Discuss the picture of urban centres tha | Class 12 History - Themes in Indian History - II Chapter Through the Eyes of Travellers, Through the Eyes of Travellers NCERT Solutions

Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.

How were the lives of forest dwellers transformed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

Discuss the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.

On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?

Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.

Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.

Examine the role played by zamindars in Mughal India.

On an outline map of the world, mark the areas which had economic links with the Mughal Empire, and trace out possible routes of communication.

Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.

What do you think was the significance of the rituals associated with the mahanavami dibba?

What were the concerns that shaped Mughal policies and attitudes towards regions outside the subcontinent?

How were the water requirements of Vijayanagara met?

Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.

What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew the attention of Bernier?

Read this excerpt from Bernier:

Numerous are the instances of handsome pieces of workmanship made by persons destitute of tools, and who can scarcely be said to have received instruction from a master. Sometimes they imitate so perfectly articles of European manufacture that the difference between the original and copy can hardly be discerned. Among other things, the Indians make excellent muskets, and fowling- pieces, and such beautiful gold ornaments that it may be doubted if the exquisite workmanship of those articles can be exceeded by any European goldsmith. I have often admired the beauty, softness, and delicacy of  their paintings.

List the crafts mentioned in the passage. Compare
these with the descriptions of artisanal activity in
the chapter.

Discuss the ways in which panchayats and village headmen regulated rural society.

Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.

Assess the role played by women of the imperial household in the Mughal Empire.

What have been the methods used to study the ruins of Hampi over the last two centuries? In what way do you think they would have complemented the information provided by the priests of the Virupaksha temple?

What does the architecture of buildings like the Lotus Mahal and elephant stables tell us about the rulers who commissioned them?