Very Short Answer Questions (VSA) 1 Mark

Question 1.
Who wrote the novel, Debganer Martye Aagaman (The Gods Visit Earth)?
Answer:
Durgacharan Ray.

Question 2.
What type of opportunities were available in the city of Calcutta in the nineteenth century?
Answer:
For trade and commerce, education and jobs.

Question 3.
Which Gods visited Calcutta?
Answer:
Brahma with some other gods.

Question 4.
Why the gods were disturbed on their visit to Calcutta?
Answer:
They were disturbed on seeing cheats, thieves, poverty and poor quality of housing.

Question 5.
Name any two ancient cities along the river valleys.
Answer:
Nippur and Mohenjodaro.

Question 6.
Which three historical processes have shaped modern cities in decisive ways?
Answer:

1.     Rise of industrial capitalism.

2.     The establishment of colonial rule over large parts of the world.

3.     The development of democratic ideals.

Question 7.
What do you understand by metropolis?
Answer:
A metropolis is a large densely populated city of a country or state, often the capital of the Regine.

Question 8.
What is urbanisation?
Answer:
Urbanisation implies development of a city or town.

Question 9.
Which is the largest city in the world?
Answer:
London

Question 10.
State any one factor that changed the form of urbanisation in the modem period.
Answer:
Industrialisation.

Question 11.
Why did the women lose their industrial jobs and were forced to work within household in the late 18th century and early 19th century ?
Answer:
With technological developments, women lost their industrial jobs, and were forced to work within households. The 1861 census recorded that of a quarter of a million domestic servants in London, majority were women.

Question 12.
Which book was written by clergyman Andrew Means?
Answer:
The Bitter Cry of Outcast London.

Question 13.
What was importance of the Compulsory Elementary Education Act of 1870 and factory acts?
Answer:
These acts kept children out of industrial work. The children could not be employed in factories/industries.

Question 14.
Who was Charles Booth and what did he do in 1887?
Answer:
Charles Booth was a Liverpool shipowner. In 1887, he conducted the first social survey of low-skilled London workers in the East End of London.

Question 15.
Why did larger number of people begin to recognise the need for housing for the poor in London? State any one reason.
Answer:
One room houses occupied by the poor were overcrowded, badly ventilated and lacked sanitation. As such these houses were seen as a serious threat to public health.

Question 16.
What was a tenement?
Answer:
It was a overcrowded apartment house in a poor section of a large city.

Question 17.
Where was the first section of the underground railway opened in the world?
Answer:
The first section of the underground railway was opened on 10 January 1863 between Paddington and Farrington Street in London.

Question 18.
What was Temperance Movement?
Answer:
It was a largely middle class-led social reform movement which emerged in Britain and America from the nineteenth century onwards. It identified alcoholism as the cause of the ruin of families and society. It aimed at reducing the consumption of alcoholic drinks particularly among st the working classes.

Question 19.
What was the concept of the Garden City? Who developed it?
Answer:

1.     Architect and planner Ebeneezer Howard developed the principle of the Garden City.

2.     It was a pleasant space full of plants and trees where people would both live and work.

Question 20.
State one bad effect of construction of the London tube railway.
Answer:
To make approximately two miles of railway, 900 houses had to be destroyed. Thus it led to massive displacement of London poor.

Question 21.
State any one feature in the shape of the family that took place in the industrial city of London.
Answer:
Ties between members of households loosened, and among the working class the institution of marriage tended to break down. On the other hand, the lives of women of the upper and middle classes were made easier by domestic maids who cooked, cleaned and cared for young children on low wages.

Question 22.
What do you understand by individualism?
Answer:
Individualism implies a theory which promotes the liberty, rights or independent action of the individual, rather than of the community.

Question 23.
In the 19th century Britain what were the new types of large scale entertainment for the common people? Mention any two.
Answer:

1.     Libraries

2.     Art galleries

3.     Museums.

Question 24.
What were presidency cities?
Answer:
Presidency cities were the capitals of the Bombay, Bengal and Madras Presidencies in British India.

Question 25.
When did Bombay come under the control of the British and how?
Answer:
In 1661, control of the islands (Bombay was a group of seven islands) passed into British hands after the marriage of Britain’s King Charles II to the Portuguese princess.

Question 26.
Describe the causes that were responsible for the surge in migration in the 19th century. Mention any two.
Answer:

1.     Growth of trade in cotton and opium.

2.     Establishment of textile mills.

Question 27.
What were chawls ?
Answer:
Chawls were multi-storeyed structures which had been built from atleast the 1860s in the ‘native’ parts of the town.

Question 28.
Describe any two functions of the jobber?
Answer:

1.     He settled disputes.

2.     He organised food supplies or arranged informal credit.

Question 29.
State any one cause of planning in Bombay at the end of 19th century.
Answer:
Fears of plague epidemic.

Question 30.
What were Akharas?
Answer:
These were traditional wrestling schools, generally located in every neighbourhood, where young people were trained to ensure both physical and moral fitness.

Question 31.
What do you understand by the depressed classes?
Answer:
A term often used to denote those who were seen within the caste order as ‘lower castes’ and ‘untouchables’.

Question 32.
What is reclamation?
Answer:
The reclaiming of marshy or submerged areas or other wasteland for settelments, cultivation or other use.

Question 33.
Which part of Bombay was known as ‘mill village’?
Answer:
Girangaon.

Question 34.
How city of Bombay has been described?
Answer:
Mayapuri—a city of dreams.

Question 35.
Who made ‘Raja Harishchandra’ and when?
Answer:
Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913.

Question 36.
Which city is considered to be India’s film capital?
Answer:
Bombay (Mumbai).

Question 37.
Name two industrial cities of England.
Answer:
Leeds and Manchaster.

Question 38.
Which city in India has a long history of pollution?
Answer:
Calcutta (Kolkata).

