CH – 1

A Changing Time
1. When from the modern period is considered to have began in Europe and India ?
Ans. : In Europe , the modern period is considered to have began around 16 th century with the European
Renaissance and in India , The death of Aurangzeb (1707) is considered to be the beginning of the modern
period in India.
2. Write a short note on Renaissance .
Ans. : The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth” or “revival” This movement started in Italy around 15 th
Century and soon spread to the whole of Europe . Renaissance was a period of growth and activity in the fields
of art, Science , literature and ideas in Europe .
Knowledge was pursued to understand human affairs during Renaissance. This new attitude was called
Humanism . Authors like Shakespeare , Milton , Scholars like Dante , Sir Thomas More , Francesco , Petrarch
and Giovanni Boccaccio also wrote on various aspects of life.
Leonardo da Vinchi , Michelangelo and Raphael were the great artists of this period. Leonardo was a
genius painter , scientist , philosopher and poet . The Last Supper and Mona Lisa was his great creations.
Michelangelo is famous for his painting Creation of Adam and Last judgment.
The Renaissance movement also reawakened the spirit of scientific inquiry which motivated men to
accept something only after experimentation and observation. Later these scientific experiments led to new
discoveries . Two great inventions during Renaissance were the printing press by John Gutenberg of Germany
and telescope by Galileo.
Other areas of science like medicine , chemistry and the physical science touched a new high . In
medicine , the human anatomy was studied in depth . William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood.
3. How did the discovery of new sea routes affect the world ?
Ans. : Since there was great demand for Asian goods in the European market , European rulers and wealthy
merchants began to finance new sea routes to the East. New chalked out maps and the invention of compass
helped them to make navigation easier. These newly discovered sea routes changed the course of world history.
Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498 CE by discovering a new sea route to India. In 1499 CE , Amerigo
Vespuchi discovered America. They were the pioneers in the field of explorations.
4. How Martin Luther became a leading figure of the Reformation Movement ? OR Describe
Reformation Movement of Europe under the leadership of Martin Luther .
Ans. : In medieval European society , Roman Catholic Church became very powerful and wealthy. The Church
was headed by the Pope who had often power than the king. The church officials lived a comfortable luxurious
life in the name of Jesus.
Martin Luther , a professor of theology first protested against the church who later became the leader of
Reformation Movement. This movement questioned against the corrupt practices of the church . This movement
lasted from 1517 to 4648 CE. Martin Luther not only exposed the sinful life of the clergy , his followers who
were called Protestant formed a church of their own called the Protestant Church .
5. Write a short note on Industrial Revolution in England . What were the effects of the Industrial
Revolution in England ?
Ans. In the second half of 18th century, England witnessed a new mode of production system replacing the old
method of production system with improved machinery and technological invention , resulting which
production of goods became much faster and in huge quantity with a correspondence increase in population.
The transformation from manual mode of production to mechanised mode of production is called the
Industrial Revolution.
The main factors that led the Industrial Revolution are as follows :
1. The main factor was , machines replaced manual labours which was time saving and more
productive . Thus Industrial Revolution began in England in 18th century.
2. Britain had large deposits of coal and iron . Rapid industrialisation required coal in large quantities .
This also led to the coal based industries.
3. The use of steam locomotives replaced human and animal labour .
4. Use of steam locomotives in public railway line was a landmark in the field of transportation.
5. Invention of spinning jenny , spinning frame , safety lamp also boosted up the Industrial Revolution
6. What ware the impacts of the Industrial Revolution in England ?
Ans. 1. A good number of inventions during 18th and 19th centuries in different segment brought great
changes in society. Joint families separated into nuclear families and women also began to participate as
workers.
2. A new economic system called capitalism was introduced . The factory owners who owned wealth
came to be known as capitalists. The factory owners aimed to generate more profit rather than the welfare of
factory workers .The deprived and underpaid workers sank as a result of Industrial Revolution .
3. The Industrial Revolution brought worst situation to the child labours. Increasing demand and hard
competition compelled to engage children to work in factories like cotton mills , match factories in a hazardous
condition. Resulting which children became ill . Industrial accidents , abuse of child labours and selling of many
orphan children were frequently happened . many times , child labours got severe punishment from their lords
and tried to escape from industry.
4. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels two German thinkers realised that industrialisation would lead to the
formation of two categories of people in society , those who are rich and own property and those who worked
for the property owners and the poor and their thought became known a Socialism or Marxism.
7. Write a short note on Colonialism ?
Ans. Colonialism is a practice by which a powerful nation maintains its control over another country for
the purpose of exploiting its resources. The country , that is dominated by the powerful country is called
“ colony ”. As a result of Industrial Revolution in Europe, Colonialism was raised following the source of raw
materials and markets for selling product of European nations . To establish colonies in Asia and Africa ,
European nations dominated over these continents . From the colonies of Asia and Africa huge number of cheap
labours were supplied .The European nations having a large number of colonies became a symbol of power and
considered themselves as superior race .
 8. Write a short note on Imperialism .
Ans. The word imperialism came from the Latin word imperium , which means supreme power.
Imperialism is the systematic control of the territory , political system and economic life of a less powerful
country by a more powerful one.
Impact of imperialism :
Many trading companies were formed in Europe to trade with India and other parts of Asia and Africa.
These trading companies mainly belonged to Portugal , Holland , Britain established their trading centres in
different parts of the India mainly in costal areas. They bought different items from India at low prices and sold
them in other countries at very high price.
The European imperialist powers exploited the resources of their colonies on a large scale. Local
industries declined due to their troublesome policies .
As long as Mughals ruled , the companies limited their activities only to trade and did not interfere in the
political affairs of India . But with the decline of the Mughal Empire , the British and the French companies
became very powerful . The East India Company became the monopoly of trade in India and succeeded , It had
gained full control of almost the entire Indian subcontinent.

