Class 8 History Chapter 2 Extra Questions and Answers From Trade to Territory

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From Trade to Territory Class 8 Extra Questions History Chapter 2

Question 1.
Who was the last powerful Mughal ruler?
Answer:
Aurangzeb.

Question 2.
How did the Mughal empire become weak?
Answer:
After Aurangzeb’s death, many Mughal governors began establishing their own regional kingdoms. This weakened Mughal empire.

Question 3.
When and where was the East India Company established?
Answer:
The East India Company was established in 1600, in England.

Question 4.
Who gave a Charter to the Company to trade with the East?
Answer:
Queen Elizabeth I.

Question 5.
What did the Charter mean?
Answer:
The Charter meant that no other trading group in England could compete with the East India Company.

Question 6.
Which western power came first to India?
Answer:
Portuguese.

Question 7.
Who discovered the sea route to India and when?
Answer:
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498.

Question 8.
Where was the Portuguese base in India?
Answer:
In India, the Portuguese base was in Goa.

Question 9.
Through which route the British came to India?
Answer:
The British came to India through the Cape of Good Hope (South of Africa).

Question 10.
Name the two European powers other than British and Portuguese who established trade links with India.
Answer:
Dutch and French.

Question 11.
What were the major trade items for the European powers?
Answer:
Cotton and silk textiles – pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, etc.

Question 12.
When and where was the first English factory set up?
Answer:
The first English factory was set up in 1651 on the bank of the river Hugli.

Question 13.
What were the Company’s traders known as?
Answer:
The Company’s traders were known as ‘factors’.

Question 14.
Which Mughal Emperor granted the Company the right to trade duty-free through farman?
Answer:
Aurangzeb, through his Farman, granted the right to the Company to trade duly free.

Question 15.
Name the Nawabs of Bengal who asserted their power and autonomy against the Mughals.
Answer:

• Murshid Quli Khan
• Alivardi Khan
• Sirajuddaulah.

Question 16.
Who were the two sides in the Battle of Plassey?
Answer:
The two sides in the Battle of Plassey were the Nawab of Bengal and the East India Company.

Question 17.
Which Nawab of Bengal was defeated in the Battle of Plassey?
Answer:
Sirajuddaulah.

Question 18.
Who led the Company in the Battle of Plassey?
Answer:
Robert Clive.

Question 19.
Why did the Battle of Plassey become famous?
Answer:
The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory, the Company won in India.

Question 20.
Name the Commander who decided Siraj Abdallah in the Battle of Plassey.
Answer:
Mir Jafar.

Question 21.
Why was Mir Jafar deposed by the Company? Who was made the new Nawab?
Answer:
Mir Jafar was deposed by the Company because he was unwilling to do as per the Company’s directions. Mir Qasim was made the new Nawab.

Question 22.
Which Nawab was defeated in the Battle of Buxar?
Answer:
Mir Qasim.

Question 23.
When was the Battle of Buxar fought?
Answer:
In 1764.

Question 24.
Who made Company the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal and when?
Answer:
The Mughal Emperor, in 1765.

Question 25.
What did Diwani to the Company mean?
Answer:
Diwani allowed the Company to use the vast revenue resources of Bengal.

Question 26.
Why was Robert Clive cross-examined by the British Parliament?
Answer:
Robert Clive was cross-examined by the British Parliament on the charges of corruption and amassing huge wealth in India during his service period.

Question 27.
What was the role of Residents appointed by the Company in the Indian states?
Answer:
Through the Residents, the Company tried to interfere in the internal affairs of Indian states.

Question 28.
Name any two Indian states which fell victim to the subsidiary alliance.
Answer:
Awadh and Hyderabad.

Question 29.
Who was Hyder Ali?
Answer:
Hyder Ali was the ruler of the state of Mysore.

Question 30.
Which foreign power helped Tipu modernise his army?
Answer:
The French helped Tipu modernise his army.

Question 31.
How many wars were fought between the state of Mysore and the British?
Answer:
Four.

Question 32.
In which battle was Tipu Sultan killed?
Answer:
Tipu Sultan was killed in the Battle of Seringapatam.

Question 33.
In which battle the Marathas were defeated by the Company?
Answer:
The Marathas were defeated in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.

Question 34.
Name the Maratha dynasties.
Answer:

• Sindhia,
• Holkar,
• Gaikwad,
• Bhonsle.

Question 35.
Name two famous Maratha statesmen of the late eighteenth century.
Answer:
Mahadji Sindhia and Nana Phadnis.

Question 36.
Name the Governor-General who initiated the policy of “paramountcy”.
Answer:
Lord Hastings.

Question 37.
What was the policy of paramountcy?
Answer:
Under this policy, Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that of Indian states.

Question 38.
Who was Chennamma?
Answer:
She was Queen of Kitoor in Karnataka.