 

 

Short Answer Question3 Marks

Question 39.
“City of Calcutta fascinated the Gods as described in the novel written by Durgacharan Ray.” Explain.
Answer:
In the novel, ‘The Gods Visit Earth’ Durgacharan Ray writes that when Gods – Brahma, the creator in Hindu mythology along with other Gods, Varuna, the Rain God etc., visited Calcutta, they were fascinated by the big, modern city’s marvels as mentioned below :

1.     Train

2.     The large ships on the river Ganges

3.     Factories belching smoke

4.     Bridges and monuments

5.     A dazzling array of shops selling a wide range of commodities. The gods were so impressed that they decided to build a Museum and a High Court in Heaven.

Question 40.
According to Durgacharan Ray, in what three ways did the city life of Calcutta present contrasting images of opportunities?
                            Or
How does Durgacharan Ray describe two faces of Calcutta in his novel *Dehganer Marty e Aagaman’ ?
                            Or
“Calcutta in the nineteenth century was a city of contrasts.” How far this reflected in Durgacharan Ray’s novel, Dehganer Martye Aagaman ?
Answer:
The city life of Calcutta presented contrasting images of opportunities as mentioned below :

1.     Wealth and poverty: People were wealthy as well as poor. There was grinding poverty and the poor quality of housing.

2.     Splendour and dirt: There were bridges and monuments and a dazzling array of shops selling wide range of commodities. On the other hand, large quantities of refuse and waste products polluted air and water.

3.     Opportunities and disappointments: There were beaming opportunities for trade and commerce, education and jobs. But there was another aspect of life – its cheats, thieves, its grinding poverty and the poor quality of housing for many. Brahma himself was cheated by shopkeepers when he was buying a pair of shoes.
Similarly the gods were disappointed due to caste and religious identities in the city.
Thus, the city offered a series of contrasting images and experiences.

Question 41.
Which historical processes have shaped the modern cities in decisive ways?
Answer:
Three historical processes have shaped the modern cities in decisive ways. These are as mentioned below:

1.     Rise of industrial captialism.

2.     The establishment of colonial rule over large parts of the world.

3.     The development of democractic ideals.

Question 42.
Enumerate the major characteristics of an ancient town.
Answer:
The major characteristics of an ancient town were as given below :

1.     The ancient towns and cities such as Ur, Nippur and Mohenjodaro appeared along river valleys.

2.     They were larger in scale than the other human settlements.

3.     The development of ancient cities was based on increase in food supplies to support a wide range of non-food producers.

4.     Cities were often the centers of political power, administrative network, trade and industry, religious institutions, and intellectual activities.

5.     The cities supported artisans, merchants, priests and other social groups.

Question 43.
Explain, how is industrialisation responsible for the rise of the modern cities in England.
Answer:
Industrialisation is responsible for the rise of modem cities in England in the following ways :

1.     The textile mills of the early industrial cities such as Leeds, Manchester attracted rural people. In 1851, most of the adults living in Manchester were migrants from rural areas.

2.     London had no large factories but it attracted people from other areas. In 1750s, the population of this city was 675,000 and by 1880, it had increased to 4 million. The reasons for this increase were as mentioned below :

1.       There were only five major types of industries i.e., clothing and footwear, wood and furniture, metals and engineering, printing and stationery, and precision products which employed large number of people.

2.       London dockyards too employed a large number of people.

3.       During the First World War, London began manufacturing cars and electrical goods and this led to further increase in jobs in the city. Thus, industrialisation led to the rise of the modern cities in England.

Question 44.
‘During the 19th century, the city of London was a powerful magnet for migrant population.’ Support the statement with examples. 
Answer:
It is true that the city of London was a powerful magnet for migrant populations, even though it did not have large factories. It is clear from the facts given below:

1.     Its population multiplied four-fold between 1810 and 1880 from 1 million to 4 million.

2.     Its population consisted of clerks, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, semi-skilled and sweated out workers, soldiers and servants, casual labourers, street sellers and beggars.

3.     Dockyard and industries – See Textbook Question 1.

Question 45.
Describe the various marginal groups in London in the later half of the 19th century. What steps were taken by the government towards them?
Answer:
(1) As London grew, crime flourished. The marginal groups were as mentioned below:

1.     Criminals: There were about 20,000 criminals living in London in the 1870s. Crime had become an object of widespread concern. The police were worried about law and order. Philanthropists were anxious about public morality and industrialists wanted hard-working and orderly labour force.

2.     Poor people : In his writing on London labour Henry Mayhew listed that ‘criminals’ were in fact poor people who lived by stealing lead from roofs, food from shops, lumps of coal and clothes drying on hedges. There were others who were cheats and tricksters, pickpockets and petty thieves crowding the streets of London.

3.     Women: A large number of women worked in factories in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. With technological developments they, however, lost their jobs and shifted to work within households as domestic servants. Some started other works like
tailoring, washing or match-box making.

4.     Children: Large number of children worked in the factories. They were, however, paid low wages. Under such circumstances, many children turned to criminal activities because they could earn more from thieving. Andrew Means, a clergy man in his book The Bitter Cry of Outcast London in the 1880, wrote that crime’was more profitable than labouring in small underpaid factories.

(2) Steps taken by the government:

1.     Population of criminals was counted. Their activities were watched and their ways of life were investigated.

2.     In an attempt to discipline the population, the authorities imposed high penalties for crime and offered work to those who were considered the ‘deserving poor’.

3.      So far women were concerned, as they got employment in wartime industries and offices they withdrew from domestic service.

4.     In 1870 the Compulsory Elementary Education Act was passed. Factory acts were passed from 1902 onwards. As a result of these acts, children were kept out of industrial work.

5.     Housing Schemes for the marginal groups were planned due to fear of revolt by them.

Question 46.
Why Charles Booth, a Liverpool shipowner stated, “London needed there building of at least 400,000 rooms to house its poorest citizens”?
Answer:
The reasons for the statement by Charles Booth that London needed the rebuilding at least 400,000 rooms to house its poorest citizens were as follows :

1.     One million Londoners (about one-fifth of the population of London at that time) were very poor.

2.     Their average life expectancy was 29 years as against the life expectancy of 55 among the gentry and the middle class.

