mcq modern indian history

  Multiple Choice Questions Modern History of India [ Part - A ] ⦿ Part - B  ☞ Click Now Answer ❏  Short Introduction:  In ancient Egypt, ...

 

Multiple Choice Questions Modern History of India

[ Part - A ]

⦿ Part - B 

☞ Click Now Answer

❏ Short Introduction: In ancient Egypt, the people were differentiated into easily distinguishable classes: a leisure class, forming the upper stratum, and a slave class, making up the lower stratum. It
was possible for an individual to pass from the lower to the other, even as high as the priesthood, and to a leading government position. The Slave economy permitted the building of pyramids, palaces, irrigation projects, etc. The cultivation of land was assigned to the slaves.

The slaves formed the lowest social division in Babylonian society. They were treated as personal property. In ancient Greek society, the slaves formed an indispensable element. They were called Helots, in Sparta, one of the two most important city-states of ancient Greece. They lived in isolated huts, built on the lands which they cultivated. These lands did not belong to them, but to the Spartan masters, who also owned the Helots. 

The Spartans, being a minority surrounded by the Helots, treated the Helots with utmost cruelty. The master could kill any Helot on the least excuse. No individual Spartan could free a Helot. But the
Helots, who served in the state army loyally in times of war, could be freed by the state. Such freed Helots were called Neodamodes. The slaves formed an important element in the population of Athens. They were unfree laborers who worked in the fields. Most of the industries were worked by the labor of slaves.

There were three kinds of slaves – children born of slave parents, slaves purchased in the market, and prisoners of war, who been enslaved. Rich people had a large number of slaves. Even the poorest citizen had one or two slaves. The slaves were ruled by their masters who could punish them or sell them, but usually, they were treated with kindness. The life of the slave was protected by law. No master could kill a slave. Many of the slaves were paid small wages. Some of them who had won 

the favor of their masters could get freedom.

Without these slaves, it could not have been possible for Athens to develop their democracy in which all the citizens participated in the government directly The ancient city-state of Rome was based on slavery so as to secure the citizen's leisure for activity on behalf of the state and leisure for self-development. But no system of slavery elsewhere approached the brutality of the Roman system. The demand for slaves was so great that the Roman merchants conducted slave hunts on every frontier. Many slaves were captured in war. The numerous conquests of Rome brought in a vast number of slaves. The slaves were also imported from abroad, being purchased in the great slave markets. All citizens had slaves, the rich having several. The treatment of the slaves showed at its worst, the Roman lack of regard for human life.

🟎Confucianism: The philosophy of Confucius is called Confucianism. Confucius (K’ung Fu-tzu, 551–479 BC) was not the founder of a religion. He was not even a religious reformer. In his own words, he was, ‘not a maker but a transmitter, believing in and loving the ancients. Like the Buddha, he at first lived a life of luxury. His restless and penetrating mind would not allow him to remain inactive. He dedicated himself to the task of putting Chinese society in order. Like Socrates, he was a great teacher. He started school in his own house when he was just 22 years old. He taught history poetry and rules of propriety.

He laid great stress on the rules of propriety. He said, ‘A man’s character is formed by the Odes, developed by the Rites (ceremony and courtesy), and perfected by music. He did not follow any set rules in pedagogy but tried to satisfy the curiosity of his students. He said,  ‘I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager, nor help out anyone who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to anyone, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson. The actual number of his students was small, but his influence was far-reaching.

An opportunity to apply his political theories came when he was appointed the chief magistrate of the city of Chung-tu. He was quite successful in suppressing crime and in organizing a good government. He dispensed justice without fear or favour. Everything was regulated: the food that the people should eat, the dress they had to wear, the kind of houses in which they were to live, the prices of articles to be sold and wages to be paid. On account of his efforts, loyalty and good faith marked every man and submissiveness graced every woman. 

