres. The glittering lifestyle and the luxuries that consumer culture has brought in are constantly shown on television and this captivates the rural people. Today even in the remotest villages, people know how the city people live and their high living standards with all sorts of amenities and luxuries. This has tempted the villagers to try their luck in cities.

The gap between the urban and rural people is slowly getting bridged. Even in the past, villages were not inaccessible to market forces. They tried to establish and maintain trade relations with villages to sell their goods. With the growth of the media, especially the visual media, market forces and villages got closer. Now villages also have become part of the consumer culture. Villages are very active in market activities.

Villagers are tempted to move into cities and towns because of their familiarity with the glittery lifestyle available there. Media have been largely responsible for awakening this desire in the rural people.

Greater employment opportunities in towns and cities also attracted people towards them. With urbanization in top gear, the villagers were attracted to the magnetic field of the cities and towns. People who were unemployed in the, villages or those who had only very little work moved into cities and towns

Question 36.
Describe the ill effects (disadvantages) of migration
Answer:
movement of rural people into urban centres quickened the destruction of common properties like ponds, forests and grasslands. These were the sources of the means of livelihood of poor villagers. Those who did not have much land managed to exist by fishing, collecting things from forests and grazing their cattle. With the mass movement of people to urban centres, there was a change everywhere.

Construction work destroyed the grassy plains and the ponds became dry. Forests were cleared either for cultivation or for some other kind of industrialization. Villagers were forced to buy many things which they used to get free. For example, from the public ponds, they could catch fish, from forests they could get firewood and other things, and from the grasslands, they got grass for their cattle. Now nothing was free and people were forced by buy things which were free until now. Thus villagers began to suffer more. Since cash income in hard to come by in villages, their problems got multiplied.

Question 37.
What were the reasons for the migration to cities by villagers?
Answer:

• Influence of the media, especially television.
• Love for consumerist culture.
• Finding better life with good amenities and luxuries.
• Opportunity to look for jobs.
• The unfamiliarity in the cities. Since people don’t know you much, you can do any job and get money. But in villages, one does not like to do jobs which are considered below one’s status.

Question 38.
Describe the population policy of India.
Answer:
Population policy is a very important matter in a country. It is related to the health, prosperity and development of the nation. Population and development are mutually related. For the development of a country, an energetic population is necessary. At the same time, overpopulation can do a lot of harm to development. This problem of overpopulation is felt by the developing nations. The problem of overpopulation was recognized by India at an early stage. In 1952 itself, India declared a population policy.

The population policy of the Indian Government stressed family planning. For this, a Family Planning Board and a Family Planning Department were established. Five Year Plans also gave due importance to family planning. The population policy of India was based on the National Family Planning Programme. The aims of this Programme were:

• Control the rate of growth of the population in a way desirable to the society.
• Encourage various birth control methods and thus reduce the growth rate.
• Improve public health.
• Create awareness in people about the problems of overpopulation and matters related to health.

Question 39.
Describe the gains India made in population control.
Answer:
In the last 6 decades, India has made many gains in the field of population control. They can be summarised thus:

• Crude birth rate reduced to 24.1 in 2004 from 40.8 in 1951.
• Child mortality rate was reduced to 58 per thousand in 2004, from 146 in 1951.
• Welfare of partners increased 4 times from 10.4% in 1971 to 44% in 1998.
• Longevity increased from 37 years of age to 62.
• Awareness was created for the need and methods of family planning.
• Fertility rate became half, from 6.0 in 1951 to 3.0 in 2004.

You can Download Introducing Indian Society Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 1 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 1 Introducing Indian Society

Introducing Indian Society Questions and Answers

Question 1.
The ability to know how others look at us and the ability to look at ourselves from outside is called …..
Answer:
Reflexivity

Question 2.
Who is the social scientist that studied the relation between private difficulties and social problems?
Answer:
C. Ret Mills

Question 3.
The subject that studies about Society is called
Answer:
Sociology

Question 4.
…………. marks the place or position of a person in the society.
Answer:
Social map

Question 5.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 6.
Write the following under two columns, one headed Personal Difficulties and the other Social Problems. Generation Gap, Anxiety, Racism, Unemployment, Communal feeling, Tension, dissatisfaction with elders, gender inequalities)

Answer:

Question 7.
What is Sociology? What is the importance of studying Sociology?
Answer:
Sociology studies about society. For students of Sociology, earlier knowledge about society can be an advantage or disadvantage at the same time. The advantage is that students will not be afraid of Sociology. They will not feel that Sociology is a difficult subject to study. But, at the same time, this prior information might prove a problem in the study of Sociology. That is one important disadvantage. To study Sociology we must temporarily suspend our earlier knowledge about it. In fact, in the beginning of the study of Sociology, importance is given to let the students suspend their earlier knowledge.

