Social Science Class VIII Past Paper PDF

TERM 2 [2024 - 2025] CLASS VIII SOCIAL SCIENCE THE GIST OF THE LESSONS TAUGHT HISTORY CHAPTER 6 - Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation CIVICS...

TERM 2 [2024 - 2025] CLASS VIII SOCIAL SCIENCE THE GIST OF THE LESSONS TAUGHT HISTORY CHAPTER 6 - Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation CIVICS CHAPTER 5 – UNDERSTANDING MARGINALISATION HISTORY Chapter 6. Civilising the “Native”, Educating the Nation The tradition of Orientalism In 1783, a person named William Jones arrived in Calcutta. He had an appointment as a junior judge at the Supreme Court that the Company had set up. In addition to being a law expert, Jones was a linguist. [A linguist is someone who knows and studies several languages.] He had studied Greek and Latin at Oxford, knew French and English, picked up Arabic from a friend, and learned Persian. At Calcutta, he spent many hours a day with pandits who taught him the subtleties of the Sanskrit language, grammar, and poetry. Soon he studied ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, politics, morality, arithmetic, medicine, and the other sciences. Jones discovered that his interests were shared by many British officials living in Calcutta at the time. Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages, and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English. Together with them, Jones set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal and started a journal called Asiatick Researches. Jones and Colebrooke came to represent a particular attitude towards India. They shared a deep respect for ancient cultures, both of India and the West. Indian civilisation, they felt, had attained its glory in the ancient past, but had subsequently declined. To understand India, it was necessary to discover the sacred and legal texts that were produced in the ancient period. For only those texts could reveal the real ideas and laws of the Hindus and Muslims, and only a new study of these texts could form the basis of future development in India. So, Jones and Colebrooke went about discovering ancient texts, understanding their meaning, translating them, and making their findings known to others. This project, they believed, would not only help the British learn from Indian culture, but it would also help Indians rediscover their own heritage, and understand the lost glories of their past. In this process, the British would become the guardians of Indian culture as well as its masters. Influenced by such ideas, many Company officials argued that the British ought to promote Indian rather than Western learning. They felt that institutions should be set up to encourage Page 1 of 12  the study of ancient Indian texts and teach Sanskrit and Persian literature and poetry. The officials also thought that Hindus and Muslims ought to be taught what they were already familiar with, and what they valued and treasured, not subjects that were alien to them. Only then, they believed, could the British hope to win a place in the hearts of the “natives”; only then could the alien rulers expect to be respected by their subjects. ❖ A madrasa (An Arabic word for a place of learning; any type of school or college) was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian, and Islamic law; and ❖ the Hindu College was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country. ❖ Not all officials shared these views. Many were very strong in their criticism of the Orientalists. “Grave errors of the East” From the early nineteenth century, many British officials began to criticise the Orientalist vision of learning. ❖ They said that knowledge of the East was full of errors and unscientific thought. ❖ Eastern literature was non-serious and light-hearted. ❖ So, they argued that it was wrong on the part of the British to spend so much effort in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanskrit language and literature. James Mill was one of those who attacked the Orientalists. ❖ The British effort, he declared, should not be to teach what the natives wanted, or what they respected, in order to please them and “win a place in their heart”. ❖ The aim of education ought to be to teach what is useful and practical. ❖ So, Indians should be made familiar with the scientific and technical advances that the West had made, rather than with the poetry and sacred literature of the Orient. By the 1830s, the attack on the Orientalists became sharper. One of the most outspoken and influential critics of the time was Thomas Babington Macaulay. ❖ He saw India as an uncivilised country that needed to be civilised. ❖ No branch of Eastern knowledge, according to him could be compared to what England had produced. ❖ Who could deny, declared Macaulay, that “a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia”. ❖ He urged that the British government in India stop wasting public money in promoting Oriental learning, for it was of no practical use. ❖ With great energy and passion, Macaulay emphasised the need to teach the English language. ❖ He felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced; it would make them aware of the developments in Western science and philosophy. ❖ Teaching English could thus be a way of civilising people, and changing their tastes, values, and culture. ❖ Following Macaulay’s minute, the English Education Act of 1835 was introduced. The decision was to make English the medium of instruction for higher education to stop the promotion of Oriental