NCERT Solutions Class 8 History Chapter 1

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History Chapter 1 – How, When and Where contains the solutions to the exercises given in the History book – Our Pasts-III. NCERT Solutions of the exercises are provided, which will be useful for school exams as they are sourced from the NCERT textbooks. The NCERT Solutions are easy and accurate, which will align the school students’ preparation with the questions asked in the examinations.

To make learning easy and fun, the solutions here are created in an interesting manner to help students grasp the concepts easily. All the textbook questions are answered with the utmost care. Students can refer to these NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History and have a better understanding of the concepts.

Class 8 History Chapter 1 NCERT Solutions

Class 8 History Chapter 1 TEXTBOOK Questions 

Let's recall 

Q.1. State whether true or false : 

(a) James Mill divided Indian history into three periods, Hindu, Muslim, Christian. 

(b) Official documents help us understand what the people of the country think. 

(c) The British thought surveys were important for effective administration. 

Ans.(a) True 

(b) False 

(c) True. 

Let's discuss 

Q.2. What are the problem with the periodisation of Indian history that James Mill offers ? 

Ans. There are many problems with the periodisation of Indian history that James Mill Offers. These problems are :

(1) This periodisation is based on religions That is not appropriate. 

(2) Any era of history cannot be periodised on the basis of religion because all religons coexist at a particular time. 

(3) All rulers of the ancient period did not have faith in the same religion. 

(4) The motive of the periodisation of history on this basis was just to divide the people. 

(5) Mill thought that all the Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe and only British rule could civilize india. 

Q.3. Why did the British preserve official documents ? 

Ans. The British preserved official documents because of the following reasons : 

(1) The British believed that the act of writing was important so that documents could be properly studied and debated upon when needed. 

(2) One can get information about history by studying these preserved documents. 

(3) These preserved documents help in understanding about the social, economical, political conditions of societies in the past. 

(4) The copies of preserved documents may be produced in the present. 

Q.4. How will the information historians get from old newspapers be different from that found in police reports ? 

Ans.We can say this on the following basis : 

(i) Generally, the newspaper reports are true and pragmatic while on the other hand, the police reports may be biased. 

(ii) Newspaper reports tell the fact as it was, while police reports try to manipulate the event. 

(iii) Newspaper reports are authentic and explain the true story of the event with every detail. On the other hand, police reports are written as per the will of the senior officials. These reports are affected by the views and thinking of the reporting police officer. 

Let's do 

Q5. Can you think of examples of surveys in your world today ? Think about how toy companies get information about what young people enjoy playing with or how the government finds out about the number of young people in school. What can a historian derive from such surveys ? 

Ans. Today, various types of surveys are done by both the government and private enterprises. Like as -

Survey by a Toy Company:-

Toy companies get information about what children, enjoy playing with, through various types of surveys. They do this with the help of some questionnaire. They prepare a questionnaire booklet. Their surveyors visit those places where number of children is in a 13pt quantity, like park, school, etc. They distribute these booklets among children and ask them to mark the right or wrong options of their choice. Then they get these booklets back. Afterwards, these booklets are sent to specialists. Specialists obtain data from these booklets and derive their conclusion about the likes or dislikes of children. 

Survey by Government:-

Government conducts census every ten years in which every household gives details of its children. So, government comes to know about the number of young people in school. Also, government asks each and every school to provide them details about the number of children studying in the schools. From such data, historians may get information about preferences, demographic changes, lifestyle, social, economic and, political life, education level, household size, sex ratio, population density, family structure, etc.

Class 8 History Chapter 1 Intext Questions 

Q.1. Look carefully at figure 1 (textbook page 1) and write a paragraph explaining how this image projects and imperial perception.

Ans.  Figure 1 produced by Rennel, depicts that the brahmins Indians are handing over their ancient text to Britannia the symbol of British power this picture suggests that Indians are asking the British to become the protectors of India and to take care of India and its people. So, This image projects and imperial perception because of Britannia.

Q.2. Look at source 1 and 2. Do you find any different in the nature of reporting? Explain what you observe.?

Ans. Yes, there seems a clear cut difference in the nature of both the reporting. These are : 

Source 1: This report is given by the director of intelligence. In this report, the government official is detailing the actions taken against the mutineers. This report does not disclose the reasons why this situation had arisen. Neither this report tells about the views of the mutineers. 

Source 2: This report is an illustration from a newspaper. It describes why police have staged a strike, where the strike has been staged and how. This report is more realistic as it is an example of neutral reporting by media. This report discloses the evil tendency of the government against the colonised. 

Q.3. Imagine that you are a historian wanting to find out about how agriculture changed in a remote tribal area after independence : List the different ways in which you would find information on this. 

Ans. To gather information about the changes in agriculture in a remote tribal area after independence, we can follow different ways: 

(1) Manuscripts, 

(2) Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, etc., 

(3) Official documents and letters, 

(4) National archives and Museums, 

(5) Surveys, 

(6) Personal interview with elderly tribal people.

Practice Time (Based on Student Advisor Textbook) 

(A) Tick the correct answers : 

1. Indian historians divided Indian history

into .................... parts. 

(a) 2 

(b) 5

(c) 3

2...... is a process by which a central system of power dominates the surrounding land and its components. 

(a) Colonization 

(b) Periodisation

(c) National Archives 

3. The British felt all important ............. needed to be preserved.

(a) Kings and kingdoms 

(b) Rules and regulations

(c) Letter and documents 

Ans. 1.(C) 

2.(a) 

3.(c) 

(B) Fill in the blanks: 

1. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in the year.......... 

