JKPSC Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 6 - JKPSC KAS (Jammu and Kashmir) MCQ

• A Sutra in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi refers to the worshippers of Vasudeva (Krishna).

• The Chhandogya Upanishad also speaks of Krishna, the son of Devaki, a pupil of the sage Ghora Angirasa, who was a sun-worshipping priest.

• A large number of people worshipped Vasudeva Krishna exclusively as their personal God and they were at first known as Bhagavatas.

• The Vasudeva-Bhagavata cult grew steadily, absorbing within its fold other Vedic and Brahminic divinities, like Vishnu (primarily an aspect of the Sun) and Narayana (a cosmic God).

• From the late Gupta period the name mostly used to designate this Bhakti cult was Vaishnava, indicating the predominance of the Vedic Vishnu element in it with emphasis on the doctrine of incarnations (Avataras).

As of June 2024, Mohan Charan Majhi has been appointed as the new Chief Minister of Odisha. This change in leadership is significant for the state's governance and political landscape, reflecting ongoing political dynamics in India. Odisha has been known for its rich cultural heritage and significant development programs aimed at improving infrastructure and social welfare.

June 12 is recognized as World Day Against Child Labour, a day dedicated to raising awareness and promoting action to eliminate child labor worldwide. The theme for 2024 emphasizes the importance of fulfilling commitments to end this issue, highlighting the need for collective efforts to ensure that children can enjoy their right to education and a childhood free from exploitation.

The theme for World Day Against Child Labour in 2024 is "Let’s Act on Our Commitments: End Child Labour." This theme calls for renewed efforts from all stakeholders to take meaningful action against child labor and ensure that children have access to education and opportunities for a better future. The observance of this day aims to mobilize public opinion and encourage governments to take effective measures.

In 2012, Sangram Singh was awarded the title of World's Best Professional Wrestler by the World Wrestling Professionals in South Africa. This recognition highlights his exceptional skills in wrestling, which paved the way for his transition into mixed martial arts (MMA), making him a notable athlete in both sports.

The Bogibeel Bridge, located in Assam, is the longest road cum railway bridge in India. Spanning the Brahmaputra River, this engineering marvel plays a crucial role in enhancing connectivity and transportation in the region, significantly benefiting local communities by reducing travel time and improving access to markets and services.

The extreme heatwaves affecting various parts of India in June 2024 are attributed to a weather phenomenon known as a heat dome. This occurs when high-pressure systems trap warm air, leading to prolonged periods of extreme temperatures. Such phenomena can exacerbate heat-related health issues and strain natural resources, including water supplies.

In June 2024, Oxford University announced its decision to return a 500-year-old bronze idol of Saint Tirumankai Alvar to India. This idol, which had been stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, highlights the ongoing efforts to rectify historical injustices related to cultural heritage and promote the repatriation of historically significant artifacts.

Sangram Singh made history by becoming the first Indian male wrestler to join MMA. This transition showcases the growing popularity of MMA in India and the diverse pathways available for athletes who start in traditional sports like wrestling. His journey illustrates how skills from wrestling can be effectively transferred to mixed martial arts.

The World Day Against Child Labour was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002. This initiative aims to raise awareness about the plight of child laborers and promote strategies to eliminate child labor globally. The ILO works with various stakeholders to create policies that protect children's rights and ensure their access to education.

The term "peerless" means unequaled or unmatched, signifying something that stands out as superior to all others. It is often used to describe exceptional talent or qualities that cannot be compared with anything else. For example, a peerless performance in a championship is one that is so remarkable that it leaves a lasting impression.

The UN's declaration of 2025 as the "International Year of Quantum" primarily focuses on exploring quantum physics and its implications. This initiative aims to promote research and understanding of quantum technologies, which have the potential to revolutionize computing, communication, and various scientific fields, thereby benefiting society at large.

