GPSC Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 8 - GPSC (Gujarat) MCQ

In 305 B.C., Chandragupta Maurya marched against Selukas Niketar, who was Alexander’s General controlling the north western India. Chandragupta Maurya defeated him and a treaty was signed. By this treaty, Selukas Niketar ceded the trans-Indus territories – namely Aria, Arakosia and Gedrosia – to the Mauryan Empire. He also gave his daughter in marriage to the Mauryan prince. Chandragupta made a gift of 500 elephants to Selukas. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Mauryan Empire. He, at a young age, captured Pataliputra from the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty, Dhanananda. In this task, he was assisted by Kautilya, who was also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta wherein the latter then became his most trusted advisor.

• The Alvars composed moving hymns addressed to Vishnu. They were compiled in the Nalayira Divyaprabandhanam by Nadamuni, at the end of the ninth century. Bhakti cult, as a religious movement, opened a new chapter in the history of Tamilnadu in the early medieval period.

• A strong wave of Tamil devotionalism swept the country from the sixth through the ninth centuries. The form was in hymns of the Nayanmars and the Alvars. The saints of Saivism and Vaishnavism simplified the use of Tamil language with the application of music. They brought the local and regional ethos into the mainstream.

• Azhwars (totally 12) and Nayanmars (totally 63), came from different strata of the Tamil society, such as artisans and cultivators. There were women saints as well, like Andal, an Alvar saint. The themes are mostly Krishna’s childhood. Krishna is the hero in Andal’s hymns. Her songs convey her abiding love for Krishna. Nammalvar, from Kurugur (Alvar Tirunagari), now in Thoothukudi district, is considered the greatest amongst Alvars. Nammalvar authored four works that include the Tiruvaymoli. Vaishnava devotees believe that his hymns distil the essence of the four Vedas.

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• New kingdoms along the coasts of India Each of the three chiefs of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas had two centres of power: one inland, and one on the coast. Of the six cities, two were very important: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, and Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. The chiefs did not collect regular taxes. Instead, they demanded and received gifts from the people. They also went on military expeditions and collected tribute from neighbouring areas. They kept some of the wealth and distributed the rest amongst their supporters, including members of their family, soldiers, and poets.

• Many poets whose compositions are found in the Sangam collection composed poems in praise of chiefs who often rewarded them with precious stones, gold, horses, elephants, chariots, and fine cloth. Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in western India. The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni. He and other Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha, literally the route leading to the south, which was also used as a name for the entire southern region. He sent his army to the eastern, western and southern coasts.

Buddhism no longer received royal patronage in the Gupta period, as Bhagavatism or Vaishnavism over shadowed Mahayana Buddhism by the Gupta times. However, some stupas and viharas (monasteries) were constructed and Nalanda became a centre of Buddhist education. It was founded by the Gupta emperor Kumargupta. During the Gupta period, land taxes increased in number and those on trade and commerce decreased.

• Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was the most famous and outstanding of the Persian scholars and poets of the Sultanate period. His real name was Abul Hasan. He was one of the few Indian writers of Persian poetry whose works have been read and admired beyond their own country. His works represent the beginning of a new trend in India based Persian literature – the trend of the growing familiarity with the Indian literature and influence of the Indian literature on the Persian writings in India.

• He was the Indian born son of a Turkish immigrant. He began his career as a courtier and poet during the reign of Sultan Balban. He became a disciple of Shaikh Nizammudin Auliya, the famous Sufi saint of the Chisti order. He was the court poet during the reigns of Jalaluddin Khalji and Alauddin Khalji. Later, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughluq also patronized him. He lived through the reigns of 6 Sultans of Delhi and was connected with their courts. His poetry consisted of a great variety of forms – lyric, ode, epic and elegy. His poetry was essentially Indian in sentiment, though he followed the Persian models in technique. Thus, he created a new style of Persian, which came to be known as Sabaq-i-Hindi or the Indian style.

• Five literary masterpieces composed by him are Mutla-ul Anwar, Shirin Khuswau, Laila Majnun, Ayina-i Sikandari and Hasht Bihist. He dedicated all of them to Alauddin Khalji. His Five Diwans (Collection of compositions called ghazals) include Tuhfat-us Sighar, Wast-ul Hayat, Ghurrat-ul Kamal, Baqiya Naqiya and Nihayat-ul Kamal.

• These compositions show the great lyrical talent of his poetry. Khusrau also wrote historical Masnavis (narrative poems), which have great literary and historical value. He was not a historian in the actual sense of the term, but since he enjoyed the patronage of successive Sultans of Delhi and since he selected historical themes for his Masnavis, the historical content of his writings is of great interest to the students of the history of his times. In Qiran-us Sadain, Khusrau describes the quarrel and reconciliation between Sultan Kaiqubad and his father Bughra Khan.

