pyq/2018/history-optional-ii/1

Critically examine the following statements in about 150 words each: (10x5=50)

(a) "The Battle of Plassey (1757) thus marked the beginning of political supremacy of the English East India Company in India." (10 marks)

(b) "The passing of the land from the hands of the peasant proprietors into the hands of non-cultivating landlords brought about increasing polarization of classes in agrarian areas." (10 marks)

(c) "Faced with the challenge of the intrusion of colonial culture and ideology, an attempt to reinvigorate traditional institutions and to realize the potential of traditional culture developed during the nineteenth century." (10 marks)

(d) "An ideology of paternalistic benevolence, occasionally combined with talk of trusteeship and training towards self-government, thinly veiled the realities of a Raj uncompromisingly white and despotic." (10 marks)

(e) "States' reorganization did not, of course, resolve all the problems relating to linguistic conflicts." (10 marks)