JPSC Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 1 - JPSC (Jharkhand) MCQ

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

Statement 1 is correct as TTD announced plans for the temple in Jharkhand. Statement 2 is incorrect; the land allocation is actually 100 acres, not 200.

Both statements are correct; the tableau highlighted the skill of tribal women in tasar silk production, and Jharkhand indeed produces 70% of the country's tasar silk.

Both statements are correct; Jamshedpur has topped cleanliness rankings since 2019 and ranked 43rd among cities with a population of 1-10 lakh in 2023.

Both statements are correct; PM-JANMAN focuses on the welfare of PVTGs and involves funding for pucca homes under PMAY-G.

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

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

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

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

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

• Tuzuk-i--Baburi gives an account of the casting of cannons. The melted metal was made to run into the mould till full and then cooled down. Besides explosives, other items were also produced.

• Ain-i-Akbari speaks of the ‘Regulations of the Perfume Office of Akbar’.

• The ittar of roses was a popular perfume, the discovery of which is attributed to the mother of Nurjehan. Mention may also be made here of the glazed tiles and pottery during the period.

In the Deccan and Central India, the Satavahanas succeeded the Mauryas after a gap of 100 years. After the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire, Indo-Greeks occupied large part of North- West Indi. They were followed by the Shakas, who controlled much larger part of India than the Indo-Greeks did. Both the Satavahanas and the Shakas were contemporaries. Moreover, Shakas were the greatest competitors of the Satavahanas.

In the Deccan and Central India, the Satavahanas established their independent rule after the decline of the Mauryas. They were also known as the Andhras. The Puranas and inscriptions remain important sources for the history of Satavahanas. Among the inscriptions, the Nasik and Nanaghad inscriptions throw much light on the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni. The coins issued by the Satavahanas are also helpful in knowing the economic conditions of that period. They issued mostly coins of lead. They made land grants to the Brahmanas and the Buddhist monks.

After the decline of the Mauryan Empire in the second century B.C., various rulers controlled the regions which were once under the Mauryas, like the Shungas, Kanvas, Kushanas and Guptas in the north and central India; and the Satavahanas, Abhiras, Ikshvakus and Vakatakas in the south and western India. During this time 3 different schools of sculpture developed in 3 different regions of India.

• The Gandhara School of Art: It developed in the North-West Frontier of India, in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. It is influenced by Buddhism only and has a lot of Greek influence. Thus, it is also called the Greco - Indian School of Art or Hellenistic Sculpture. In this style, the image of Buddha is composed of blueish grey sandstone and is seen in spiritual state with eyes half closed and seated in a yogic posture. His hair is wavy.

• The Mathura School of Art: It developed on the banks of the river Yamuna, in Mathura and nearby areas. It is influenced by three religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, and had been indigenously developed. In this style, the image of Buddha is composed of spotted red sandstone. The image of Buddha is in a delighted mood, with a smiling face and is seated gracefully in padmasana. His body has a muscular frame.

• The Amravati School of Art: It developed in South India, in the Krishna-Godavari area, and Amravati and Nagarjunkonda. It is influenced by Buddhism only and had been indigenously developed. It was composed of white marble and is a part of a narrative art and, thus, there is less emphasis on the individual features of Buddha. It depicts the life stories of Buddha and the Jataka tales.

• Headless statue of Kanishka has been found in Mathura.

• The institution of Iqta had been in force in the early Islamic world, as a form of reward for services to the state. In the Caliphate administration, it was used to pay civil and military officers. After the establishment of the Sultanate, the Iqta system was introduced by the Sultans. To begin with, the army commanders and nobles were given territories to administer and collect the revenue. The territories thus assigned were called Iqtas and their holders as Iqtadar or Muqti. In essence, this was a system of payment to the officers and maintenance of army by them. Gradually, rules and regulations were laid down to organize the whole system. Through the years it became the main instrument of administrating the Sultanate.

• Further, the Sultans could get a large share of the surplus production from different parts of the vast territories through this system. From the 14th century, we hear of Walis or Muqtis, who are commanders of military and administrative tracts called Iqta. Their exact powers varied according to the circumstances. In due course, the Muqti was given complete charge of the administration of the Iqta, which included the task of maintaining an army.

• The Muqti was to help the Sultan with his army in case of need. He was expected to maintain the army and meet his own expenses with the revenue collected. From the time of Balban, the Muqti was expected to send the balance (Fawazil) of the income to the centre, after meeting his and the army’s expenses. This means that the central revenue department had made an assessment of the expected income of the Iqta, the cost of the maintenance of the army and the Muqti’s own expenses. This process became even more strict during the time of Alauddhin Khalji. As the central control grew, the control over Muqti’s administration also increased.

• The Khwaja (probably same as Sahib-i-Diwan) was appointed to keep a record of the income of the Iqtas. It was on the basis of this record that the Sultan used to make his revenue demands. A Barid or intelligence officer was also appointed to keep the Sultan informed. During the reign of Muhammad-bin-Thughlaq, a number of governors were appointed on revenue sharing terms where they were to give a fixed sum to the state. During the time of Feroze Shah Tughlaq, the control of the state over Iqtas was diluted, when Iqtas became hereditary.

