MCQ Questions for Class 8 History: Colonialism and the City

1. Which building was made of red stone near Delhi, which was built as a palace fort in Shajahanabad, also a residence of Mughal emperors of India?

(a) Lal Darwaza

(b) Kotla Ferozabad

(c) Begampuri Masjid

(d) Red Fort

► (d) Red Fort

2. In which year did Delhi became the capital of British India ?

(a) 1911

(b) 1931

(c) 1941

(d) 1947

► (a) 1911

3. Which was the most splendid capital built by Shah Jahan?

(a) Machilpatnam

(b) Seringaptanam

(c) Shajahanabad

(d) Surat

► (c) Shajahanabad

4. Before Delhi was made the cpaital of India, which was the other city that was the capital of British India ?

(a) Madras

(b) Calcutta

(c) Kanpur

(d) Bombay

► (b) Calcutta

5. After 1857 for how many years no worship was not allowed ?

(a) 5

(b) 8

(c) 10

(d) 20

► (a) 5

6. From the following options, which one refer to De-urbanisation ?

(a) Migration of people from an urban area for economic or social reasons.

(b) The veto power of the administration in times of emergency .

(c) Introduction of English education

(d) A feeling of unity among the people

► (a) Migration of people from an urban area for economic or social reasons.

7. Long ago, how many capital cities were founded in a small area on the left bank of river Jamuna ?

(a) 10

(b) 14

(c) 25

(d) 30

► (b) 14

8. From the following list of options, what is a Street with a dead end called?

(a) Cul-de-sac

(b) Khangah

(c) Dargah

(d) Idgah

► (a) Cul-de-sac

9. A Sufi lodge often used as a rest house for travellers and a place where people come to discuss spiritual matters, get the blessings of saints and hear sufi music. What is this place called?

(a) Cul-de-sac

(b) Idgah

(c) Khangah

(d) Dargah

► (c) Khangah

10. Which were the three important Presidency regions set up by the British for administrative purposes?

(a) Bombay, Madras and Bengal

(b) Bombay, Madras and Delhi

(c) Delhi, Travancore and Seringapatnam

(d) Delhi, Bombay and Bengal

► (a) Bombay, Madras and Bengal

11. What is an open prayer place of Muslims meant for Id prayers called?

(a) Idgah

(b) Khangah

(c) Cul-de-sac

(d) Dargah

► (a) Idgah

12. From the list of options given below, which cities were de-urbanised during the 19th century?

(a) Machalipatnam, Surat, Vishakhapatnam

(b) Machalipatnam, Surat, Seringapatnam

(c) Bombay, Surat, Calcutta

(d) Vishakapatnam, Surat, Seringapatnam

► (b) Machalipatnam, Surat, Seringapatnam

13. What term from the list given bolow can be given to the rebirth of art and living. It is often described as a period of high creativity.

(a) De-urbanisation

(b) Urbanisation

(c) Globalisation

(d) Renaissance

► (d) Renaissance

14. Name the mosque converted into a bakery by the British ?

(a) Moth Ki Masjid

(b) Jama Masjid

(c) Zinat-al-Masjid

(d) Fathehpuri Masjid

► (c) Zinat-al-Masjid

15. What is the tomb of a Sufi saint called?

(a) Dargah

(b) Idgah

(c) khanqah

(d) Cul-de-sac

► (a) Dargah

16. What is the importance of Jama Masjid, situated in Delhi?

(a) The office of archeological survey of India

(b) One of the important residences of the Mughal emperors of India

(c) One of the largest and grandest mosques in India

(d) The office of the electorate of India

► (c) One of the largest and grandest mosques in India

17. Complete the following. In the late 18th century, Calcutta, Bombay and ______________ rose in importance as Presidency cities and were the centres of British power

(a) Hyderabad

(b) Nagpur

(c) Madras

(d) Kanpur

► (c) Madras

18. Where did the British exile Bahdadur Shah Zafar to ?

(a) Sril Lanka

(b) China

(c) Burma

(d) Pakistan

► (c) Burma

19. The streets of Delhi aren’t mere streets, they are the album of a painter. Name the poet who wrote these words.

(a) Mirza Ghalib

(b) Kabir Das

(c) Mir Taqi Mir

(d) Sur Das

► (c) Mir Taqi Mir

20. Complete the following. After defeating the ____________, British gained controlof Delhui in 1803.

(a) Mauryans

(b) Pandyas

(c) Marathas

(d) Cheras

► (c) Marathas

Colonialism and the City Extra Questions Class 8 History

Chapter 6 Colonialism and the City Very Short Answer Questions (VSAQs):

1. Name the cities that were de-urbanised in the 19th century.

Answer

Surat, Machlipatnam and Seringapatam.

2. Why was a durbar held in Delhi in 1911?

Answer

In 1911, when King George V was crowned in England, a durbar was held in Delhi to celebrate the occasion.

3. Where did British live in the 1870s?

Answer

British lived in the sprawling Civil Lines area that came up in the north.

4. What is Kingsway known now?

Answer

It is now known as Rajpath.

5. Why were the main streets of Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazar made broad?

Answer

They were made broad for royal processions to pass.

6. What was meant by de-urbanisation during the nineteenth century?

Answer

De-urbanisation was the process by which earlier centres of regional power collapsed with the defeat of the local leaders by the British and new centres of administration emerged.