3.     The poor had no houses. These people were more than likely to die in a ‘work house, hospital or lunatic asylum’.

Question 47.
Explain any three reasons for the increasing concern for the London poor during the 19th century.
                                  Or
Why well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the 19th century?

Answer:
See Textbook Question 4(a).

Question 48.
Explain three steps taken to clean up London in the 19th century. 
                              Or
Mention the various measures which were taken to decongest London in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Answer:
The following steps were taken to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce pollution and landscape the city :

1.     Large blocks of apartments were built just like those in Berlin and New York, the cities which had similar housing problems.

2.     The congestion in the nineteenth century industrial city also led to a yearning for clean country air. Many wealthy residents of London constructed holiday homes in the country¬side.

3.     Demands were made for new ‘lungs’ for the city and attempts were made to bridge the difference between city and countryside through such ideas as the Green Belt around London.

4.     Architect and planner Ebenezer Howard developed the principle of the Garden City, a pleasant space full of plants and trees, where people would both live and work. He also believed that this would also produce better quality citizens,

5.     Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker designed the Garden City of New Earswick. There were common garden spaces and beautiful views in this city. However, only rich people could afford houses in the Garden City.

6.     Rent control was introduced in Britain during the First World War to ease the impact of a severe housing shortage.

7.     Between the World Wars (1914-1939), the responsibility for housing working classes was accepted by the British state. A million houses, most of them single family cottages, were built by local authorities.
Thus the city of London was cleaned and decongested.

Question 49.
Describe the causes that led to the need for the underground railway. Why was the construction of underground railway criticized?
                                             Or
Why did people of London talk of underground railway ‘the iron monster’? Give three reasons.

Answer:
(1) The factors which were responsible for the construction of underground railway were as mentioned below :

1.     The city had extended beyond the range where people could walk to work.

2.     Development of suburbs made new forms of mass transport absolutely necessary.

3.     People could also be persuaded to leave the city and live in garden suburbs unless there was some means of travelling to the city for work.

(2) The development of the underground railway was criticised on the following grounds :

1.     People were afraid to travel in underground railway as passengers used to smoke. As a result the atmosphere was a mixture of sulphur, coal dust and foul fumes which was a menace to health.

2.     Some called the underground railways as ‘iron monsters’ that added to the mess and unhealthiness of the city.

3.     The construction of underground railway had led to massive destruction. It was estimated that about 900 houses were destroyed for construction of two miles of railway.

4.     Generally, massive displacement of the poor took place. Charles Dickens wrote in Dombey and Son (1848) about the massive destruction in the process of construction :
“Houses were knocked down; streets broken through and stopped; deep pits and trenches dug iij the ground; enormous heaps of earth and clay thrown up; …. there were a hundred thousand shapes and substances of incompleteness, wildly mingled out their places, upside down, burrowing in the earth.”
But in spite of all the criticism, the Underground eventually became a huge success.

Question 50.
“The London underground railway eventually became a huge success.” Support the statement with example.
Answer:
It is true that the underground railway was criticised on many grounds as it displaced the poor people of London but ultimately it was a huge success as mentioned below :

1.     By the twentieth century, most large metropolises such as New York, Tokyo and Chicago could not do without their well-functioning transit systems.

2.     As a result of the railway, the population in the city became more dispersed.

3.     Better planned suburbs and a good railway network enabled large numbers to live outside central London and travel to work.

4.     The new conveniences wore down social distinctions and also created new ones.

Question 51.
Explain the social changes, ‘family as an institution underwent in Britain in the era of industrialisation.
                                    Or
“The function and shape of the family were completely transformed by life in the industrial city of Britain in the 18th to 20th century.” Explain. 
Answer:
The function and the shape of family were completely transformed in the industrial city in the following ways :

1.     Ties between members of a family loosened.

2.     Among the working class the institution of marriage started breaking down.

3.     Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain faced higher levels of isolation. Their lives had, however, become comfortable as domestic maids cooked, cleaned and cared for their young children on low wages.

4.     Among the lower social classes, women who worked for wages had some control over their lives. However, many social reformers felt that the family as an institution had broken down, and needed to be saved or reconstructed by pushing these women back into the home.

5.     The city encouraged a new spirit of individualism among both men and women and a freedom from the collective values.

6.     Women gradually lost their industrial jobs and the domestic sphere became the proper place for women.

7.     Political movements such as Chartism mobilised large number of men. Gradually women too participated in such movements for suffrage that demanded right to vote for women or for married women’s rights to property from 1870s.

8.     By the 20th century, the urban family had been transformed yet again due to wartime work done by women who were employed in large numbers to meet war demands. The family now consisted of much smaller units.

Question 52.
What were the changes in the kind of work available to women in London between the 19th and the 20th centuries?
Answer:
The different kinds of work available to women in London between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were as mentioned below :

1.     Factories employed large number of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

2.     With technological developments, women gradually lost their industrial jobs and were forced to work within households.

3.     The 1861 census recorded a quarter of a million domestic servants in London, of whom the vast majority were women, many of them recent migrants.

4.     A large number of women used their homes to increase family income by taking in lodgers or through such activities as tailoring, washing or matchbox making.

5.     There was a change once again in the twentieth century. As women got employment in wartime industries and offices, they withdrew from domestic service.

Question 53.
What forms of entertainment came up in the 19th century in England to provide leisure activities for the people?
                      Or
How did the people of all classes entertain themselves in their leisure time in urban Britain after industrialisation ?
                      Or
Explain any three sources of entertainment for the common people of London.
                      Or
What was the tradition of London season? Explain different forms of entertainment that came up in nineteenth century England to provide leisure activities for the people.
Answer:
(1) For wealthy Britishers, in annual ‘London Season’, several cultural events, such as the opera, the theatre and classical music performances were organised for an elite group of 300-400 families in the late eighteenth century. Meanwhile, working classes met in pubs to have a drink, exchange news and sometimes also to organise for political action.

