Test: History & Culture - 5 - UPSC MCQ

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Tribal chief did not exercise unlimited powers but had to reckon with the tribal organizations.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Vrajapati was an officer who enjoyed authority over a large stretch of land or pasture ground.
Administration in Rig Vedic Period
• The administrative machinery of the Aryans in the Rig Vedic period functioned with the tribal chief, for his successful leadership in war, at the centre. He was called Rajan. It seems that in the Rig Vedic period, the king’s post had become hereditary. However, the rajan was a kind of chief and did not exercise unlimited power, having to reckon with the tribal organizations.
• Several tribal or kin-based assemblies such as the sabha, samiti, vidatha, and gana are mentioned in the Rig Veda. They exercised deliberative, military, and religious functions. Even women attended the sabha and vidatha in Rig Vedic times.
• In the day-to-day administration, the king was assisted by a few functionaries. The most important of these seems to have been the purohita.
• Next in rank to the king was the senani or the head of the army. He used spears, axes, swords, etc.
• We do not learn of any officer concerned with the collection of taxes. In all probability, the people made voluntary offerings called bali to the rajan.
• The officer who enjoyed authority over a large stretch of land or pasture ground was called vrajapati. He led to battle the heads of the families called kulapas, or heads of the fighting hordes called gramanis.

• All statements are correct
Bhavai
• Bhavai is Rajasthan’s ritualistic dance, which is usually performed by women belonging to Kalbelia, Jat, Meena, Bhil or Kumhar tribal communities of the state.
• The dance involves women balancing eight to nine brass pitchers or earthen pots on their head as they dance and twirl with their feet on the perimeter of a brass plate or on the top of a glass.
• The dance is accompanied by male performers singing and playing instruments, such as harmonium, sarangi and dholak.
• Because of its high level of difficulty and complexity, it takes years for the performer to master the dance form.
Chari
• Chari is another ritualistic dance that primarily belongs to the Saini community of Ajmer and Gujjar’s of Kishangarh.
• Enacted by women, it is usually performed on special occasions, such as the birth of a male child, marriage or festival.
• It symbolises joy as well as representing the ritual of collecting water in chari, which means pot. The women are attired in traditional outfit and dance while balancing brass chari on their heads, along with a lighted lamp in it. The dance is accompanied by sounds of dholak, harmonium and nagada (percussion instrument).
Chang
• The centrepiece of Rajasthan’s Holi festival, Chang is a lively folk dance that originated from the Shekhawati region (Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar).
• Also called as Dhamal, the highlighted characteristic of this dance form is the fast-paced rhythmic beats of the chang instrument (a type of tambourine), upon which a group of men dance, sing and carouse.
• Another notable feature is that some men dress up like women – donning traditional attire and performing ghoomar.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Mysore and Kerala emerged as the independent Kingdom due to the destabilization of Mughal control over provinces
Rise of Regional States
• The states that emerged as a result of the decline of the Mughal Empire can be classified into the following three broad categories:
• Successor States: These were the Mughal provinces that turned into states after breaking away from the empire. Though they did not challenge the sovereignty of the Mughal ruler, the establishment of virtually independent and hereditary authority by their governors showed the emergence of autonomous polity in these territories. Some examples are Awadh, Bengal, and Hyderabad, which were established during the reign of the Mughal emperor – Muhammad Shah (1719-1748).
• Independent Kingdoms: These states came into existence primarily due to the destabilization of the Mughal control over the provinces, examples being Mysore, Kerala and the Rajput states.
• The New States: These were the states set up by the rebels against the Mughal Empire, examples being the Maratha, the Sikh, and the Jat states.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: The Hindus were considered zimmis or protected people, for which they were forced to pay a tax called jizya.
Socio-Economic System during the Sultanate Period
• Delhi Sultans introduced reforms in the land revenue administration. The lands were classified into three categories:
1. Iqta land:  Lands assigned to officials as iqtas instead of payment for their services.
2. Khalisa land: Land under the direct control of the Sultan and the revenues collected were spent for the maintenance of royal court and royal household.
3. Inam land: Land assigned or granted to religious leaders or religious institutions.
• Muslim society remained divided into several ethnic and racial groups. The Turks, Iranians, Afghans, and Indian Muslims developed as exclusive groups and there were no intermarriages between them.
• Hindu converts from lower castes were also not given equal respect. The Muslim nobles occupied high offices and very rarely the Hindu nobles were given a high position in the government.
• The Hindus were considered zimmis or protected people, for which they were forced to pay a tax called jizya. In the beginning, jizya was collected as part of a land tax.
• Firoz Tughlaq separated it from the land revenue and collected jizya as a separate tax and levied it on Brahmans also.