Margaret Thatcher made history by becoming the first British prime minister to serve three consecutive terms. Her tenure from 1979 to 1990 was marked by significant political and economic changes in the UK, including policies that emphasized free-market principles and reduced the power of trade unions, fundamentally shaping British politics.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in 1957–58 by eminent archaeologist V. S. Wakankar. The first discovery of rock paintings, not Bhimbetka caves, was made in India in 1867–68 by an archaeologist, Archibold Carlleyle, twelve years before the discovery of Altamira in Spain. Cockburn, Anderson, Mitra and Ghosh were the early archaeologists who discovered a large number of sites in the Indian subcontinent.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified into various groups on the bases of style, technique and superimposition. The drawings and paintings can be categorised into seven historical periods. Period I, Upper Palaeolithic; Period II, Mesolithic; and Period III, Chalcolithic. After Period III there are four successive periods. In India the earliest paintings have been reported from the Upper Palaeolithic times.

Statement 3 is correct. The themes of paintings found here are of great variety, ranging from mundane events of daily life in those times to sacred and royal images. These include hunting, dancing, Music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, decoration of bodies, and other household scenes. About Bhimbetka Caves: The largest and most spectacular rock-shelter is located in the Vindhya hills at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. Bhimbetka is located 45 kilometres south of Bhopal, in an area of ten square kilometres, having about eight hundred rock shelters, five hundred of which bear paintings.

Explanation:

1. The Brahmo Sabha was indeed formed with the purpose of purifying Hinduism and preaching theism. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the founder of the Brahmo Sabha, sought to reform Hinduism by removing practices like idolatry, caste system, and sati. He believed in monotheism and wanted to promote a rational understanding of religion.

2. Tarachand Chakravarti was the first secretary of the Brahmo Sabha. He was a close associate of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and played a crucial role in the early development of the organization.

3. The Brahmo Sabha was opposed to idolatry, as Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that worshiping idols was a corrupt practice that had no basis in the original Hindu scriptures. He advocated for a more spiritual and rational understanding of religion.

4. The statement that the new society was to be based on the Vedas only is incorrect. Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed in the essential unity of all religions and did not want to restrict the Brahmo Sabha to a single religious scripture. He encouraged the study of various religious texts and promoted religious tolerance and understanding. In fact, the Brahmo Samaj, which evolved from the Brahmo Sabha, considered the Upanishads, Vedas, and other religious texts as important sources of spiritual knowledge, but not as infallible authorities.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The rules made for the Buddhist sangha were written down in a book called the Vinaya Pitaka. According to the rules written in the Vinaya Pitaka, all men, women and children could join the sangha.

However, children had to take the permission of their parents and slaves of their masters. Those who worked for the king had to take his permission and debtors that of creditors. Women had to take their husbands’ permission.

• Rise of Social Classes: Income from trade, war booty, and agricultural produce enabled the king to maintain groups of professional warriors and also to pay the bards and priests who were largely brahmanas.
• The Brahmanas first appear in the Tamil land in the Sangam age. An ideal king was one who never hurt the Brahmanas. Many Brahmanas functioned as poets, and in this role they were generously rewarded by the king. Karikala is said to have given one poet 1,600,000 gold pieces, but this seems to be an exaggeration.
• Besides gold, the poets or bards also received cash, land, chariots, horses, and even elephants. The Tamil brahmanas partook of meat and wine. The Kshatriyas and vaishyas appear as regular varnas in the Sangam texts. The warrior class was an important element in the polity and society.
• The captains of the army were invested with the title of enadi at a formal ceremony. However, we have no clear idea about the vaishyas. Civil and military offices were held under both the Cholas and Pandyas by vellalas or rich peasants. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The ruling class was called arasar, and its members had marriage relations with the vellalas, who formed the fourth caste. They held the bulk of the land and thus constituted the cultivating class, divided into the rich and the poor. The rich did not plough the land themselves but employed labourers to undertake this.
• Agricultural operations were generally the task of members of the lowest class (kadaisiyar), whose status appears to have differed little from that of slaves. Some artisans were not differentiated from agricultural labourers. The pariyars were agricultural labourers who also worked with animal skins and used them as mats. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Several outcastes and forest tribes suffered from extreme poverty and lived from hand to mouth.
• We notice sharp social inequalities in the Sangam age. The rich lived in houses of brick and mortar, and the poor in huts and humbler dwellings. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• In the cities, rich merchants lived in the upper storey of their houses. It is not however clear whether rites and religion were used to maintain social inequalities. We notice the emergence of the Brahmanas and the ruling caste, but the acute caste distinctions of later times did not exist in the early Sangam age.