Question 39.
Who was Rayanna?
Answer:
Rayanna was a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor who revolted against the British.

Question 40.
When the Punjab annexed by the Company?
Answer:
In 1849.

Question 41.
Name the Governor-General who brought the Doctrine of Lapse.
Answer:
Lord Dalhousie.

Question 42.
Name any four Kingdoms annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse.
Answer:

1. Satara,
2. Sambalpur,
3. Udaipur,
4. Nagpur,
5. Jhansi.

Question 43.
How many Presidencies were there in the British India? Name them.
Answer:
There were three Presidencies :

1. Bengal,
2. Madras,
3. Bombay.

Question 44.
Who was the first Governor-General of India?
Answer:
Warren Hastings.

Question 45.
Who presided over the civil and criminal courts?
Answer:
The District Collector.

Question 46.
When was the Supreme Court established?
Answer:
The Supreme Court was established in 1773 under the provisions of Regulating Act.

Question 47.
Which new technology aided the Company to become a territorial colonial power?
Answer:
New steam technology.

Question 48.
What facilities did the Company get through the Royal Charter?
Answer:
With this Charter :

• The Company could venture across the oceans.
• The Company could look for new lands from which it could collect revenues.
• The Company could buy goods at cheap price and carry them back to Europe to sell at higher prices.
• The Company had no Competitor from England.

Question 49.
Why did the European Companies conflict with each other?
Answer:

• They were trade competitors.
• The only way the trading Companies could flourish was by eliminating rival competitors.
• The urge to secure markets, therefore, led to fierce battler between the trading Companies.

Question 50.
How did the Farman issued by Aurangzeb cause loss of revenue for Bengal?
Answer:

• Aurangzeb’s Farman had granted the Company the right to trade without paying duties.
• But the Company officials who were carrying individual trade also refused to pay duty.
  This caused enormous loss of revenue for Bengal.

Question 51.
Why did Sirajuddaulah capture Kassimbazar factory of the British?
Answer:

• The Company was meddling in the political affairs of the province.
• The Company was involved in fortification of its settlement.
• The Company was not paying revenues properly.

Question 52.
What was the main reason that Sirajuddaulah lost the Battle of Plassey to the British?
Answer:

• One of the main reasons for the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces led by Mir Zafar, one of the Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never fought the battle.
• Clive had managed to secure his support by promising to make him nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah.

Question 53.
Why were the Company officials called ‘nabobs’ in Britain?
Answer:

• The officials who managed to return with wealth led flashy lives in Britain and they flaunted their riches.
• They were ridiculed as ‘nabobs’ the anglicised version of the Indian word nawab.

Question 54.
Why did the British want to capture Mysore?
Answer:
Following were the reasons :

• Mysore controlled the profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the Company purchased pepper and cardamom.
• Tipu stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom.
• He disallowed the local merchants from trading with the Company.

Question 55.
Explain the resistance shown by the state of Kitoor against the British annexation.
Answer:

• When the British tried to annex Kitoor, Rani Chennamma took arms and led an armed struggle against the British. But she was captured and died in prison.
• Later a poor chowkidar Rayanna carried the resistance. He captured many British camps and destroyed them.

Question 56.
What was Doctrine of Lapse? On what pretext did the Company annex Awadh?
Answer:

• According to this doctrine, if an Indian ruler dies without a male heir, his kingdom would ‘lapse’, i.e., his kingdom would become the part of the Company.
• The Company annexed Awadh under the pretext that it was freeing the people from the misgovernment of the Nawab.

Question 57.
What did the British do to secure their control over the northwest?
Answer:

1. To secure their control over the northwest, the Company fought wars with Afghanistan.
2. Between 1838 and 1842, the Company fought wars with Afghanistan and established its rule there indirectly.
3. It also annexed Sindh in 1843.

Question 58.
What was the Doctrine of Lapse?
Answer:
According to this doctrine, if an Indian ruler dies without a male heir, his kingdom would ‘lapse’ i.e. his kingdom would become the part of the Company.

Question 59.
Discuss the reason that led to fierce battles between the European trading companies in India.
Answer:

• The European Companies were interested in buying the same things.
• The fine qualities of Indian silk and cotton had a big market in Europe. Pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon too were in great demand.
• Competition amongst the European companies increased the cost of these goods that reduced the profit margin.

The only way to retain profit was to eliminate the rivals. Thus, the urge to secure market led to fierce battles between European trading companies in India.

Question 60.
How did the East India Company benefit from the Diwani granted by the Mughal Emperor?
Answer:

• The Diwani allowed the Company to use the vast revenue resources of Bengal.
• The Company had no British goods to sell in India. So, it had to import gold and
  silver from Britain for purchasing Indian goods. Now, the revenue obtained through Diwani could be used to purchase goods.
• Further, the revenue could be used to maintain Company troops and meet the cost of building the Company fort and offices at Calcutta.