• Miftah-ul Futuh deals with the military successes of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji. Ashiqa is the story of romantic love between Khizr Khan, the eldest son of Sultan Alauddin Khalji and Deval Rani, daughter of Rai Karan, the Raja of Gujarat. In Nuh Siphr (the Nine Skies) he gives a poetical description of Sultan Qutubuddin Mubarak Khalji’s reign. This work also contains references to contemporary social and religious conditions. In Tughluq Nama he describes Ghiyasuddin Tughluq’s rise to power.

• In Khazain-ul Futuh, Khusrau gives an account of Alauddin Khalji’s conquests in the South. Amir Khusrau’s Persian poetry often reflected the love for his country. He composed verses in Hindavi (a form of Hindi or Urdu) also and showed the way for the future development of Urdu language.

• In Medieval India, Kashmir was an important centre of education. Many Saiva sects and centres of learning flourished in Kashmir during the period. A number of important maths was set up in south India, for example, at Madurai and Sringeri.

• Various centres of education provided a great impetus to discussions, religion and philosophy being the main topics. The numerous Maths and other centres of education, in various parts of India enabled ideas to flow freely and quickly from one part of the country to another.

• Philosophical education was not considered complete till the philosopher had visited various centres of learning in different parts of the country and held discussions with the scholars there.

• The growth of science in the country slowed down during the period so that, in course of time, it was no longer regarded as a leading country in the field of science. Thus, surgery declined because the dissection of dead bodies was regarded as fit only for the people of low castes.

• In fact, surgery became the profession of barbers. Astronomy was gradually pushed into the background by astrology. However, some advance was made in the field of mathematics.

• The Lilawati of Bhaskar-II, which was written during this period, remained a standard text for a longtime. Some advance was made in the field of medicine by the use of minerals, especially mercury. Many books were written on plant sciences and for the treatment of animals (e.g., horses, elephants, etc.).

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• The spread of Buddhism A Kushana ruler named Kanishka organised a Buddhist council where scholars met and discussed important matters. Ashvaghosha, a poet who lived in Kanishka’s court composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharit. Ashvaghosha and other Buddhist scholars began to write in Sanskrit. A new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism, developed. In Mahayana Buddhism statues of the Buddha were made in Mathura and Taxila and a belief in Bodhisattvas begin. The Boddhisattvas were supposed to be persons who had attained enlightenment. Once they attained enlightenment, they remained in the world to teach and help other people instead of maintaining isolation.

• The worship of Bodhisattvas became very popular and spread throughout Central Asia, China, and later to Korea and Japan. Buddhism also spread to western and southern India. Caves were made for monks to live in and some for kings, queens and merchants. Roads connecting prosperous ports on the coast with cities in the Deccan ran through the passes of western Ghats and traders used to halt in these cave monasteries. Buddhism also spread south eastwards, to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia including Indonesia. The older form of Buddhism, known as Theravada Buddhism, was more popular in these areas.

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Palaeolithic sites -

• The Palaeolithic period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. The Palaeolithic comes from two Greek words, ‘paleo’, meaning old, and ‘lithos’, meaning stone. This long period is divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This long period covers 99% of human history. The hunter- gatherers hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs. Hunter-gatherers likely made and used tools of stone, wood and bone. Stone tools were used to cut meats, chop fruits and roots and some were attached to make spears and arrows for hunting.

• Places where the stone was found and where people made tools are known as factory sites. Most tools were made from limestone, which was locally available. Wood was also used to make huts and tools. Hunsgi and Kurnool caves are some of the places where the evidences of Palaeolithic age have been found.

Soma was a ritualistic drink. It was an intoxicating drink made since the Vedic Mandala of the Rigvedic period. There are two ways to get wine: fermentation and distillation. Fermentation was widely known in the world. Wine was procured by fermenting rice, sugarcane juice, mahuwa flowers, etc. Distillation, however, was a late comer. Some think that it was first discovered in Italy in the 12th century A.D.

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Mauryan empire:

• The Mauryan empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, more than 2300 years ago. Chandragupta was supported by a wise man named Chanakya or Kautilya. Many of Chanakya’s ideas were written down in a book called the Arthashastra. There were several cities in the empire such as Taxila, Pataliputra, Ujjain. Taxila was a gateway to the northwest, including Central Asia, while Ujjain lay on the route from north to south India. People in different parts of the empire spoke different People in different parts of the empire spoke different languages. They probably ate different kinds of food and wore different kinds of clothes as well.