Confucius incurred the displeasure and hatred of selfish politicians, who were not happy with his effort to establish a good government in the country. He was soon dismissed from his office and was forced to leave his home to wander over Chiba, looking for a ruler who would accept his ideas. But he could not find one in the whole of China. His life ended in privation. His last remark was ‘There is not one in the empire who will make me his teacher. Verily, my time has come to die.'

🟎Renaissance: The term ‘renaissance’ means rebirth. When men applied it to the extraordinary flwering of letters and the arts, which began in the fourteenth century in Italy and spread at varying
speeds and with varying intensity to the other countries of Europe, they wanted it to mean a rebirth of classical culture, a return to the excellence of the ancient Greeks and Romans and a rejection of everything for which the Middle Ages had stood. It was believed that when Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, refugee Greek scholars brought to the West the manuscripts of the classics and taught the West to appreciate them. 

As a result, Europe, cloaked in darkness and inhabited by barbarians, was suddenly illuminated by a blaze of light that helped the ignorant to see the truth and transform themselves into cultivated gentlemen. This belief is wrong for there was no large migration of Greeks after 1453. Many had
migrated earlier. Even in the twelfth century, the Western rediscovery of the classical heritage was already well underway. In the thirteenth century, Aquinas and others had already incorporated Aristotelian philosophy into the Christian scheme. It is therefore is misleading to speak of rebirth towards the close of the medieval period.

There is no doubt that there was certainly a transition and that Europe was growing less medieval and increasingly modern. This does not mean that all scholars or artists of the Renaissance suddenly appeared totally devoid of medieval qualities or totally imbued with modern ones. Still, it is not improper to apply the term Renaissance to the civilization of the transition period. The Renaissance first began in Italy because of its location. The trade and commerce of Italian merchants had brought there most of the wealth of Western Europe. Ideas soon spread to other countries and national cultures, which were closely associated with political developments, arose.

The golden age of the Italian Renaissance ended in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. The spark of culture, the spirit of humanism, had crossed the Alps and spread to Germany, France, and England.
Cultural activities were slowly gaining ground in Germany in the second half of the fifteenth century. Agricola was appointed professor of classical literature at Heidelberg University, and Reuchlin was the first great German scholar of the class. The Germans attempted to connect humanism and theology and to instill the spirit of reform into classical learning. This had its consummation in Luther’s conflict with the papacy.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the intellectual revival began to manifest itself in France. Charles VIII led a French army into Naples, where he made contacts with the learning of Italy. Several important scholars, including Erasmus, were attracted to Paris where they taught at the University.

🟎Nationalism: Though some European states attained nationhood in the sixteenth century, nationalism as a very vital force in modern times clearly emerged only in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, it has become still more conspicuous. In fact, the very basis of the modern state is nationalism, which is almost the one idea for which masses of men will still die. Nothing thrills the people of a country so much as the force of nationalism. Nothing galvanizes and revitalizes the people in a country as a national feeling. The term, ‘nation’ ( natus = born), etymologically means a group of people coming from a common stock. 

But today it is not used in such a narrow sense Nation represents all or a vast majority of people in a state brought together by an emotional or political force known as nationalism. The term nationalism is not easy to define because it has various aspects and is not a force acting in one direction only. Generally speaking, nationalism is a feeling of oneness or common consciousness based on political, historical, religious,  linguistic, psychological, and other factors in a  state. 

It is to be distinguished from patriotism. While nationalism necessarily contains political consciousness, patriotism may not have it. Nationalism needs patriotism, but there can be patriotism even without nationalism. The following factors influence in creating and promotion nationalism:

• (i) Common land is an essential factor, for it creates a common bond among the people. Without a common land, clearly marked out by geographical boundaries, people cannot have a common basis for their national feeling. A common land creates a clear image in the minds of the people and a strong feeling of attachment is fostered.
• (ii) Common historical background, presenting great triumphs and achievements common joys and sorrows, common sufferings,  and political bondage, serve as a good basis for nationalism.