institutions like the Calcutta Madrasa and Benaras Page 2 of 12  Sanskrit College. These institutions were seen as “temples of darkness that were falling of themselves into decay”. English textbooks have now begun to be produced for schools. In 1854, the Court of Directors of the East India Company in London sent an educational despatch to the Governor-General in India. Issued by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control of the Company, it has come to be known as Wood’s Despatch. Outlining the educational policy that was to be followed in India, ❖ it emphasised once again the practical benefits of a system of European learning, as opposed to Oriental knowledge. ❖ One of the practical uses the Despatch pointed to was economic. ❖ European learning, it said, would enable Indians to recognise the advantages that flow from the expansion of trade and commerce make them see the importance of developing the resources of the country. ❖ Introducing them to European ways of life would change their tastes and desires create a demand for British goods, for Indians would begin to appreciate and buy things that were produced in Europe. ❖ Wood’s Despatch also argued that European learning would improve the moral character of Indians. ❖ It would make them truthful and honest, and thus supply the Company with civil servants who could be trusted and depended upon. ❖ The literature of the East was not only full of grave errors, it could also not instill in people a sense of duty and a commitment to work, nor could it develop the skills required for administration. Following the 1854 Despatch, several measures were introduced by the British. ❖ Education departments of the government were set up to extend control over all matters regarding education. ❖ Steps were taken to establish a system of university education. ❖ In 1857, while the sepoys rose in revolt in Meerut and Delhi, universities were being established in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. ❖ Attempts were also made to bring about changes within the system of school education. What Happened to the Local Schools? Do you have any idea of how children were taught in pre-British times? Have you ever wondered whether they went to school? And if there were schools, what happened to these under British rule? The report of William Adam In the 1830s, William Adam, a Scottish missionary, toured the districts of Bengal and Bihar. He had been asked by the Company to report on the progress of education in vernacular schools. The Page 3 of 12  report Adam produced is interesting. ❖ Adam found that there were over 1 lakh pathshalas in Bengal and Bihar. ❖ These were small institutions with no more than 20 students each. ❖ But the total number of children being taught in these pathshalas was considerable – over 20 lakh. ❖ These institutions were set up by wealthy people, or the local community. ❖ At times they were started by a teacher (guru). ❖ The system of education was flexible. The system in the Pathshalas There was no fixed fee no printed books no separate school building no benches or chairs no blackboards no system of separate classes no roll-call registers no annual examinations no regular time-table In some places, classes were held under a banyan tree, in other places in the corner of a village shop or temple, or at the guru’s home Fee depended on the income of parents: the rich had to pay more than the poor. Teaching was oral The guru decided what to teach, in accordance with the needs of the students. Students were not separated into different classes: all of them sat together in one place. The guru interacted separately with groups of children with different levels of learning. Adam discovered that this flexible system was suited to local needs. o For instance, classes were not held during harvest time when rural children often worked in the fields. o The pathshala started once again when the crops had been cut and stored. o This meant that even children of peasant families could study. New routines, new rules Up to the mid-nineteenth century, the Company was concerned primarily with higher education. So it allowed the local pathshalas to function without much interference. After 1854, the Company decided to improve the system of vernacular education. It felt that this could be done by ❖ introducing order within the system ❖ imposing routines ❖ establishing rules ❖ ensuring regular inspections. Page 4 of 12 How was this to be done? What measures did the Company undertake? ❖ It appointed a number of government pandits, each in charge of looking after four to five schools. ❖ The task of the pandit was to visit the pathshalas and try and improve the standard of teaching. ❖ Each guru was asked to submit periodic reports and take classes according to a regular timetable. ❖ Teaching was now to be based on textbooks. ❖ Learning was to be tested through a system of annual examinations. ❖ Students were asked to pay a regular fee. ❖ Students were asked to attend regular classes ❖ They were to sit on fixed seats ❖ They had to obey the new rules of discipline. Impact of the New Rules Pathshalas which accepted the new rules were supported through government grants. Those who were unwilling to work within the new system received no government support. Over time, gurus who wanted to retain their independence found it difficult to compete with the government-aided and regulated pathshalas. The new rules and routines had another consequence. ❖ In the earlier system, children from poor peasant families