• Option (c) is incorrect: The Muslim League observed the ‘Day of Deliverance’ when the Congress Party members who were part of the central and provincial governments resigned in mass protesting the Viceroy’s decision to make India a party to the Second World War without duly consulting Indians.
Day of Deliverance
• The Muslim League observed ‘Day of Deliverance’ on 22 December 1939 when the Congress Party members who were part of the Central and provincial governments resigned in mass protesting the Viceroy’s decision to make India a party to the Second World War without duly consulting Indians.
• The Congress was in power in 7 British Indian provinces after elections in 1937. The Muslim League could form the government in only one province then.
• The Congress called upon all its ministries to resign in the wake of the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow’s declaration that India was at war with Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
• On 2 December that year, League chief Muhammad Ali Jinnah called upon Indian Muslims to celebrate 22 December as ‘Deliverance Day’ from Congress.
• The Congress criticised this move of the League. The observance of this day was also disapproved by senior congress leader Abul Kalam Azad.
• The day was observed by the League in India as decided. Some other parties also joined the celebration. They were the AllIndia Depressed Classes Association and the Independent Labour Party. Prominent leaders who joined Jinnah in the observance included Dr. B R Ambedkar and E V Ramasami Naicker (Periyar) of the Justice Party. Some Parsis and Anglo-Indians also participated.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Ambedkar approved a separation of politics and religion as opposed to Gandhi.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Ambedkar believed that ‘Gramraj’ would continue the social hierarchy based on discrimination and inequality and thus he was not in its favor.
Ideological Differences between Gandhi and Ambedkar
• The two leaders differed over the nature and scope of democracy as a method of government. Ambedkar advocated parliamentary system of government for independent India, but Gandhi had very little respect for the parliamentary system of governance. Gandhi believed that democracy tends to get converted into mass democracy with a propensity for domination by leaders. Ambedkar was inclined towards mass democracy as it could act as a pressure on the government with the advancement of the oppressed people.
• For Gandhi, ‘Gramraj’ was ‘Ramraj’ and real independence for Indians. But for Ambedkar, the status-quoist nature of the Indian villages denied equality and fraternity and also liberty. As the scourge of casteism and untouchability was most dominant in the rural areas of India, Ambedkar believed that ‘Gramraj’ would continue the social hierarchy based on discrimination and inequality.
• Gandhi distinguished between abolition of untouchability and abolition of caste system as such. On this point he differed from Ambedkar who advocated annihilation of the caste system to remove untouchability. Gandhi felt that whatever the limitations and defects of the varnashram system, there was nothing sinful about it, as there was about untouchability.
• In political percepts, Ambedkar believed in freedom of religion, free citizenship and separation of State and religion. Gandhi also endorsed the idea of freedom of religion, but never approved a separation of politics and religion. But religion as an agent of social change was well accepted by both leaders.
• Ambedkar believed in purity of ends and justified means as just when the ends were just whereas in Gandhian perception it was purity of means that determined the end.
• Gandhi and Ambedkar differed greatly in their views concerning mechanization of production and utilization of heavy machinery. Gandhi was apprehensive about the dehumanizing impact of mechanization and held it responsible for the creation as well as sustaining of exploitative socioeconomic orders in the world. Ambedkar, on the other hand, attributed the evil effect of machinery to wrong social organizations that gave sanctity to private property and the pursuit of personal gains and was of the firm belief that machinery and modern civilization were of benefit to all.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: He was the most famous Shaka ruler.
Rudradaman I
• The most famous Shaka ruler in India was Rudradaman I (AD 130–50).
• He ruled not only over Sindh, but also over a substantial part of Gujarat, Konkan, the Narmada valley, Malwa, and Kathiawar.
• He is famous in history because of the repairs he undertook to improve the Sudarshana lake in the semi-arid zone of Kathiawar which had been in use for irrigation for a long time and dated back to the Mauryas. 
• Rudradaman was a great lover of Sanskrit. Although he had Central Asian ancestors, he issued the first-ever long inscription in chaste Sanskrit.
• All the earlier longer inscriptions that we have in India were composed in Prakrit which had been made the state language by Ashoka.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: It was adopted by the All-India Muslim League in March 1940.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: It was presented by A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq.
Lahore Resolution 
• The Lahore Resolution was a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League in its Lahore session in March 1940.
•  The resolution called for independent state for Muslims of British India.
•  It was presented by A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq, the Prime Minister of Bengal