(2) The following forms of entertainment came up in the nineteenth century England to provide leisure activities for the common people:

1.     Libraries, art galleries and museums were established to provide people with a sense of history and pride in the achievements of the British. These were possible with money from the state. At first, visitors to the British Museum in London numbered just about 15000 every year but when entry was made free in 1810, the number increased to 825,901 by 1846.

2.     Music halls were popular among the lower classes.

3.     By the early twentieth century, cinema became the great mass entertainment for mixed audiences.

4.     Industrial workers were encouraged to spend their holidays by the sea, so as to derive the benefits of the sun and bracing winds. Over 1 million British people went to the seaside at Blackpool in 1883 and by 1939 their numbers had gone upto 7 million.

5.     Pleasure gardens came up in the nineteenth century to provide facilities for sports, entertainment and refreshments for the well-to-do.

6.     The working poor created spaces of entertainment wherever they lived such as Sailor’s Home in East London.

Question 54.
Give examples to prove that large masses of people could be drawn into political causes in the city or give some examples of politics in the cities.
Answer:
Sometimes people take part in rebellion or riot or strike to force the civic authorities to take action in a particular case such as to reduce poverty. Some incidents that took place in London are given below:

1.     People’s march in winter of 1886: About 10,000 poor of London took part in a march from Xleptford to London in the winter of 1886. They demanded relief from terrible conditions of poverty. Shopkeepers were alarmed and closed down their shops. Police dispersed the marchers.

2.     Riot in 1887: A riot took place in 1887. It was brutally suppressed by the police. This day of riot is known as the Bloody Sunday of November 1887.

3.     London dockworkers’ strike: In 1889, thousands of London’s dockworkers remained on 12 days strike which was called to gain recognition for the dockworkers’ union.
These examples show that large masses of people could be drawn into political causes in the city like London. This also shows that a large city population was thus both a threat and an opportunity. To overcome such situations, state authorities went to great lengths to reduce the possibility of rebellion and enhance urban aesthetics, as the-example of Paris shows.

Question 55.
What was the position of urbanisation in India till the beginning of the 20th century?
Answer:

1.     Urbanisation in India was slow under the colonial rule. The number of cities was small.

2.     In the early twentieth century, no more than 11 per cent of the Indians were living in cities.

3.     A large proportion of these urban dwellers were residents of three Presidency cities.

4.     The Presidency cities were multifunctional cities because they had major ports, warehouses, homes and offices, army camps as well as educational institutions, museums and libraries.

Question 56.
How did Bombay become a major industrial center?
                             Or
Discuss five causes of the expansion of Bombay in the nineteenth century.
Answer:

1.     In the seventeenth century, Bombay was a group of seven islands under the Portuguese control.

2.     In 1661, control of islands passed into British hands after marriage of Britain’s King Charles II to the Portuguese princess. The East India Company quickly shifted its base from Surat to Bombay.

3.     At first, Bombay was the major outlet for cotton textiles from Gujarat.

4.     In the nineteenth century, it functioned as a port for export of raw materials such as cotton and opium.

5.     Gradually, it became an important administrative center in western India.

6.     By the end of the nineteenth century, it became a major industrial center.

7.     After the Maratha defeat in the Anglo-Maratha war in 1819, it became the capital of Bombay Presidency.

8.     The establishment of textile mills too increased its importance. By 1921, there were 85 cotton mills with about 146,000 workers, most of them had migrated from the nearby district of Ratnagiri.

9.     Bombay dominated the maritime trade of India till well into the 20th century.

10. It was also at the junction head of two major railways and therefore attracted a large number of migrants.

Question 57.
What were effects of famine of 1888-89 and epidemic of plague 1898 on the ‘population migration to Bombay?
Answer:

1.     Famine in the dry regions of Kutch drove large numbers of people into Bombay in 1888-89.

2.     The flood of migrants in some years created panic and alarm in official circles.

3.     Worried by the influx of population during plague epidemic of 1898, district authorities sent about 30,000 people back to their places of origin by 1901.

Question 58.
How did the development or expansion of Bombay differ or similar from London? State any three points of difference between the two.
Answer:
Similarities and differences between the development of London and Bombay were as mentioned below :
(1) Similarities :

1.     Both cities are capital modern cities – London in Britain and Bombay in India.

2.     Industrialisation was responsible for the expansion of both cities.

3.     Both cities faced housing, transport and other problems.

4.     Like tenements in London, chaw Is were largely owned by private landlords such as merchants, bankers and building contractors looking for quick (ways of earning money.

(2) Differences:

1.     Bombay was more crowded than London. While every Londoner in the 1840s enjoyed an average space of 155 square yards, Bombay had a mere 9.5 square yards.

2.     By 1872 when London had an average of eight persons per house, the density in Bombay was as high as 20.

3.     In London transport problem was solved by the first underground railway in the world but in Bombay there is local railway and no underground railway.

4.     In London attempts were made to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce pollution and landscape the city. Large blocks of apartments, particularly single family cottages, to solve the housing problem suburbs were developed too. In Bombay with the rapid unplanned expansion of the city, crisis of housing and water supply became acute by the mid-1850s.

5.     Town planning in London emerged from fears of social revolution, planning in Bombay came about as a result of fears about the plague epidemic (1898).

6.     In Bombay land reclamation of more land from the sea took place. In London the suburbs were developed to decongest the city.

7.     In London, rent control was introduced during the First World War to ease the impact of a severe housing shortage. In Bombay, high rents forced the workers to share homes either with relatives or caste fellows who were screaming into the city.

