CGPSE Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 5 - CGPSC (Chhattisgarh) MCQ

The Aranyakas are called forest books and they deal with mysticism, rites, rituals and sacrifices.

The Eurasian Whimbrel was spotted in Chhattisgarh primarily because of the presence of wetlands in the Berla area of Bemetara district. These wetlands provide a crucial stopover habitat for the migratory bird, which travels long distances between breeding and wintering grounds. This highlights the importance of maintaining and restoring wetland ecosystems for the survival of migratory species.

The Chhattisgarh government has mandated the generation of e-way bills for all intra-state goods movement valued over Rs. 50,000. This policy aims to improve compliance and reduce fraudulent activities by requiring digital documentation for the movement of goods, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the GST system.

Security forces killed seven Maoists in an encounter on the inter-district border of Narayanpur and Bijapur. This operation involved significant personnel and was part of ongoing efforts to combat Naxalite insurgency in the region, which has been a long-standing challenge for law enforcement.

The Niyad Nellanar scheme aims to provide essential amenities and benefits to villages located within 5 kilometers of security camps in the Bastar region. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to foster development and improve living conditions in areas affected by Naxalite violence, promoting a sense of security and community well-being.

The first-ever Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League (CCPL) T20 tournament is being organized. This event aims to promote cricket in the state and provide a platform for local talent to showcase their skills, thus contributing to the growth of sports in Chhattisgarh.

Lithium deposits were discovered in the Katghora tehsil of Korba district, indicating significant potential for lithium mining in Chhattisgarh. This discovery is crucial given the rising global demand for lithium, particularly for use in rechargeable batteries and electric vehicles, positioning India to capitalize on this resource.

The Eurasian Whimbrel is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List. This status indicates that, while the species faces some threats, it is currently not considered at significant risk of extinction. Conservation efforts are still important to ensure its habitats remain protected.

Naxalism refers to a rebellion that originated in the village of Naxalbari, West Bengal, against feudal landlords. It began in 1967 with the aim of land redistribution to working peasants, and since then, it has evolved into a broader Maoist insurgency primarily in less developed regions of India, including states like Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has been appointed as the brand ambassador for the Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League (CCPL). His involvement is expected to enhance the league's visibility and inspire young cricketers in the region.

The primary purpose of the e-way bill system is to track the movement of goods and prevent fraudulent activities associated with tax evasion. By requiring digital documentation for goods valued above Rs. 50,000, it enhances compliance and ensures a more transparent supply chain.

The Eurasian Whimbrel primarily winters along coastlines, coastal wetlands, mangroves, marshes, and larger rivers. This diverse habitat provides the necessary resources for feeding and breeding, essential for their survival during the winter months.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the organization responsible for managing football in India. It oversees the national team, domestic leagues, and various competitions, playing a crucial role in the development of the sport in the country.

Option d is correct: The national motto of India, Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the Emblem of India is taken from Mundaka Upanishad. This motto means Truth Alone Triumphs". It is written in Devanagari script.

• Statement 1 is correct: Mauryan Empire maintained large standing army of Cavalry, Army, elephants, chariots, navy and transport.

• Statement 2 is correct: Administration of important cities were carried out by six boards, each consist of 5 members.

• Statement 3 is correct: Administration of army was carried by a board of 30 members divided into 6, each having 5 members- Army, Navy, Elephant, cavalry, chariots and transport.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Harappan seals are not the only items where we find Harappan writing. Harappan writing has been found on the variety of objects such as seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewellery, bone rods, even an ancient signboard. Harappan seals usually have a line of writing, probably containing the name and title of the owner. Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.

• Statement 2 is correct: Although the Harappan script remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical (where each sign stands for a vowel or a consonant) as it has just too many signs – somewhere between 375 and 400. It is apparent that the script was written from right to left as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space.

Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and Yogis

• They advocated renunciation of the world. Hence, option (a) is correct.
• To them the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality and the realisation of oneness with it.
• To achieve this they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation.
• These groups became particularly popular among “low” castes.
• Their criticism of conventional religion created the ground for devotional religion to become a popular force in northern India.