2. History is certainly about..........that occur over time. 

3. Census operations were held every......years. 

4. British established specialised institutions like.............and ..........preserve important records. 

5. The Imperial Record Department was set up on 11 March 1891 in ....... 

Ans. 1. 1804

2. events

3. ten

4. museums, archives, 

5. Calcutta (Kolkata) 

(C) Write true or false : 

1. Dates in history are not linked to events. 

2. James Mill divided Indian history into three periods - Hindu, Muslim, Christian. 

3. The practice of surveying also became common under the colonial administration. 

4. Official documents help us understand about the country administration. 

5. The British thought surveys were important for effective administration. 

Ans. 1. False, 2. False, 3. True, 4. True, 5. True 

(D) Match the columns :

                A                              B

1. Richard Trevithick      (a) Periodisation of Indian history 

2. James Mill                  (b) Political reforms in India 

3. Rowlatt Act                (c) M.K. Gandhi-B.R. Ambedkar 

4. Simon Commission   (d) Invention of train 

5. Poona Pact                 (e) Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre 

Ans. 1. -(d), 2. - (a), 3.-(e), 4. - (b), 5.-(c) 

(E) Answer these questions in 1-2 lines each: 

Q.1. What do you mean by history? 

Ans. History is the study of the past and a record of past events.

Q.2. Who was James Mill? 

Ans. James Mill was a Scottish philosopher, historian and economist.

Q.3. What did James Mill think about all Asian societies? 

Ans. James Mill had a colonial mindset and he thought all the Asians to be poorly civilized. 

Q.4. How have historians divided Indian history? 

Ans. Historians have divided Indian history into ancient, medieval and modern period. 

Q.5. What do you mean by the term 'colonisation'? 

Ans. Colonisation is a process by which a central system of power dominates the surrounding land and its components. 

Q.6. Mention the events for which specific dates can be determined. 

Ans. Specific dates can be determined for the time when a king ruled a particular kingdom, the time when he became a king or fought a war or when a particular invention took place. 

(F) Answer these questions in 4-5 lines each : 

Q.1. Why are dates important? 

Ans. Dates serve to mark periods in history and act as milestone. They tell us about the events, incidents and different developments which took place. Dates tell us when a king ascended his throne, the time period for which he ruled and the time when he was involved in war. They also act as a landmark due to their long term period. Through dates, we compare the past with the present. We come to know about the inventions and developments which take place in human society. We study dates to find out the sequence of events and their significance. Dates also help to establish relationship between various events. Through dates, we come to know during struggle for independence how events took place one after the other. 

Q.2. What Periodisation was done by James Mill? Why were Indian Historians against this? 

Ans. James Mill divided Indian history into Hindu, Muslim and British period. This Periodisation is based on the religious line that Social Science 899 there was a phase when a particular community ruled upon other communities. Firstly, there was the rule of the Hindus, followed by the Muslims and the British However, various historians found James Mill's division on the basis of religion incorrect because in fact through such division James Mill tried to divide people with their own specific identity which was not right. 

Q.3. What do you understand by Periodisation in history? 

Ans. Periodisation is the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time. This is usually done in order to facilitate the study and analysis of history, understanding current and historical processes, and casualties that might have linked to those events. To the extent that history is continuous and all the systems of periodisation are arbitrary, there are significant sources to study the periods of events and by studying different historical evidences, á string of time periods can be formed. 

Q.4. Why did British conduct surveys in India? 

Ans. The British conducted surveys for the purpose of effective administration. These surveys help the historians to collect information about modern India. Botanical, zoological, archaeological and anthropological surveys were there in the list of British administration. 

Q.5. Why were records maintained? How were they maintained? 

Ans. Maintenance of records was needed for proper study and debate on various issues. So, the British carefully preserved all the official records and created several museums and archives for this purpose. There were different levels of care for the records and a "Keeper" of East India Company records was appointed in 1771 with the mission of arranging current records and preserving historical records. Towards the end of the East India Company's governance in India, many documents were sent to London and were incorporated into records.

Chapter Summary 

History is certainly about changes that occur over time. It is about finding out how things were in the past and how things have changed. 

History was an account of battles and big events. It was about rulers and their policies. 

In present, historians have started to write about other various issues. They write about how people earned their livelihood, what they produced and ate, how kingdoms were formed, how cities and markets developed, how society and cultures changed and how new ideas spread. 

In 1817, James Mill wrote a book named 'A History of British India'. In this three-volume book, he divided Indian History into three periods, Hindu, Muslim and British. 

Mill thought that all Asian societies were at a lower level of civilization than Europe.

Historians have divided Indian history into three periods, ancient, medieval and modern.

Many historians refer to modern period as 'colonial'.

In the nineteenth century, all important documents were carefully copied down by calligraphists. 

Census operations were held every ten years. 

Many other surveys were also conducted under the colonial administration. There are many other sources of history such as- diaries of people, accounts of pilgrims and travellers, autobiographies of important personalities and popular booklets.

Important Terms 

Historian : A person who specializes in the study of history and writes books and articles about it. 

Governor-General : A person who is sent to a former British colony as the Chi representative of Britain. 

Viceroy : A person who ruled a colony on behalf of his king, queen or government. 

Chronology : A series of past events in the order in which they happened. 

Periodisation : A particular length of time in history. 

Archive : A place where records are stored. 

Census : An official survey of the population of a country.