JPSC Prelims Paper 1 Mock Test - 7 - JPSC (Jharkhand) MCQ

All the pairs given above are correctly matched.

• There are nearly 4000 specimens of Harappan writing on stone seals and other objects. Unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the Harappans did not write long inscriptions. Most inscriptions were recorded on seals and contain only a few words. Altogether we have about 250 to 400 pictographs, and in the form of a picture each letter stands for some sound, idea, or object.
• The Harappan script is not alphabetical but largely pictographic. The use of burnt bricks in the Harappan cities is remarkable because in the contemporary buildings of Egypt dried bricks were primarily used. We find the use of baked bricks in contemporary Mesopotamia, but they were used to a much larger extent in the Harappan cities. The Indus people produced wheat, barley, rai, peas, and the like. Two types of wheat and barley were grown. A substantial quantity of barley was discovered at Banawali.
• In addition, sesamum and mustard were grown. However, the position seems to have been different with the Harappans at Lothal. It seems that as early as 1800 BC, the people of Lothal grew rice, the remains of which have been found. Although the Harappans practised agriculture, animals were raised on a large scale. Oxen, buffaloes, goats, sheep, and pigs were domesticated.
• Humped bulls were favoured by the Harappans. There is evidence of dogs and cats from the outset, and asses and camels were bred. Elephants were well known to the Harappans, who were also acquainted with the rhinoceros.
• The contemporary Sumerian cities in Mesopotamia produced virtually the same food grains and domesticated the same animals as did the Harappans, but the Harappans in Gujarat produced rice and domesticated elephants which was not the case with the Mesopotamians. Hence, statement 4 is incorrect.

• The Anguttara Nikayas list of the mahajanapadas is as follows: Kasi (Kashi), Kosala (Koshala), Anga, Magadha, Vajji (Vrijji), Malla, Chetiya (Chedi), Vamsa (Vatsa), Kuru, Panchala, Machchha (Matsya), Shurasena, Assaka (Ashmaka), Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja.
• Two kinds of states are included in the list of mahajanapadas—monarchies (rajyas) and non- monarchical states known as ganas or sanghas. Two of the mahajanapadas, the Vajji and Malla, were sanghas/ oligarchy form of government

• It was during the time of Mahajanapadas that variant languages began to develop from Sanskrit.
• Classical Sanskrit became gradually and increasingly the language of brahmans and the learned few, or had a restricted use on certain occasions such as the issuing of proclamations and official documents, and during Vedic ceremonies.
• In the towns and the villages, a popular form of Sanskrit was spoken – Prakrit.
• This had local variations; the chief western variety was called Shauraseni and the eastern variety Magadhi, after the regions where they were spoken. Hence, option (b) is correct.
• Pali was another popular language based on Sanskrit and commonly used in these regions.

• Megasthenes in his Indika speaks of Mauryan society as being divided into seven castes – philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates, and councillors.
• Clearly, he was confusing caste with occupation. Commenting on caste he says, ‘No one is allowed to marry outside his own caste or exercise any calling or art except his own’.

• A fundamental aspect of Mauryan administration was the espionage system.
• The Arthashastra advocates the frequent use of spies, and recommends that they should work in the guise of recluses, householders, merchants, ascetics, students, mendicant women, and prostitutes.
• Policy was dictated at the centre although the initiative was left to local interest.
• Ashoka also refers to agents who bring him the news and generally keep him informed on public opinion. This was one of the means through which the king kept a watch on even the more remote parts of the empire, which was necessary to the Mauryan government.

• Statement 1 is not correct: Under the Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972, the Archaeological Survey
• of India can retrieve only such antiquities that have been illegally exported out of the country.
• Statement 2 is correct: Kohinoor was surrendered by Maharaja Dalip Singh as part of the 1849 Lahore
• treaty with the British.

Both Statement 1 and 2 are correct:The Copyright Act, 1957 provides copyright protection in India.

• India follows a hybrid model of exception in which fair dealing with copyrighted work is exempted for some specific purposes under Section 52(1)(a) of the Copyright Act 1957. India also has a long list of enumerated exceptions.
• India being a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, is obligated to give equal protection to the works originating not only in India but also outside India in any of the contracting states.