• Although a substantial number of non-producing people concentrated in the cities, the age of the Shakas, Kushans, Satavahanas (200 BC-AD 250), and the first Tamil states was the most flourishing period in the history of crafts and commerce in ancient India. Arts and crafts in particular witnessed remarkable growth.
  • We do not hear of so many kinds of artisans in the earlier texts as are mentioned in the writings of the period. The Digha Nikaya, which relates to pre-Maurya times, mentions nearly two dozen occupations, but the Mahavastu, which relates to this period, catalogs thirty-six kinds of workers living in the town of Rajgir, and the list is not exhaustive.
  • The Milinda Panho or the Questions of Milinda enumerates as many as seventy-five occupations, sixty of which are connected with various crafts. A Tamil text known in English as The Garland of Madurai supplements the information supplied by the two Buddhist texts on crafts and craftsmen.
• This text does not distinguish between craftsmen and shopkeepers.
• Types of Merchants: The Buddhist texts mention the sresthi, who was the chief merchant of the nigama, and the sarthavaha, the caravan leader who was the head of the corporation of merchants (vanijgramo). It also speaks of nearly half a dozen petty merchants called vanija.
• To them we can add perfumers or all-purpose merchants called gandhika. Various types of oilmen, some of them dealing in perfumed oils, are covered by the term. The term vyavahari, that is, one who transacts business, is also used, but the term vyapari or trader seems to be missing.
• The term agrivanija seems to be obscure, but these merchants may have been the predecessors of the agrawalas if we allow for some linguistic change. Whatever may be the meaning of this term, there were certainly wholesale merchants who conducted both internal and external trade. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

The fortified Tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi from 1320 to 1325, stands in the vicinity of the massive Tughlaqabad Fort in southern Delhi. The massive sandstone and marble tomb stands in the middle of a pentagonal fortified complex complete with bastions and battlements. In appearance, it resembles a fort more than a burial complex. The tomb was commissioned by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq himself, unbeknownst to the unfortunate death that awaited him. Tughlaq faced a sudden death on his way back to Delhi after the annexation of Bengal in 1325. He attended a reception given by his eldest son, Muhammad bin Tughlaq in Afghanpur (present- day Bihar) when the stage collapsed, killing the ruler and his second son. The tomb is built in the typical Tughlaq-style of architecture. The single-domed tomb has a square base with slanting walls made of sandstone. The massive white marble dome rests on an octagonal drum and is crowned with a unique lotus finial. Though free of any ornamentation, the white marble inlay on the red sandstone makes for a striking feature. So, Option (d) is correct.

• The administrative structure of the Mauryan Empire involved a division of the empire into provinces, each under the direct governance of a prince (kumara) or a member of the royal family. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The inscriptions suggest four such provinces – a southern one with its center at Survarnagiri, a northern province with a capital at Taxila, a western one with its capital at Ujjayini, and an eastern one with its capital at Tosali. Ashokan inscriptions also referred to these governors as kumara, suggesting a continuation of the tradition of appointing royal princes to these important posts.
• Senior officers called pradeshikas were tasked with touring the empire every five years and performing an audit as well as keeping a check on the provincial administration. In addition, there were judicial officers, rajukas, in both urban and rural areas, whose judicial functions often combined with the assessment of revenue. A well-organized administration was needed for a variety of tasks such as surplus production, extraction of surplus, distribution or expenditure, a strong army to conquer areas, tax collection from traders and agriculturalists, etc.
• The Arthashastra and even Ashokan edicts mention a Mantri Parishad (council of ministers). It is mentioned in the Arthashastra that the state cannot function without the assistance of ministers. Yet the Council had to report its opinion to the king immediately. The primary role of the Council was advisory in nature. The king’s decision was final in all respects. Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• As per Megasthanese's Indica, there are numerous references to different committees in the district councils. Panyadhyaksha was responsible to look after trade and commerce and inspect weights and measures. The collection of taxes was the responsibility of Sulkahyaksha and the registration of births and deaths was the work of Gopa. The head of the urban administration was called Nagarika. He was assisted by two subordinate officials-Gopa and Sthanika. Other officials are also mentioned such as Bandhanagaradhyaksha (looked after the jail); Rakshi (i.e. the police; looked after the security of the people); Lohadhyaksha, Sauvarnika (officials who looked after goods that were manufactured in the centers). Hence statement 2 is not correct.

The Viharas found in western India were found to be dug out in hills.

Enrich Your Learning: Viharas The monasteries build as a permanent shelter for monks (they used to travel for teachings) were known as Viharas. Many supporters of the monks and nuns, and monk themselves felt the need for more permanent shelters and so monasteries were built. The earliest Viharas were made of wood, and then of brick. Some of the Viharas were even in caves that were dug out in hills, especially in western India. The land on which the vihara was built was donated by a rich merchant or a landowner, or the king. The local people came with gifts of food, clothing and medicines for the monks and nuns. In return, they taught the people.