• The area around Pataliputra was under the direct control of the emperor. The officials were appointed to collect taxes from farmers, herders, craftspersons and traders, who lived in villages and towns in the area. These officials (not all) were given salaries. Messengers went to and fro and spies kept a watch on the officials and they both were supervised by the emperor. There were also the forested regions and people living in these areas were more or less independent, but may have been expected to provide elephants, timber, honey and wax to Mauryan officials.

• Shankara Deva of Assam (late fifteenth century) emphasised devotion to Vishnu, and composed poems and plays in Assamese. He began the practice of setting up Namghars or houses of recitation and prayer, a practice that continues to date. He is widely accredited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of music (Borgeet), theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona), and dance (Sattriya) and literary language (Brajavali).

• Besides, he has left an extensive literary oeuvre of trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Shankar deva), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali. The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called Neo- Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms –Koch and the Ahom kingdoms — and the assembly of devotees he initiated evolved into Sattras over time, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extend in North Bengal.

• Often associated with the goddess were forms of worship that were classified as Tantric. Tantric practices were widespread in several parts of the sub-continent – they were open to women and men, and practitioners often ignored differences of caste and class within the ritual context.

• Many of these ideas influenced Shaivism, as well as Buddhism, especially in the eastern, northern and southern parts of the sub- continent.

• Those engaged in Tantric practices frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. Also, devotees often tended to project their chosen deity, either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme. Relations with other traditions, such as Buddhism or Jainism, were also often fraught with tension, if not open conflict.

Women saints played an important role in the Bhakti Movement. Some of the prominent women saints were:

(1) Lal Ded: Born in modern-day Kashmir, 14th-century Kashmiri saint and mystic poet Lal Ded (Mother Lalla), also known as Lalla or Lalleshwari, was married at the age of 12 into a family that was reported to have regularly mistreated her. After becoming a disciple of Sidh Srikanth, she renounced her material life and marriage to become a devotee of the god Shiva. As a mystic, she wandered naked, reciting her proverbs and quatrain-based poems. Lal Ded often used her poetry as a peaceful means of engagement with both Shaivism and Sufism.

(2) Andal: She in the only femal Alvar among the 12 Alvar saints of South India. The Alvar saints are known for their affiliation to the Vaishavite tradition of Hinduism. Andal is accredited great Tamil works, Thiruppavai and Nachiar Tirumozhi, which are still recited by devotees during the winter festival season of Margazhi.

(3) Akka Mahadevi: Akka Mahadevi was one of the early female poets of Kannada language and a prominent personality in the Lingayat Sect of Hinduism. She composed Vachanas and two short writings, called Mantrogopya and the Yoganagatrividhi in Kannada. She is known to have considered the Shiva as her husband.

• Jainism continued to be popular, particularly among the trading communities. The Chalukyan rulers of Gujarat patronized Jainism. It was during this time that some of the most magnificent Jain temples, such as the Dilwara temple at Mt. Abu, were built.

• The Paramara rulers of Malwa also built many huge images of Jain saints and of Mahavira, who began to be worshipped as a god. The magnificent Jainalayas, which were built in various parts, also acted as resting- places for the travellers. In south India, Jainism attained its high water- mark during the ninth and the tenth centuries.

• The Ganga rulers of Karnataka were great patrons of Jainism. During this period, many Jain Basadis (temples) and Mahastambhas (pillars) were set up in different parts. The colossal image at Sravana Belgola was set up during this time.

Kautilya was the foremost political theorist of ancient India. He supported the monarchical form of government. However, he did not stand for royal absolutism. The Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces with the imperial capital at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the name of the four provincial capitals were Tosali (in the east), Ujjain in the west, Suvarnagiri (in the south), and Taxila (in the north).

With the growth of civilization, the volume of trade and commerce had increased by leaps and bounds. Both inland and overseas trades were developed. Inland trade was carried on with the Kiratas inhabiting the mountains. They exchanged the herbs for clothes, nattresses and skins. The people became familiar with the navigation of the seas. Regular coinage was not started. During the Vedic age, gold coins, called Nishka, were used as media of exchange in large transactions. Besides Nishka, gold and silver coins like Satamana and Krishnala were used as media of exchange.

Giovanni Careri and Francois Bernier were both travelers who visited Mughal India in the 17th century, and their accounts provide valuable insights into the Mughal Empire during that time. Giovanni Careri was an Italian traveler who visited India in the late 17th century and wrote about his experiences in "Giro Del Mondo" ("Around the World"). Francois Bernier was a French physician and traveler who spent several years at the Mughal court and wrote about his experiences in "Travels in the Mughal Empire."