Statement 1 is correct: On the occasion of International Museum Day PM Modi unveiled the Expos mascot – a “contemporised” version of the famous Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro. The traditional craft of Channapatna toys was used to create this mascot.
Statement 2 is correct: Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys and dolls that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka.

• This traditional craft is protected as a Geographical Indication (GI). Statement 3 is not correct: As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as the Gombegala Ooru (toy- town) of Karnataka.
• Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).

Statement 1 is correct: The Dancing Girl was discovered in 1926, by British archaeologist Ernest McKay
in a ruined house in the ‘ninth lane’ of Mohenjodaro’s citadel.

• Even though Mohenjodaro and Harappa became part of Pakistani territory after the Partition, the Dancing Girl remained in India as part of an agreement.
• Today, the bronze figurine sits in the National Museum of India as an artifact, often referred to as its “star object”.

Statement 2 is not correct: John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI from 1902 to 1928 who oversaw
the initial excavations in Harappa and Mohenjodaro, described the figurine as “a young girl, her hand on
her hip in a half-impudent posture, and legs slightly forward as she beats time to the music with her legs
and feet”. As Marshall’s description suggests, it is the pose that the figurine strikes that has led historians to believe
that the woman depicted was a dancer. However, there is no other evidence to support this claim.
 

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York (USA) in 1875 by Madam H.P. Blavatsky, a Russian lady, and Henry Steel Olcott, an American colonel. Their main objectives were to form a universal brotherhood of man without any distinction of race, colour or creed and to promote the study of ancient religions and philosophies. They arrived in India and established their headquarters at Adyar in Madras in 1882. Later in 1893, Mrs. Annie Besant arrived in India and took over the leadership of the Society after the death of Olcott. Mrs. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu School along with Madan Mohan Malaviya at Benaras which later developed into the Banaras Hindu University.

Arya Samaj –

• This movement was founded by Dayanand Saraswati.
• The movement got particularly in North- Western India. The constitution of the Arya Samaj drawn up in 1875 also provided for voluntary contributions, a hundredth part of the earnings of each member, to the Samaj’s fund. The money thus collected was spent on social service like famine relief and, more importantly, on establishing and running educational institutions.
• The Dayananda Anglo–Vedic School set up in Lahore soon developed into a college and became a model for several such institutions, which imparted English education but on the principles of the ‘Vedas’. Dayananda internalized the Orientalist privileging of texts as the basis of religion and affirmed that the Vedas were the most authentic religious texts of the Hindus.
• All post-Vedic developments, according to him, were accretions to be purged. Dayananda also rejected authoritative commentaries on the Vedas and upheld his own interpretation of these sacred texts.

• Statement 1 and 2 are correct: The word ‘Lippan’ means ‘clay’ or ‘dung’ in local Gujarati. Lippan Art is essentially mud-relief work that incorporates mirrors. The mural tradition art form is from the Kutch region of Gujarat.
• Lippan Art is practiced mainly by the Rabari, Kumbhar, Marwada Harijan and Mutwa communities but most Lippan artisans today trace their origins to the Kumbhar community.
• Statement 3 is not correct: Though the work is limited mainly to the interior walls, it can be found on the outer walls as well of the circular adobes that these communities live in

Statement 1 is correct: Crossing through ten countries and draining some 817,000 km² and the territory of 18 countries, the Danube is the most international river in the world.

• Flowing from Germany’s Black Forest to the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine and the Black Sea, the Danube is Europe’s only major river which flows west to east, from Central to Eastern Europe Statement 2 is not correct: The Danube is the longest river of the European Union and Europe’s second-longest after the Volga.
• The European Commission now recognizes the Danube as the “single most important non oceanic body of water in Europe” and a “future central axis for the European Union”.
• Statement 3 is correct: Major tributaries of the Danube include the Tisza, Drava, Sava, Inn, and Prut rivers. 

Both the statements are incorrect.

• Suriname is a small country on the northern coast of South America
• Suriname is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, by French Guiana to the east, by Brazil to the south, and by Guyana to the west.
• Capital: Paramaribo