CBSE Class 12 Security Question Paper 2018 with Answer Key (March 8)

CBSE CLASS XII Questions

• 1.

  What the sepoys thought

  This is one of the arzis (petition or application) of rebel sepoys that have survived:

  A century ago the British arrived in Hindostan and gradually entertained troops in their service, and became masters of every state. Our forefathers have always served them, and we also entered their service … By the mercy of God and with our assistance the British also conquered every place they liked, in which thousands of us, Hindostani men were sacrificed, but we never made any excuses or pretences nor revolted …

  But in the year eighteen fifty seven the British issued an order that new cartridges and muskets which had arrived from England were to be issued; in the former of which the fats of cows and pigs were mixed; and also that atta of wheat mixed with powdered bones was to be eaten; and even distributed them in every Regiment of infantry, cavalry and artillery …

  They gave these cartridges to the sowars (mounted soldiers) of the 3^rd Light Cavalry, and ordered them to bite them; the troopers objected to it, and said that they would never bite them, for if they did, their religion and faith would be destroyed … upon this the British officers paraded the men of the 3 Regiments and having prepared 1,400 English soldiers, and other Battalions of European troops and Horse Artillery, surrounded them, and placing six guns before each of the infantry regiments, loaded the guns with grape and made 84 new troopers prisoners, and put them in jail with irons on them … The reason that the sowars of the Cantonment were put into jail was that we should be frightened into biting the new cartridges. On this account we and all our country-men having united together, have fought the British for the preservation of our faith … we have been compelled to make war for two years and the Rajahs and Chiefs who are with us in faith and religion, are still so, and have undergone all sorts of trouble; we have fought for two years in order that our faith and religion may not be polluted. If the religion of a Hindoo or Mussalman is lost, what remains in the world?

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• 2.

  (For Visually Impaired Candidates)
  Name any two important capitals of the early states.
  Name one area which was under the rule of Aurangzeb.
  me the capital of Vijayagara Empire.
  Mention any two main centres of Indian tiol Movement.
  

  View Solution

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• 3.

  How Silver Came to India
  This excerpt from Giovanni Careri’s account (based on Bernier’s account) gives an idea of the enormous amount of wealth that found its way into the Mughal Empire : 
  That the Reader may form some idea of the Wealth of this (Mughal) Empire, he is to observe that all the Gold and Silver, which circulates throughout the World at last Centres here. It is well known that as much of it comes out of America, after running through several Kingdoms of Europe, goes partly into Turky (Turkey), for several sorts of Commodities; and part into Persia, by the way of Smirna for Silk. Now the Turks not being able to abstain from Coffee, which comes from Hyeman (Oman), and Arabia ... nor Persia, Arabia, and the Turks themselves to go without the commodities of India, send vast quantities of Mony (money) to Moka (Mocha) on the Red Sea, near Babel Mandel; to Bassora (Basra) at the bottom of the Persian Gulgh (Gulf); ... which is afterwards sent over in Ships to Indostan (Hindustan). Besides the Indian, Dutch, English, and Portuguese Ships, that every Year carry the Commodities of Indostan to Pegu, Tanasserri (parts of Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Ceylon (Sri Lanka) ... the Maldive Islands, Mozambique and other Places, must of necessity convey much Gold and Silver thither, from those Countries. All that the Dutch fetch from the Mines in Japan, sooner or later, goes to Indostan; and the goods carry’d hence into Europe, whether to France, England, or Portugal, are all purchas’d for ready Mony, which remains there.

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• 4.

  Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:
  
  A demon ?
  This is an excerpt from a poem by Karaikkal Ammaiyar in which she describes herself :
  The female Pey (demoness)
  with … bulging veins,
  protruding eyes, white teeth and shrunken stomach,
  red haired and jutting teeth
  lengthy shins extending till the ankles,
  shouts and wails
  while wandering in the forest.
  This is the forest of Alankatu,
  which is the home of our father (Shiva)
  who dances … with his matted hair
  thrown in all eight directions, and with cool limbs.
  

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• 5.

  Trade between the hill tribes and the plains, c. 1595

  This is how Abu’l Fazl describes the transactions between the hill tribes and the plains in the suba of Awadh (part of present-day Uttar Pradesh):

  From the northern mountains quantities of goods are carried on the backs of men, of stout ponies and of goats, such as gold, copper, lead, musk, tails of the kutas cow (the yak), honey, chuk (an acid composed of orange juice and lemon boiled together), pomegranate seed, ginger, long pepper, majith (a plant producing a red dye) root, borax, zedoary (a root resembling turmeric), wax, woollen stuffs, wooden ware, hawks, falcons, black falcons, merlins (a kind of bird), and other articles. In exchange they carry back white and coloured clothes, amber, salt, asafoetida, ornaments, glass and earthen ware.

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• 6.

  How Buddhist texts were prepared and preserved

  The Buddha (and other teachers) taught orally – through discussion and debate. Men and women (perhaps children as well) attended these discourses and discussed what they heard. None of the Buddha’s speeches were written down during his lifetime. After his death (c. fifth-fourth century BCE) his teachings were compiled by his disciples at a council of “elders” or senior monks at Vesali (Pali for Vaishali in present-day Bihar). These compilations were known as Tipitaka – literally, three baskets to hold different types of texts. They were first transmitted orally and then written and classified according to length as well as subject matter.

  The Vinaya Pitaka included rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha or monastic order; the Buddha’s teachings were included in the Sutta Pitaka; and the Abhidhamma Pitaka dealt with philosophical matters. Each pitaka comprised a number of individual texts. Later, commentaries were written on these texts by Buddhist scholars.

  As Buddhism travelled to new regions such as Sri Lanka, other texts such as the Dipavamsa (literally, the chronicle of the island) and Mahavamsa (the great chronicle) were written, containing regional histories of Buddhism. Many of these works contained biographies of the Buddha. Some of the oldest texts are in Pali, while later compositions are in Sanskrit.

  When Buddhism spread to East Asia, pilgrims such as Fa Xian and Xuan Zang travelled all the way from China to India in search of texts. These they took back to their own country, where they were translated by scholars. Indian Buddhist teachers also travelled to faraway places, carrying texts to disseminate the teachings of the Buddha.

  Buddhist texts were preserved in manuscripts for several centuries in monasteries in different parts of Asia. Modern translations have been prepared from Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan texts.