History · Chapter 3 · CBSE Board 2027

The Making of a Global World Class 10 important questions with answers

The 10 questions to practise first, picked from every CBSE board paper 2023–2026. Each one has the official answer and how to write it for full marks. Then try the free 10-question test.

History (India and the Contemporary World – II) unit: 2 of 80 marks 54 board questions on this chapter since 2023

What comes in the exam

  • The Making of a Global World is a History chapter.
  • Only the first part, the pre-modern world, comes in the board paper; the later parts are project work at school.
  • Almost every year you get 2-mark questions and 1-mark MCQs on the Silk Routes, on food that travelled between continents, on how the world shrank with the new sea routes of the sixteenth century, and on how germs helped the conquest of America.
  • Questions on why Europe became the centre of world trade also come almost every year.
  • Assertion–Reason comes sometimes; a 3-mark question is rare.

Top 10 The Making of a Global World questions from board papers

Real CBSE questions, printed as they appeared. Open each answer to see the marking and the steps.

  1. Q1 MCQ · 1 mark CBSE · 2026

    Indus valley coastal trade link

    Choose the correct option to fill in the blank. The Indus Valley Civilization was linked to the ________ region through coastal trade as early as 3000 BCE.

    • (A) North America
    • (B) South America
    • (C) West Asia
    • (D) South Australia
    Answer and marking

    Correct option: (C) West Asia

    1. Recall the early trade links of the Indus Valley. Coastal trade linked the Indus Valley with West Asia from 3000 BCE
    2. Pick West Asia. Correct option: (C) West Asia 1 mark

    Answer: (C) West Asia

    Marks: Correct option 1

    For full marks: Remember the date and the region together: 3000 BCE, present-day West Asia.

    Where students lose marks: Choosing (B) South America: the Americas had no link with Asia then; the Indus Valley traded by sea with West Asia.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (C) West Asia

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  2. Q2 MCQ · 1 mark CBSE · 2026

    Disease spread in America

    Which of the following deadly disease spread in America through Portugal and Spain in mid-sixteenth century ?

    • (A) Yellow fever
    • (B) Smallpox
    • (C) Malaria
    • (D) Cholera
    Answer and marking

    Correct option: (B) Smallpox

    1. Recall the disease the Spanish and Portuguese carried to America. Smallpox killed many native Americans with no immunity
    2. Pick smallpox. Correct option: (B) Smallpox 1 mark

    Answer: (B) Smallpox

    Marks: Correct option 1

    For full marks: The book's point: germs like smallpox, not weapons, helped the conquest.

    Where students lose marks: Choosing (A) Yellow fever picks a disease the book does not name for this.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (B) Smallpox.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  3. Q3 MCQ · 1 mark CBSE · 2026

    Country hit by potato famine

    Which country was the most affected by the potato famine during 1845 – 1849 ?

    • (A) France
    • (B) United States of America
    • (C) Ireland
    • (D) Sweden
    Answer and marking

    Correct option: (C) Ireland

    1. Recall where the potato blight hit hardest. Ireland, 1845 to 1849: about one million people died
    2. Pick Ireland. Correct option: (C) Ireland 1 mark

    Answer: (C) Ireland

    Marks: Correct option 1

    For full marks: Remember the Irish potato famine of 1845 to 1849, when very poor families depended on potatoes.

    Where students lose marks: Choosing (B) the USA picks the place where many Irish went after the famine.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (C) Ireland.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  4. Q4 Assertion–Reason · 1 mark CBSE · 2026

    A-R: the world shrinks

    Two statements are given below. They are Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read both the statements carefully and choose the correct option : Assertion (A) : The discovery of sea routes to Asia and America shrank the pre-modern world in the sixteenth century. Reason (R) : During this period European entry into Indian ocean expanded trade.

    • (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
    • (B) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
    • (C) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
    • (D) (A) is false, but (R) is true.
    Answer and marking

    Correct option: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    1. Check the Assertion: new sea routes to Asia and America shrank the world in the sixteenth century. A is true
    2. Check the Reason, then link it to A: more trade routes tied distant regions closer together. R is true: European entry into the Indian Ocean expanded trade, and this key reads it as how the world shrank
    3. Both are true and R explains A, so pick the first option. Correct option: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). 1 mark

    Answer: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    Marks: Correct option 1

    For full marks: Check each statement against the book, then ask whether R explains why A happened.

    Where students lose marks: Choosing (B) because A already names its cause, the new sea routes; this key treats R's expanded trade as explaining A.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  5. Q5 Assertion–Reason · 1 mark CBSE · 2026

    A-R: India in Indian Ocean trade

    Two statements are given below. They are Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read both the statements and choose the correct option : Assertion (A) : The Indian subcontinent was a crucial point in ‘Indian Ocean trade flows’ during sixteenth century. Reason (R) : Its geographical location connected East-West Asia and Europe.

