Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 3 Kinship, Caste and Class

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Kerala Plus Two History Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 3 Kinship, Caste and Class (Early Societies)

Question 1.
Who prepared the critical edition of Mahabharata?
Answer:
V.S. Sukthanker

Question 2.
Which is the most important book in Dharmasutra (Dharmasatra)?
Answer:
Manusmriti

Question 3.
What is the mode of traditional love marriage?
Answer:
Gandharva Marriage.

Question 4.
Which is the Veda in which ‘Purushasuktam’ is found?
Answer:
Rigveda

Question 5.
Who was the archaeologist that made excavations based on Mahabharata?
Answer:
B.B. Lai

Question 6.
Who is the author of “Kunti O Nishadi”?
Answer:
Masheshwata Devi

Question 7.
What does‘Kulam” indicate?
Answer:
Families

Question 8.
Who is the god of war and rain?
Answer:
Indra

Question 9.
Marriage in the same unit is called:
Answer:
‘Swagana’ marriage.

Question 10.
From where did the Sakas come to India?
Answer:
Central Asia

Question 11.
Match the items in column Awith those in Column B.

A	B
Mahabharata	Polyandry
Dharmasutras	Sutans
Suthapidaka	A chain of relatives
Draupati	Manusmriti

Answer:

A	B
Mahabharata	a chain of relatives
Dharmasutras	Manusmriti
SuttaPitaka	Sutans
Draupati	Polyandry

Question 12.
What is Mahabharata? Write a note.
Answer:
It is the longest epic in the world. It has more than one lakh slokas. This is the richest book in the Indian subcontinent. It took nearly a thousand years to write it, starting from 500 BC.
The central theme of Mahabharata is the conflict between Kauravas and Pandavas. This book talks about a number of social classes and their rules and regulations. The main characters of the story followed these rules as heeded. Any moving away (deviation) from these rules created conflicts.

Question 13.
What are the differences between ‘swagana’ marriage and ‘anyagana’ marriage?
Answer:
Swagana marriage means marrying within one’s own gana or group. This can be relatives, classes or castes and people living in the same place.
Anyagana marriage shows it is a marriage outside one’s gana-group.

Question 14.
How did clans (family groups) come into existence?
Answer:
Right from 1000 BC, the Brahmins began to divide people into clans or classes. Each clan was given a name of a Vedacharya. Members of that clan were considered his followers. There were two important rules regarding the clans:

A woman leaves the clan of her father and accepts the clan of her husband.
Members of one clan, can’t marry members of the same clan.

The Brahmin laws regarding the clans were not obeyed by all people. Rulers like the powerful Satavahanas, who ruled parts of Western India between 2^nd century BC and 2^nd century AD, did not follow the Brahmin laws. The wives of the Satavahana kings retained their fathers’ clan name. The clan names like ‘Gautama’, Vasishta’, etc. were of their fathers.

Question 15.
Describe the patriarchal order.
Answer:
From 6 century BC, most Indian Dynasties followed the patriarchal system. It was a male-dominant system. After the death of the father, only the sons were entitled to his property. If the father was a king, the right to the crown belonged to the sons. This patriarchal system played a big role in marriage.

Question 16.
To enforce the Caste System the Brahmins used some strategies. Explain.
Answer:
By the end of the Vedic period, the Caste system became very strict. Brahmins used the caste system to ensure their supremacy in society. They claimed that this system was divinely ordained. The divine origin of the caste system was emphasized in the Dharmasastra also.

The highest position in the caste system was given to Brahmins by the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras. The untouchables were placed at the bottom of the ladder.
The caste of a person was based on birth.

The Brahmins did all they could to make people follow the caste system. They formulated three techniques,

They propagated that the caste system is ordained by god.
They asked the kings to strictly enforce this system in their countries.
They tried to convince people that one’s class and caste are decided by birth.

Question 17.
What were the duties of Chandalas?
Answer:
Manusmriti has detailed the duties of the Chandalas. They should live outside the village. They can use only the discarded pots and pans. They should wear ornaments made of iron and clothes of the dead. They could not walk in the towns and villages at night. It was their duty to dispose of the dead bodies of those who had no relatives. They also had to work as executioners.

Question 18.
Who is the real author of Mahabharata? Assess the various viewpoints.
Answer:
One of the responsibilities of the scholars was the preparation of a critical edition of Mahabharata. This hugely challenging scheme was accepted by the handarkar Oriental Research Institute. This scheme began in 1919 under the leadership of the Sanskrit scholar V.S. Sukthanker. Dozens of scholars took part in this s big scheme. The work went on in good order, strictly following the scientific method.