had been able to go to pathshalas, since the timetable was flexible. ❖ The discipline of the new system demanded regular attendance, even during harvest time when children of poor families had to work in the fields. ❖ Inability to attend school came to be seen as indiscipline, as evidence of the lack of desire to learn. The Agenda for a National Education British officials were not the only people thinking about education in India. From the early nineteenth century, many thinkers from different parts of India began to talk of the need for a wider spread of education. Impressed with the developments in Europe, some Indians felt that Western education would help modernise India. They urged the British to open more schools, colleges and universities spend more money on education. There were other Indians however, who reacted against Western education. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore were two such individuals. “English education has enslaved us”- Justify Mahatma Gandhi argued that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians. It made them see Western civilisation as superior and destroyed the pride they had in their own culture. Page 5 of 12  There was poison in this education, said Mahatma Gandhi, it was sinful, it enslaved Indians, and it cast an evil spell on them. Charmed by the West, appreciating everything that came from the West, Indians educated in these institutions began admiring British rule. Mahatma Gandhi wanted an education that could help Indians recover their sense of dignity and self- respect. During the national movement, he urged students to leave educational institutions in order to show to the British that Indians were no longer willing to be enslaved. Mahatma Gandhi strongly felt that Indian languages ought to be the medium of teaching. Education in English crippled Indians, distanced them from their own social surroundings, and made them “strangers in their own lands”. Speaking a foreign tongue, and despising local culture, the English educated did not know how to relate to the masses. Western education, Mahatma Gandhi said, focused on reading and writing rather than oral knowledge; it valued textbooks rather than lived experience and practical knowledge. He argued that education ought to develop a person’s mind and soul. Literacy – or simply learning to read and write – by itself did not count as education. People had to work with their hands, learn a craft, and know how different things operated. This would develop their mind and their capacity to understand. As nationalist sentiments spread, other thinkers also began thinking of a system of national education that would be radically different from that set up by the British. Tagore’s “abode of peace” When and by whom was Santiniketan established? Santiniketan was established by Rabindranath Tagore in 1901. Why did Tagore hate going to school in his school days? As a child, Tagore hated going to school. He found it suffocating and oppressive. The school appeared like a prison, for he could never do what he felt like doing. So, while other children listened to the teacher, Tagore’s mind would wander away. How did the experience of his school days in Calcutta shape Tagore’s ideas of education? On growing up, he wanted to set up a school where the child was happy, where she could be free and creative, and where she was able to explore her own thoughts and desires. Tagore felt that childhood ought to be a time of self-learning, outside the rigid and restricting discipline of the schooling system set up by the British. Teachers had to be imaginative, understand the child, and help the child develop her curiosity. According to Tagore, the existing schools killed the natural desire of the child to be creative, and her sense of wonder. Page 6 of 12  Tagore was of the view that creative learning could be encouraged only within a natural environment. So, he chose to set up his school 100 kilometres away from Calcutta, in a rural setting. He saw it as an abode of peace (Santiniketan), where living in harmony with nature, children could cultivate their natural creativity. In what sense were Gandhiji and Tagore’s thoughts similar and different about Western education? In many senses, Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi thought about education in similar ways. There were, however, differences too. Gandhiji was highly critical of Western civilisation and its worship of machines and technology. Tagore wanted to combine elements of modern Western civilisation with what he saw as the best within the Indian tradition. He emphasised the need to teach science and technology at Santiniketan, along with art, music, and dance. Views of other thinkers Many individuals and thinkers were thus thinking about the way a national educational system could be fashioned. Some wanted changes within the system set up by the British and felt that the system could be extended so as to include wider sections of people. Others urged that alternative systems be created so that people were educated into a culture that was truly national. Who was to define what was truly national? The debate about what this “national education” ought to be continued till after independence. NEW WORDS LEARNT Orientalists – Those with a scholarly knowledge of the language and culture of Asia Munshi – A person who can read, write, and teach Persian Vernacular – A term generally used to refer to a local language or dialect as distinct from what is seen as the standard language. In colonial