Question 59.
“From its earliest days Bombay did not grow according to any plan.” Explain. What were its effects?
Answer:
(1) It is a fact that from its earliest days Bombay did not grow according to any plan and houses especially in the Fort area, were interspread with gardens. Its effects were as mentioned below:

1.     Bombay Fort area was divided into two sections, namely, ‘native town’, where most of the Indians lived, and European or ‘white’ section.

2.     A European suburb, and an industrial area developed to the north of the Fort settlement area, with a similar suburb and cantonment in the south.

(2) Effects: The effects of early development of Bombay are as given below:

1.     It developed on the racial pattern where Europeans enjoyed more facilities than the Indians.

2.     The rapid and unplanned expansion led to crisis of housing and water supply. The setting up of the textile mills increased the housing problem.

3.     European elite, the richer Parsi, Muslim and upper caste traders and industrialists of Bombay-dived in sprawling, spacious bungalows while more than 70 per cent of the working people lived in chawls.

4.     90 per cent of mill workers lived in Girangaon, a mill village, near the mills.

Question 60.
Describe the conditions of living of ordinary people or workers in Bombay in the early years of the twentieth century.
                                           Or
What were the chawls ? Describe the living conditions in chawls.
Answer:
(1) Chawls were multistoried structures. These were largely owned by private landlords looking for quick ways of earning money from anxious migrants. Each chawl was divided into smaller one-room tenements which had no private toilets.
(2) The living conditions in chawls were as mentioned below:

1.     The average number of occupants of a room were between 4 and 5.

2.     High rents forced the workers to share their rooms with relatives or caste fellows.

3.     People had to keep the windows of kilter rooms closed even in humid weather due to
the ‘close proximity’ of filthy gutters, privies, buffalo stables etc.

4.     Water was scarce, and people often quarrelled every morning for a turn at the tap. The houses were, however, kept clean.

5.     As the homes were small, the streets and neighbourhoods were used for cooking, washing and sleeping.

6.     Liquor shops and akharas were opened in the empty spot.

7.     The magicians, monkey players or acrobats used to perform their acts in the open space in the middle of chawls.

8.     Chawls became the places where people exchanged news about jobs, strikes, riots or demonstrations.

9.     Caste and family groups in the neighbourhood were headed by a person like a village headman.

10. The ‘depressed classes’ or the lower castes were not allowed to live in many chawls. They lived in shelters made of corrugated sheets, leaves or bamboo poles.

Question 61.
What is Land Reclamation? What are its causes? Describe land reclamation and other projects in Bombay.
                                Or
Describe any five features of land reclamation in Bombay.
Answer:
(1) Land Reclamation is the process of reclaiming of marshy or submerged area or other wasteland for settlements, cultivation or other use.
(2) Causes for land reclamation:

1.     There was shortage of land.

2.     It was a land of seven islands that were separated.

3.     The population increased in the early 20th century.

4.     The industrial development also required more land.

(3) Projects:

1.     The earliest project began in 1784. The Bombay Governor William Horn by approved the building of the great sea wall which prevented the flooding of the low-lying areas of Bombay.

2.     In 1864, the Back Bay Reclamation Company reclaimed the western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hill to the end of Colaba. Reclamation often meant the leveling of the hills around Bombay.

3.     The Bombay Port Trust built a dry dock between 1914 and 1918. It created the 22-acre Ballard Estate by using the excavated earth.

4.     Later on Marine Drive of Bombay was developed. It was built on land reclaimed from the sea in the twentieth century.

Question 62.
Why is Bombay a city of dreams for some, while a city of hardship for others? Explain.
Answer:
(1) City of dreams :

1.     Bombay is rightly called a city of dreams because a number of people come from other places in search of jobs or to work in the film industry. It has become India’s film capital. In 1947, ? 756 million were invested in 50 films and by 1987 the film industry employed 520,000 people. The Bombay films have contributed in a big way to produce an image of the city.

2.     Industries provide jobs to large number of people from the neighbouring areas.

3.     It is a junction of two railways. That has increased its importance.

(2) City of hardships:

1.     There is an acute housing problem.

2.     A large number of migrants live in chaivls and slums.

3.     It is a costly city. It makes the lives of the poor miserable.

Question 63.
How did pollution become a nuisance for the Londoners? Write any two steps taken to solve the problems.
Answer:
(1) Pollution became a nuisance for the Londoners due to reasons as mentioned below :

1.     In 1887, one-fifth of the population of London were poor. They were expected to live an average life of 29 compared to average expectancy of 55 years of middle class.

2.     Poor lived in one room houses which were a serious threat to health because they were badly ventilated and lacked sanitation.

3.     Congestion in the city was a factor for pollution. Demands were made for new ‘lungs’ for the city.

(2) Steps: See Textbook Question 4(a).

Question 64.
“Cities developed at the cost of ecology and environment.” Explain with examples.
                                          Or
How did the development of cities influence the ecology and environment in late nineteenth century? Explain by giving example of Calcutta (Kolkata).
Answer:
(1) City development everywhere occurred at the expense of ecology and environment as mentioned below :

1.     Natural features were destroyed or transformed to meet the growing demand of land for factories, housing and other institutions.

2.     Large quantities of refuse and waste products polluted air and water.

3.     Excessive noise affected the hearings of the people.

(2) In Kolkata, the development of the city influenced the ecology and environment badly in the late nineteenth century. Kolkata had a long history of air pollution. The main reasons for air pollution were as given below:

1.     Huge population depended on dung and wood as fuel in their daily life.

2.     The industries and establishments that used steam engines ran on coal.

3.     In 1855, the introduction of railways brought coal from Raniganj. The high content of ash in coal polluted the air. The high content of ash in Indian coal was a problem. Many pleas were made to banish the dirty mills from the city with no effect. However, in 1863, Calcutta became the first Indian city to get smoke nuisance legislation.

4.     In 1920, the rice mills of Tollygunge began to burn rice husk instead of coal, leading residents to complain that “the air is filled up with black soot which falls like drizzling rain from morning till night and it has become impossible to live.”