• Matki is performed by the women of Malwa region on the occasions of wedding and other festivities. It is mainly performed solo, while balancing a number of earthen pots on the head. Hence statement 1 is incorrect.
• Paika is a martial folk dance performed in the southern parts of Odisha. Paika is a form of long spear. The dancers are armed with wooden spears and shields, and show off their skills and agility in infantry like formations. It has a martial art character. The word Paika signifies battle. Hence Statement 2 is correct.
• Gaur Maria is an important ritualistic dance form of the Bison Horn Maria tribes who live in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The dance imitates the movements of a bison and is performed in group by both men and women. Hence Statement 3 is correct.
• Paika is a martial folk dance performed in the southern parts of Odisha. Paika is a form of long spear. The dancers are armed with wooden spears and shields, and show off their skills and agility in infantry like formations. It has a martial art character. The word Paika signifies battle.

• Mauryan Empire consisted of various political formations and ecological zones like forest peoples and nomads, chieftaincies and oligarchies like the gana–sangha confederacies of chiefs. It contained smaller kingdoms with a range of administrative structures not necessarily similar to that in Magadha. Different parts of the Empire, like the core, the metropolis and the peripheries, were administered differently. Thus, there was no uniform method of administration in the whole of the Mauryan Empire. So, Statement 1 is not correct.
• The organization of the Mauryan empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by Kautilya in the Arthashastra: a sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of the Empire were made possible by what appears to have been the largest standing army of its time. According to Megasthenes, the possessed wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants. A vast espionage system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka maintained this large army to protect the Empire and instill stability and peace across West and South Asia. So, Statement 2 is correct.
• The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the royal capital at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are Tosali (in the East), Ujjain (in the west), Suvarnagiri (in the south), and Taxila (in the north). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as the king’s representative. Mahamatyas and the council of ministers assisted the Kumara. So, Statement 3 is correct.

• Vajrapani, or Sakra, has a twofold role. In the Hinayana texts, he is an attendant of Buddha; in the Mahayana iconography, he is a Dhyani Bodhisattva and an emanation of Akshobhya, with his Sakti being Lochana. With his thunderbolt, he appears as a constant attendant of Buddha to crust every enemy. Vajrapani is contemplated to manifest all the powers of Buddha and the power of all five tathagatas, namely Vairocana, Akshobhya, Amitabha, Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi. So, Option (a) is correct.
• Manjusri, one of the most important Bodhisattvas of the Mahayana pantheon, bears a sword for destroying ignorance and holds the Prajnaparamita book that symbolizes transcendental knowledge. Manjusri is best known for his wisdom and intellect, and he frequently occurs in the Dunhuang Art. So, Option (b) is correct.
• The origin of the Samantabhadra cult is not known. The Chinese pilgrims visiting various Buddhist countries seldom mention him. He became prominent in the fifth century after translating the Cheng F-Hua-Ching (Dharmaraksha’s version of the Lotus). In iconography, he wears not only a crown but is also dressed up in princely attire. In Japan, he is known as Fu-gen. He is a very popular figure in Chinese and Japanese art. Samantabhadra, a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation. So, Option (c) is correct.
• Vasudhara is a Sanskrit word that means the stream of gems. The Buddhist deity, Vasudhara, is a female bodhisattva of wealth, prosperity, and abundance. She has strong followers among the Buddhist Newars of Kathmandu valley. Sometimes she is related to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. So, Option (d) is not correct.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The manuscripts dealt with all kinds of subjects like religious beliefs and practices, lives of kings, medicine and science, epics, poems, plays, etc.

Statement 2 is correct. They were written in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tamil. Manuscripts are writings on soft surfaces such as palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch. The word manuscript comes from the Latin word ‘manu’ meaning hand.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Inscriptions are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Kings used to get their orders inscribed so that people could see, read and obey them. They often kept records of victories in battle through inscriptions. There are other kinds of inscriptions as well, where men and women, including kings and queens, recorded what they did.