Example: Cave in Karle present in Maharashtra.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The rules made for the Buddhist sangha were written down in a book called 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.

Statement 2 is correct. The Puranas contain stories about gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Durga or Parvati. They also contain details on how they were to be worshipped. Besides, there are accounts about the creation of the world, and about kings. The Puranas were written in simple Sanskrit verse, and were meant to be heard by everybody, including women and shudras, who were not allowed to study the Vedas.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Most Upanishadic thinkers were men, especially brahmins and raja. But there is mention of women thinkers, such as Gargi, who was famous for her learning, and participated in debates held in royal courts.

The political consequences of foreign capital investments were equally harmful as they caused political subjugation and created vested interests which sought security for investors, thus perpetuating the foreign rule. Statement 2 is incorrect. The drain theory was put forward by Dadabhai Naoroji in his book Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India. Statement 3 is correct. The drain took the form of an excess of exports over imports for which India got no economic or material return.

They pointed out that the pattern of foreign trade was unfavourable to India. It relegated India to a position of importer of finished goods and exporter of raw materials and foodstuffs. According to the nationalist calculations, this drain amounts to one-half of government revenues, more than the entire land revenue collection and over one-third of India’s total savings.

• Statement 1 is correct: There was a separation of revenue and justice administration. As a part of the Cornwallis Code the collector was now responsible only for the revenue administration with no magisterial functions. The Zamindars were also relieved of their police duties.

• Statement 2 is correct: The principle of sovereignty of law was established and European subjects were also brought under jurisdiction.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: Government officials were made answerable to the civil courts for actions done in their official capacity.

• In the middle of the seventeenth century, the English began to emerge as a big colonial power. The Anglo-Dutch rivalry lasted for about seven decades during which period the Dutch lost their settlements to the British one by one.

• The English were also at this time rising to prominence in the Eastern trade, and this posed a serious challenge to the commercial interests of the Dutch. A commercial rivalry soon turned into bloody warfare. After prolonged warfare, both the parties came to a compromise in 1667 by which the British agreed to withdraw all their claims on Indonesia, and the Dutch retired from India to concentrate on their more profitable trade in Indonesia. They monopolized the trade in black pepper and spices. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• In the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-74), communications between Surat and the new English settlement of Bombay got cut due to which three homebound English ships were captured in the Bay of Bengal by the Dutch forces. The retaliation by the English resulted in the defeat of the Dutch. The Battle of Chinsurah (also known as the Battle of Hooghly) took place near Chinsurah, India on 25 November 1759), which dealt a crushing blow to Dutch ambitions in India. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Leader (October 24, 1909 – September 6, 1967) was one of India's most influential English-language newspapers during British Raj. Founded by Madan Mohan Malviya, the paper was published in Allahabad.
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, also known as Mahamana, was from Allahabad and a moderate nationalist who served as President of INC for three terms and founded Banaras Hindu University in 1916. So, Pair 1 is correct.
• The Free Hindustan is described as "An Organ of Freedom, and Political, Social and Religious Reform," The Free Hindustan was published in April 1908 by Tarakanath Das. Tarankanath Das traveled to Japan in 1905 and lived in exile there for a year under the name of Tarak Brahmachari. He traveled to San Francisco, California, to begin his journal, "Free Hindustan." and was the first leader of the Indian community in North America to start a paper. He began influencing American public opinion about the true state of India through his articles, and he promoted the cause of a free Indian republic. He helped Lala Hardayal organize the Ghadar Party Movement in the United States and founded the Indian Independence League in California. So, Pair 2 isnot correct.
• Krishna Kumar Mitra founded his Bengali journal "Sanjibani" in 1883. On July 6, 1905, it was the first
• newspaper to announce the partition of Bengal. It also highlighted the working conditions of  ssamese
• tea plantation laborers. Krishna Kumar Mitra (1852–1936) was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist, and leader of the Brahmo Samaj. He is remembered for his contributions to the Swadeshi movement through his journal Sanjibani. So, Pair 3 is correct.