    • (A) Both, (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
    • (B) Both, (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
    • (C) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
    • (D) (A) is false, but (R) is true.
    Answer and marking

    Correct option: (A) Both, (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    1. Check the Assertion: India was a crucial point in Indian Ocean trade. A is true
    2. Check the Reason: its location in the middle linked East Asia, West Asia and Europe. R is true and explains A
    3. Both are true and R explains A, so pick the first option. Correct option: (A) Both, (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). 1 mark

    Answer: (A) Both, (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    Marks: Correct option 1

    For full marks: Check each statement against the book, then ask whether R explains why A happened.

    Where students lose marks: Choosing (B) misses that India's central position is the very reason it mattered in the trade.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  1. Q6 Very short answer · 2 marks CBSE · 2025, 2024 Asked in 2025, 2024

    Silk route trade and culture

    “The Silk route was a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade and cultural links between distant parts of the world.” Explain the statement with any two examples.

    Answer and marking
    1. Give a trade example: what went west and what came back. Chinese pottery and textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia went west; gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia. 1 mark
    2. Give a cultural example of an idea that travelled. Buddhism emerged from eastern India and spread in several directions along the silk routes. 1 mark

    Answer: Goods went west, gold and silver came to Asia ; Buddhism spread along the routes

    Marks: Any two points 1 each

    For full marks: One trade example and one cultural example cover both parts of the statement. Keep within 40 words.

    Where students lose marks: Giving two trade examples and no cultural one, so the 'cultural links' part is left unexplained.

    CBSE marking scheme

    (any 2 x 1) 1. Chinese pottery, textiles and spices from India/SE Asia went west; gold and silver flowed from Europe to Asia. 2. Buddhism from India spread in several directions along the silk routes. 3. Early Christian missionaries, and later Muslim preachers, travelled this route to Asia.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  2. Q7 Very short answer · 2 marks CBSE · 2026

    How trade spread disease

    How did trade help to spread diseases during the pre-modern world ? Explain.

    Answer and marking
    1. Name the 'weapon' the Spanish carried without knowing it. The most powerful weapon of the Spanish conquerors was germs such as those of smallpox, carried on their person. 1 mark
    2. Explain why it was so deadly for the people of America. Long isolated, America's original inhabitants had no immunity, so smallpox spread deep into the continent and decimated whole communities. 1 mark

    Answer: Spanish carried smallpox germs ; no immunity, so whole communities died

    Marks: Any two points 1 each

    For full marks: Use the word 'immunity' and say why the natives had none. Keep within 40 words.

    Where students lose marks: Saying the Spanish spread smallpox on purpose; the book says the germs travelled on their person.

    CBSE marking scheme

    Any two (2x1): Spanish conquerors’ most powerful weapon was germs like smallpox; long-isolated native Americans had no immunity; smallpox spread deep into the continent; it decimated communities even ahead of Europeans, paving the way for conquest; any other relevant point.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  3. Q8 Very short answer · 2 marks CBSE · 2026

    Why Europeans went to America

    Why did many Europeans migrate to America after sixteenth century ? Explain.

    Answer and marking
    1. Give the hardships people faced in Europe. Until the nineteenth century, poverty and hunger were common in Europe, cities were crowded and deadly diseases were widespread. 1 mark
    2. Add the religious reason for leaving. Religious conflicts were common and religious dissenters were persecuted, so thousands fled Europe for America. 1 mark

    Answer: Poverty, hunger, crowded cities, diseases ; religious conflict and persecution of dissenters

    Marks: Any two points 1 each

    For full marks: Each point should be a reason that pushed people out of Europe. Keep within 40 words.

    Where students lose marks: Writing about African slaves sent to the plantations, who were forced, not Europeans who chose to migrate.

    CBSE marking scheme

    Any two (1+1): poverty, hunger, crowded cities, deadly diseases in Europe; religious conflicts and persecution of dissenters; plantations in America (cotton, sugar for Europe) and its vast lands, crops and minerals; silver from Peru and Mexico; any other relevant point.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  4. Q9 Very short answer · 2 marks CBSE · 2026

    Food and long-distance exchange

    "Food offered many examples of long distance cultural exchange during pre-modern times." Explain the statement with any two examples.

    Answer and marking
    1. Give the example of foods from America. Common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes and chillies came to Europe and Asia from America. 1 mark
    2. Give the noodles example. Noodles are believed to have travelled west from China to become spaghetti. 1 mark

    Answer: American foods reached Europe and Asia ; noodles became spaghetti

    Marks: Any two points 1 each

    For full marks: Say where each food came from and where it went. Keep within 40 words.

    Where students lose marks: Naming the foods without saying where they travelled from and to.

    CBSE marking scheme

    Any two (2x1=2): (i) Common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies, sweet potatoes were introduced into Europe and Asia from America. (ii) Spaghetti and noodles travelled west from China (noodles became spaghetti in Italy). (iii) Any other relevant point.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee
  5. Q10 Short answer · 3 marks CBSE · 2024

    Silk route as vibrant trade

    How was the ‘Silk Route’ an example of vibrant pre-modern trade ? Explain.

