8th Standard, HISTORY CHAPTER-1 SOURCES
EXERCISES
I. Fill in the blanks with suitable words:
1. The two kinds of literary sources are Native Literature and Foreign Literature.
2. A literary source of Aswaghosha is Buddha Charita.
3. The first inscription found in Kannada language is Halmidi Inscription.
II. Answer the following questions in brief:
4. What are sources?
Answer: Sources are the basic material necessary for the construction of History. They provide details on the different dimensions of the lives of the people of particular period.
5. Give two examples for native and foreign literature each.
Answer: The literature written by Indians is called as Native literature. Vishakadatta’s ‘Mudrarakshasa’ and Pampa’s ‘Vikramarjuna Vijaya’ are the two examples for native literature.
The literature written by foreign writers, travellers, scholars are called foreign literature. Megasthenes’ ‘Indica’, HuienTsang’s ‘Si-Yu-Ki’, Fa-Hien’s ‘Gho-Kho Ki’ are two examples for foreign literature.
6. What is Numismatics?
Answer: Numismatics is the study of the evolution, nature and development of Coins. The study or collection of coins and medals are called Numismatics.
7. What are archaeological sources?
Answer: The inscriptions, coins, monuments, pots, artefacts and other ruins that have been obtained during researches and excavations are called Archaeological Source. The materials available inside the earth are also archaeological sources.
Explain with examples.
8. Oral sources help us to know about the local history. Explain.
Answer: Oral sources help us to know about the local history. From time immemorial, human society has preserved its experiences and memories in the form of poems, songs and ballads. They are passed on from generation to generation through oral communication. Oral literature helps to know the local history. Many tribes and the communities who were illiterates preserved their experiences through oral literature. There are many legends related to individuals, events, heritage, customs and many places of India. Legends are also referred to as Sthala-Puranas. Usually they do not provide direct information for the study of history. They reflect social beliefs. They also highlight the glory of certain individuals or the significance of a particular place.
Additional Questions:
- What are the sources of history?
Answer: The agricultural tools left by the ancient people, temples and other religious buildings, forts, inscriptions, coins, different types of weapons, written documents, literary works, oral literatures etc. are the sources of history.
- What are the types of sources of history?
Answer: The types of sources of history are,
a) Literary Sources b) Archaeological Sources c) Oral Sources and Legends
3. What is Literary Sources? Name the types of Literary Sources.
Answer: Written literatures depict the particular periods. They portray the then existing aspects of life either directly or indirectly. The types of Literary Sources are, 1) Native Literature 2) Foreign Literature
4. Name the types of archaeological sources.
Answer: The types of archaeological sources are,
- Inscriptions B) Coins C) Monuments D) Excavations
5. What are important Native Literatures?
Answer: Vishakadatta’s ‘Mudrarakshasa’, Kalhana’s ‘Rajatarangini’, Ashwaghosha’s ‘Buddha Charita’, Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’, Hala’s ‘Gathasaptashati’, ‘Banabhatta’s Harsha Charitha’, Chand Bardayi’s ‘Prithviraja Raso’, Pampa’s ‘Vikramarjuna Vijaya’, Sangam Literature, the ‘Tripitikas’ of Buddhist literature, Srivijaya’s ‘Kavirajamarga’ are the important Native Literatures.
6. What are important Foreign Literatures?
Answer: Megasthenes’ ‘Indica’, HuienTsang’s ‘Si-Yu-Ki’, Fa-Hien’s ‘Gho-Kho Ki’, Ceylon’s ‘Deepavamsha’ and ‘Mahavamsha’, Ptolemy’s ‘Geography’, Baranis Tarikh-E-Firoz Shahi, the writings of Furneo Nuniz and the writings of Barbosa and Nicolo Conti who visited the Vijayanagar Empire are the important Foreign Literatures.
7. Define Native Literature.
Answer: The literature written by Indians is called Native literature.
8. Define Foreign Literature.
Answer: The literature written by foreign writers, travellers, scholars are called foreign literature.
9. What are Inscriptions?
Answer: Inscriptions are the living evidences of respective period. They provide us information about religion, culture, economy, administration and other aspects of that period.
10. The Halmidi Inscription was engraved during the reign of King Kakutsavarma of the Kadamba dynasty.
11. The study of the evolution, nature and development of Coins is called Numismatics.
12. What are monuments? Give some examples.
Answer: Monuments are the most important archeological sources. The buildings that are remained as the living evidences of Indian cultural heritage are called monuments. Temples, basadis, chaityalayas, stupas, palaces, forts, sculptures etc. are the examples.
13. What are Excavation? Give some examples.
Answer: Excavation is the process of digging out the hidden ruins in the earth through scientific methods. For example, the excavations conducted at Bimbetka and Sanganakallu give us the information to reconstruct the histrory of stone age culture and the ruins found during the excavations conducted at Harappa and Mohenjodaro provide evidences for reconstructing the history of Indus Valley Civilization.
III. Activities:
1. Discuss with your teacher how the history helps to know the present.
2. Visit a monument and collect information about it.
3. Collect the coins of historic period.
4. Visit an Archaeological Museum.
IV. Project:
1. Collect information about coins and prepare a small project.