• The characteristic feature of moderate nationalism was an almost obsessive invocation of Indian poverty. . For the last three decades of the nineteenth century, and into the twentieth, "poverty" was the biggest stick with which the Congress beat the British. 
• Apart from Naoroji's relentless publicizing of Indian poverty and the "drain of wealth" from India to England, there was a veritable flood of literature investigating the subject. 
• Some of the landmarks in this included 
  • Prithwis Chandra Ray's The Poverty Problem in India (1895). Hence pair 2 is correctly matched. 
  • William Digby's "Prosperous British India (1901) 
  • Romesh Chandra Dutt's England and India: A Record of Progress during a Hundred Years (1897) ✓ Romesh Chandra Dutt, a retired ICS officer, published The Economic History of India at the beginning of the 20th century in which he examined in minute detail the entire economic record of colonial rule since 1757. Hence pair 3 is not correctly matched. 
  • Subramanya Iyer's Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India (1903). Hence pair 1 is correctly matched.
• In the press and in books, in Congress speeches and resolutions, India's poverty and the "drain of wealth" were' constantly discussed and the blame was laid at Britain's door.
• Leaders like G.V. Joshi, G. Subramaniya lyer, G.K. Gokhale, Prithwis Chandra Ray and hundreds of other political workers and journalists analysed every aspect of the economy and subjected the entire range of economic issues and colonial economic policies to minute scrutiny. 
  • They raised basic questions regarding the nature and purpose of British rule. Eventually, they were able to trace the process of the colonialization of the Indian economy and conclude that colonialism was the main obstacle to India’s economic development.

• As the knowledge grew of the high profits earned by the Portuguese in Eastern trade, English traders too wanted a share. So, in 1599, a group of English merchants calling themselves the ‘Merchant Adventurers’ formed a company. On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter with rights of exclusive trading to the company named the ‘Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies’. Initially, a monopoly of 15 years was granted.
• Captain Hawkins arrived in the court of Jahangir in April 1609 itself. But the mission to establish a factory at Surat did not succeed due to opposition from the Portuguese, and Hawkins left Agra in November 1611. In 1611, the English had started trading at Masulipatnam on the south-eastern coast of India and later established a factory there in 1616.
  • It was in 1612 that Captain Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese in the sea off Surat; an impressed Jahangir granted permission to the English in early 1613 to establish a factory at Surat under Thomas Aldworth.
• In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe came as an accredited ambassador of James I to the court of Jahangir, staying on there till February 1619. Though he was unsuccessful in concluding a commercial treaty with the Mughal emperor, he was able to secure a number of privileges, including permission to set up factories at Agra, Ahmedabad, and Broach.
• In 1632, The Company got the golden Farman from the Sultan of Golconda, ensuring their trade's safety and prosperity.
• Other important events in the formative years of the company are
  • 1609 : William Hawkins arrives at Jahangir’s court.
  • 1616 : The Company establishes its first factory in the south in Masulipatnam.
  • 1639 : The Company gets the lease of Madras from a local king.
  • 1651 : The Company is given permission to trade at Hooghly (Bengal).
  • 1662 : The British King, Charles II, is given Bombay as dowry for marrying a Portuguese princess (Catherine of Braganza).
  • 1667 : Aurangzeb gives the English a Farman for trade in Bengal.
  • 1691 : The Company gets the imperial order to continue their trade in Bengal in lieu of payment of Rs 3,000 a year.
  • 1717 : The Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar issues a Farman, called the Magna Carta of the Company, giving the Company a large number of trade concessions.
  • Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

The 1930s saw the rise of fascism in Europe and the struggle against it. The nationalists saw imperialism and fascism as the organs of capitalism. They lend support to the struggle against fascism in other parts of the world, in Ethiopia, Spain, China and Czechoslovakia. In 1939, at the Tripuri Session, the Congress dissociated itself from the British policy, which supported fascism in Europe. In 1939, the Japanese attack on China was condemned by the nationalists. The Congress also sent a medical mission under Dr. Atal to China. Note: Among the resolutions at Tripuri was an interesting one relating to China: ―The Congress sends its greetings to the people of China and its deepest sympathy in their trials and privations in their struggle against ruthless and inhuman imperialism. It congratulates them on their heroic resistance.‖ ―The Congress expresses its approval of the sending of a Medical Mission on its behalf to the people of China and trusts that this Mission will continue to receive full support, so that it may carry on its work of succour effectively and be a worthy symbol of Indian solidarity with China

In August, 1935, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1935. The Act provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation to be based on the Union of the British Indian Provinces and the Princely States. The representatives of the States to the Federal Legislature were to be appointed directly by the Princes, who were to be used to check and counter the nationalists. The franchise was limited to about one-sixth of the adults. Defence and foreign affairs would remain outside the control of the Federal Legislature, while the Viceroy would retain special control over other subjects.