Chapter 1
THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS
Answer in100-150 words
1. Write a note on the Kitab-ul-Hind.
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2. Compare and contrast the perspectives from which Ibn Battuta and Bernier wrote their accounts of their travels in India.
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3. Discuss the picture of urban centres that emerges from Bernier’s account.
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4. Analyse the evidence for slavery provided by Ibn Battuta.
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5. What were the elements of the practice of sati that drew the attention of Bernier?
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Write a short essay (about 250-300 words) on the following:
6. Discuss Al-Biruni’s understanding of the caste system.
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7. Do you think Ibn Battuta’s account is useful in arriving at an understanding of life in contemporary urban centres? Give reasons for your answer.
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8. Discuss the extent to which Bernier’s account enables historians to reconstruct contemporary rural society.
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9. 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 fowlingpieces, 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.
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Map work
10. On an outline map of the world mark the countries visited by Ibn Battuta. What are the seas that he may have crossed?
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Projects (choose one)
11. Interview any one of your older relatives (mother/ father/grandparents/uncles/aunts) who has travelled outside your town or village. Find out (a) where they went, (b) how they travelled, (c) how long did it take, (d) why did they travel (e) and did they face any difficulties. List as many similarities and differences that they may have noticed between their place of residence and the place they visited, focusing on language, clothes, food, customs, buildings, roads, the lives of men and women. Write a report on your findings.
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12. For any one of the travellers mentioned in the chapter, find out more about his life and writings. Prepare a report on his travels, noting in particular how he described society, and comparing these descriptions with the excerpts included in the chapter.
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