5.     As a result of above complaints, the inspectors of the Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission finally managed to control industrial smoke. Controlling domestic smoke, however, was far more difficult.

Question 65.
How the use of coal in the factories in the industrial cities of England polluted the environment? How was it controlled?
Answer:
(1) The widespread use of coal in homes and industries in the 19th century England raised serious problems as mentioned below :

1.     In industrial cities such as Leeds, Bradford and Manchester, hundreds of factory chimneys spewed black smoke into the skies.

2.     People joked that most inhabitants of these cities grew up believing that the skies were grey and all vegetation was black.

3.     Shopkeepers, homeowners and others complained about black fog that descended on
their towns, causing bad tempers, smoke-related illnesses and dirty clothes.

(2) How smoke was controlled: When people first joined campaigns for cleaner air, the goal was to control the nuisance through legislation. This was not at all easy since factory owners and steam engine owners did not want to spend on technologies that would improve their machines. By the 1840s, a few towns such as Derby, Leeds and Manchester had laws to ‘ control smoke in the city.

But the smoke was not easy to monitor or measure and owners got away with small adjustments to their machinery that did nothing to stop the smoke. Moreover, the Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853, as they were called, did not always work to clear the air.

Question 66.
What was the impact of industrialization and urbanization on the family life in Britain in the nineteenth century? Explain.
Answer:
The industrialization and urbanization in Britain in the 19th century transformed the family in terms of function and shape. The family as an institution had broken down as the ties between members of households loosened, and among the working class the institution of marriage tended to break down. Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain faced increasingly higher levels of isolation, although their lives were made easier by domestic maids who cooked, cleaned and cared for young children on low wages.

The new city life encouraged the spirit of individualism and freedom from the collective values among both men and women. But men and women did not have equal access to the new urban space. Women lost their industrial jobs and were forced to withdraw into their homes. The public space became increasingly a male preserve, and the domestic sphere was seen as the proper place for women.

Question 67.
What was the status of the women folk in the conservative industrial towns? (2013)
Answer:
Position of women in Britain at the end of the 18th century and early 19th century. Life in the industrial city of London began to change and transform in various ways –

1.    Ties between members of the household weakened. Women of the upper and middle class faced the problem of isolation although their lives were made easy by domestic servants who worked for them.

2.    Women from the lower social classes had some control over their lives. They worked for wages as domestic maids who cooked, cleaned, and looked after young children.

3.    Public space was mainly a male preserve. Only the domestic sphere was seen as a proper place for women. After the Chartism Movement, women came to participate in political movements for suffrage and the right to vote.

Question 68.
What steps were taken by the British State to provide housing for working classes between 1919-1939 (during the War period)?
Answer:
Between the two World Wars, the responsibility for housing the working classes was accepted by the British State and a million houses, most of them single family cottages, were built by local authorities. Meanwhile, the city had extended beyond the range where people could walk to work, and the development of suburbs made new forms of mass transport, absolutely necessary, which led ultimately to the setting up of railways.

Question 69.
What were the steps taken to clean up London in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? (2012, 2015)
Answer:

1.    Demands were made for new ‘lungs’ for the city and some attempts were made to bridge the difference between the city and the countryside through a Green Belt around London.

2.    Attempts were made to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce pollution and landscape the city.

3.    Large blocks of apartments were built and rent control was introduced in Britain during the First World War to ease the impact of a severe housing shortage.

4.    Architect and planner Ebenezer Howard developed the principles of the ‘Garden City’, a pleasant space full of plants and trees, where people would both live and work. Such green spaces were believed to produce better quality citizens.

5.    Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker developed the Garden suburb of New Earswick based on Howard’s idea. It had common gardens and beautiful spaces but could eventually be afforded by only the well-off workers.

Question 70.
Explain the benefits of London Tube railway for the population in the city.
Answer:
Benefits of London Tube railway:

·         The London underground railway partially solved the housing crisis by carrying large masses of people to and from the city. The population in the city became more dispersed.

·         Better-planned suburbs and a good railway network enabled large numbers to live outside Central London and travel to work.

·         The new conveniences wore down social distinctions.

Question 71.
How did air pollution become a nuisance for the Londoners? What steps were taken to solve the problem?
Answer:
The congestion in the 19^th century industrial city of London led a yearning for clean country air. Because of widespread use of coal in homes and industries, air pollution led to bad tempers, smoke-related illnesses and dirty clothes. Demands were made for new ‘lungs’ for the city and some attempts were made to bridge the difference between the city and the countryside through a Green Belt around London.

1.    Factory owners and steam engine owners were told invest on technologies that would improve their machinery. However, it was not easy to monitor the smoke as owners got away with small adjustments to their machines that didn’t help to stop the smoke.

2.    Despite hurdles and opposition from the industries, the Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853 were passed. However, these did not always work to clear the air.

3.    Attempts were made to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce pollution and landscape the city.

4.    Large blocks of apartments were built and rent control was introduced.

5.    Architect and planner Ebenezer Howard developed the principles of the ‘Garden City’, a pleasant space full of plants and trees, where people would both live and work.

Question 72.
How was Bombay turned into an industrial city?
Answer:
At first, Bombay was the major outlet for cotton textiles from Gujarat. Later, in the 19^th century, the city functioned as a port through which large quantities of raw materials, such as cotton and opium, would pass. Gradually, it also became an important administrative centre in Western India, and then, by the end of the 19th century, a major industrial centre.

Bombay became the capital of the Bombay Presidency in 1819 after the Maratha defeat in the Anglo- Maratha war. The city quickly expanded. With the growth of trade in cotton and opium, large communities of traders and bankers as well as artisans and shopkeepers came to settle in Bombay. The establishment of textile mills led to a fresh surge in migration.

Bombay had its first cotton textile mill established in 1854. By 1921, there Were 85 cotton mills with about 1,46,000 workers. A large number of people flowed in from the nearby district of Ratnagiri to work in the Bombay mills. Women formed as much as 23% of the mill workforce in the period between 1919 and 1926. After that their number dropped.