countries like India, the British used the term to mark the difference between the local languages of everyday use and English – the language of the imperial masters. Sri Aurobindo Ghose In a speech delivered on January 15, 1908, in Bombay, Aurobindo Ghose stated that the goal of national education was to awaken the spirit of nationality among the students. This required a contemplation of the heroic deeds of our ancestors. The education should be imparted in the vernacular so as to reach the largest number of people. Aurobindo Ghose emphasised that although the students should remain connected to their own roots, they should also take the fullest advantage of modern scientific discoveries and Western experiments in popular governments. Moreover, the students should also learn some useful crafts so that they could be able to find some moderately remunerative employment after leaving their schools. Page 7 of 12 OMITTED PORTIONS: Activity- Pages 69, 72, 85, 88 Sources- 1, 2 and 3 The demand of moral education-Page 86 Let’s imagine- Page 76 Let’s do- Page 77 ______________________________________________________________________________________ CIVICS CHAPTER -5- UNDERSTANDING MARGINALISATION What Does it Mean to be Socially Marginalised? To be marginalised is to be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the centre of things. This is something that some of you have probably experienced in the classroom or playground. ❖ If you are not like most people in your class, that is if your taste in music or films is different. if your accent marks you out from others if you are less chatty than others in your class if you don’t play the same sport that many of your classmates like, if you dress differently, the chances are that you will not be considered to be ‘in’ by your peers. So, often, you end up feeling that you are ‘not with it’ – as if what you say, feel, and think and how you act are not quite right or acceptable. ❖ In the social environment too, groups of people or communities may have the experience of being excluded. Their marginalisation can be because - they speak a different language follow different customs belong to a different religious group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status, and viewed as being less human than others. ❖ Sometimes, marginalised groups are viewed with hostility and fear. This sense of difference and exclusion leads to communities not having access to resources and opportunities and their inability to assert their rights. They experience a sense of disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a- vis more powerful and dominant sections of society who own land, are wealthy, better educated, and politically powerful. Thus, marginalisation is seldom experienced in one sphere. Economic, social, cultural, and political factors work together to make certain groups in society feel marginalised. Adivasis and Marginalisation Adivasis – the term literally means ‘original inhabitants’ are communities who lived and often continued to live in close association with forests. Tribals are referred to as Adivasis. Page 8 of 12  (Scheduled Tribes is the term used for Adivasis used by the Indian government in various official documents. There is an official list of tribes. Scheduled Tribes are often grouped together with Scheduled Castes in the category Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.) Around 8% of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centres are located in Adivasi areas- Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bokaro, and Bhilai. Adivasis are not a homogenous population: there are over 500 different Adivasis groups in India. Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and in North-Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. Odisha is home to more than 60 different tribal groups. Adivasi societies are distinctive because there is often very little hierarchy among them and this makes them radically different from communities organised around principles of jati-varna (caste) or those that were ruled by kings. Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions- ❖ different from Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity- ❖ worship of ancestors, village, and nature spirits, the last associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape – ‘mountain-spirits’, ‘river-spirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc. ❖ The village spirits are often worshipped at specific sacred groves within the village boundary ❖ the ancestral ones are usually worshipped at home. ❖ Adivasis-influenced by different surrounding religions like Shakta, Buddhism, Vaishnav, Bhakti, and Christianity. ❖ Adivasi religions themselves have influenced the dominant religions of the empires around them, for example, o the Jagannath cult of Odisha o Shakti and Tantric traditions in Bengal and Assam. During the 19th century, substantial numbers of Adivasis converted to Christianity, which has emerged as a very important religion in modern Adivasi history. Adivasis have their own languages (most of them radically different from and possibly as old as Sanskrit), which have often deeply influenced the formation of ‘mainstream’ Indian languages, like Bengali. Santhali has the largest number of speakers and has a significant body of publications including magazines on the internet or in e-zines. Adivasis and Stereotyping Adivasis are portrayed in very stereotypical ways – ❖ in colourful costumes ❖ headgear ❖ through their dancing. Besides