7. What jobs did the new migrants coming to Delhi take up?

Answer

They took up jobs as hawkers, vendors, carpenters and ironsmiths.

8. What did the Census of 1931 reveal?

Answer

The Census of 1931 revealed that the Walled City area was thickly populated with as many as 90 persons per acre, while New Delhi had only about 3 persons per acre.

9. Why was the Viceroy’s Palace higher than Shah Jahan’s Jama Masjid?

Answer

The Viceroy’s Palace was higher than Shah Jahan’s Jama Masjid in order to establish British importance.

10. What were havelis?

Answer

Havelis were grand mansions in which the Mughal aristocracy in the 17th and 18th century lived.

11. Why were the Shahjahani drains closed at the end of the nineteenth century?

Answer

At the end of the 19th century, the Shahjahani drains were closed as because they could not serve the needs of the rapidly increasing population.

12. Why did Machlipatnam lose its importance as a port-town by the late 18th century?

Answer

It was because the British shifted their trade to the new ports of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

13. When did the city of Bombay begin to grow?

Answer

The city of Bombay began to grow when the East India Company started using Bombay as its main port in western India.

14. How did the British gain control of Delhi?

Answer

The British gained control of Delhi after defeating the Marathas in 1803.

Chapter 6 Colonialism and the City Short Answer Questions (SAQs):

1. Mention three difference in the city design of New Delhi and Shahjahanabad?

Answer

Three differences in the city design of New Delhi and Shahjahanabad were:

• Shahjahanabad was honibly-crowded with a number of mohallas and bazaars. There were several narrow streets, but New Delhi was not crowded at. There were broad, straight streets lined with sprawling mansions set in the middle of large compounds.

• Shahjahanabad was built in an unplanned manner the over crowded spaces were unhygienic and unhealthy. There was no proper arrangement for sewage disposal. Drainage facilities were also not good. But the city of New Delhi was well- planned. It was clean and healthy. It had better water supply, sewage disposal and drainage facilities than the city of Shahjahanabad.

• The environment of Shahjahanabad was to chaotic. But New Delhi represented a sense of law and order.

2.  Describe the main features of Shahjahanabad, built by Shah Jahan.

Answer

• Shahjahanabad, that was began in 1639, consisted of a fort-palace complex and the city adjoining it. Lai QUa or the Red Fort contained the palace complex. To its west lay the Walled City with 14 gates.

• The main streets of Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazaar were broad enough for royal processions to pass. A canal ran down the centre of Chandni Chowk.

• The Jama Masjid was among the largest and grandest mosques in India. There was no place higher than this mosque within the city.

3. What happened to Delhi after 1857?

Answer

During the Revolt of 1857, the rebels gathered in the Delhi and captured it under the leadership of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Delhi remained under the control of the rebels for four months.

When the British recaptured Delhi, they embarked on a campaign of revenge and plunder. The British forces began wrecking vengeance on the streets of Delhi, massacring the rebels. To prevent another rebellion, the British exiled Bahadur Shah to Burma, dismantled his court, razed several of the places, closed down gardens and built barracks for troops in their place.

4. Why was the Delhi Improvement Trust set up?

Answer

The Delhi Improvement Trust built areas like Daryaganj south for wealthy Indians. Houses were grouped around parks within the houses, space was divided according to new rules of privacy. Instead of spaces being shared by many families or groups, now different members of the same family had their own private spaces within the home.

5. Describe the main features of the colonial bungalow.

Answer

The main features of the colonial bungalow:

• It was meant for one nuclear family.

• It was a large single-storyed structure with a pitched roof and usually set in one or two acres of open ground.

• It had separate living and dinning rooms and bedrooms and a wide verandah running in the fronts and sometimes on three sides.

• Kitchens, stables and servants’ quarters were in a separate space from the main house. The house was run by dozens of servants.

6. ‘The British wanted Delhi to forget its Mughal past’. What did they do to fulfill their wish?

Answer

The British exiled Bahadur Shah Zafar to Burma, dismantled his court, raised several of the palaces, closed down gardens and built barracks for troops in their places. They got the area around the fort completely cleared of gardens, pavilions and mosques. Mosques in particular were either destroyed, or part to other uses. No worship was allowed in the Jama Masjid for five years. One-third of the city was demolished and its canals were filled up. In the 1870s, the western walls of Shahjahanabad were broken to establish the railway and to allow the city to expand beyond the walls.

7. How did partition change the lives and occupations of the refugees?

Answer

The partition caused massive transfer of populations on both sides of the new border. Muslims left Delhi for Pakistan while their place was taken by equally large numbers of Sikh and Hindu refugees from Pakistan. Many of the Muslims who went to Pakistan were artisans, petty traders and labourers. The new migrants coming to Delhi were rural landlords, lawyers, teachers, traders and small shopkeepers. Partition changed their lives and their occupation. They had to take up new jobs as hawkers, vendors, carpenters and ironsmiths.

8. Before 1857, developments in Delhi were somewhat different from those in other colonial cities. How?

Answer

In Presidency cities, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, the living spaces of Indians and the British were sharply separated. Indians lived in the “black’ areas, while the British lived in well laid out “white’ areas. But in Delhi, in the first half of the 19th century, the British lived alongwith the wealthier Indians in the Walled City. The British learned to enjoy Urdu/Persian culture and poetry and took part in local festivals.