• Statement 2 is  incorrect: Lord Wellesley’s subsidiary alliance reduce the Indian states into a position of dependence on the British government.
• Statement  3 is incorrect: Lord Dalhousie was not the originator of the Doctrine of Lapse policy.
British Expansionist Policies
• The policy of Ring Fence
1. Warren Hastings followed a policy of ring-fence which aimed at creating buffer zones to defend the Company’s frontiers. Broadly speaking, it was the policy of defense of their neighbors’ frontiers for safeguarding their own territories.
2. The states brought under the ringfence system were required to maintain subsidiary forces that were to be organized, equipped and commanded by the officers of the Company who, in turn, were to be paid by the rulers of these states.
• Subsidiary Alliance
1. Wellesley’s policy of subsidiary alliance was, in fact, an extension of the ring-fence system which sought to reduce the Indian states into a position of dependence on the British government.
2. Under the system, the allying Indian state’s ruler was compelled to:
3. Accept the permanent stationing of a British force within his territory
4. Pay a subsidy for its maintenance
5. Accept posting of a British resident in his court
6. Not employ any European in his service without the prior approval of the British.
7. Not negotiate with any other Indian ruler without consulting the governorgeneral
8. In return for all this, the British would defend the ruler from his enemies and adopt a policy of noninterference in the internal matters of the allied state.
• Doctrine of Lapse
1. It stated that the adopted son could be the heir to his foster father’s private property, but not the state; it was for the paramount power (the British) to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it.
2. Though this policy is attributed to Lord Dalhousie (1848-56), he was not its originator. It was a coincidence that during his governorgeneralship several important cases arose in which the ‘Doctrine’ could be applied. Dalhousie showed too much zeal in enforcing this policy which had been theoretically enunciated on some previous occasions.
3. Some states lapsed were: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1849), Bhagat (1850), Udaipur (1850), Nagpur (1854), Jhansi (1855).

Literature in the Sultanate Period
• The Delhi Sultans patronised learning and literature. Many of them had great love for Arabic and Persian literature Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi contains the history of Tughlaq dynasty.
• Minhaj-us- Siraj wrote Tabaqat-iNasari, a general history of Muslim dynasties up to c.1260 CE.
• Amir Khusrau (c.1252–1325 CE) was the most famous Persian writer of this period.
• Amir Khusrau’s Khazain-ul-Futuh speaks about Alauddin’s conquests. His famous work, the Tughlaq Nama, deals with the rise of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• Alberuni’s Kitab-ul-Hind is the most famous work wherein he comments on Indian sciences, Hindu religious beliefs, customs, and social organization.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: Mahatma Gandhiji and not Jawaharlal Nehru was the popular leader of this movement.
Champaran Satyagraha
• The European planters had been forcing the peasants of Champaran in Bihar to grow indigo on 3/20 part of the total land (called tinkathia system).
• When towards the end of the nineteenth century German synthetic dyes replaced indigo, the European planters demanded high rents and illegal dues from the peasants in order to maximise their profits before the peasants could shift to other crops.
• Besides, the peasants were forced to sell the produce at prices fixed by the Europeans.
• During this time Gandhiji was requested by Rajkumar Shukla, a local man, to look into the problems of the farmers.
• Hence Gandhiji joined now by Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul- Haq, Mahadeo Desai, Narhari Parekh, and J.B. Kripalani, reached Champaran to probe into the matter.
• The authorities ordered him to leave the area at once. Gandhiji defied the order and preferred to face the punishment. This passive resistance or civil disobedience of an unjust order was a novel method at that time.
• Finally, the authorities retreated and permitted Gandhiji to make an enquiry. Now, the government appointed a committee to go into the matter and nominated Gandhiji as a member.
• Gandhiji was able to convince the authorities that the tinkathia system should be abolished and that the peasants should be compensated for the illegal dues extracted from them.
• As a compromise with the planters, he agreed that only 25 per cent of the money taken should be compensated.
• Within a decade, the planters left the area. Gandhiji had won the first battle of civil disobedience in India.
•  Other popular leaders associated with Champaran Satyagraha were Brajkishore Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Ramnavmi Prasad and Shambhusharan Varma.

Option (a) is correct: Jinnah Direct Action Resolution was given on 16 August 1946 to achieve Pakistan.
Jinnah Direct Action Resolution:

• The Muslim League under Mohammad Ali Jinnah withdrew its acceptance from the long-term plan of Cabinet Mission in response to Nehru’s statement and gave a call for “direct action” from August 16 to achieve Pakistan.
• Nehru during the Constitutional Assembly election stated, “We are not bound by a single thing except that we have decided to go into the Constituent Assembly (implying that the Constituent Assembly was sovereign and would decide the rules of procedure). The big probability is that there would be no grouping as NWFP and Assam would have objections to joining Muslim majority sections B and C.”
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for Muslims all over the country to ‘suspend all business’. This was to put pressure on the British government to relent to the Muslim League’s (headed by Jinnah) demand of dividing the country on the basis of religion, thereby allowing the creation of a Muslimdominated Pakistan.
• There were communal riots on an unprecedented scale.The members of one community rounded up members of another and murdered them in cold blood, using swords, knives, cleavers, guns and metal rods. The day came to be known as the Week of the Long Knives.
• The riots did eventually serve to increase a feeling of alienation among Muslims, therefore strengthening their desire for a separate nation.
• The violence made both communities realize the extent of harm they were capable of causing each other when being ‘forced’ to live together.
• The worst-hit areas were Calcutta, Bombay, Noakhali, Bihar and Garhmukteshwar (United Provinces). This day is known as The Great Calcutta Killings.

