MAH

M.A History
First Year Courses

Assignments
For July 2020 and January 2021
Sessions

MHI-01 : Ancient and Medieval Societies

MHI-02 : Modern World
MHI-04 : Political Structures in India
MHI-05 : History of Indian Economy

FACULTY OF HISTORY
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
MAIDAN GARHI, NEW DELHI – 110 068
 M.A. History – 1st Year Assignments
July 2020 and January 2021 Sessions

Dear Student,

As explained in the Programme Guide for M.A. in History you will have to do one assignment in
each course. The assignments are compulsory. Each assignment covers the whole course.

It is important that you write the answers to all the assignment questions in your own words. Your
answers should be within the approximate range of the word-limit set for a particular question.

The assignment should be submitted to the Coordinator of your Study Centre. You must obtain a
receipt from the Study Centre for the assignments submitted and retain it. If possible, keep a
photocopy of the submitted assignments with you.

The Study Centre will have to return the assignments to you after they are evaluated. Please insist
on this. The Study Centre in turn will send the marks to the Student Evaluation Division at
IGNOU, New Delhi. These will be entered in your grade card.

Submission of Assignments

You should note that the submission of assignments is compulsory before taking up Term-end
Examination. It is therefore suggested that you do them within time. In M.A. first year you will
have to do a total of 4 assignments. We have given you a lot of time to do the assignments but we
advise you to do them one by one along with your study of the particular course and submit them so
that you may get back the marks and comments of the Counsellor with evaluated assignment. With
a proper planning you will be able to do them within the stipulated period. Please do not wait for
the last date to submit all the assignments because it would be difficult to do all of them in one go.
Specific dates for the submission are given below.

Last Date of Submission of Assignment

July 2020 Session Students 31st March 2021

January 2021 Session Students 30th September 2021

Where to submit the assignments: The Coordinator of your Study Centre

Before attempting the assignments please read the detailed instructions provided in the Programme
Guide sent to you separately.

Now read the guidelines carefully before answering the questions:

GUIDELINES FOR ASSIGNMENTS

The assignments have two types of questions:

1) Essay Type Questions which you have to answer in about 500 words each and they carry 20
marks each.

2) Short notes to be answered in about 250 words each and they carry 10 marks each.

You will find it useful to keep the following points in mind:

a) Planning: Read the assignments carefully. Go through the units on which they are based. Make some
points regarding each question and then re-arrange these in a logical order.

b) Organisation: Be a little more selective and analytical before drawing up a rough outline of
your answer. In an essay-type question, give adequate attention to your introduction and
conclusion. The introduction must offer your brief interpretation of the question and how you
propose to develop it. The conclusion must summarise your response to the question.

Make sure that your answer:

o is logical and coherent;

o has clear connections between sentences and paragraphs;
o is written correctly giving adequate consideration to your expression, style and
presentation;
o does not exceed the number of words indicated in your question.

a) Presentation: Once you are satisfied with your answers, you can write down the final version for
submission, writing each answer neatly and underlining the points you wish to emphasis.

b) Interpretation: Interpretation is a constant process in history writing. It is already reflected in your

planning and selection. Explanatory comments with phrases like may be, because, could be, etc.,
immediately introduce an element of interpretation in writing itself. Here you have to be careful that
these comments can be supported by the material you have in the answer.
 MHI-01: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL SOCIETIES
Course Code: MHI-01
Assignment Code: MHI-01/AST/TMA/2020-21
Total Marks: 100
Note: Attempt any five questions. The assignment is divided into two Sections 'A' and
'B'. You have to attempt at least two questions from each section in about 500 words each.
All questions carry equal marks.
Section - A

1. Analyse the society and economy of pastoral nomads. 20

2. Discuss the pattern of trade of Egyptian and Harappan civilizations. 20

3. Explain the political structure under the Roman Republic. 20

4. Discuss in brief the economy and polity in the region of South Africa. 20

5. Write short notes on any two of the following in 250 words each: 10+10

i) Beginning of agriculture
ii) Writing in Harappan Civilization
iii) Darius I
iv) The Mongol Empires

Section - B

6. Write a note on the religious tradition in the Late Roman Empire. 20

7. Analyze the conditions of different kinds of cultivators in a manor. 20

8. Give a brief account of textile production in Asia and Europe. 20

9. Critically examine the factors that gave birth to Protestantism. 20

10. Write short notes on any two of the following in 250 words each: 10+10

i) Migration and urbanism

ii) Towns as centres of trade
iii) Use of gunpowder
iv) Family and the system of inheritance in medieval Europe
 MHI-02: MODERN WORLD

Course Code: MHI-02

Assignment Code: MHI-02/AST/TMA/2020-21
Total Marks: 100
Note: Attempt any five questions. The assignment is divided into two Sections 'A' and
'B'. You have to attempt at least two questions from each section in about 500 words
each. All questions carry equal marks.