Ibn Battutah, a resident of Tangier in North Africa, visited India in the fourteenth century and lived at the court of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq for eight years. He travelled widely all over India and has left a very interesting account of the products of the country, including fruits, flowers, herbs, etc., the condition of the roads, and the life of the people. Ibn Battutah says that the soil was so fertile, that it could produce two crops every year, rice being sown three times a year. Sesame, indigo and cotton were also grown. Ibn Battutah calls Delhi the largest city in the eastern part of the Islamic world. He says that Daulatabad (Deogir) equalled Delhi in size—an index of the growth of trade between the north and the south. Some of the new crafts introduced by the Turks (Delhi Sultanate) included the manufacturer of paper. It is to be noted that Sher Shah Suri and Lodhi dynasty were Afghans. The art of manufacturing paper had been discovered by the Chinese in the second century. It was known in the Arab world in the eighth century and travelled to Europe only during the fourteenth century.

• The Mamandur inscription and the Kudumianmalai inscription belong to the Pallava dynasty.

• The Mamandur inscription contains a note on the notation of vocal music. The Kudumianmalai inscription refers to musical notes and instruments. Elephanta is an island near Mumbai. It was originally called Sripuri. The Portuguese, after seeing the large figure of an elephant, named it Elephanta. The sculptural art of the Rashtrakutas reached its zenith in this place. There is a close similarity between the sculptures at Ellora and those in Elephanta.

• The Chalukya temples can be divided into two stages. Under that, the second stage is represented by the temples at Pattadakal. There are ten temples here, four in the northern style and the remaining six in the Dravidian style. The Sangamesvara temple and the Virupaksha temple are famous for their Dravidian style. The Virupaksha temple is built on the model of the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram. It was built by one of the queens of Vikramaditya II. Sculptors brought from Kanchi were employed in its construction.

• Pherozshah Mehta - was a Parsi politician and lawyer from Bombay. He was knighted by the British Government in India for his service to the law. He was one of the founding members and President of the Indian National Congress in 1890. He started The Bombay Chronicle, an English-language weekly newspaper

• Dadabhai Naroji - also known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and "Unofficial Ambassador of India" was a British Parsi scholar, trader and politician who was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons and the first Indian to be a British MP. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

• A O Hume - was a member of the Imperial Civil Service, a political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress.

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale - was a political leader and social reformer. He was a senior leader of the INC and the founder of the Servants of India Society. He belonged to the moderate faction of INC. Gokhale's mentor was Justice M.G. Ranade, who started the Sarvajanik Sabha Journal. Gokhale was the mentor to Mahatma Gandhi and he was the one who suggested Gandhi to tour India after his return in 1915.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: During the Great War of 1914-18, the British had instituted censorship of the press and permitted detention without trial. Now, on the recommendation of a committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, these tough measures were continued. In response, Gandhiji called for a countrywide campaign against the “Rowlatt Act”.

• Statement 2 is correct: In towns across North and West India, life came to a standstill, as shops shut down and schools closed in response to the bandh call. The protests were particularly intense in the Punjab, where many men had served on the British side in the War – expecting to be rewarded for their service. Instead they were given the Rowlatt Act. Gandhiji was detained while proceeding to the Punjab, even as prominent local Congressmen were arrested. It was the Rowlatt satyagraha that made Mahatma Gandhi a truly national leader. Emboldened by its success, Gandhiji called for a campaign of “non-cooperation” with British rule.

Chundrigar, Asaf Ali, C H Bhabha, Jagjivan Ram, Ghasanfar Ali Khan, Rajendra Prasad, Abdur Nishar. Somnath Lahiri was a communist who criticised the Interim Government due to British involvement in it.

• Statement 1 is correct: Mahatma Gandhi focused on social reform works when he was not in politics. A very good example is, when Congress declared Purna Swaraj in Lahore session (1930), and hoisted the National flag, Gandhiji wanted that the declaration of Purna Swaraj be made by whole villages and towns, and the rest of the day be spent in service of untouchables. Also, during Dandi March he said to the upper castes that if they want Swaraj, they need to correct the wrongs done by them on untouchables. Hence, he used the National movement to bring social transformation.

• Statement 2 is correct: Mahatma Gandhi was profoundly critical of the modern age in which machines enslaved humans and displaced labour. He saw the charkha as a symbol of a human society that would not glorify machines and technology

• Statement 1 is correct: The Khilafat Movement, (1919-1920) was a movement of Indian Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali that demanded the following:

• Statement 2 is incorrect: The Turkish Sultan or Khalifa must retain control over the Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire; the jazirat-ul-Arab (Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Palestine) must remain under Muslim sovereignty; and the Khalifa must be left with sufficient territory to enable him to defend the Islamic faith.

• Statement 3 is also correct: The Congress supported the movement and Mahatma Gandhi sought to conjoin it to the Non-cooperation Movement.

• Africa, the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

• It is the only continent through which all the three important latitudes pass, the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The tropic of Cancer passes through Egypt, Libya, Niger, Algeria, Mali, Western Sahara, Mauritania. Hence option (d) is not correct.

• Africa is also the only continent through which both the Equator and the Prime Meridian pass.

• The enormous Sahara Desert spans 11 countries: Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia. Hence option (b) is not correct.

• Only four African countries namely, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti share border with the Red Sea. Hence option (a) is not correct.

• In addition to Egypt, the Nile runs through or along the border of 10 other African countries, namely, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.