Question 8.
What is Sociological perspective (viewpoint)?
Answer:
Sociology teaches us to look at the world from different perspectives (sides). It is not only our perspectives that are important, but also the perspectives of others. From each viewpoint, we see only a part of the whole. In short with just one perspective we will not get a full picture of the world.

When we compare the different views of people about the world, we get a reasonable picture of the entire thing. Each viewpoint of others tells us what is hidden from our own viewpoint.

Question 9.
What is reflexivity?
Answer:
Sociology tells us how others are looking at us. It also teaches us to look at ourselves from outside. This is called self-reflexivity or simply reflexivity.

Question 10.
How is a social map formed?
Answer:
When we understand the Indian society and its structure, we get a social map. We will ou, selves be able to determine our place in it. A social map is as useful as a geographical map. A social map helps us to see ourselves in relation to others and fix our position. For example, imagine that we are living in Arunachal Pradesh. If we look into the Indian geographical map we will know that our State is in the North-East Region. When we compare it with big States like UP, MP, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan we will know that our State is small.

But when we compare it with small states like Manipur, Goa, Haryana, and Punjab we will know our State is comparatively bigger. If you are looking at a map showing the physical features, you will be able to compare Arunachal Pradesh with other States. It will tell us that whether it is a hilly area or a forest area and in what natural resources it is rich. A geographical map determines the place and nature of our area. But a social map tells us our position in the society. Our social group, language, race, religion, race, and tribe – all these will be included in the social map.

Question 11.
Sociology does not merely help you to determine your position or the positions of others in the different social groups. It does much more than that. Explain.
Answer:
C. Wright Mills, an American Social Scientist tells us that Sociology does another important thing. He says that Sociology helps us in finding out the relations between private difficulties and social problems. By private difficulties Mills means personal worries, anxieties, and problems that all people have. For example, you may be dissatisfied with the treatment you get at home from your elders, brothers, and sisters.

You may be dissatisfied with the treatment you get from your friends. You may be worried about future or about the job that you are going to get. There might be anxieties and tensions that wound your self-respect or your confidence. But all these are personal problems. They become meaningful and important when looked from your personal perspective. But social problems are entirely different from personal ones. They are related to big groups. They are not particular to a person.

Question 12.
Differentiate between personal problems and social problems.
Answer:

You can Download Bhakti-Sufi Traditions Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 6 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 6 Bhakti-Sufi Traditions (Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts)

Question 1.
The propagator of the Great and Little (Brahat-Laghu) tradition:
Answer:
Robert Redfield

Question 2.
Jagannath is the form of which god?
Answer:
Vishnu

Question 3.
The Collection of Saiva hymns by Appar, Sambandhar andSundarar:
Answer:
Thevaram

Question 4.
The book known as Tamil Veda:
Answer:
Nalayira Prabandham

Question 5.
The founder of the Virasaiva Movement?

Question 6.
Under whose leadership did the Arabs attack Sindh?
Answer:
Mohammed Qasim

Question 7.
The common name given to the emigrants in the Middle Ages.
Answer:
Mlechans (the ignorant)

Question 8.
The Founder of Chishti Silsila.
Answer:
Khajamuiddin Chishti

Question 9.
The place where Khawjamuiddin’s tomb is located?
Answer:
Ajmer

Question 10.
What are Lorinamas?
Answer:
Lullabies

Question 11.
Who is the author of the hymns called ‘Shabab’?
Answer:
Guru Nanak

Question 12.
Who authored the Adi Grantha Sahib?
Answer:
Guru Aijun Singh

Question 13.
What are the different forms of piety?
Answer:

1. Regular worship in the temples.
2. Adoration in wild joy.
3. Recitation of hymns and prayers.

Question 14.
Match the items in Column A with those in Column B.

Answer:

Question 15.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 16.
What is tantrikaradhana? Give two of its special features.
Answer:
Tantrikaradhana is connected with the adoration of Devis (goddesses). Rituals of this kind were in existence in many parts of the subcontinent. Both men and women could participate in them. When these traditions were carried out, differences of Jati and Varna were ignored. In other words, there was no discrimination of gender, Varna or Jati in Tantrikaradhana. The Tantric ideas greatly influenced Saivism and Buddhism.

The followers of Tantric rituals ignored the authority of the Vedas. They tried to uphold their favourite God – Vishnu or Siva. They were in conflict with the principles of Buddhism and Jainism.

Question 17.
How did the pilgrimage centres develop from the travels of Azhvars and Nayanars?
Answer:
During the travels of Azhvars and Nayanars, they recognized certain holy spots as the abodes of their favourite gods. In these places, they built huge temples. These temples later became pilgrimage centres. The recitation of the hymns written by pious poets and worshiping the idols of favourite gods became part of the rituals followed in these temples.