• Both statements are correct
Gupta Period
• The Gupta period is remarkable for the production of secular literature, which consisted of a fair degree of ornate court poetry. 
• Bhasa was an important poet in the early phase of the Gupta period and wrote thirteen plays. He wrote in Sanskrit, but his dramas also contain a substantial amount of Prakrit. He was the author of a drama called “Dradiracharudatta”, which was later refashioned as Mrichchhakatika or the Little Clay Cart by Shudraka.
• The Gupta period also saw the development of Sanskrit grammar based on the work of Panini and Patanjali. This period is particularly memorable for the compilation of Amarakosha by Amarasimha, who was a luminary in the court of Chandragupta II. This lexicon is learnt by heart by students learning Sanskrit in the traditional way.
• Gupta period became particularly famous due to the work of Kalidasa who lived in the second half of the fourth and the first half of the fifth century. He was the greatest poet of classical Sanskrit literature and wrote Abhijnanashakuntalam which is very highly regarded in world literature. 

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Under Shivaji, the offices of council of ministers were neither hereditary nor permanent.
• Statement 4 is incorrect: Sardeshmukhi was paid on those lands on which the Marathas claimed hereditary rights whereas chauth was paid to the Marathas in order to avoid the Maratha raids.
Shivaji’s Administration
• The administrative system of the Marathas was very much influenced by the administrative system of the Mughals and the Deccani states (adopted by Malik Amber of Ahmednagar and Mahmud Gawan of Bahmani Kingdom). The Maratha Kingdom was known as Swarajya or Mulk-e-Kadim.
• The king was the pivot of the government, who was assisted by a council of ministers called the Ashtapradhan.
• Under Shivaji, these offices were neither hereditary nor permanent and were also frequently transferred.
1. Peshwa - finance and general Administration
2 Sar-i-Naubat or Senapati – Military commander
3. Amatya/Majumdar – Accountant General
4. Waqenavis – Intelligence and police
5. Surnavis or Chitnis or Sachiv – General Secretary who also overlooked official correspondence
6. Sumant/Dabir – Master of ceremonies and Foreign Affairs
7. Nyayadish – Justice
8. Pandit Rao – Charities and ecclesiastical affairs
• The Marathas were famous for guerrilla warfare, along with the use of an innovative weapon, the Bagh naka.
• At the time of exigencies, peasants also functioned as part time soldiers as they used to work for eight months in the field and performed war duty in four months.
• Shivaji also built a powerful navy.
• Chauth and sardeshmukhi were two major sources of revenue
• Chauth: One fourth (1/4th of the land revenue) paid to the Marathas in order to avoid the Maratha raids.
• Sardeshmukhi was an additional levy of ten percent, that is, 1/10 of standard land revenue on those lands on which the Marathas claimed hereditary rights.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: They wanted industrialization and modernization of the economy based on Indian and not foreign capital.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: They were against British capital surplus entering India as finance capital as Surplus from the British economy when re-entered India as finance capital increased draining of India’s wealth.
Early Nationalist Critique of Colonial Economy
• The early nationalist analysts organized intellectual agitations and advocated a complete severance of India’s economic subservience to Britain and the development of an independent economy based on modern industries.
• The colonial economy policy of the nineteenth century transformed India into a supplier of foodstuffs and raw materials to the metropolis and made it a market for metropolitan manufacturers and a field for the investment of British capital.
• They popularised the term‘ economic drain’ that refers to a portion of national product of India which was not available for consumption of its peoples, but was being drained away to Britain for political reasons and India was not getting adequate economic or material returns for it.
• The drain of wealth checked and retarded capital formation in India while the same portion of wealth accelerated the growth of the British economy. The surplus from the British economy re-entered India as finance capital, further draining India of its wealth. This had an immense effect on income and employment potential within India.
• They advocated for industrialization based on Indian and not foreign capital because according to the early nationalists, foreign capital replaced and suppressed instead of augmenting and encouraging Indian capital. This suppression caused economic drain, further strengthening British hold over India.
• Many of the early nationalist critiques such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Justice Mahadeo Govind Ranade, Romesh Chandra Dutt Gopal Krishna Gokhale, G. Subramaniya Iyer belonged to the group of moderates in the Indian National Congress.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Dahsala was neither a system of ten year settlement nor a permanent one as the state retained the right of modification.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Under this system, the state’s demand was stated in cash.
Dahsala or Zabti System
• In 1580, Akbar instituted a new system called the dahsala. Under this system, the average produce of different crops as well as the average prices prevailing over the last ten (dah) years were calculated. One third of the average produce was the state share. The state demand was, however, stated in cash.
This was done by converting the state share into money on the basis of a schedule of average prices over the past ten years.
• Later, a further improvement was made. Not only were local prices taken into account, parganas having the same type of productivity were grouped into separate assessment circles. Thus, the peasant was required to pay on the basis of local productivity as well as local prices.
• There were a number of advantages of this system. As soon as the area sown by the peasant had been measured by means of the bamboos linked with iron rings, the peasants as well as the state knew what the dues were. The peasant was given remission in the land revenue if crops failed on account of drought, floods, etc. The system of measurement and the assessment based upon it is called the zabti system. Akbar introduced this system in the area from Lahore to Allahabad and in Malwa and Gujarat. The dahsala system was a further development of the zabti system.
• The dahsala was not a ten-year settlement. Nor was it a permanent one with the state retaining the right to modify it. However, with some changes, Akbar’s settlement remained the basis of the land revenue system of the Mughal Empire till the end or the seventeenth century.
• The zabti system is associated with Raja Todar Mal, and is sometimes called Todar Mal’s bandobast. Todar Mal was a brilliant revenue officer who had first served under Sher Shah.
• The peasants were allowed to choose between zabti and batai; under certain conditions. Thus, such a choice was given when the crops had been ruined. Under batai, the peasants were given the choice of paying in cash or in kind, though the state preferred cash. In case of crops such as cotton, indigo, oil seeds, sugarcane, etc., the state demand was invariably in cash. Hence, these were called cash crops.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: It was signed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on behalf of depressed classes.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: It abandoned the idea of providing separate electorates to them.
Poona Pact
• The pact was signed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes on September 24, 1932.
• It abandoned the idea of separate electorates for the depressed classes. But the seats reserved for the depressed classes were increased from 71 to 147 in provincial legislatures and to 18 per cent of the total in the Central Legislature.
• Impact of the Pact:
1. The Pact made the depressed classes political tools which could be used by the majoritarian caste Hindu organisations.
2. It made the depressed classes leaderless as the true representatives of the classes were unable to win against the stooges who were chosen and supported by the caste Hindu organisations.
3. This led to the depressed classes to submit to the status quo in political, ideological and cultural fields and not being able to develop independent and genuine leadership to fight the Brahminical order.
4. It subordinated the depressed classes into being part of the Hindu social order by denying them a separate and distinct existence.
• By denying to recognise the Dalits as a separate and distinct element in the national life, it pre-empted the rights and safeguards for the Dalits in the Constitution of independent India.
• The Pact perhaps put obstructions in the way of an ideal society based on equality, liberty, fraternity and justice. Hence, it did not fulfilled its aim of liberating them from social order.