this, we seem to know very little about the realities of their lives. This wrongly leads to people believing they are exotic, primitive, and backward. Often Adivasis are meant for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas. Page 9 of 12 Adivasis and Development: Forests were absolutely crucial to the development of all empires and settled civilisations in India. ❖ Metal ores like iron and copper, gold and silver, coal and diamonds, invaluable timber, most medicinal herbs and animal products (wax, lac, honey), and animals themselves (elephants, the mainstay of imperial armies), all came from the forests. ❖ In addition, the continuation of life depended heavily on forests, which help recharge many of India’s rivers and, as is becoming clearer now, crucial to the availability and quality of our air and water. Forests covered the major part of our country till the nineteenth century and the Adivasis had a deep knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century. This meant that they were not ruled by large states and empires. Instead, often empires heavily depended on Adivasis for crucial access to forest resources. This is radically contrary to our image of Adivasis today as a somewhat marginal and powerless community. In the pre-colonial world, they were traditionally ranged hunter-gatherers and nomads and lived by shifting agriculture and cultivating in one place. Although these remain, for the past 200 years Adivasis has been increasingly forced through ❖ economic changes ❖ forest policies ❖ political force applied by the State and private industry – to migrate to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in industries, and as domestic workers. ❖ For the first time in history, they do not control or have much direct access to the forest territories. What were the hardships faced by the Adivasis? Causes of destruction of the forests: Forest lands have been cleared for timber. To get land for agriculture and industry. Adivasis have also lived in areas that are rich in minerals and other natural resources. These are taken over for mining and other large industrial projects. According to official figures, more than 50 percent of persons displaced due to mines and mining projects are tribals. Powerful forces have often colluded to take over tribal land. Much of the time, the land is taken away forcefully and procedures are not followed. Another recent survey report by organisations working among Adivasis shows that 79 percent of the persons displaced from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand are tribals. Huge tracts of their lands have also gone under the waters of hundreds of dams that have been built in independent India. In the Northeast, their lands remain highly militarised. Page 10 of 12  India has 104 national parks covering 40,564 sq km and 565 wildlife sanctuaries covering 1,19,776 sq km. These are areas where tribals originally lived but were evicted from. When they continue to stay in these forests, they are termed encroachers. Losing their lands and access to the forest means that ❖ tribals lose their main sources of livelihood and food. ❖ Having gradually lost access to their traditional homelands, many Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very low wages in local industries or at building or construction sites. ❖ Adivasis are caught in the situation of poverty and deprivation. ❖ 45% of tribal groups in rural areas and 35% in urban areas live below the poverty line leading to deprivation in other areas- malnourished tribal children- and low literacy rates. ❖ When Adivasis are displaced from their lands, they lose much more than a source of income. ❖ They lose their traditions and customs – a way of living and being. “They took our farming land. They left some houses. They took the cremation ground, temple, well and pond. How will we survive?” says Gobindha Maran, who was displaced due to a refinery project in Odisha. There exists an interconnectedness between the economic and social dimensions of tribal life. Destruction in one sphere naturally impacts the other. Often this process of dispossession and displacement can be painful and violent. Adivasis use around 10,000 plant species – approximately 8,000 species are used for medicinal purposes; 325 are used as pesticides; 425 as gums, resins, and dyes; 550 as fibres; 3,500 are edible. This entire knowledge system gets wiped out when Adivasis lose their rights over forest lands. Niyamgiri Hill is located in the Kalahandi district of Odisha. This area is inhabited by Dongarria Konds, an Adivasi community. Niyamgiri is the sacred mountain of this community. A major aluminium company is planning to set up a mine and a refinery here which will displace this Adivasi community. They have strongly resisted this proposed development and have been joined by environmentalists as well. A case against the company is also pending in the Supreme Court. OMITTED PORTIONS- Minorities and Marginalisation-Page 69-72 Conclusion- Page 91 Intext questions- In your city or village, who would you think are marginalised groups? Discuss Page 65 Box of Information- Page 67 What do you think this poem is trying to convey? - Page 67 Exercises- Questions 3,4, 5,7 and 8 Glossary- Ghettoisation and Malnourished Page 11 of 12 PLEASE NOTE Students must read the prescribed NCERT textbooks thoroughly, along with the selected portions from the reference textbooks. Students will also refer to the Gists. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Page 12 of 12