Question 61.
Discuss the Anglo-Maratha wars?
Answer:

• The first Anglo-Maratha war ended in 1782 with the Sabai treaty without any result.
• The second war (1803-05) resulted in the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and Delhi.
• The third Anglo-Maratha war (1817-19) ended the Maratha might. The Peshwa was sent to Bithur with a pension.

Question 62.
Why did the British want to secure its northwest frontier? What did it do?
Answer:

• The British had developed a fear that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the northwest.
• This was because, the Company focused on northwest region and fought wars with Afghanistan, Sindh and Punjab.
• The Company finally annexed Sindh. It established an indirect control over Afghanistan and in 1849, annexed Punjab.

Question 63.
Under the new British Administrative setup, the Office of Collector became prominent. Discuss.
Answer:

• The Collector was the administrative head of the new administrative unit, i.e., district.
• His main job was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order.
• In furnishing its duty, Collector took help of judges, police officers and darogas.
• His office – the Collectorate – became the new centre of power and patronage that steadily replaced previous holders of authority.

Question 64.
Write a note on improvements made by Hastings in Indian Judiciary system.
Answer:

• Each district had two courts – a criminal court and a civil court.
• Maulvis and Pandits interpreted Indian laws before the European district Collectors who presided over Civil Courts. The Criminal Court was brought under the supervision of the Collector.
• He got the Hindu and Muslim laws translated and codified.
• A new Supreme Court was established at Calcutta under the Regulating Act.
• The Court of Appeal – the Sadar Nizamat Adalat was also set up at Calcutta.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Tick the incorrect statement in the following.
(a) After the death of Aurangzeb, powerful regional kingdoms emerged in various parts of India.
(b) In spite of powerful regional kingdoms, Delhi continued to function as an effective centre in the 18th century.
(c) The British originally came to India as a small trading company.
(d) After Aurangzeb, there was no powerful Mughal ruler.
Answer:
(b) In spite of powerful regional kingdoms, Delhi continued to function as an effective centre in the 18th century.

2. Which of the following statements is not correct?
(а) The East India Company came into being in 1600 when Queen Victoria (the ruler of England) granted it the sole right to trade with the East.
(b) The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651.
(c) The village of Kalikata grew into the city of Calcutta or Kolkata as it is known today.
(d) Aurangzeb issued a farman to the East India Company granting it the right to trade duty free.
Answer:
(а) The East India Company came into being in 1600 when Queen Victoria (the ruler of England) granted it the sole right to trade with the East.

3. Murshid Quli Khan was the Nawab of:
(a) Carnatic
(b) Bihar
(c) Bengal
(d) Awadh
Answer:
(c) Bengal.

4. The famous Battle of Plassey was fought between Robert Clive and Sirajuddaulah in-
(a) 1857
(b) 1764
(c) 1657
(d) 1757
Answer:
(d) 1757.

5. Which of the following statements is not correct?
(a) The Battle of Plassey was the first major victoiy, the Company won in India.
(b) After Sirajuddaulah’s death, Mir Qasim was made the Nawab of Bengal by the Company.
(c) Tipu Sultan was died defending his capital Seringapatam in 1799.
(d) Lord Dalhousie devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse.
Answer:
(b) After Sirajuddaulah’s death, Mir Qasim was made the Nawab of Bengal by the Company.

6. When did the Battle of Buxar take place?
(a) 1761
(b) 1764
(c) 1757
(d) 1760
Answer:
(b) 1764

7. Which ruler is known as Tiger of Mysore?
(a) Tipu Sultan
(b) Haider Ali
(c) Bahadur Shah Jafar
(d) Sirajuddaula
Answer:
(a) Tipu Sultan

Glossary:

→ Mercantile – A business enterprise that makes profit primarily by excluding competition in trade, buying goods cheap and selling them at higher prices.

→ Farman-A royal edict, a royal order.

→ Puppet – Literally, a toy that you can move with strings. The term is used disapprovingly to refer to a person who is controlled by someone else.

→ Injunction – Instruction.

→ Subservience – Submissiveness.

→ Confederacy – Alliance.

→ Qazi – A Judge.

→ Mufti – A jurist of the Muslim community responsible for expounding the law that the qazi would administer.

→ Impeachment -A trial by the House of Lords in England for charges of misconduct brought against a person in the House of Commons.

→ Dharmashastras – Sanskrit texts prescribing social rules and codes of behaviour composed from C.500 BCE onwards.

→ Sowar – Men on horses.

→ Musket – A heavy gun used by infantry soldiers.

→ Matchlock – An early type of gun in which the powder was ignited by a match.

Extra Questions for Class 8 Social Science