Question 18.
The Chola Kings encouraged Brahmin-Piety traditions. Explain with examples.
Answer:
From the 9^th century to the 13 century, some powerful Chola Kings ruled the country. They supported the Brahmin-Piety traditions. They made land-gifts. They built Vishnu arid Siva temples. It was they who built some of the most imposing Siva temples at Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Some very beautiful bronze idols of Siva were also made at this period.

It was the Nayanars who gave encouragement to the sculptors. The Chola Kings encouraged the Nayanars and Azhvars. There were some economic motives behind this. It was the Vellalar farmers who made the economic base for the Chola rule. Naturally, the rulers wanted the support of the Vellalar farmers, who respected Azhvars and Nayanars. That is why the Chola Kings gave their full support to the Azhvars and Nayanars.

Chola kings often claimed divine support. They tried to proclaim their glory by building huge and beautiful temples. These temples were adorned with idols made of stone and metals. The tried to translate the dreams of the popular poets of the hymns into reality. The Kings also encouraged recitations of the Saiva hymns in Tamil in their temples.

They also took the initiative to collect these hymns and make it into a book form (Thevaram). The Chola King named Paranthakan I, got the metallic idols of Appar, Sanbandhar and Sundarar made and they were placed in a Siva Temple. An inscription dated 945 shows this. During festivals, the idols were carried in processions.

Question 19.
Who were Virasaivas? What is the relation of Basavanna with this Movement?
Answer:
In the 12^th century, a new pious movement came up in Karnataka. A Brahmin named Basavanna (1106-1168) was the leader of this movement. Virashaiva Movement is also called Lingayat. In the beginning, Basavanna was a believer of Jainism. He had also served as a minister under King Bijala of Chalukya. Because of serious differences of opinion, Basavanna decided to quit Jainism and with his son-in-law, he formed the Virashaiva Movement. His followers were called Virasaivas or Lingayats.

Question 20.
Point out the religious faiths of the Lingayats and show their importance.
Answer:
Lingayats became an important religious group. They worship Siva in his manifestation as linga, They wore around their left shoulder small linga tied on a cord. The linga was kept in a small silver casket. They also venerated Jangama, the wandering Shaivite monks. Lingayats believe that when they die they will get absorbed in Siva and they will not come back to this world. Therefore they do not cremate their bodies. They bury their dead with elaborate rituals. Lingayats challenged the Caste system.

They also objected to the concept of ‘pollution’(untouchability) and rebirth. Because of these views, they got a lot of followers from the marginalized sects. They encouraged adult marriage and widow re-marriage, which were against the teachings of Dharmasastra. They also rejected fasting, sumptuous meals, pilgrimage and sacrifices or yagas.

Question 21.
What is meant by Zimmi? Explain.
Answer:
Zimmi comes from the Arab word zimma. It means protection. The non-Muslims who lived under Muslim rule were called Zimmis. They had to pay a special tax known as ‘Jizya’.

Question 22.
What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
Answer:
All the people who accept Islam have to acknowledge the Five Pillars of Islam. They are:

1. There is no God except Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet (Shahada).
2. Pray five times a day (Namaz/Salat)
3. Zakat (Almsgiving)
4. Fasting during the month of Ramzan -e) Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)

Question 23.
Dinashrams were centres of social life. Justify this statement.
Answer:
By the 11^th century, Sufism became an Organized Movement with Quranic Literature and rituals of its own. Sufis began to assemble around centres called Dinashrams. Sufis and their disciples lived in these ashrams. They also became centres for Sufi spiritualism and activities.

Dinashrams were under a teacher called Shaikh, Pir orMurshid. He enrolled members into the Dinashram. The disciples were known as Murids. The relation between the teacher the disciple was a special feature of Sufism. Each Pir nominated his successor. The Pir also formulated the spiritual activities of the inmates, the relation between the teacher and the disciples, and the relation between the teacher and the common people and such things.

Question 24.
Write a note about the regional traditions in the construction of mosques.
Answer:
The blending of the global creed of the Muslims and the regional traditions was best seen in the Vastu (construction principles) of the mosques. Some of the Vastu of the mosque are universal. They turn towards Mecca (West), the Mihrab (the semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque) showing where Mecca is, and the Minbar (pulpit – from where the sermons are made).

But there are regional differences. There are variations in the top parts of the building and the materials used for the construction. For example, the Atia Mosque (1609) in Bangladesh is made of bricks. The mosque in Srinagar in Kashmir is built with timber. It was built in 1935.

Question 25.
What is Sufism? What are its salient features?
Answer:
It is a mystic movement that developed within Islam. It is a reformation movement. In the early centuries of Islam, a group of people known as Sufis founded this group. They got their inspiration from the Koran and also from the life of Prophet Mohammed. The Khalifa rule was facing ruin at this time. The greed it showed to worldly life and luxury, made many people dislike it. They turned to mysticism and asceticism. They came to be known as Sufis.

