2nd Year English CH-10: The Jewel of the World

2nd Year English CH-10: The Jewel of the World Questions Answers Notes

Q1: Give an account of the early career of Abd-al-Rahman I, his dramatic escape and his adventures in Africa?

Ans: The story of his escape is dramatic. He was in a Bedouin camp on the left bank of the Euphrates River. One day when horsemen carrying the black standards of the Abbasids suddenly appeared. With his thirteen-year old brother, Abd-al- Rahman dashed into the river. The younger brother, evidently a poor swimmer, became frightened, heeded the reassurances shouted from the bank that he would be unharmed if he returned; and swam back. He was killed. The older boy kept on and gained the opposite bank.Afoot, friendless and penniless, he set out south-westward, made his way after great hardships to Palestine, found onefriend there and set off again toward the west. In North Africa he barely escaped assassination at the hands of the governor of the province. Wandering from tribe to tribe, always pursued by the spies of the new dynasty, he finally reached Ceuta, fivé years late.

Q2: How did Abd-al-Rahman deal with the governor appointed by the Abbasid caliph to contest his rule?

Ans: The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad appointed a governor ofSpain to contest his rule; two years later that caliph received a gift from Abd-al-Rahman: the head of his governor preserved in salt and camphor and wrapped in a black flag and in the letter of appointment. “Thanks be to Allah for having placed the sea between us and such a foe!” was the caliph’s fervent rejoinder.

Q3: What did the Abbasid caliph say on receiving the head of his governor?

Ans: The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad appointed a governor of Spain to contest his rule; two years later that caliph received a gift from Abd-al-Rahman: the head of his governor preserved in salt and camphor and wrapped in a black flag and in the letter of appointment. “Thanks be to Allah for having placed the sea. between us and such a foe!” was the caliph’s fervent rejoinder.

Q4: What did Abd-al-Rahman do to make himself strong and to beautify his capital?

Ans: To make him strong, Abd-al-Rahman developed a we!! disciplined army of 40,000 or more Berbers. He beautified the cities of his domain by planting beautiful trees. He built an aqueduct to supply water to the cities. He constructed a place, a wall around it and a garden near it. In short, he left no stone unturned to beautiful his country.

Q5: Give an account of the all-round progress made by the Arabs under Abd-al-Rahman III.

Ans: Under the caliphate of Abd-al-Rahman III, Spain became the wealthiest land of Europe. Leather, wool, silk and all other industries roused to their highest status, whenever the European rulers needed a surgeon, on architect, a master singer, or a dress maker, they applied to Spain the Spanish Arabs introduced agricultural methods practiced in western Asia. The industrial development also touched its peak.

Q6: What did Al-Hakam do to promote learning and scholarship in his kingdom?

Ans: Al-Hakam was the lover of knowledge and learning. He established free school, enlarged the mosque which housed the university of Cordova. He invited professors from the east and paid them high salaries. He managed to gather 400,000 books and built a large library.

Additional Questions Answers

Q1: Account for the agricultural development in Muslim Spain?

Ans: This agricultural development was one of the glories of Muslim Spain and one of the Arabs’ lasting gifts to the land, for Spanish gardens have preserved to this day a “Moorish” character. One of the best-known gardens is the Generalife – a word which comes from the Arabic, Jannat Al’-arif, “the inspector’s paradise.” This garden, “proverbial for its extensive shades, falling waters and soft breeze,” was in the form of an amphitheatre and irrigated by streams which, after forming numerous cascades, lost themselves among the flowers, shrubs and trees represented today’ by a few gigantic cypresses and myrtles.

Q2: What was the educational condition of Muslim Spain?

Ans: The general state of culture in Andalusia reached such a high level at this time that the distinguished Dutch scholar Dozy went so far as to declare enthusiastically that “nearly everyone could read and write.” All this when in Christian Europe only the rudiments of learning were known, and that chiefly by a few churchmen.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Umayyad dynasty in Damascus was over thrown in 750A.D. the underlined word can be replace by
   A. Equal
   B. Fair
   C. Eagle-like
   D. Sharp
2. Abdul-Rahman had sharp, aquiline features. underlined word means
   A. Equal
   B. Fair
   C. Eagle-like
   D. Sharp
3. Accession of the Abbasids to the caliphate was a sign of
   A. Good fortune
   B. General peace
   C. Declaration of peace
   D. Ruthless extermination
4. Choose the correct spelling
   A. Amphithitear
   B. Amphitheatre
   C. Amphetheatre
   D. Amphietheater
5. None of the meat is fit to eat. The underlined word is a/an
   A. Indefinite pronoun
   B. Relative
   C. Interrogative
   D. Personal
6. Ali, the famous singer, sings nicely. The underlined part is
   a/an
   A. Adverb clause
   B. Appositive phrase
   C. Adjective Clause
   D. None of these
7. God helps those, who help themselves. The underlined part is a/an
   A. Main clause
   B. Subordinate clause
   C. Adverb clause
   D. Coordinate clause