9. Describe the primary and secondary sources of modern history.

Ans. The study of modern history mainly depends on two sources , i) Primary Sources ii) Secondary
Sources .
i) Primary Sources : Primary Sources includes following sources :
archaeological sources : This type includes old buildings , monuments across our country such as , India
Gate , Gate way of India , Parliament house , Rashtrapati Bhavan etc.
original documents : Old Government orders and official letters are significant source of historical
information . These are preserved in the various libraries and give us knowledge about the events of concerned
period.
Besides these sources , photographs , newspapers and videotapes , map etc are also treated as great
sources to study modern history.
ii) Secondary Sources : This type includes reports , reviews , articles , books of Indologists such as
James Mill , Max Muller and Vincent Smith who showed their interest on Indian culture and examined many
ancient Indian texts . But , these writers projected the view that India was a backward country and British rule
was a blessing for India. Whereas , the great writings of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay , Jawaharlal Nehru ,
Dinabandhu Mitra upheld India’s glorious past and treated as great source of learning modern history.
 The Turk captured Constantinople and the traditional land
1453 CE
trade routes to the East came under their control
Bartholomew Diaz sailed down the western coast of Africa
and reached its southern tip which he named the “cape of 1488 CE
Good Hope”
Vasco da Gama successfully reached Calicut by discovering a
1498 CE
new sea route to India
Amerigo Vespucci discovered America 1499 CE
Pope told Galileo not to hold or defend the new heliocentric
1616 CE
theory
Galileo published a book disobeying the edict of 1616 which
1632 CE
was prohibited by the Church
Martin Luther , professor of theology , in Germany became the
leading figure of the Reformation Movement which lasted 1517 CE to 1648 CE
from 1517 CE to 1648 CE
Death of Aurangzab 1707 CE
Abraham Darby established the first coke-fired furnace 1709 CE
James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny 1764 CE
Richard Arkwright invented the spinning frame 1769 CE

Photo study Question

1. What is shown in the picture ?

Ans. One locomotive engine is seen in the given picture .
2. Who invented it ?
Ans. George Stephenson invented first steam- powered locomotive engine .
3. What was the impact of this invention ?
Ans. The use of steam locomotive in public railway became a landmark in the field of transportation . Raw
materials from across the world became easier to be carried out .
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