NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS CLASS – 11 | HISTORY | INDIAN CONSTITUTION AT WORK NOTES | CHAPTER- 4 | THE CENTRAL ISLAMIC LANDS | EDUGROWN |

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 4 THE CENTRAL ISLAMIC LANDS NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION for Class 11 HISTORY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter.

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION ON THE CENTRAL ISLAMIC LANDS

Question 1.
What are the five pillars of Islam?
Answer:
The five pillars of Islam are:

1. There is only one God, i.e. Allah.
2. Namaj should be offered five in a day.
3. Zakat should be given to the needy.
4. Fasts should be kept in the month of Ramzan.
5. All Muslims should take the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in their lives.

Question 2.
Describe the main teachings of Islam.
Answer:
Main teachings of Islam are given below:

• Allah should be worshiped.
• No Muslim should practice idol worship. It is a sin.
• Muslims should believe that all Muslims are equal. They should regard themselves as brothers.
• All Muslims should follow the same rules regarding marriage and divorce.
• All Muslims should lead a simple life.

Question 3.
Describe in brief how Prophet Muhammad’s religion was a factor in the growth of Arab unity.
Answer:
Prophet Muhammad’s religion was a responsible factor in the growth of Arab unity as;

• The religion started by Him was denoted by a term Islam implied to complete submission.
• He told that there is only one God, i.e. Allah.
• He emphasised on the principles of equality and unity, for those who accepted Allah and the Prophet.

Question 4.
What do you know about Arab tribe? Write in short.
Answer:
The entire Arab society was divided into tribes known as Qabila, headed by a chief. The chief of Qabila (Tribe) was elected on the basis of his family, wisdom and courage. Besides these, his personality also played a crucial role. Each tribe had its own religious beliefs. They worshiped their own gods and goddesses in mosques.

The tribes were nomadic, and kept on moving from one region to another in search of food and fodder for their camels. Some of them settled and practiced trade or agriculture. Muhammad’s own tribe was Qurayash who had reigned its supremacy in Mecca. It established its control over Kaba, a cublic like structure in which idols were placed. Even the tribes outside Mecca considered the Kaba installed their own idols at this shrine, making annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to the shrine.

Question 5.
What were Crusades? Describe its two impact on the Christian Muslim relations.
Answer:
Crusades meant the military expeditions. It was organized in western Christendom to recover the holy places of Palestine from Muslim occupation. The four Crusades were fought, as given below.

1. First Crusade – 1095 to 1099 CE
2. Second Crusade – 1147 to 1148 CE
3. Third Crusade – 1189 to 1192 CE
4. Fourth Crusade – 1202 to 1204 CE

Impact on Christian-Muslim relations

• Ever since the Crusade, the people of western Christendom developed a stereotypical and distorted Islamic image.
• These wars resulted in harsher attitude of the Muslim state towards its Christian subjects.

Question 6.
Describe the major beliefs and practices that characterized Sufism.
Answer:
Sufi’s were a group of religious minded people turned to asceticism and mysticism.
Their major beliefs and practices are given below:

• The Sufi’s laid emphasis on seeking of salvation through devotion of God.
• They laid emphasis on celibacy and ignored the rituals and observed extreme form of asceticism.
• They considered every one equal in the eyes of God. God is one and almighty. Everyone in the universe is his creation.
• They interpreted the Quran on the basis of their own experiences.
• They maintained a distance from worldly power.
• They used to go for Ziyarat. They remembered God by reciting the divine names or evoking his presence through Sama.
• They regarded Prophet Muhammad as a perfect human being and preached to follow his teachings.
• Sufi’s were in favor of Sama, singing and dance.

Question 7.
What do you know about the main teachings of Islam?
Answer:
Main teachings of Islam:

• Idol-worship is a curse, according to Islam.
• God, i.e. Allah is almighty. He is all wise and merciful.
• Islam believes in life after death, in hell or in heaven. The sinner will go to the hell and face many hardships. The religious and honest people will go to the heaven. They will be served by beautiful damsels.
• The Quran is the divine book of Islam. The sayings of Prophet Muhammad are regarded as God.
• All are equal. No one is superior or inferior. Islam preached the principle of equality and brotherhood.
• There is no restriction on keeping slaves in Islam, but Muhammad asked his followers to treat them kindly.

Question 8.
Write your argument to justify the following statement:
“Prophet Muhammad laid down the foundation of a new political structure.”
Answer:
Prophet Muhammad laid down the foundation of a new political structure as:

• He replaced the tribal organisation with a state. The state was encompassed with a number of tribes.
• Umma constituted the armed forces.
• He was a religious leader as well as a law-giver.
• His followers (The Umma) were converted into a wide community to include polytheists and Jews of Madina.
• The conquest of Mecca established him both as a religious as well as political leader.
• He maintained the independence of the state by fixing the booty to l/15th (which directly went to him).
• Tax like ‘Zakat’ was imposed on tribes who had accepted Muhammad’s leadership. All Muslim tribes had to pay it.
• With his efforts and influence, he was able to convert many Bedouins into Islam. In a short span of time, he was able to unite a large part of peninsula.

Question 9.
“Throughout the history of human beings their interest in religion often went hand in hand”. Justify the statement by giving examples.
Answer:

• From the very beginning, evidence has been traced out that Indian traders traveled to the different countries of South East Asia for trade in gold, tin, spices, etc. While travelling and trading to these nations they also took with them the ideas and practices of the religion. The ideology of Buddhism and Hinduism became the part and parcel of their culture. These two religions were adopted by the people of Jawa, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, etc.
• The Arab traders in the medieval period established their trade relations with India and many other countries of Europe and Asia. They carried with them the ideas of newly founded religion, i.e. Islam. Due to its simplicity in principle, Islam was adopted by many Indians and in the same way it spread into Spain, Syria, Iran and Iraq.
• The traders of the western countries, i.e. the traders of England, Holland, France, etc. spread their trading relations in many countries. They brought with them the ideas of Christianity. While trading, they also spread Christianity into different countries. Today this religion is adopted by the people of different countries of Asia and Africa.Keeping the above examples in mind, we can conclude that throughout the history human being’s interest in religion went hand in hand.

Question 10.
Discuss the main sources of income of the state in detail.
Or
What do you know about agriculture of the Central Islamic lands?
Answer:
Agricultural was the main occupation of the settled population, since long. It also remained a major occupation in newly acquired territories. The bulk of income of the state was derived from the agricultural land.

Land was owned by the small and big farmers and in some cases by the state. After Islamic conquests, big estates were abandoned and acquired by the state. Later on these states were handed over to Muslim elites. The chief among them were the members of Khalifa’s (Caliph’s) army.

The land conquered by the Arabs, which remained in the hands of the owners were subjected to a tax, called Kharaj, varied from 1/2 to 1/5th of the produce. While the land cultivated by the Muslims were levied 1/10th of tax, known as ushr as land
revenue. When non-Muslims started converting to Islam, the land revenue income fell dramatically. To meet the shortfall, the Caliphs decided to discourage the conversions and later adopted a uniform land revenue policy.

After 10th century, the state authorised its officials to claim salaries from the agricultural territories called Iqtas (The person who held the Iqtas came to be known as Iqtadars). Agricultural prosperity and political stability went hand-in-hand. To ensure agricultural prosperity it took several measures such as canals were constructed, dams were built, the digging of wells, etc. were done. Tax concessions were granted to those people who brought land under cultivation. By the initiatives of peasants and state support the agriculture began to increase. Many new crops such as cotton, oranges, bananas, watermelon, spinach and brinjal began to grow and even exported to Europe.