Question 26.
Describe the structure and activities of the Dinashrams.
Answer:
By the 11^th century, Sufism became an Organized Movement with Quranic Literature and rituals of its own. Sufis began to assemble around centres called Dinashrams. Sufis and their disciples lived in these ashrams. They also became centres for Sufi spiritualism and activities.

Dinashrams were under a teacher called Shaikh, Pir orMurshid. He enrolled members into the Dinashram. The disciples were known as Murids. The relation between the teacher the disciple was a special feature of Sufism. Each Pir nominated his successor. The Pir also formulated the spiritual activities of the inmates, the relation between the teacher and the disciples, and the relation between the teacher and the common people and such things.

Question 27.
Write about two Sufi Silsilas that became popular in India.
Answer:
Most Sufi groups are known by the names of their founders. The Khadiri group is known in the name of Shaikh Abdul Khadir Jilani. But the Chishti groups are known by the place where it originated. Chishti is a town in Central Afghanistan.

Question 28.
There were among the Sufis who followed the Islamic laws and those who breached them. By what names are they known?
Answer:
They are known by different names like Qalandars, Madaris, Malanga and Haidari’s.

Question 29.
In the worship of Chishtis, evaluate the importance of Ziyarat and Khavali.
Answer:
In the worship of Chishtis, Ziyarat and Khavali were important. Pilgrimage to the tombs of Sufi Ascetics is called Ziyarat. All over the Muslim world, this is practised. Ziyarat is an opportunity to get spiritual blessings. For the last 7 centuries, people from different faiths and classes have been showing their respect to five famous Chishti ascetics. The most important of them is Garib Nawaz (one who offers solace to the poor) of Khwaja Muinuddin. There are some reasons why this became so famous:

1. The simple life of Khwaja Muinuddin, the greatness of his disciples and the encouragement given by royal visitors.
2. The first Sultan to visit the tomb was Muhammed bin Tughluq (1324-51). But the memorial here was built with the funds given by the Sultan of Malwa, Giyasuddin Khilji, at the end of the 15^th century.
3. This tomb is located along the trade route connecting Delhi and Gujarat. Therefore it attracted many travellers.

By the 16^th century, this tomb became very famous. Even Akbar was impressed by the zealous hymns sung by the pilgrims. He visited this place 14 times to seek blessings for his military operations, to keep his pledges, and to have children. After each visit he gave expensive gifts, it is recorded in the royal documents. In 1568, he donated a huge cauldron to make cooking easy so that food could be given to the pilgrims. He also built a mosque on the premises of the tomb. Music and dance were part of Ziyarat. There were mystical hymns. These were sung by specially trained musicians called Khawals. Their music was capable of giving some kind of spiritual bliss.

Question 30.
In the relations between Chishtis and the nation, there were cordiality and also confrontations. Do you agree? Justify.
Answer:
An important feature of the Chishti tradition is asceticism. Chishtis kept away from worldly powers. But they did not keep themselves completely away from political power. They used to get donations and alms from the rulers and also from rich nobles. The Sultans gave Dinashrams tax-free land (Inam). For – these they established trusts.

The kings wanted the support of the Sufis to make their rule legal. When the Turks established the Delhi Sultanate, the Ulamas wanted to make Sharia the country’s law, but the rulers did not agree to this. Since most of their subjects were non-Muslims, they knew that the imposition of Sharia would provoke them into making protests. In this situation, they wanted to pretend that they received their authority directly from God. For this they needed the support of the Sufi leaders, it was believed that the Awliya, the Sufi leader, could talk with God to improve the material and spiritual condition of the people. That is why many kings wanted their tombs to be near Dinashrams and the Sufi Pilgrim centres.

In short, Sufis maintained good relations with the rulers and received material help from them. The kings tried to make use of the popularity and spiritual power of the Sufis. But there were occasions when the Kings and Sufis got Into conflicts. Both tried to show their position to be superior. Both wanted people to prostrate before them and kiss their feet. When a Sufi Shaikh was addressed high titles were used. The followers of Nizamuddin Awlia addressed him as Sultan-ul-mashaik- the Sultan of Shaikhs. In such shows of power, there were a confrontation between the Sultans and the Sufis.

Question 31.
Who were the two poets that visited Nizamuddin Awlia?
Answer:
Amir Hasan Sijzi and Amir K.huzro

Question 32.
What are Maznavis?
Answer:
Some Sufis considered love for humanity as a symbol for showing love to God. They wrote long poems on this symbol. Such poems are called Maznavis.

Question 33.
Who formed the basis for the Khalsa Panth? What are its 5 symbols?
Answer:
Guru Govind Singh formulated the basis for the Khalsa Panth. The members were supposed to carry 5 symbols with them, they are Kesh (long hair), Kangha (comb), Kara (a metal bracelet), Kachera (cotton under-garments) and Kripan (a curved sword). Together, they are the 5 Ks.