• Option (a) is correct: Mahatma Gandhi Called Subhash Chandra Bose ‘Prince among the Patriots’
Subhash Chandra Bose
• Subhash Chandra Bose had always shown a militant streak and reacted violently to any insult of Indians by the Europeans. He passed the Indian Civil Services examination securing fourth position but resigned from the service in 1921 to join the struggle for freedom by becoming a member of the Congress. His political guru was Chittaranjan Das. He became mayor of Calcutta in 1923.
• Bose left Congress after he could not follow Gandhi’s ways.
• Bose was arrested in July when he protested and tried to launch a Satyagraha against a proposed monument for Holwell in Calcutta. He was released from prison and placed under house arrest in December 1940 after a hunger strike. In January 1941, it was reported that Bose had escaped. On January 26, 1941, he reached Peshawar under the pseudo-name Ziyauddin, helped by Bhagat Ram.
• He was reported to have approached Russia for help in the Indian struggle for freedom from Britain. But, in June 1941, Russia joined the Allies in the war, which disappointed Bose. He then went to Germany.
• Bose met Hitler under the pseudo name, Orlando Mazzotta. With the help of Hitler, the ‘Freedom Army’ (Mukti Sena) was formed which consisted of all the prisoners of war of Indian origin captured by Germany and Italy. Dresden, Germany was made the office of the Freedom Army. Bose came to be called ‘Netaji’ by the people of Germany. He gave the famous slogan, ‘Jai Hind’ from the Free India Centre, Germany.
• In early 1943, he left Germany and travelled by German and later by Japanese submarines to reach Japan and then Singapore in July of the same year. In July 1943, he got control of the Indian Independence League and the INA.
• In 1942, Gandhi called Bose the “Prince among the Patriots”. When the death of Bose was reported, Gandhi said that Netaji’s “patriotism is second to none. His bravery shines through all his actions. He aimed high and failed. But who has not failed.” On another occasion Gandhi said, “Netaji will remain immortal for all time to come for his service to India.”