Before embarking on this project, the scholars under Sukthanker collected as many manuscripts as they could get from different parts of India. After that, they compared the slokas in different manuscripts. They then chose the common slokas found in all versions. Then they published them in different volumes running into more than 13,000 pages. It took them 47 years to complete this task. Two things became clear from this project.

First of all, there were common features in the Sanskrit version of the story. There are evidences for this from the manuscripts collected from all over India, from Kashmir and Nepal in the North and Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the South. The second thing is that there were regional variations in the story. This happened centuries ago and the books became popular. All these differences are shown as footnotes and appendices, in the main book.

More than half of the entire book is devoted to these differences. The social history of India is made up of some very complex processes. We are to understand these processes from the Sanskrit books written by Brahmins. It was the historians of the 19^th and 20^th centuries that looked into the problems of social history. Therefore they took these books on their face value. Later the scholars also began to study the books written in Prakrit and Tamil.

It is the ideas in the Sanskrit books that are generally approved as authentic. But sometimes they have been questioned or rejected. When we consider how the social history was reconstructed, we should also remember that there were many differences even among scholars.

Question 19.
What are the exceptions of the patriarchal system?
Answer:
There were some exceptions and differences to the patriarchal system. If a family did not have male children, the brothers of the king would have the right to the crown. In some circumstances, other relatives also claimed the crown. On very rare occasions even women claimed authority and property as in the case of Prabhavati Gupta.

The patriarchal system did not limit itself to royal families.
Brahmins, people in high positions and rich people also followed this system.

Question 20.
According to Manusmriti, who are the heirs to the property of the dead father?
Answer:
Manusmriti says that the paternal property should be divided among the sons after the death of the parents. He said that the eldest son should be given a bigger share. But female children had no right to these properties. However, women were allowed to keep the gifts they received at the time of their wedding.

Later such gifts went to their children. Husbands had no right over these things. At the same time, women were not allowed to keep family property or expensive items without the knowledge of their husbands.

Manusmriti says that there are 7 ways for men to earn wealth: hereditary property, property that one makes, property that is bought, confiscated property, deposits, profession and property received from benefactors. Six ways are suggested for women to earn wealth, wealth received through pledge by fire, wealth received through marriage, wealth received because of affection, wealth got from father, mother or brother, wealth got as gifts, and the riches given by the loving husband.

Question 21.
What is meant by Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras? Who upholds them?
Answer:
With the coming of the new towns and cities, social life became more complex. People from far and near began to come to the urban centres to sell their products and get their needs. It also gave the people an opportunity to exchange ideas. Then they started questioning the old faiths and rituals. To face these challenges, the Brahmins formulated a code of conduct.

The rules that people had to keep in their day-to-day life were included in this code. These rules were to be rigidly observed by the common people, but only less rigidly by Brahmins. From 500 BC, these rules were published as Sanskrit books. They were known as Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras.

Question 22.
Who was Gandhari? What advice did she give Duryodhana?
Answer:
Gandhari was the mother of Kauravas. Duryodhana was her eldest son. The Mahabharata talks about the advice given by Gandhari to Duryodhana when the battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas became certain. She advised him to establish peace between the two groups.

This is what she said: “By establishing peace, you will be showing your” obedience to your father, me and your benefactors. It is the wise man who can control his senses that will guide his country.

Greed and anger takes a person away from his achievements. A king that can defeat these two enemies can conquer the entire world. My son, enjoy this earth with the Pandavas who are wise and fit to be leaders. War does not bring any good, morality or profit. Don’t prepare your mind for war.”

Question 23.
Explain the relation between the Satavahana rulers and the status of women.
Answer:
Names of many kings belonging to different generations of Satavahanas have been found on the stone inscriptions. The Satavahana kings used the title king and the word ‘Putra’ at the end of their names. Putra is a word in Prakrit language, it means son. Gautami-Putra means the son of Gautami. The names ‘Gautami’ and ‘Vasati’ are the feminine forms of the ’ tribes ‘Gotame’ and ‘Vasishta’which were named by the Vedacharyas.

Question 24.
What is the meaning of the word ‘Vanik’ mentioned in Sanskrit books? Were they merely Vaisyas?
Answer:
Vanik was the word used in Sanskrit books and inscriptions to mean traders. According to the Sastras, trading is the profession of the Vaisyas. But in the plays like Mrichhakadikam (written the 4itl century AD) by Sudrakan, some highly complex situations are seen.