Question 34.
Who was Mirabai? Evaluate her contributions.
Answer:
Mirabai did not have any group of followers or organizations. But she continued to be a source of inspiration for many for centuries. She had composed many Bhajanas. They were all hymns addressed to Bhagwan Krishna. Their hymns I are still used by both men and women, especially those belonging to the lower classes. They are more popular in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Question 35.
Bhakti-Sufi thinkers used different languages to propagate their views. Explain.
Answer:
There are many sources that help us to recreate. Bhakti-Sufi Traditions. Ancient philosophical sources, Book traditions, New Writings, Hagiographies, etc. are some of them. In the new sources, mostly we have the compositions of ascetic poets. Most of them came out as oral tradition in the languages spoken by people. They were musical. They were collected after the death of their authors by their disciples or fans.

The leaders of the Bhakti Movements were Azhvars and Nayanars. Azhvars worshipped Vishnu. Nayanars adored Siva. Literature Books talk about 12 Azhvars and 63 Nayanars. They composed their hymns mostly in Tamil and a few in Telugu.

Chishtis also used the regional languages for communication and composition of their hymns. Those who were connected with the Chishti Silsila of Delhi used Hindavi. Baba Farid wrote his hymns in the regional language. In Bijapur in Karnataka, a special type of Sufijtymns was popular. These hymns were written inDakhani, a local variety of Urdu. The Sufi teachers who lived here in the 17^th and 18^th centuries were the writers of these hymns. When grinding grain or weaving, women used to sing these. hymns.

The poems of Kabir are available in many languages and dialects. Some of them are written in ‘Sant Bhasha’. Some of his writings are called ‘Ulat Bansi’. Here ideas are put in a very complicated mariner, probably to show that understanding the ultimate reality is very difficult. Some examples if his mystic experiences are seen in ‘Blooming lotus without flowers’, Tire spreading in the sea’.

To explain the ultimate reality, Kabir used different traditions including the Islamic, Vedanta and Yoga. Using Islamic tradition, he called the Ultimate Reality as Khuda, Hasrat and Pir. From the Vedanta tradition he used words like Alak (who can) be seen), Nirakar (with no body), Brahmam, Atma etc. From the Yoga traditions he used Sabda (noise) and Sunya (Emptiness).

Among the books on God and religion, we see a big variety in language, style and presentation. The simplest writings are those of Basavanna. But the most complicated are the writings called ‘farman’ by the Mughal Emperors who wrote in highly ornamental Persian language.

Question 36.
Describe the coming of Sufism in India, the founding of theSilsiias and their activities.
Answer:
(Areas to be considered: the growth of Sufism, Dinashrams and Silsilas, Language and communication, the attitude towards the nation.) Sufism is a mystic movement that developed within Islam. It is a reformation movement. In the early centuries of Islam, a group. of people known as Sufis founded this group.

They got their inspiration from the Koran and also from the life of Prophet Mohammed. The Khalifa rule was facing ruin at this time. The greed it showed to worldly life and luxury, made many people dislike it. They turned to mysticism and asceticism. They came to be known as Sufis.

By the 11^th century, Sufism became an Organized Movement with Quranic Literature and rituals of its own. Sufis began to assemble around centres called Dinashrams. Sufis and their disciples lived in these ashrams. They also became centres for Sufi spiritualism and activities.

Dinashrams were under a teacher called Shaikh, Pir or Murshid. He enrolled members into the Dinashram. The disciples were known as Murids. The relation between the teacher the disciple was a special feature of Sufism. Each Pir nominated his successor. The Pir also formulated the spiritual activities of the inmates, the relation between the teacher and the disciples, and the relation between the teacher and the common people and such things.

Most Sufi groups are known by the names of their founders. The Khadiri group is known in the name of Shaikh Abdul Jhadir Jilani. But the Chishti groups are known by the place where it originated. Christ is a town in Central Afghanistan. There were among the Sufis who followed the Islamic laws and those who breached them. They are known by different names like Qalandars, Madaris, Malanga and Haidari’s.

Chishtis used the regional languages for communication and composition of their hymns. Those who were connected with the Chishti Silsila of Delhi used Hindavi. Baba Farid wrote his hymns in the regional language. In Bijapurin Karnataka, a special type of Sufi hymns was popular. These hymns were written in Dakhani, a local variety of Urdu. The Sufi teachers who lived here in the 17^th and 18^th centuries were the writers of these hymns. When grinding grain or weaving, women used to sing these hymns.