• Option (d) is correct
Inscriptions
• One of the most important reliable sources of history writing is inscription. An inscription, being a contemporary document, is free from later interpolations. It comes in the form it was composed in and engraved for the first time. It is almost impossible to add something to it at a later stage.
• The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy.
• Ashokan inscriptions are considered to be the earliest. These are found written in four scripts.
• In his empire in Afghanistan he used Aramaic and Greek scripts for his edicts.
• In the Pakistan region Kharoshthi script was used.
• The Brahmi script was used for the rest of his empire from Kalsi in the north in Uttaranchal upto Mysore in the south.
• The inscriptions of Ashoka are a class in itself. These were recorded in different years of his reign and are called edicts because they are in the form of the king’s order or desire. They also give a glimpse of Ashoka’s image and personality as a benevolent king concerned with the welfare of not only his subjects but also of the whole humanity.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Later Vedic Age Economy was mainly based on Iron.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Agriculture was performed to full potential due to availability of plough.
Later Vedic Age Economy
• The main factor in the expansion of the Aryan culture during the Later Vedic period was the beginning of the use of iron. It was introduced around 1000 BCE and is mentioned as Krishna Ayas/ Shyama Ayas.
• Agriculture emerged as the chief means of livelihood of the Later Vedic people. The forests were cleared by burning the trees. The ruler Videha Madhava burned the forests between river Saraswati to river Sedanira or Gandak. Cultivation was done by the plough.
• The land was communally owned over which the ‘vish’ (clan) had many participatory rights, but it was recognised as property and the head of the household who owned the land was termed as ‘Grahpati’.
• With the beginning of food production, agricultural produce began to be offered in the rituals. The items of dana and dakshina included cooked rice. Tila, from which the first widely used vegetable food-oil was derived increasingly, came to be used in rituals.
• Diverse arts and crafts were practiced in the Later Vedic period. Tin, lead, silver, Iron, gold, bronze, and copper were known to Later Vedic people.
• There were smiths and smelters as a lot of copper objects have been found at PGW Sites. People had obtained knowledge of glass manufacturing too.
• Exchange was still via barter, but Niskha was used as a convenient unit of value although not as a typical currency.
• Wagons drawn by oxen were probably the most used mode of transport.
• The Later Vedic people were acquainted with four types of pottery:
1. Painted Grey Ware
2. Black and Red Ware
3. Black-slipped Ware
4. Red Ware
• Unlike the Rig Vedic age where only voluntary offerings were taken and per se no revenue collection was done, in the Later Vedic age, collection of taxes and tributes was made mandatory and were done by Sangrihitri.