Section - A

1. How did the Renaissance create conditions for the emergence of secular ideology? 20

2. Explain liberal conception of state. 20

3. Define nationalism. ‘Nationalism developed in the world through stages.’ Explain

giving reference to Gellner’s typology. 20

4. Write a note on evolution of commercial capitalism. 20

5. Write short notes on any two of the following in about 250 words each. 10+10
i) Nietzsche
ii) Welfare State
iii) Gender and democracy
iv) Meaning of underdevelopment.

Section - B
6. What is decolonization? Discuss the historical context and the process of
decolonization in the modern world. 20
7. Analyse the nuclear arms race and efforts to control proliferation. 20
8. How is the growth of knowledge related to technological growth? 20
9. Write a note on colonization and the environmental losses. 20
10. Write short notes on any two of the following in about 250 words each. 10+10

i) Mercantilism
ii) Non-Aligned movement
iii) The idea of Plebiscite
iv) Total War.
 MHI-04: POLITICAL STRUCTURES IN INDIA

Course Code: MHI-04

Assignment Code: MHI-04/AST/TMA/2020-21
Total Marks: 100

Note: Attempt any five questions. The assignment is divided into two Sections 'A' and
'B'. You have to attempt at least two questions from each section in about 500 words
each. All questions carry equal marks.

SECTION - A

1. Write a note on the Satavahana state..

20

2. Discuss the process of state formation under the Rajputs. 20

3. Explain the nature of the state under the Delhi Sultanate giving reference to Fakhr-i
Mudabbir’s and Ziya Barani’s texts. 20

4. Analyse the nature of the eighteenth century polities in India. 20

5. Write short notes in about 250 words each on the following: 10+10

(a) Political economy of the colonial state

(b) The judiciary and law under the colonial state.

SECTION - B

6. Discuss in brief the Chola administration. 20

7. Give an account of the administrative system in the post-Gupta period.

20

8. Analyse the revenue system under the Mughals. 20

9. Write a note on the documentation project of the colonial state.

20

10. Write short notes in about 250 words each on the following: 10+10
(a) The colonial forest policy
(b) Macaulay minute.
 MHI-05: HISTORY OF INDIAN ECONOMY
Course Code: MHI-05
Assignment Code: MHI-05/AST/ TMA/2020-21
Total Marks: 100

Note: Attempt any five questions. The assignment is divided into two Sections 'A' and 'B'. You
have to attempt at least two questions from each section in about 500 words each. All
questions carry equal marks.
SECTION A

1 Discuss the contemporary ideas on ancient Indian economic history. Did these ideas
suggest pattern of growth or stagnation of ancient Indi an economy?
20

2. List the chief characteristic features of Neolithic-Chalcolithic sites of the Northwest and Rajasthan. In
what ways did they differ from Ash Mound traditions of the Southern Deccan? 20

3. Critically examine the role of nadu, nagaram and nakhara in the growth of
urbanization in South India. 20

4. Critically analyse the presence of different categories of cultivators in the medieval

period. 20

5. Write short notes on any two of the following. Answer in about 250 words each.
10+10
i) Agrarian economy of the Kushanas
ii) Junagarh prasasti
iii) Brahmadeya grants
iv) Rural-urban continuum in the medieval period

SECTION B

6. Analyse the growth of coinage during the medieval period. 20

7. What is commercialization? Do you agree that Indian comme rcialization began with
the British colonization? 20

8. Write a note on various land settlements of the British Indian government.

20

9. Critically examine the colonial policy towards the science education in India. What was the Indian
response towards the colonial interventions in the field of science and technology? 20

10. Write short notes on any two of the following. Answer in about 250 words each.
10+10
i) Irrigation technology during the medieval period
ii) Early Census
iii) Colonial impact on tribal economy
iv) Debates over agricultural statistics during the Colonial period