• Statement 1 is correct: A report that was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. It was the fifth of a series of reports on the administration and activities of the East India Company in India. Often referred to as the Fifth Report. Since, the Company established its rule in Bengal in the mid-1760s, its activities were closely watched and debated in England. Many opposed to the monopoly that the East India Company had over trade with India and China. These groups wanted a revocation of the Royal Charter that gave the Company this monopoly.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: It was published by a select committee on the affairs of the East India Company of the British Parliament. It was submitted to the British Parliament and not the Governor General of India. There was no such post as of 1813.

• Statement 1 is correct: Exploitation of rural society increased with the growth of intermediary revenue collectors, tenants, moneylenders and thus gave rise to civil uprisings like civil uprisings in Gorakhpur, Basti and Bahraich due to involvement of English officers as izaradars (revenue farmers in Awadh

• Statement 2 is incorrect: These uprisings were not so obstinate and were often pacified through concessions by the authorities like Ho and Munda Uprisings where British agreed to the demand of Chhotanagpur as their area and deployed force there

• Statement 3 is correct: Destruction of indigenous industry led to migration of workers from industry to agriculture, increasing the pressure on land/ agriculture and resulted in civil Uprisings.

• When Warren Hastings assumed the administration of Bengal in 1772, he found it in utter chaos. Therefore, Warren Hastings realized the immediate need for introducing reforms.

• Reforms under Warren Hastings:

  • The East India Company decided to act as Diwan and to undertake the collection of revenue by its own agents. Hence, the Dual System introduced by Robert Clive was abolished.

  • After the abolition of the Dual System, the responsibility of collecting the revenue fell on the shoulders of the Company. For that purpose, a Board of Revenue was established at Calcutta to supervise the collection of revenue.

  • Warren Hastings felt the necessity of reorganizing the judicial system. Each district was provided with a civil court under the collector and a criminal court under an Indian Judge.

  • Warren Hastings abolished the system of dastaks, or free passes, and regulated the internal trade.

  • In 1781, Warren Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasah for the study and teaching of Muslim law and related subjects.

  • He also introduced a uniform system of pre-paid postage system.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

• The Nagpur Satyagraha of 1923 is the Flag Satyagraha, also called the Jhanda Satyagraha. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel led it at Nagpur in the year 1923. Hence, it was not held under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. So, Statement 1 is not correct.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jamnalal Bajaj, Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Vinoba Bhave organized the revolt thousands of people from different regions, including from south of the Princely state of Travancore, traveled to Nagpur and other parts of the Central Provinces that is the present states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to participate in civil disobedience. Therefore, people from different parts of the nation came to Nagpur. So, Statement 2 is correct.
• The satyagrahis were encouraged to hoist the national flag without resisting arrest or retaliating against police, even though the British government deployed a heavy police force. They ignored the probable danger and they were even ready to sacrifice their lives and hoisted the flag in Victoria Town Hall, Jabalpur. And after that, flags were hoisted at several places across the country. So, Statement 3 is correct.

Sati System – 

1. Mrityunjaya Vidyalankar, a sanskrit scholar who was associated with the Supreme Court at Calcutta, wrote against the Sati system. He is considered to be one of the first to write against Sati system. (Even before Raja Rammohun Roy). On the recommendation of William Carey, Mrityunjaya was appointed as head pundit in Bangla Department at the Fort William College. 
2. Some scholars believe that the rise of Sati system in 17th and 18th century in Bengal was because Dayabhaga system of Hindu Personal Law followed there. The Dayabhaga system gave the widow greater rights to inherit the deceased husband’s property as well as her father’s property. This induced male member of the husband’s family to force the widow to commit suicide. 
3. Sati was banned in 1829 during the term of Governor General William Bentick.