• Both statements are correct
Tipu Sultan
• Tipu Sultan was born in November 1750 to Haidar Ali and Fatima. A well-educated man, he could freely converse in Arabic, Persian, Kanada, and Urdu.
• Tipu was a great warrior (he was known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’) and gave maximum care to the raising and maintenance of an efficient military force. He organized his army on the European model with Persian words of command.
• Tipu was a patron of science and technology. He is credited as the ‘pioneer of rocket technology’ in India. He wrote a military manual explaining the operation of rockets. He was also a pioneer in introducing sericulture to the Mysore State.
• Tipu was a great lover of democracy and a great diplomat. He gave his support to the French soldiers at Seringapatam in setting up a Jacobin Club in 1797. Tipu himself became a member of the Jacobin Club and allowed himself to be called Citizen Tipu. He planted the Tree of Liberty at Seringapatam.
• He is also credited with beginning capitalist development at a time when feudalism was prevalent.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Balban is known to have been deeply racist and excluded non-Turks from administration.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: He followed the policy of “Blood and Iron” to gain control in the region.
Reign of Balban
• Balban ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate in 1265.
• He administered justice with extreme impartiality but was deeply racist and excluded non-Turks from administration. He stood forth as the champion of the Turkish nobility.
• Indian Muslims were not given important posts in the government. He appointed spies to monitor the activities of the nobles.
• Balban maintained a magnificent court and also introduced the Persian festival of Nauroz.
• During his reign, the law and order situation in the area around Delhi and in the doab had deteriorated.
• In the Ganga-Jamuna doab and Awadh, the roads were infested with robbers and dacoits, so much so that communication with the eastern areas had become difficult.
• He followed the policy of “Blood and Iron” to ouster the Rajput zamindars who had set up forts in the area by defying the government and the Mewatis who had become so bold as to plunder people up to the outskirts of the city.
• These were ruthlessly hurled down and killed, the forests around Delhi cut down, and many military outposts (thanas) were established there.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: Shyam Krishna Verma brought out a monthly journal ‘Indian Sociologist’ in 1905.
Indian Independence Committee
• The Berlin Committee for Indian Independence was established in 1915 by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta, Lala Hardayal and foreign office under ‘Zimmerman Plan’.
• These revolutionaries asked the Indian settlers abroad to send volunteers and arms to India to incite rebellion among Indian troops there and to even organize an armed invasion of British India to liberate the country.
• In 1915, Har Dayal and Barkatullah became actively involved in the Berlin Committee and its goals.
• The committee is known to have sent missions to the Middle Eastern cities of Istanbul and Baghdad, and Kabul, Afghanistan.
India Home Rule Society 
• Shyam Krishna Verma, with support from Bhikaji Cama, Dadabhai Naoroji and S.R. Rana, founded an India Home Rule Society in London. He also brought out a monthly journal ‘Indian Sociologist’ in 1905.
• He had formed the India House in England in 1905. It was to serve as a hostel, providing lodging and boarding assistance to Indian students coming to London and offering scholarships to the needy. Soon ‘India House’ in London became an important centre for the Indian nationalist students and political workers in Britain.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Pakistan Resolution (1940) was held in Lahore.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The Resolution called for grouping of Muslim majority state; North-West and East region into independent states.
Pakistan Resolution (1940):
•  Muhammad Ali Jinnah called for the 27th annual session of All India Muslim League which was held from March 22 to 24, 1940 at Lahore. It was in this session the Pakistan Resolution was passed.
• This resolution called for “grouping of geographically contiguous areas where Muslims are in majority (North-West and East) into independent states in which constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign and adequate safeguards to Muslims where they are in minority”.
• With the passage of this Resolution, the Muslims changed their demand from “Separate Electorates” to a “Separate State.”  This Resolution rejected the idea of a United India and the creation of an independent Muslim state was set as their ultimate goal.

Literary Sources
• The works of Kalidasa comprise kavyas and dramas, the most famous of which is Abhijnanashakuntalam. Besides being great creative compositions, they provide us with glimpses of the social and cultural life of the Guptas.
• Kalidasa’s Malavikagnimitram is based on some events of the reign of Pusyamitra Sunga, a dynasty which followed the Mauryas.
• Mudrarakshasha, a play written by Vishakhadatta, also gives a glimpse of society and culture.
• Banabhatta’s Harshacharita throws light on many historical facts about which we could not have known otherwise.
• Bilhana’s Vikramankadevacharita describes the victories of the later Chalukya king Vikramaditya.
•  Rajatarangini by Kalhana is the best illustration of history writing appreciated by modern historians. His critical method of historical research and impartial treatment of the historical facts have earned him a great respect among the modern historians.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: This committee was set up by Subhash Chandra Bose.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Jawaharlal Nehru was made head of the National Planning Committee.
National Planning Committee
• This committee was set up by Subhash Chandra Bose and chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Rudimentary economic planning, deriving from the sovereign authority of the state, was first initiated in India in 1938 by Congress President and Indian National Army supreme leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had been persuaded by Meghnad Saha to set up a National Planning Committee.
• 1938 was the year that witnessed the first attempt to develop a national plan for India when National Planning Committee was set up.
• M. Visvesvaraya had been elected head of the Planning Committee. Meghnad Saha approached him and requested that he step down, putting forward the argument that planning needed a reciprocity between science and politics. M. Visvesvaraya generously agreed and Jawaharlal Nehru was made head of the National Planning Committee. The so-called “British Raj” also formally established the Advisory Planning Board under K. C. Neogy that functioned from 1944 to 1946.

• Option (a) is correct:

Suppression of Revolt of 1857
• The British captured Delhi on September 20, 1857, after prolonged and bitter fighting. John Nicholson, the leader of the siege, was badly wounded and later succumbed to his injuries.
Bahadur Shah was taken, prisoner. The royal princes were captured and butchered on the spot, publicly shot at point-blank range by Lieutenant Hudson himself. The emperor was exiled to Rangoon where he died in 1862.
• With the fall of Delhi, the focal point of the revolt disappeared.
• Military operations for the recapture of Kanpur were closely associated with the recovery of Lucknow. Sir Colin Campbell occupied Kanpur on December 6, 1857.
Nana Saheb, defeated at Kanpur, escaped to Nepal in early 1859, never to be heard of again. His close associate Tantia Tope escaped into the jungles of central India but was captured while asleep in April 1859 and put to death.
• The Rani of Jhansi had died on the battlefield earlier in June 1858. Jhansi was recaptured by Sir Hugh Rose.
• By 1859, Kunwar Singh, Bakht Khan, Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Rao Sahib (brother of Nana Saheb) and Maulvi Ahmadullah were all dead, while the Begum of Awadh was compelled to hide in Nepal.
• At Benaras, a rebellion had been organized which was mercilessly suppressed by Colonel Neill, who put to death all suspected rebels and even disorderly sepoys.
• By the end of 1859, British authority over India was fully re-established.