Bombay dominated the maritime trade of India till well into the twentieth century.

Question 73.
‘The Chawls of Bombay were a small cosmopolitan community in themselves’. Explain the statement.
Answer:
With the rapid and unplanned expansion of the Bombay city, the crisis of housing became acute by mid 1850s. The arrival of textile mills increased the pressure on Bombay’s housing. The working people who migrated from various parts lived in thickly populated Chawls. Chawls are multi-storeyed structures built in the native parts of the town. Each Chawl was divided into smaller one room tenements which had no private toilets.

The homes being small, streets and neighbourhoods were used for a variety of activities such as working, washing, sleeping and various types of leisure activities. The magicians, monkey players and acrobats used to regularly perform their act in an open space in the middle of four Chawls. Liquor shops and akharas came up in any empty spot. These were also the place for the exchange of news about jobs, strikes, riots or demonstrations.

Question 74.
When was the Rent Act passed in Mumbai (Bombay)? What was its aim? What was the impact?
Answer:
The Rent Act was passed in Mumbai (Bombay) in the year 1918.
Aim: To solve the problem of housing, the Rent Act was passed with the aim of keeping the rents reasonable.
Impact however, it had the opposite effect of producing a severe housing crisis, since landlords withdrew houses from the market.

Question 75.
Examine the living conditions of different sections of society in Bombay prior to reclamation.
Answer:
Living conditions of different sections of society in Bombay prior to reclamation-

·         Bombay had sprawling, spacious and palatial private bungalows and governmental mansions where usually the European elite and the richer Parsi, Muslim and upper class traders lived.

·         More than 70% of the working people lived in the thickly populated chawls of Bombay.

·         Each chawl was divided into smaller one room tenements which had no private toilets. Due to high rents, workers shared homes either with relatives or caste fellows. People had to keep the windows of their rooms closed even in humid weather due to close proximity of filthy gutters, privies, buffalo stables, etc. Water was scarce and people often quarreled every morning for a turn at the tap. Living conditions were poor.

Question 76.
How did the development or expansion of Bombay (Mumbai) differ from London? State any three points of difference between the two.
Answer:
Difference between the expansion of Bombay and London:

1.    Town planning in London emerged from fears of social revolution and planning in Bombay came about as a result of fears about the plague epidemic.

2.    Bombay was a crowded city. Every Londoner in 1840s enjoyed an average space of 155 square yards while Bombay had a mere 9.5 square yards. By 1872, when London had an average of 8 persons per house, the density of Bombay was as high as 20.

3.    The city of Bombay began to develop along with the development of trade in agricultural goods whereas London began to develop after the industrial revolution.

4.    Bombay began to develop after European settlements there whereas London was developed by its own people.

Question 77.
State any three causes of air-pollution in Calcutta in the 19^th century.
Answer:
Calcutta had a long history of air pollution:
City development everywhere occured at the expense of ecology and environment. Kolkata (Calcutta) was also not an exception. It too had a long history of air pollution.

1.    High levels of pollution were a consequence of the huge population that depended on dung and wood as fuel in their daily life.

2.    The main polluters were the industries and establishments that used steam engines run on coal. The city was built on marshy land the resulting fog combined with smoke generated thick block fog.

3.    The railway line introduced in 1855 brought a dangerous new pollutant into the picture—coal from Raniganj. The high content of ash in Indian coal was a problem.

4.    In 1920, the rice mills of Tollygunge began to bum rice husk instead of coal leading to air filled with black soot falling like drizzling rain.

Question 78.
What was the status of the women folk in the conservative industrial towns?
Answer:
Position of women in Britain at the end of the 18th century and early 19th century:
Life in the industrial city of London began to change and transform in various ways-

1.    Ties between members of the household weakened. Women of the upper and middle class faced the problem of isolation although their lives were made easy be domestic servants who worked for them.

2.    Women from the lower social classes had some control over their lives. They worked for wages as domestic maids, who cooked, cleaned, and looked after young children.

3.    Public space was mainly a male preserve. Only the domestic sphere was seen as a proper place for women. After the Chartism Movement, women came to participate in political movements for suffrage and the right to vote.

Long Answer Questions (LA) 5 Marks

Question 79.
Describe the role of industrialisation in shaping of the modern cities in England.
Answer:
Industrialisation changed the form of urbanisation in the modem period. The early industrial cities of Britain such as Leeds and Manchester attracted large numbers of migrants to the textile mills set up in the eighteenth century.

1.    During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, London became a centre for international trade and commerce and attracted a large number of traders and merchants from all over the world. It also became the refuge of democrats fleeing from the despotic regime. For example, large communities from all over Europe came and settled in London.

2.    London was a powerful magnet for migrant population even when it did not have large factories. According to the historian Gareth Stedman Jones, “It became the city of clerks and shopkeepers, of small masters and skilled sweated out workers, of soldiers and servants, of casual labourers, street sellers and beggars.”

3.    Apart from the dockyard, five major types of industries employed large number of workers:

1.     clothing and footwear,

2.     wood and furniture,

3.     metals and engineering,

4.     printing and stationery and

5.     Precision products such as surgical instruments, watches and objects of precious metal.

4.    By 1950, one out of 9 people in England and Wales lived in London. It was a colossal city with a population of 4 million (between 1810-1880). In addition, after 1840s, the building activities intensified in the city (construction of roads, railway lines, stations, tunnels, drainage and sewer) and attracted many more workers from outside making the city highly populated.

5.    During the First World War, London began manufacturing motor cars and electrical goods and the number of large factories increased.

Question 80.
‘The function and the shape of the family were completely transformed by life in the industrial city.’ Explain.
Answer:
In the eighteenth (18^th) century, the family had been a unit of production and consumption as well as of political decision-making. There was a big change in the older pattern.