Swami Viveknanda –

• Born in Kolkata in 1863, he was known as Narendra Nath Datta in his pre-monastic life. He was a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Parmahansa and a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India. He pushed for national integration in colonial India, and his famous speech remains as the one that he gave in Chicago in 1893 (Parliament of the World Religions)
• He established a new monastic order in Baranagar in Kolkata and went to explore India. During his travels, he was deeply moved by appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses. He was the first religious leader who highlighted that real cause of India’s downfall was the neglect of masses and highlighted the immediate need to provide food and other necessities. He emphasised on improved methods of agriculture, village industries etc.
• According to him, the crux of problem of poverty in India was because of centuries of oppression, downtrodden masses had lost faith in their capacity to improve their lot. Therefore, it was necessary to infuse faith in their own capacities. Vivekanand believed that principle of Atman i.e. doctrine of potential divinity of soul, taught in Vedanta could ameliorate the condition of the poor people. Thus, the masses needed two kinds of knowledge: secular knowledge to improve their economic condition and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves.
• He formed the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.” In 1899, he established the Belur Math, which became his permanent abode. He also wrote books like Karma yoga, Jnana yoga, Raja Yoga etc.

• The Government of India Act, 1919, had a provision that a Commission would be appointed 10 years from the date to study the progress of the governance scheme and suggest new steps. An all-White, seven-member Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known as the Simon Commission (after the name of its Chairman, Sir John Simon), was set up by the British government under Stanley Baldwin‘s Prime Ministership in 1927.
• The Commission was to recommend to the British government whether India was ready for further constitutional reforms and along what lines. Although the constitutional reforms were due only in 1929, the Conservative Government, then in power in Britain, feared defeat by the Labour Party and, thus, did not want to leave the question of the future of Britain‘s most priced colony in ―irresponsible Labour hands‖.
• The Conservative Secretary of State for India, Lord Birkenhead, was responsible for the appointment of the Simon Commission. What angered the Indians the most was the exclusion of the Indians from the Commission and the basic notion behind the exclusion that the foreigners would discuss and decide upon India‘s fitness for self-government. This notion was seen as a violation of the principle of self- determination and as a deliberate insult to the self-respect of the Indians. The Congress Session in Madras (December, 1927), meeting under the Presidency of M.A. Ansari, decided to boycott the Commission ―at every stage and in every form‖. Meanwhile, Nehru succeeded in getting a snap resolution passed at the Session, declaring ―Complete Independence‖ as the goal of the Congress. Those who decided to support the Congress call of boycott of the Simon Commission included the liberals of the Hindu Mahasabha and the majority faction of the Muslim League under Jinnah.
• The Muslim League had two sessions in 1927 – one under Jinnah at Calcutta, where it was decided to oppose the Simon Commission and another at Lahore under Muhammad Shafi, who supported the government. Some others, such as the Unionists in Punjab and the Justice Party in the south, decided not to boycott the Commission.

The Nehru Report – As an answer to Lord Birkenhead‘s challenge, an All Parties Conference met in February, 1928, and appointed a Sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Motilal Nehru to draft a Constitution. This was the first major attempt by the Indians to draft a Constitutional Framework for the country. The Committee included Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhash Bose, M.S. Aney, Mangal Singh, Ali Imam, Shuab Qureshi and G.R. Pradhan as its members. The Report was finalized by August, 1928. The recommendations of the Nehru Committee were unanimous except in one respect – while the majority favoured the ―Dominion Status‖ as the basis of the Constitution, a section of it wanted ―Complete Independence‖ as the basis, with the majority section giving the latter section liberty of action. Main Recommendations – The Nehru Report confined itself to British India, as it envisaged the future link-up of British India with the princely states on a federal basis. For the Dominion it recommended:
(i) The Dominion Status on the lines of self-governing dominions as the form of government desired by the Indians (much to the chagrin of the younger, militant section – Nehru being prominent among them).
(ii) Rejection of separate electorates which had been the basis of the constitutional reforms so far. Instead, a demand for joint electorates with reservation of seats for the Muslims at the Centre and in the Provinces where they were in minority (and not in those where the Muslims were in majority, such as Punjab and Bengal) in proportion to the Muslim population there with a right to contest additional seats.
(iii) Linguistic provinces.
(iv) 19 fundamental rights, including equal rights for the women, right to form unions and universal adult suffrage.
(v) Responsible government at the Centre and in the Provinces.
(vi) Full protection to cultural and religious interests of the Muslims. (vii) Complete dissociation of the state from religion.