    Answer and marking
    1. Say what the routes joined. Several silk routes over land and sea knitted together vast regions of Asia and linked Asia with Europe and northern Africa. 1 mark
    2. Give the goods that went west. West-bound Chinese silk, Chinese pottery, and textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia travelled these routes. 1 mark
    3. Give what came back in return. In return, precious metals, gold and silver, flowed from Europe to Asia. 1 mark

    Answer: Routes linked Asia, Europe, northern Africa ; silk, pottery, textiles, spices went west ; gold and silver to Asia

    Marks: Any three points 1 each

    For full marks: Three separate points: the links, goods going out and metals coming in. Keep within 60 words.

    Where students lose marks: Saying silk was the only good; the book names pottery, textiles and spices too.

    CBSE marking scheme

    Any three (3×1): several silk routes over land and sea knitted together vast regions of Asia with Europe and northern Africa; west-bound Chinese silk cargoes passed along them; Chinese pottery and textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia travelled the routes; in return precious metals — gold and silver — flowed from Europe to Asia; any other relevant point.

    Write your answer, send a photo, get it marked in Dhee

Free 10-question test: The Making of a Global World

MCQ and Assertion–Reason questions from CBSE papers. About 10 minutes. Your score shows straight away.

  1. Assertion–Reason · CBSE · 2026

    Two statements labelled as Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are given below. Read both the statements carefully and choose the correct option : Assertion (A) : The Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonisation of America was decisively under way by the mid-sixteenth century. Reason (R) : The Spanish conquerors had the most powerful conventional weapons.

  2. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    The germs of which disease paved the way for Europe's conquest of America in the later half of the sixteenth century ?

  3. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    'Potato famine' was related to which of the following countries ?

  4. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    In the 17th century the city El Dorado in South America became famous as which one of the following ?

  5. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    For which of the following markets were cotton and sugar primarily exported from America in the 18th Century ?

  6. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    Which of the following food products came to Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America ?

  7. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    In the early years of the 19th century the production of which of the following food items brought about a fundamental change in the lives of poor people in Europe ?

  8. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    In the mid-16th century, diseases like smallpox reached America through which of the following ?

  9. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    Why was the silk route considered a good example of vibrant pre-modern trade ? Choose the most appropriate option from the following :

  10. MCQ · CBSE · 2025

    Read the following reasons of migration of people from Europe to America till the 19th century and choose the correct option : I. Poverty and hunger II. Slaves for sale III. Wide spread of diseases IV. Religious conflicts and persecution

Common mistakes in The Making of a Global World

Mistake Giving one example when the question says 'explain with any two examples'.

Fix Write two separate points, 1 mark each. For trade and culture, give one example of goods that moved and one of ideas or religion that moved along the Silk Routes.

Mistake Writing only 'trade spread disease' for a 2-mark question on germs.

Fix Give the reason too: America's people had lived cut off for a long time, so they had no immunity. Then say what followed: the germs spread deep into the continent and wiped out whole communities.

Mistake Writing 'the USA' for America in the 1500s.

Fix There was no USA then. Write 'America' or 'the Americas', and say it was the Spanish and Portuguese who conquered and colonised it.

Mistake Giving only one reason why Europeans went to America.

Fix Give reasons from both sides: life in Europe at home, and what America offered. Each reason is its own point.

Mistake Marking an Assertion–Reason answer after reading only half of the Reason.

Fix Read every word of R against the book. One wrong word or date can make it false. Decide if A is true, if R is true, and then if R explains A.

Mistake Spending board-revision time on the Great Depression or Bretton Woods.

Fix The nineteenth century, the inter-war economy and the post-war era are school project work, not asked in the board paper. Revise the pre-modern part well.

How to write for full marks

  • For a 2-mark answer, write two points within 40 words. Each point is one full sentence with a fact.
  • Name real examples from the book: the goods (silk, pottery, spices, textiles), the religion that spread, and the people who travelled the routes.
  • When the question asks 'how' or 'why', write the cause and then what it led to. A name alone does not explain.
  • Learn which century each change belongs to. Many MCQs hang on 'sixteenth century' or 'pre-modern'.

Not in the 2026-27 exam

Leave these out of your revision.

  • The Nineteenth Century (1815–1914): project work at school, not asked in the board paper
  • The Inter-war Economy, including the Great Depression: project work at school, not asked in the board paper
  • Rebuilding a World Economy: The Post-War Era: project work at school, not asked in the board paper

Questions students ask

Which The Making of a Global World questions are most important for the Class 10 board exam 2027?

Only the pre-modern world is asked: 2-mark questions and MCQs on the Silk Routes, food, new sea routes and germs in America, sometimes Assertion–Reason. The 10 questions on this page are real CBSE board questions from 2023–2026, chosen across the chapter's topics and question types.

How many marks does The Making of a Global World carry in the Class 10 board exam?

The Making of a Global World is part of the History (India and the Contemporary World – II) unit, which carries 2 of the 80 theory marks in the CBSE Class 10 Social Science paper.

Are these real CBSE previous year questions?

Yes. Each question is printed as it appeared in a CBSE board paper or sample paper, with its source, and the answer follows CBSE's official marking scheme.

All Class 10 Social Science chapters

Questions and answers: CBSE board papers, sample papers and official marking schemes, 2023–2026. Worked steps and tips: Dhee.