1.    Ties between members of household loosened.

2.    The institution of marriage among the working class tended to break down.

3.    Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain, on the other hand, faced increasingly higher level of isolation, although their lives were made easier by maids who cooked, cleaned and cared for young children on low wages.

4.    Women, who worked for wages, had some control over their lives, particularly among the lower social classes.

5.    By the twentieth century, the urban family had been transformed yet again, partly by experience of the wartime work done by women who were employed in large numbers. The family now consisted of much smaller units.

Question 81.
How did marginal groups threaten the city of London? What was the root cause of this problem? How did the authorities in London try to solve this problem?
Answer:
London grew, crime flourished and became a matter of concern for the police and philanthropists. 20,000 criminals were listed living in the city who were in fact poor people and lived by stealing lead from roofs, food from shops, lumps of coal and clothes drying on hedges. The cheats, tricksters, pickpockets and petty thieves disturbed the law and order situation of the city. This happened due to mismatch between huge influx of labour from surrounding rural areas and the opportunities available to earn livelihood. In an attempt to discipline the population, the authorities imposed high penalties for crime and offered work to those who were considered the deserving poor.

Question 82.
Why did the underground railway soon become a necessity in London? Mention any three disadvantages of this system.
Answer:
London, like other old cities, became very crowded after the Industrial Revolution, when people began pouring in. The major problem, which cropped up, was of housing. Factory and workshop owners did not house the migrants. Instead, individual land-owners put up cheap tenements for the working class which were neither safe nor properly ventilated. Attempts were made to decongest the city of London and solve the housing crisis. Meanwhile, the city had extended beyond the range where people could walk to work. Thus, the development of suburbs made new forms of mass transport absolutely necessary. The London underground railway (set up in 1863) solved the housing crisis by carrying large masses of people to and from the city.
Three disadvantages of the underground railway:

1.    The underground railway added to the mess and unhealthiness of the city.

2.    To make approximately two miles of railway, 900 houses had to be destroyed. Thus, London tube rail led to massive displacement of the London poor.

3.    The underground railway was considered a menace to health due to the lack of oxygen created in the compartments by smoking pipes, fumes of gas lamps and coal dust.

Question 83.
Explain any five sources of entertainment for the common people of London in the nineteenth century.
Or
How did people from different classes organised their leisure time in England?
Answer:

1.    The concept of ‘London Season’ was an annual feature for the wealthy Britishers. Several cultural events such as the opera, the theatre and classical music performance were organized for an elite group of 300-400 families in the late eighteenth century.

2.    Meanwhile, the working class met in pubs to have drinks, exchange news or to discuss politics.

3.    In the nineteenth century some libraries, art galleries and museums were established to provide people with a sense of history and encourage them to take pride in the achievements of the British. To encourage people to visit the above mentioned places, the entry fee was waived.

4.    Music halls were popular among the lower classes. By the early twentieth century, cinema became the great mass entertainment for mixed audiences.

5.    Holidaying by the sea became popular among the industrial workers, who enjoyed the benefits of the sun and the bracing winds.

Question 84.
Describe the emergence of Bombay as a city of film industry in the 20th century.
Answer:
Bombay with its expansion in trade, business and industries in the 19th century attracted a large number of migrants to come here and fulfill their dreams.

Despite massive overcrowding and difficult living conditions, Bombay (Mumbai) appears to many as mayanagari

1.    a city of dreams.

2.    Many films of Bombay deal with the arrival in the city of new migrants and their pressures of daily life. Even some songs from films like CID (1956) and Guest House (1959) speak of the contradictory aspects of the city.

3.    By 1925, Bombay had become India’s film capital, producing films for a national audience.

4.    Most of the people in the film industry were themselves migrants who came from cities like Lahore, Calcutta, and Madras and contributed to the national character of the film industry. Those who came from Lahore, then in Punjab, were very important for the development of the Hindi film industry. Many famous writers like Ismat Chugtai and Saadat Hasan Manto were associated with Hindi cinema.

5.    Bombay films have contributed greatly to produce an image of the city as a blend of dreams and reality of slums and star bungalows.

Question 85.
Throw some light on Bombay chawls.
Answer:
Chawls were multi-storeyed structures which had been built from at least the 1860s in the ‘native’ parts of the town.

1.    Like tenements in London, these houses were largely owned by private landlords, such as merchants, bankers and building contractors, looking for quick ways of earning money from anxious migrants.

2.    Each chawl was divided into one-room tenements, which had no private toilets.

3.    Many families could reside at a time in a tenement. High rents forced workers to share homes, either with relatives or caste fellows who were streaming into the city. Average occupants in one room used to be 4 or 5.

4.    People had to keep the windows of their rooms closed even in humid weather due to the close proximity of filthy gutters, privies, buffalo stables, etc.

5.    Inadequate supply of water led to frequent quarrels among residents for a turn at the tap. Rooms were usually kept clean. Due to small rooms, neighbourhoods were used for a variety of activities, such as cooking, washing and sleeping. Liquor shops and Akharas had come up on empty spots.

6.    People, who belonged to the depressed classes and lower castes, were kept out of many chawls and often had to live in shelters made of corrugated sheets, leaves or bamboo poles.

Question 86.
Explain the land reclamation process in Bombay (Mumbai).
Answer:

1.    Seven islands of Bombay were joined into one landmass over a period of time. The need for additional commercial place in mid-nineteenth century led to the formulation of several plans for the reclamation of more land from sea. Both private companies and government were involved.

2.    In 1864, the Black Bay Reclamation Company won the right to reclaim the western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hills to the end of Colaba. Reclamation often meant levelling of hills around Bombay.

3.    By 1870, the city had expanded 22 square km. As the population continued to increase, every bit of available area was built over and new areas were reclaimed from the sea.

4.    A successful reclamation project was undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust, which built a dry dock between 1914 and 1918 and used the excavated earth to create the 22 acre Ballad Estate. Subsequently the famous Marine Drive of Bombay was developed.