Maharashtra State Board · Standard 10 · History Chapter 1
Historiography: Development in the West Worksheet
Practise the chapter with objective questions, concept maps, short notes, reason-based answers, a passage, and long answers. Work through the questions first, then check your responses using the complete answer key included in the worksheet.
About this worksheet: Historiography is the study of how history is written. In Chapter 1, students meet historians and thinkers such as Herodotus, Voltaire, René Descartes, G. W. F. Hegel, Leopold von Ranké, Karl Marx, and Michel Foucault. They also learn how historical sources, research methods, social viewpoints, and newer approaches shape an account of the past.
This Class 10 History Chapter 1 worksheet gives you a way to practise both quick recall and written explanation. Questions labelled with an exam month and year are marked as previous-year questions in the worksheet. The other questions provide additional board-style practice.
What is inside the Chapter 1 worksheet?
Objective questions
Start with eight multiple-choice questions on thinkers, books, concepts, and institutions. Then practise identifying an incorrect pair and rewriting it correctly, filling a blank, judging a true-or-false statement, and matching related terms.
Concept maps and tables
Organise the chapter instead of memorising isolated names. Activities cover notable European scholars, the steps of historical research, and a scholar–country–book table. These formats help you see relationships between ideas.
Short written answers
Write short notes on dialectics, Voltaire, the Annales School, and feminist historiography. Explain reasons connected with Foucault, women's lives in history, Ranké's approach, and the human-centred outlook of modern historical writing.
Passage and long answers
Answer a source-based passage about Ranké's use of evidence. Longer questions ask you to explain Marx's theory of class struggle, feminist historiography, scientific approaches in Europe, major thinkers, and the method of historical research.
Previous-year and board-style practice
The worksheet marks selected questions with Maharashtra SSC exam years from 2020 to 2025. For example, it includes a March 2020 multiple-choice question about Voltaire, a March 2023 short note on dialectics, and a March 2024 question on Karl Marx and class struggle. Feminist historiography and Foucault also appear among questions marked with later exam years. Read the year printed beside each question in the worksheet; questions without such a label are additional practice in the board pattern.
The regular written SSC examination was not held in 2021, so the worksheet does not present a 2021 written-paper question as a previous-year item. The mixture of question types gives students a useful revision sequence: identify the correct fact, connect it to a concept, and then explain it clearly in their own words.
How to use this History worksheet
- Revise the lesson once. Note the names of scholars, their books, and the main ideas associated with each one.
- Attempt Sections A to D without the answer key. These questions reveal which terms and pairings you need to revisit.
- Write complete answers for Sections E to I. Use short, distinct points for a short note or reason. For a long answer, begin with the central idea and support it with relevant explanation.
- Check the answer key after you finish. Compare the meaning of your answer as well as the names and dates. Correct any mixed-up scholar, work, or concept.
- Retry the questions you missed. Return to them after a day or two to see whether you can answer without looking at the key.
Writing tip: When asked to “identify the wrong pair and rewrite it,” give the corrected pair clearly. When asked to “explain with reasons,” state the reason and show how it supports the claim. A name alone is rarely enough for an explanatory question.
Important topics to revise before attempting the worksheet
- Meaning of historiography: Understand that historians examine evidence and interpret the past using a research method.
- European thinkers: Connect Herodotus, Descartes, Voltaire, Hegel, Ranké, and Marx with their respective contributions without treating their ideas as interchangeable.
- Sources and research: Practise collecting, examining, and critically evaluating historical evidence. Know how tools such as epigraphy and numismatics help historians.
- New perspectives: Review the Annales School, Foucault's “archaeology of knowledge,” and feminist historiography.
- Answer structure: Prepare to distinguish an objective fact from a reasoned explanation and an extended answer.
Answer key and chapter solutions
A complete answer key follows the questions in the worksheet. Try each section before reading it: checking too early makes familiar-looking answers feel easier than writing them independently. Where an answer has several points, compare the key ideas and improve the clarity of your own response.
Continue your Chapter 1 revision
For textbook exercise answers and detailed explanations, open the Historiography: Development in the West Class 10 solutions. You can also browse all Class 10 History solutions to revise other chapters.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the Historiography: Development in the West worksheet?
The Chapter 1 worksheet contains 36 questions across objective, concept-map, short-answer, passage-based, and long-answer formats. It also includes a complete answer key after the questions.
Are all 36 questions from previous board examinations?
No. Questions with a month and year printed beside them are marked as previous-year questions in the worksheet. The remaining questions are additional board-style practice. This gives you both experience with marked exam questions and more opportunities to apply the same chapter ideas.
Which question types should I practise for History Chapter 1?
Practise MCQs, correcting a wrong pair, fill-in-the-blank and true-or-false questions, concept maps, short notes, explanations with reasons, passage-based questions, and long answers. For example, you may identify Karl Marx in an MCQ and then explain his interpretation of class struggle in a written answer.
Does the worksheet include answers?
Yes. The complete answer key is included after the question sections. Attempt the questions independently first, then use the key to check your facts, explanations, and answer structure.
What is the difference between historiography and history?
History studies and explains events and developments in the past. Historiography examines how that history is researched and written, including the sources, methods, and perspectives historians use. For example, two historians may study the same event but ask different questions of its evidence.
How should I answer a question on feminist historiography?
Explain that it brings women's experiences, roles, and viewpoints into the study and writing of history. You can add an example: a study of a social movement can examine the work of women participants and the effects on their lives, alongside the actions of prominent leaders.
Why is the Annales School included in this chapter?
The Annales School broadened the subjects historians study. Its approach draws attention to social life, economic conditions, geography, and longer patterns of change. In an answer, explain the approach rather than giving only the name of the school.
How do I solve a “wrong pair” question?
Check each association, such as a scholar and a book, one at a time. Identify the incorrect match and write the correct pairing in your final answer. If a question wrongly pairs Descartes with a work belonging to another thinker, replace that association with the correct one; do not simply write “wrong.”
Where can I find the Chapter 1 textbook solutions?
Use the Chapter 1 History solutions page for textbook exercise answers and further explanation. The Class 10 History solutions collection lists the related chapters.
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