CBSE Class 12 Humanities History Board Paper 2026 — Set 5

Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Eight forms of marriage.

Here are the first, fourth, fifth and sixth forms of marriage from the Manusmriti:

First: The gift of a daughter, after dressing her in costly clothes and honouring her with presents of jewels, to a man learned in the Veda whom the father himself invites.

Fourth: The gift of a daughter by the father after he has addressed the couple with the text, “May both of you perform your duties together,” and has shown honour to the bridegroom.

Fifth: When the bridegroom receives a maiden, after having given as much wealth as he can afford to the kinsmen and to the bride herself, according to his own will.

Sixth: The voluntary union of a maiden and her lover ... which springs from desire ...

Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:

A demon?

This is an excerpt from a poem by Karaikkal Ammaiyar in which she describes herself:

The female Pey (demoness)

with bulging veins,

protruding eyes, white teeth and shrunken stomach,

red haired and jutting teeth,

lengthy shins extending till the ankles,

shouts and wails

while wandering in the forest.

This is the forest of Alankatu,

which is the home of our father (Shiva)

who dances ... with his matted hair

thrown in all eight directions, and with cool limbs.

Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The Revolt of 1857.

Late in the afternoon of 10 May 1857, the sepoys in the cantonment of Meerut broke out in mutiny. It began in the lines of the native infantry, spread very swiftly to the cavalry and then to the city. The ordinary people of the town and surrounding villages joined the sepoys. The sepoys captured the bell of arms where the arms and ammunition were kept and proceeded to attack white people, and to ransack and burn their bungalows and property. Government buildings — the record office, jail, court, post office, treasury, etc. — were destroyed and plundered. The telegraph line to Delhi was cut. As darkness descended, a group of sepoys rode off towards Delhi.

The sepoys arrived at the gates of the Red Fort early in the morning on 11 May. It was the month of Ramzan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting. The old Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, had just finished his prayers and meal before the sun rose and the fast began. He heard the commotion at the gates. The sepoys who had gathered under his window told him: “We have come from Meerut after killing all the Englishmen there, because they asked us to bite bullets that were coated with the fat of cows and pigs with our teeth. This has corrupted the faith of Hindus and Muslims alike.” Another group of sepoys also entered Delhi, and the ordinary people of the city joined them. Europeans were killed in large numbers; the rich of Delhi were attacked and looted. It was clear that Delhi had gone out of British control. Some sepoys rode into the Red Fort, without observing the elaborate court etiquette expected of them. They demanded that the emperor give them his blessings. Surrounded by the sepoys, Bahadur Shah had no other option but to comply. The revolt thus acquired a kind of legitimacy because it could now be carried on in the name of the Mughal emperor.

Assertion (A) : Asoka’s dhamma emphasized generosity, kindness and respect for religious traditions. Reason (R) : Asoka tried to hold his empire together with universally applicable principles.

Arrange the following ‘political developments’ of the ancient period in chronological order and choose the correct option :

I. Harshavardhana in Kannauj

II. Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra

III. Satavahanas in Deccan

IV. Chalukyas in Karnataka

Identify the characters of the 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 with the help the following information and choose the correct option :

• He was a son of Hidimba and Bhima.

• He belonged to the Rakshasa clan from maternal side.

• He promised to help the Pandavas in the time of need.

Look at the image given below and identify the queen who helped in the preservation of Sanchi Stupa :

Which of the following statements about Basavanna are correct ?

I. He was a Brahmana and devotee of Lord Shiva.

II. He founded the Lingayat tradition.

III. His compositions are preserved in Kannada tradition.

IV. He supported funerary rites like cremation.

Read the following statements regarding Ibn Battuta’s description of Delhi :

I. Delhi was a vast city.

II. Delhi was a populous city.

III. Delhi had colourful markets

IV. Delhi was isolated from Asian trade.

Which of the following options are correct ?

Which of the following regions was not a major centre of the Revolt of 1857 ?

Assertion (A) : The British easily put down the Revolt of 1857.

Reason (R) : The British passed a series of laws to quell the insurgency.

Identify the ‘mission’ of the colonial period with the help of the following information :

• It presented a scheme for the formation of an interim government at the centre for India.

• It announced its Constitutional Scheme in 1946.