Jean Baptiste Tavernier, on the other hand, was a French gem merchant and traveler who visited India in the 17th century but is not known for his association with the Vijaynagar Empire. Tavernier is best known for his travels to India and Persia and his account "Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier" ("The Six Voyages of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier"). The Vijaynagar Empire, which was a South Indian empire, had already declined by the time of Tavernier's visits to India. Therefore, the correct matching pairs are 2 and 3 only.

• The monastic organisation of the Sufis and some of their practices, such as penance, fasting and holding the breath, are sometimes traced to the Buddhist and Hindu yogic influence.

• Buddhism was widely prevalent in Central Asia, before the advent of Islam and the legend of Buddha, as a saintly man, had passed into the Islamic legend.

• Yogis continued to visit West Asia even after the advent of Islam and the yogic book, Amrit-kund, had been translated into Persian from Sanskrit. Thus, Hindu and Buddhist practices and rituals seem to have been absorbed and assimilated by the Sufis, even before they came to India.

Statement 1 is correct. During that time, A group of people who performed a specific work or we can say where in the same occupation, formed a Jati. These Jatis were ranked on the basis of the Importance of occupation they were involved in and how much power, influence and resources they hold.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Ranks of Jatis varied according to the power source and influence exerted by members of the Jati.

Statement 3 is correct. Every Jati framed their own rules and regulations to manage the conduct of their people and these rules were enforced by an assembly of elders of the Jati which was known as Jati Panchayat. Statement 4 is correct. People from every Jati lived in a village and every member of each Jati had to follow the rules and regulations of the Village also which was governed by a Chieftain.

Statement 1 is Correct- Satavahana rulers were identified through metronymics (names derived from that of their mothers). This suggests that mothers were important and relatively held a higher social position than otherwise.

Statement 2 is Correct- Despite following metronymics, Satavahana’s succession to the throne was generally patrilineal.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Kitab ul-Hind was about the people, their customs and culture. It was not about Sultan Mahmud. Kitab-i-yamini written by Al-utbi contains the life history of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Statement 2 is Incorrect. Kitab ul-Hind was written in Arabic and not Persian.

Statement 3 is correct. Kitab ul-Hind was an account of people who were conquered by Sultan mahmud. Sultan was keen on knowing about the culture, language etc of the people he conquered so he asked Al-Biruni to make an account of it. Generally (though not always), Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and concluding with a comparison with other cultures. Some present-day scholars have argued that this almost geometric structure, remarkable for its precision and predictability, owed much to his mathematical orientation. Al-Biruni, who wrote in Arabic, probably intended his work for people living along the frontiers of the subcontinent.

He was familiar with translations and adaptations of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts into Arabic – these ranged from fables to works on astronomy and medicine. However, he was also critical about the ways in which these texts were written, and clearly wanted to improve on them. Al-Biruni depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, often citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manu smriti, etc. to provide an understanding of Indian society and the prevalent caste system. However, in real life the system was not quite as rigid.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Alauddin constructed a new garrison town named Siri for his soldiers, whereas rather than constructing a new garrison town, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq emptied the oldest of the four cities of Delhi (Dehli-i Kuhna) and soldiers were garrisoned there.

Statement 2 is correct. Alauddin’s administrative measures were quite successful and chroniclers praised his reign for its cheap prices and efficient supplies of goods in the market. He successfully withstood the threat of Mongol invasions. Muhammad Tughluq’s administrative measures were a failure. His campaign into Kashmir was a disaster. He then gave up his plans to invade Transoxiana and disbanded his large army. Meanwhile, his administrative measures created complications. The shifting of people to Daulatabad was resented. The raising of taxes and famine in the Ganga-Yamuna belt led to widespread rebellion. And finally, the “token” currency had to be recalled. However, one must remember that Allaudin’s measures were defensive in nature whereas Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the only king to go on the offensive against the Mongols.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Lapis lazuli is a blue precious stone used for decoration in panels on walls and ceilings in the Indo-Islamic architecture.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Pietra Dura called ‘Parchinkari’ in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images.

It is considered a decorative art. The stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been sliced and cut in different shapes sections; and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section was practically invisible. From the 16th century onwards arches were designed with trefoil or multiple foliations. Trefoil is a pattern consisting of 3 leaves and foliation is in the form of a leaf.

Statement 2 is incorrect: They encouraged certain practices like post-puberty marriage and widow remarriage, which were disapproved by the Dharmashastras. We learn about Virashaiva traditions from ‘vachanas’ composed in Kannada.