Charudattan, who is the hero of the play, is shown both as a Brahmin and also a trader. In one inscription belonging to the 5th century, it is shown that two brothers, shown as Kshatriya- Vanikar, giving a donation for the building of a temple.

Question 25.
Who are called Chandalas by the Brahmins?
Answer:
Brahmins considered certain tasks as impure. Burying the dead bodies of both people and animals was considered such a task. People who did this kind of work we’re called Chandalas. They were at the bottom of the caste ladder. The upper caste people believed that even seeing such people made them impure.

Question 26.
The stories of Mahabharata are divided into two groups by historians. Was the division very strict? Explain.
Answer:
The contents of Mahabharata have been usually grouped by historians into two parts – narrative arid didactic. In the narrative part, there are stories. In the didactic part, there are suggestions regarding social rules and regulations.

This is not a very strict division. Even in the didactic portion, there are stories. In the same way, there are suggestions in the portion of stories. Whatever be the case, historians agree that Mahabharata is a dramatic and touching story. They feel that the didactic part was added to the Mahabharata during the post-Mauryan period.

Question 27.
Discuss the differences between Varna and Jati.
Answer:
The Brahmin books speak about the social divisions called Jati. According to the thinking of Brahmins, birth is the basis for Jati, just like it is the basis for caste. There are only 4 Varnas. But the number of Jatis has no limit. Whenever the Brahmin chiefs met new groups which did not fit in with the 4 Varnas, they considered them as Jatis.

For example, they categorized the Nishadas living in the forests and the goldsmiths (Suvamakarar) as Jatis, as they were not fitting into the Varna System.

Question 28.
Property rights were decided by gender. Explain.
Answer:
It was gender the decided property rights. Evidence for this is available from a sub-story in the Mahabharata. There was constant rivalry between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. With the intention of cheating the Pandavas, Duryodhana invited Yudhishtira for a game of dice.

In the game, Dharmaputra mortgaged gold, elephants, chariots, slaves, army, treasury, country, the wealth of the subjects, brothers arid even himself. He lost all these. Finally, he even pledged his wife Panchali to continue with the game. This part of the story makes the importance of gender in matters of property.

Question 29.
“Not all families are alike.” Evaluate this statement.
Answer:
Family is the basic unit of the society. But not all families are alike. They differ in the number of members or size, mutual relations, and the different kinds of work they do and their responsibilities. The members of the family share their food and other facilities.

They live together and work together and follow certain rituals. Families are part of a large chain that is referred to as kinfolk. Relations in the family are natural and based on blood. In some communities, cousins are considered to be related by blood. But some others don’t think so.

Question 30.
What is special about Hastjnapur?
Answer:
In the first section of Mahabharata, Hastinapur is equated with the city of Devendra. This city was like a sea. There were hundreds of tall palatial buildings with their intricate gates and archways and plenty of small towers. The clouds hovered above them giving them a heavenly glow which made the city look like the city of Devendra.

Question 31.
According to the Sastras, only Kshatriyas could become kings. Do you think this rule was always kept? Justify your answer.
Answer:
According to the Sastras, only Kshatriyas could become kings. But many important dynasties did not belong to the class of Kshatriyas.

The Mauryas were not Kshatriyas. The Brahmin books consider them to be people belonging to. a lower class. Modern historians believe that the Mauryas were Vaisyas.
Sungas and Kannuas were Brahmins.
The Sakas that came from Central Asia were considered uncultured by the Brahmins.
Satavahana Kings claimed they were Brahmins: The most famous Satavahana King, Gautami Putra Satakarni called himself ‘Eka-Brahmin’ He also claimed to be the one who destroyed the pride of the Kshatriyas.

Question 32.
People who did not accept the ideas of the Brahmins were branded as uncultured and equal to animals. Critically evaluate this statement.
Answer:
There were many people in the society who did not accept the ideas of the Brahmins. Sanskrit books speak of these people, who were outside the circle of Brahmin influences, as uncultured, evil and equal to animals.

Forest dwellers, hunters, Nishadas, wandering shepherds, etc. were in this category.
People who could not speak Sanskrit were branded uncultured. They were looked upon with contempt. In spite of the mistreatment given to them, these people mutually shared their ideas and beliefs.
In some Mahabharata stories, the character of their relations can be seen clearly.

