Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - I - Chapter Kinship, Caste and Class NCERT Solutions | Discuss whether the Mahabharata could ha

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.

Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed.

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta?

This is what a famous historian of Indian literature, Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature ... and contains so much and so many kinds of things, … (it) gives(s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.” Discuss.

The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata, in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger:

Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona ... I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa ... (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Duryodhana and his younger brother ... Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons ... Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman) ... I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, “I hope they are well-protected”... Our daughters-in-law born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters ... The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children, greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless ...

Try and identify the criteria used to make this list – in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.

List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.

Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?

Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.

How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?

Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.

Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.

Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.

How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.

List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.

Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this different from the evidence from Harappan cities?

Discuss the main features of Mauryan administration. Which of these elements are evident in the Asokan inscriptions that you have studied?

Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.

Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.

Why do you think women and men joined the sangha?

Read this short inscription and answer:

In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.

(a) How did Dhanavati date her inscription?
(b) Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?
(c) Who were the relatives she mentioned?
(d) What Buddhist text did she know?
(e) From whom did she learn this text?

How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

This is a statement made by one of the best-known epigraphists of the twentieth century, D.C. Sircar: “There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in inscriptions.” Discuss.

To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?

Look at Fig. 1.30 and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?