• All statements are correct
Cultural Contribution of Deccan States
• The Deccan states had a number of cultural contributions to their credit. Ali Adil Shah (d. 1580) loved to hold discussions with Hindu and Muslim saints and was called a Sufi. He invited Catholic missionaries to his court, even before Akbar had done so. He had an excellent Library to which he appointed the well-known Sanskrit scholar, Waman Pandit.
• The successor of Ali Adil Shah, Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580-1627) was deeply interested in music, and composed a book called Kitabi-Nauras in which songs were set to various musical modes or ragas. He built a new capital, Nauraspur, in which a large number of musicians were invited to settle.
• Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah, a contemporary of Akbar, was very fond of literature and architecture. He wrote in Dakhani Urdu, Persian and Telugu and has left an extensive diwan or collection. He was the first to introduce a secular note in poetry. Apart from the praise of God and the Prophet, he wrote about nature, love, and the social life of his day.
• In the field of architecture, Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah constructed many buildings, the most famous of which is the Char Minar. Completed in 1591-92, it stood at the centre of the new city of Hyderabad founded by Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah. It has four lofty arches, facing the four directions. Its chief beauty is the four minarets which are four storied and are 48 metre high. The double screen of arches has fine carvings.
•  The rulers of Bijapur consistently maintained a high standard and an impeccable taste in architecture. The most famous Bijapur buildings of the period are the Ibrahim Rauza and the Gal Gumbaz.
• The former was a mausoleum for Ibrahim Adil Shah and shows the style at its best. The Gol Gumbaz which was built in 1660 has the largest single dome ever constructed. All its proportions are harmonious, the large dome being balanced by tall, tapering minarets at the corner. It is said that a whisper at one side of the huge main room can be heard clearly at the other end.

• Option (b) is correct: Nehru launched Muslim Mass Contact Programme in order to encourage Muslims to join Congress.
Muslim Mass Contact Programme
• In the 1937 elections, the Muslim League performance was rather dismissal. The Muslim League headed by Jinnah was unable to secure a majority in any of the four Muslim-majority provinces (Bengal, the Punjab, Sind and the NWFP).
• The Congress won absolute majority in the Legislative Assemblies in five provinces: Madras, Central Provinces, United Provinces, Bihar and Orissa. This success of Congress led Nehru to announce that there were only two political parties in Indian scene, the Raj and the Congress. Furthermore, he refused to form a Coalition Government with the League in any of the Muslim-minority provinces. Nehru then launched a Muslim Mass Contact Programme in order to encourage Muslims of join Congress.
•  Nehru set up separate department to run the Muslim Mass Contact Program (MMCP) at Anand Bhavan in Allahabad under his communist lieutenant Kunwar Mohammed Ashraf. He was a Meo from Alwar, a community famous for being neither fully Muslim nor Hindu, borrowing from the traditions and practices of both these religious communities.

• Both statements are correct
The Kisan Sabha Movement
• After the 1857 revolt, the Awadh taluqdars had got back their lands. This strengthened the hold of the taluqdars or big landlords over the agrarian society of the province.
• The majority of the cultivators were subjected to high rents, summary evictions (bedakhali), illegal levies, renewal fees or nazrana.
• The First World War had hiked the prices of food and other necessities. This worsened the conditions of the UP peasants.
• Mainly due to the efforts of the Home Rule activists, kisan sabhas were organised in UP. The United Provinces Kisan Sabha was set up in February 1918 by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi. Madan Mohan Malaviya supported their efforts. By June 1919, the UP Kisan Sabha had 450 branches.
• Other prominent leaders included Jhinguri Singh, Durgapal Singh and Baba Ramchandra. In June 1920, Baba Ramchandra urged Nehru to visit these villages. During these visits, Nehru developed close contacts with the villagers.
• In October 1920, the Awadh Kisan Sabha came into existence because of differences in nationalist ranks.
• The Awadh Kisan Sabha asked the kisans to refuse to till bedakhali land, not to offer hari and begar (forms of unpaid labour), to boycott those who did not accept these conditions and to solve their disputes through panchayats.
• From the earlier forms of mass meetings and mobilization, the patterns of activity changed rapidly in January 1921 to the looting of bazaars, houses, granaries, and clashes with the police.
• The centres of activity were primarily the districts of Rai Bareilly, Faizabad and Sultanpur.The movement declined soon, partly due to government repression and partly because of the passing of the Awadh Rent (Amendment) Act.