Question 33.
Through one legend in Sutta Pitaka, the social contract theory is explained. Describe the essence of this theory and evaluate its importance.
Answer:
Sutta Pitaka is a Buddhist book. There is a legend here. It says that man did not have a body that was full in shape. In the same way, the flora also had not developed completely. All the people lived in peace. They were happy and contented. They took only what they wanted from Nature. In short, it was an ideal society. But this state of things did not last long. Slowly it began to crack up: People became greedy, vengeful and deceitful.

This caused fights in the society. In this condition, people thought of electing an able person who could establish peace and drive away the mischief-makers. Since he was chosen by all the people, he was called Mahasamanthan. This theory has many levels of meaning:

It shows that kingship is something made by man. It came from a social contract According to that the king agreed to serve people. In return for his services, people agreed to give him taxes.
It acknowledges the act that people have a role in creating economic and social relations among men and in institutionalizing them.
It shows that since people created the system, they also have a right to change it when feel like changing it.

Question 34.
Archaeologist B.B. Lalmade extensive researches to find out the convergence between Mahabharata and real history. Give your views on the researches.
Answer:
In the Mahabharata, there are lively descriptions about the battles, forests, palaces, settlements and so on. Many historians have tried to find out the historicity of these descriptions. They are trying to find out how far the descriptions in Mahabharata are true to reality.

In 1951-52, B.B. Lal, a famous archaeologist, made extensive excavations in Hastinapur of Meerut in U.P. He tried to find out if this city is the same as the one mentioned in Mahabharata.

There is similarity in the name. Lai made excavations in the upper part of the Gangetic plain, where the country called Kuru was located. The Hastinapur mentioned in Mahabharata might have been the capital of the Kurus.

B.B. Lai found evidence of 6 levels of living houses (settlements) there. The 2^nd and 3^rd levels are especially important. The period of the 2^nd level settlement is from 12^th to 7^th century BC. Remains of houses have been found here. The walls were made of bamboos, covered with mud paste.

The period of the 3^rd level settlement is from the 6^th to 3^rdcentury BC. Lai found that the houses of this period were built with clay bricks and baked blocks. He also noticed the remains of drainages.

The findings of Lai do not conform to the descriptions of Hastinapur in Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, the city is described as a great city with hundreds of multiple story buildings and towers. The age described in the Itihasa is the same as that of the second level settlement. But here there are no indications of any big structure.

Therefore, historians think that the description of the city of Hastinapur in Mahabharata might have been added at a later date. There are also people who believe that the description came from somebody’s fertile imagination. They point out that there is no evidence to prove the description of Hastinapur as found in the Mahabharata.

Question 35.
“The growth of Mahabharata did not stop with the Sanskrit edition.” Justify this statement.
Answer:
The main feature of Mahabharata is its energy or vitality. With the writing of the Sanskrit edition, the growth did not stop. Different editions of the Itihasa have been written in different languages over centuries. Some special stories that originated or were popular among the local people also became part of the Itihasa.

Even the main plot of the Itihasa was restructured in many places. Many of the incidents in the Itihasa were depicted in statues and pictures, It gave themes to many performing arts like drama and dance.

The main story of the Mahabharata was rewritten by many writers in their works. ‘Yayati’ by V.S. Khandekar, ‘Randamoozham’by M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Kunti and Nishadin’by Maheshwata Devi are the chief among them. Maheshwata Devi is a famous Bengali writer.

She has received many awards including ‘Jnanapidom’. She is a famous writer who is known for raising her voice against exploitations of all kinds. From the main story in the Mahabharata, she made some parallel stories. She answered many questions that Mahabharata kept silent about.

Question 36.
Eight types of marriages are mentioned in the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras. Which are they and what are their special features?
Answer:

Brahma Marriage – In this type, the adorned bride is given in marriage to a wise, gentlemanly bridegroom.
Prajapatya Marriage – Here the father gives his daughter in marriage without any dowry. This is an altered version of Brahma marriage.
Arsha Marriage – Here the father of the girl gives his daughter to the bridegroom from whom he gets a pair of bulls or cows.
Daiva Marriage-Here the bridegroom is a priest.
Asura Marriage – Here the bridegroom gives the bride price to the.father of the bride for getting the girl married to him.
Gandharva Marriage – This is love marriage in the traditional way.
Rakshasa Marriage – The bride is kidnapped from her house and then she is given to the bridegroom.
Paisacha Marriage – This was very rare. Here the man molests the girl and since she has lost her virginity she is forced to marry the molester.

Question 37.
What was the reason for the existence of polyandry?
Answer:
Because of frequent wars, there was a shortage of men, as many rru&i died during wars. There were many more women than men. Polyandry was the result of such a crisis. Early sources make it very clear that polyandry was not a widespread practice.

