CBSE Class 10 History/Geo – Question-Paper Breakdown & Study Notes

General Instructions

• Total marks: (40); Duration: (80 \text{ minutes}); Exam date: 25-06-2025
• Paper divided into six evaluative sections (A–F)
  • Section A – MCQ, Q1–Q6, (1 mark each)
  • Section B – Very-short answer, Q7–Q10, (2 marks each)
  • Section C – Short answer, Q11–Q13, (3 marks each)
  • Section D – Case-based, Q14, (4 marks)
  • Section E – Long answer, Q15–Q16, (5 marks each)
  • Section F – Map skill, Q17, (3 marks)
• All 18 questions are compulsory; choice may exist internally where specified by CBSE norms.
• Write neat, labelled maps/diagrams where asked; attach map answer-sheet inside.

Section A – Multiple-Choice Questions (Concept & Context)

• Q1 ICONIC EVENT FROM IMAGE
  • Possible options: Civil Disobedience Movement, Simon Commission Protest, Non-Cooperation Movement, Rowlatt Satyagraha
  • Revise photographic visual cues: • Gandhi with salt – Civil Disobedience • Black-flag rallies – Simon • Bonfire of cloth – Non-Cooperation • Mass court arrest posters – Rowlatt.
• Q2 UNCLASSED FORESTS
  • Characteristics: legally un-demarcated; controlled by village/community bodies.
  • Major belts: All North-East states + parts of Gujarat (correct option A) — be able to locate Assam–Meghalaya–Nagaland and Dangs of South Gujarat.
• Q3 ASSERTION-REASON (Chipko)
  • A: Chipko curbed Himalayan deforestation. — TRUE
  • R: Community afforestation with indigenous species succeeded. — TRUE & provides correct explanation → Choose a).
  • Analyse why Chipko worked: eco-feminist grassroots, hugging trees, Sunderlal Bahuguna, fasts, pressuring state to ban felling of ash, oak, cedar.
• Q4 CHRONOLOGICAL RE-ORDERING
  • Milestones:
  I – Khilafat Committee Bombay (March 1919)
  II – Jallianwala Bagh (13 April 1919)
  IV – Withdrawal of Non-Cooperation (Feb 1922)
  III – Bardoli Satyagraha (1928)
  • Correct sequence: I, II, IV, III → Option C.
• Q5 AGRARIAN POLITICS (Civil Disobedience)
  • Statement I: Rich peasants (Patidars, Jats) were active – TRUE
  • Statement II: Despite higher cash incomes they couldn’t meet revenue – TRUE (rising prices ≠ rising net surplus; fixed revenue) → Answer d).
• Q6 IMPACT OF SALT MARCH
  • Valid interpretations: II only (mass law-breaking across classes). I is wrong (practical impact huge: boycott foreign cloth, growth of salt-making). III is wrong (attracted rural folk, women) → Option B.

Section B – Very-Short Answer Triggers

• Q7 Women & Civil Disobedience
  • Need to mention picketing liquor/foreign cloth shops, breaking salt law, Prabhashan Mandalis, unpaid household labour enabling men to protest; moral leverage: equated nation with mother.
• Q8 WWI & Indian Freedom Struggle
  • War‐time hardships: \uparrow taxes, price inflation >100\%; forced recruitment; expectation of self-government promised in 1917; return of soldiers with international exposure; spread of Russian Revolution ideas.
• Q9 Shift from Species-centred to Biodiversity Conservation
  • Recognition of ecosystem interdependence; Projects Tiger/Elephant now include buffer-corridor management, social fencing, gene-pool conservation, CITES.
• Q10 Need for Forest & Wildlife Conservation
  • Ecological balance (oxygen, rainfall, soil binding), livelihood for \approx200 million tribals; genetic resource bank, aesthetic/cultural value, climate mitigation \rightarrow combat \mathrm{CO_2} rise.

Section C – Short Answer Focus Areas

• Q11 Internal Social Fissures & Nationalism
  • Caste: Separate electorates demand by Depressed Classes (Poona Pact 1932); leaders promoted common programmes, Harijan tours.
  • Religion: Hindu-Muslim riots 1920s; Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance; communal harmony speeches by Gandhi; symbols like tricolour with spinning wheel.
• Q12 Why CDM was Relaunched (Dec 1931)
  • Gandhi–Irwin Pact concessions unmet; continued repression; failure of Second Round Table to concede Dominion Status; newly passed ordinances.
• Q13 Government Conservation Measures
  • 1972 Wildlife (Protection) Act → creation of 18 Biosphere Reserves, 553 Wildlife Sanctuaries; Project Tiger 1973 (53 reserves now), Project Elephant 1992, Community Reserve concept 2002, Joint Forest Management (JFM) 1990 guidelines.

Section D – Case Study (Non-Cooperation Genesis)

• Non-cooperation philosophy: withdrawal from titles, boycott councils/courts, non-payment of taxes.
• Peasant Demands in Awadh (Baba Ramchandra): reduction of exorbitant rents (Begar), abolition of zamindari taluqdari system, security of tenure, social boycott of oppressive landlords.

Section E – Long Answer Themes

• Q15 Cultural Routes to Collective Belonging
  • Icons/Symbols: Bharat Mata paintings (Abanindranath), Tricolour \ (red, green, white) w/ spinning-wheel; Vande Mataram song.
  • Folklore & Folk Tales compiled by Rabindranath, Natesa Sastri; reinterpretation of past (Indus–Aryan glory, Vijayanagara temples, colonial archaeology); emergence of Hindi as lingua franca; pilgrimages-turned-political yatras.
• Q16 Community-centred Conservation
  • Chipko (Uttarakhand women); Beej Bachao Andolan (Navdanya); Joint Forest Management in Arabari, West Bengal (sal forests & forest protection committees getting 25\% timber revenue);
  • Mendha Lekha (Gadchiroli) CFR rights under FRA 2006; Appiko (Western Ghats Karnataka); Sacred Groves of Meghalaya; Van Gujjars participation in Rajaji Tiger Reserve micro-plans.

Section F – Map Points to Locate

• A – Champaran, Bihar (1917 Indigo satyagraha)
• B – Dandi, Gujarat (Salt law defied 6 April 1930)
• C – Nagpur, Maharashtra (INC special session Dec 1920, adoption of Non-Cooperation)