The poems of Kabir are available in many languages and dialects. Some of them are written in ‘Sant Bhasha’. Some of his writings are called ‘Ulat Bansi’. Here ideas are put in a very complicated manner, l probably to show that understanding the ultimate reality is very difficult. Some examples if his mystic experiences are seen in ‘Blooming lotus without flowers’, ‘fire spreading in the sea’.

You can Download Peasants, Zamindars and the State Questions and Answers, Notes, Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Kerala Chapter 7 help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

Kerala Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 7 Peasants, Zamindars and the State (Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire)

Question 1.
Writer of Ain-i-Akbari.
Answer:
Abul Fasal

Question 2.
What does ‘Muzarian’ mean?
Answer:
Farmers

Question 3.
The king that banned tobacco
Answer:
Jehangir

Question 4.
What does ‘mandal’ mean?
Answer:
Village head

Question 5.
What does ‘jungli’ mean?
Answer:
Forest Dwellers

Question 6.
A forest produce hat was exported to foreign countries?
Answer:
Resin from trees.

Question 7.
Private lands of zamindars.
Answer:
Milkiyat

Question 8.
Head of the revenue department during the Mughal period.
Answer:
Diwan

Question 9.
Who brought mansabdari system?
Answer:
Akbar

Question 10.
The person who translated Ain-i-Akbar.
Answer:
Henry Blockman

Question 11.
Arrange the following incidents in chronological order:
a. The First Battle of Panipat
b. The British exile Bahadur Shah II
c. Reign of Akbar
d. Nadir Shah attacks India
Answer:
a. The First Battle of Panipat
c. Reign of Akbar
d. Nadir Shah attacks India
b. The British exile Bahadur Shah II

Question 12.
What are the four names used in the Indo-Persian sources to indicate farmers?
Answer:
Raiyat, Muzarian, Khud Kashta and Pahi Kashta.

Question 13.
Who are Khud Kashta and Pahi Kashta? What are their differences?
Answer:
Khud Kashta had their own farmlands in the village. They stayed there permanently and did agricultural work. In short, they are permanent dwellers in the village.
Pahi Kashta did not have lands of their own. They did agricultural work on a contract basis. They did not do agricultural work permanently or stay permanently in the village.

Question 14.
Mention the 4 things that helped agricultural growth in the Mughal period.
Answer:

1. Limitless land
2. Availability of plenty of labourers
3. Mobility of the farmers
4. Irrigation facilities

Question 15.
Name two crops that were related to the seasons.
Answer:
Agriculture was done in two seasons – Spring and Autumn. The Spring crops were called Kharif and the Autumn crops were called Rabi.

Question 16
Mention the two important responsibilities the Mandal (Head of the Village) had. Were the Mandals corrupt?
Answer:
The main responsibility of the Village Head was supervising the income and expenditure. A Patwari (accountant) helped him in this duty.
In Eastern India, all marriages were conducted in the presence of the Mandal (Village Head). In other words, he had the responsibility to observe the behaviour of people so that they did not breach the Jati laws.

Mandals often misused their powers. With the help of the Patwari, they often falsified accounts. They showed a lesser income from their property but they charged more from smaller farmers.

Question 17.
There were Jati Panchayats during the Mughal period. What were the things they did?
Answer:
Apart from the Village Panchayat, each Jati had its own ‘Jati Panchayat’. They had considerable authority in the village community. They had the following responsibilities.

• In Rajasthan, they settled civil differences among the members.
• They worked as mediators in land disputes.
• They judged if marriages were conducted as per Jati laws.
• They decided the protocol to be followed at village functions.
• Except in criminal cases, the decisions of the Jati Panchayats were accepted by the government.

Question 18.
What is meant by ‘jins-i-kamil’? Why did the Mughal rulers encourage it?
Answer:
It means perfect crops. It referred to cash crops. Since they brought income to the country, Mughal rulers encouraged farmers of cash crops. The most important jins-i-kamil were cotton and sugar cane. Cotton was cultivated in Central. India and the highlands of Deccan. Bengal was famous for sugar cane. Pulses and oil.seeds like mustard also were considered cash crops. It shows there was mixture of food crops and cash crops in the country.

Question 19.
Going away from the village (Abandoning) was a way of protest in the Mughal period. Explain
Answer:
Often farmers of the Lower castes complained against officials of the government and zamindars. The decision of the Panchayats would depend on the type of case. Where the case was related to excessive tax, Panchayat often suggested some kind of reconciliation between the parties. If the settlement did not come, farmers often protested. Sometimes they went away, abandoning the village. Land lying without cultivation was available everywhere. Moreover, labourers were in great demand. In the circumstances, leaving the village was a good way of protest by farmers.

Question 20.
The agriculturists of the Mughal period were also artisans. Comment.
Answer:
In a village community, it was not easy to distinguish between agriculturists and artisans. People often worked as both. Even agriculturists and their families dyed clothes did embroidery, made earthenwares, made agricultural implements and repaired them. The leisure period between the stages of agriculture – the period between sowing and weeding, between weeding and harvesting, etc. – was used for manufacturing small useful items.