Question 38.
There are rules regarding the 4 Vamas (Classes) and about their work in the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras. Describe them based on the Purushasuktam.
Answer:
The Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras specify the kind of work the 4 classes have to do.

The Brahmins were to learn and teach Vedas, perform Yagas and give and receive alms.
The Kshatriyas were to fight in wars, protect people, ensure justice, learn Vedas, get Yagas done and give alms.
The Vaisyas were also to learn Vedas, get Yagas done and give alms. In addition, they were to practice agriculture, do trading, and keep sheep.
The Sudras were to do only one thing – serve the other 3 Classes.

Question 39.
“The Mahabharata is a highly energetic book.” Based on this statement, prepare an essay about Mahabharata.
Answer:
When talking about books, historians take certain aspects into consideration.

Their language, whether it is in Pali, Prakrit, Tamil or Sanskrit.
Their genre – Are they mantras or stories?
Their authors, their viewpoints, the ideas that prompted them to write the book.
Their intended readers. Writers write books keeping in view the interests of their intended readers.
Their time and place of publication.

Only after looking into these things, the historians assess the contents of the books and their historical importance. It is a difficult task. In the case of a complicated book like Mahabharata, their task becomes all the more difficult.

Language and Content of Mahabharata: It is available in many languages. The Sanskrit of Mahabharata is simpler than that of the Vedas and Prasashtis for example, the Allahabad Prasashti. That is why many people could read and understand Mahabharata. Its simple language made it more popular.

The contents are divided into two – narrative and didactic. In the narrative part, there are stories. In the didactic part, there are suggestions on social rules and regulations. The division is not very strict, as they overlap. Whatever be the case, Mahabharata is a fine story. It is believed that the didactic part was added after the Maurya period.

Mahabharata is qualified as an Itihasa of the early Sanskrit literature. Itihasa means ‘It – hasa’ -“Thus It Was”. That is why it is considered history. The biggest event in the Mahabharata is the Battle of Kurukshetra. Among historians, there are differing views about this Battle.

Some say it was a real fight between relatives. But there are people who think there was never such a battle. There is no proof at all about such a battle.

Authors and Dates: Historians differ in these. Traditionally, some people think Vyasa Maharshi wrote it. But modem historians think it was written by different writers. Initially, in Mahabharata there were only less than 10,000 slokas. But it grew into a huge book with more 100,000 slokas.

It is not possible for a single person to write such a huge book. It is also believed that it was written at different periods.The original story of Mahabharata was made by a group of poets, known as ‘Sutas’.

These Sutas accompanied the Khastriyas into the battlegrounds and sang about the exploits and victories of the soldiers. These stories orally passed from generation to generation. It is believed that the writing of Mahabharata began in the 5^thcentury BC. The Brahmins took the initiative for this. They collected orally transmitted stories and wrote them down.

The chiefdoms called Kuru and Panchalam (the story of Mahabharata is about these) were becoming independent countries then. The kings must have wanted their history to be properly recorded. These new countries had to fight a lot of battles. Those – battles also must have found their way into the main plot.

The period from 2^nd century BC to 2^nd century AD was another important stage in the writing of Mahabharata. It was a time when the adoration of Vishnu was getting popular. Krishna who is an important character in Mahabharata is known as an ‘avatar’ of Vishnu.

Between the 2^nd and 4^th century AD, didactic sections closely resembling Manusmriti were added to Mahabharata. Thus it grew into a book of 100,000 slokas. The search for Convergence: In the Mahabharata, there are lively descriptions about the battles, forests, palaces, settlements and so on. Many historians have tried to find out the historicity of these descriptions. They were trying to find out how far the descriptions in Mahabharata are true to reality.

In 1951-52, B.B. Lai, a famous archaeologist, made extensive excavations in Hastinapur of Meerut in U.P. He tried to find out if this city is the same as the one mentioned in Mahabharata. There is similarity in the name. Lai made excavations in the upper part of the Gangetic plain, where the country called Kuru was located. The Hastinapur mentioned in Mahabharata might have been the capital of the Kurus.
B.B. Lai found evidence of 6 levels of living houses (settlements) there.

The 2^nd and 3^rd levels are especially important. The period of the 2^ndlevel settlement is from 12^th to 7^th century BC. Remains of houses have been found here. The walls were made of bamboos, covered with mud paste, The period of the 3^rd level settlement is from the 6^th to 3^rd century BC. Lai found that the houses of this period were built with clay bricks and baked blocks. He also noticed the remains of drainages.