Question 21.
What is Jajmani system? What are its main features?
Answer:
The artisans received their remuneration in different ways. Jajmani was an Indian system of interaction between upper castes and lower castes. It was an economic system where lower castes performed various functions for upper castes and received grain in return. In the Jajmani system, the artisans and owners of the land discuss things and come to an agreement regarding payment. For example, the zamindars in Bengal paid the ironsmiths, carpenters and goldsmiths some money and the remaining in grains.

Question 22.
The activities of the forest dwellers for their livelihood were connected with the seasons. Do you agree with this statement? Do these activities are connected with their mobility?
Answer:
The forest dwellers who earned their living by collecting forest produce, hunting and rotating cultivation were called jungli. All these activities were based on seasons. For example, the Bhills in Uttar Pradesh collected forest produce during Spring. They did fishing in Summer, agriculture in the rainy season and hunting in Autumn. Naturally, they could not – continue living in the same place for long. They moved from place to place to carry on with their various activities. Mobility was an important factor for the Junglis.

Question 23.
Describe two reasons which brought the Zamindars high status.
Answer:
The first reason is Jati. All the Zamindars belonged to the higher caste. The second reason is the services (khidmat) they rendered to the country.

Question 24.
The weaker sections of the society had some ways to acquire the status of Zamindars. What were they?
Answer:
The Zamindars got united in different ways. These include the colonization of new lands, the exchange of land rights, older of the government, and the purchase of the land. Using some of these ways the lower class people could rise to the status of Zamindars. Zamindaris (lands of the zamindai) were often bought and sold.

Question 25.
Although Zamindars were generally exploiters, their relations with the agriculturists were those of mutuality, paternal affection and patronage. Examine the truth of this statement.
Answer:
There is no doubt that the Zamindars were an exploitative tribe. They exploited peasants in different ways. But their relations with the agriculturists were often those of mutuality, paternal affection and patronage. Two things prove this.

• Firstly, we see that the Bhakti ascetics did not show Zamindars as exploitators of persecutors. These ascetics had strongly criticised the discriminatory measures on Jati basis and the tortures and other repressive measures used against the lower classes by the upper classes. They criticized the revenue officials but not the Zamindars. It shows the relation between Zamindars and farmers was good.
• Secondly, in the 17^th century, there were a number of agricultural uprising in North India. Most of them were against the state and not against Zamindars. Sometimes Zamindars got the support of the peasants when they protested against the state.

Question 26.
What do the words ‘Jama’ and ‘Hasil’ show?
Answer:
The first step in the land revenue system is the determination of the amount of tax to be given by the farmer. This amount is called Jama. The collection of the tax is the second stage. Hie amount collected is known as ‘Hasil’.

Question 27.
When was the writing of “Akbar-nama” by Abut Fasal completed? How many books are there? Explain.
Answer:
In 1598, the 42nd year of Akbar’s reign, Akbar-nama v was completed. Ain-i-Akbari is part of the Akbarmama.
Akbarnama has three books; The first two books art historical writing. The first book deals with the Mughal history before Akbar. The second book deals with the rule of Akbar until 1602. Ain-i-Akbari is planned as a collection of royal laws, and a description of the geography of the empire.

Question 28.
How did the coming of external powers influence village life?
Answer:
External powers came into village life. The most important of them was the Mughal power The majority of the income of the Mughal ruler came from agricultural products. Therefore, the agents of the government tried to control the village community. These officials included tax assessors, tax collectors and keepers of records. They made sure that work was going on regularly and taxes were received.

• Village communities were connected with urban centres.
• Farmers produced a lot of things for the market Naturally trade, money and markets came into the village and thus connected them with the cities.

Question 29.
Describe the agricultural technologies and irrigation methods used during the Mughal period.
Answer:
The government gave all kinds of support to farmers for irrigation projects. The government took the responsibility of making canals (Nahr and nala) in North India. Old canals were repaired. It was during Shah Jahan’s reign that the Shahnahar Canal in Punjab was repaired. For irrigation, even well-water was used Water Was drawn from wells using wheel and bullocks. Babar describes the various methods used in irrigating the land in his memoir ‘Babar-nama’. He points out that people used Persian wheel, bucket and rope to get water from the well.

Agriculture depended on the efforts of people, they also used animal power. There were wooden ploughs in use. Using iron ploughshares on wooden ploughs made it easy to make furrows. But the furrows would not be deep dry grounds. There they used drills They spattered the seed by hand – They, also used an iron blade for digging and weeding.

Question 30.
What is Mansabdari system?
Answer:
This was a special feature of the Mughal rule. It was Akbar who put it into operation, It is a system which joined the civil and military positions. Mansab means status or position. The official who got the position of. mansab is called mansabdar. Akbar gave all officials this status. These officials were to keep a certain number of cavalrymen under them. ThusAkbarwas able to combine civil and military duties in an official. Some mansabdars were given money as their salary. But many were assigned lands in place of money. These lands were called jagirs. From these jagirs, the mansabdars could collect taxes equal to the amount of their salary. Mansabdars were frequently transferred.

Question 31.
Assess the role of women in agricultural production.
Answer:
In the agricultural community of the Middle Ages, women played an important role. They worked alongside men in the fields. When men ploughed the land and made furrows, women sowed seeds. Later they weeded, harvested and separated the chaff from the grain.

• In the Middle Ages, in agricultural communities, all human efforts and resources were used for production. Naturally, there was no gender discrimination here.
• Even then women were given some special considerations because of their childbearing nature. In Western India, women who were having their periods were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter’s wheel. In Bengal, menstruating women were not allowed into the betel leaf farms.
• Things, like spinning, making the clay ready for pot making, stitching etc., were mainly done by women. With the commercialization of products, the role of women began to increase. Women worked not only in their homes and fields but also in the households of their employers. Sometimes they even went to the market for selling things.

Question 32.
Land tax was very important in the economic system of the Mughals. Justify the relevance in this statement.
Answer:
The basis of Mughal economy was land. Land tax was the main source of the government’s income. Because of that to ensure that taxes came in, the government appointed a number of officials to assess the land tax and to collect it. The head of the revenue department (Daftar) was Diwan. He supervised the economic system of the Empire. To help the Diwan there was an Amil-Guzar (Revenue Collector) and many other officials. These officials went around the villages to ensure that taxes came to the Treasury. They became a Strong power in formulating agricultural relationships with the government.

Before fixing the tax, the state collected all the information regarding the agricultural lands and their products. There were two stages in the tax system of the Mughals: Fixing Tax and its actual collection. The first step in the land revenue system is the determination of the amount of tax to be given by the farmer. This amount is called Jama. The collection of the tax is the second stage. The amount collected is known as ‘Hasil’.

Farmers could pay their tax in cash or in goods. The government preferred cash. The government had tried to raise the tax to the maximum. But often it could not collect the fixed tax. Regional circumstances often prevented the government from collecting the entire tax.

Question 33.
Write an essay assessing the position women had in the agricultural sector and in society during the Mughal period.
Answer:
In different communities, men and women played some special roles in the field of production. In the agricultural community Of the Middle Ages, women played an important role. They worked alongside men in the fields. When the men ploughed the land and made furrows, the women sowed the seeds. Later they weeded, harvested and separated the chaff from the grain.

In the Middle Ages, in agricultural communities, all human efforts and resources were used for production. Naturally, there was no gender discrimination here.

Even then women were given some special considerations because of their nature. In Western India, women who were having their periods were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter’s wheel. In Bengal, menstruating women were not allowed into the betel leaf, farms.

Things, like spinning, making the clay ready for pot making, stitching etc., were mainly done by women. With the commercialization of products, the role of women began to increase. Women worked not only in their homes and fields but also in the households of their employers. Sometimes they even went to the market for selling things.

Village communities depended on work for their livelihood. There was a need for more hands to work in the fields. As persons who brought forth children, women were seen as an important group. But the death rate among women was high. Lack of nutrition, regular childbirth, death during delivery, etc. were the reasons for their higher death rate. As a result, there was a considerable reduction in the number of married women. In the agricultural and artisan communities, this caused the rise of some special social customs. These customs were different from those practised by the upper classes. In some communities, instead of getting a dowry, men started giving bride-price. Laws also permitted remarriage of widows and divorced women.

Women had this importance of being the sources of producing children. Society was worried if their importance would make society lose control over them. By the established social laws, man was the head of the family. The male members of the family and the community imposed strict laws on women. Women who were suspected of cheating were severely punished.

Women could complain to the Panchayat against the misbehaviour of their husbands. From the documents received from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, we can see complaints of women sent to the Grama Panchayats seeking justice. Women protested against their men’s cheating (marital infidelity). They also complained against the negligence of their husbands towards their wives and children. Infidelity of men was not often punished. But the state and the higher communities tried to bring comfort to their families. Generally, names of the complaining women were not written in the Panchayat records. Instead, the complainant was referred to as the mother of a certain person, his sister or his wife.

The condition of the wives of the landowners was much better. They had the right to get ancestral property. In Punjab, women, including widows, were actively involved in the market to sell the properties they received as heritage. Hindu and Muslim women got zamindaris as hereditary property. They had the freedom to sell them or mortgage them. In the 18^th century, there were a number of known zamindaris in the name of women in Bengal. One of the biggest and most famous zamindaris, Rajshahi, was in the control of a woman.