Quiz 301 : Indian History For Civil Services Examinations

December 28th, 2009

1.Consider the following statements regarding Policy of Sulahkul ?
1. Sulahkul means Universal Tolerance
2. The policy of Sulahkul was state principle of Akbar
3. Din-i-ilahi was a result of the policy of Sulahkul only
Which among the above statements are correct?
(A)1 only
(B)1 & 2 only
(C)1 & 3 only
(D)2 & 3 only
(E)all 1,2 & 3

2.The age of Guptas in the Indian History is described as Golden Age of Indian History. Which among the following options from A to E , is not a valid reason behind this?
(A)The age is known for extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy
(B)This age crystallized the common elements of Hindu Culture
(C)Maximum number of Gold Coins were issued in this era
(D)The age gave birth to eminent people like Kalidasa, Varahmihira, Vatsyana, Arya Bhatta, Vishnu sharma, Gautama, Patanjali etc.
(E)All are valid reasons

3.Out of the battles fought between contemporary rulers and Babur, which among the following resulted in the firm establishment of Babur's rule in North India?
(A)Battle of Panipat
(B)Battle of Khanva
(C)Battle of Ghagra
(D)Second Battle of Panipat
(E)None of them

4.The people from which of the following ancient places were called as Vrishnis?
(A)Mathura
(B)Dwarka
(C)Ayodhya
(D)Gandhar
(E)Hastinapur

5.Who among the following professed Suddhadvaitaphilosophy?
(A)Swami Krishnananda
(B)Ramanada
(C)Vallabha Acharya
(D)Guru Jambheshwar
(E)Sri Aurobindo

6.Who among the following introduced the modern concept of rule in India?
(A)Mughal
(B)British
(C)Portuguese
(D)French
(E)None of them

7.Which among the following correctly explains Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha of Buddhism?
(A)Buddhist monks under whose supervision Buddhist nuns were to live
(B)Special places which were used by Buddhist nuns for worship
(C)Special code of conduct for female Buddhist monks or Buddhist nuns
(D)Special book which narrates Jataka story of Buddha
(E)None of them

8.Which among the following is incorrect regarding Buland darwaja?
(A)It was built by Akbar in 1602
(B)It was built in Fatehpur Sikri
(C)It was built to commemorate Akbar's victory on Mewar & Gujarat
(D)It was built to commemorate Akbar's victory on Gujarat only
(E)All are correct

9.Bring out the only wrong statement:
(A)Kalibangan were among the world's earliest known ploughn fields.
(B)Mahavamsa describes the atrocities of Chola Rulers during conquest of Sri Lanka
(C)Cholas were inheritors of Pallava traditions of temple architecture
(D)Agattiyam is a first grammar book of Sangam Age & first Tamil grammar book
(E)The Dutch East India company started trading with India in early 16th century

10.The dual government of Bengal was result of a farman in 1765 by which of the following?
(A)British
(B)Shah Alam
(C)Nawab Sirajuddaula
(D)Raja Khan
(E)None of them

11.For which of the following commodities , the Dutch wanted to barter cotton piece goods in the Indonesian Archipelago?
(A)Tobacco
(B)Rice
(C)Pepper and Spices
(D)Silk
(E)None of them

12.Who among the following is known to oppose the Age of consent bill?
(A) Behramji Malabari
(B)Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(C)Mahatma Gandhi
(D)Bipin Chandra Pal
(E)None of them

13.In which year split in All India Trade Union Congress took place?
(A)1920
(B)1929
(C)1936
(D)1948
(E)1941

14.What was the most prominent reason of arrival of Indo-Aryans from central Asia , possibly from the south of the Urals and East of Caspian Sea?
(A)They were in search of arable land
(B)They were of Nomadic Culture
(C)They were defeated by their Indo European neighbors
(D)They were aware of prosperity of India
(E)None of them

15.Who among the following Buddhist Philosophers persuaded the Indo Greek King Meander to Accept Buddhism?
(A)Asanga
(B)Nagasena
(C)Dharmakirti
(D)Jambuka
(E)None of them

16.Which among the following was called as the Central Pillar of the administrative system of Delhi sultanate?
(A)Izra system
(B)Iqta System
(C)devsirme system
(D)Chahalgami
(E)None of them

17.Which among the following is a incorrect statement regarding market regulations by Ala-ud-din Khilji?
(A)They were applied using brute force
(B)They vanished immediately after the death of the sultan
(C)The price controls were regulated on almost the entire market
(D)The prices of horses were controlled also
(E)All are correct

18.During the end of which of the Mughal rulers the Mughal empire faced the problem of jagirdari crisis?
(A)Humayun
(B)Akbar
(C)Jahanagir
(D)Aurangzeb
(E)Shahjahan

19.In which year Treaty of Amritsar was signed between Ranjit Singh and East India Company?
(A)1800
(B)1805
(C)1809
(D)1811
(E)1815

20.During end of which of the following period the urban centers of Gangetic planes declined ?
(A)Maurya Period
(B)Gupta Period
(C)Mahjnapadas
(D)Magadh Empire
(E)None of them

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Shonit said on December 29th, 2009

Good quiz...however kindly note that answer to Q.4 is Mathura and not Dwarka. Lord Krishna belonged to the Vrishni clan/tribe. It is corroborated by the Mora inscription of Mathura which refers to the worship of 5 heroes of the Vrishni tribe viz. Balaram/Samkarshana, Vasudev Krishna, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha. Basically they were the ancestors of the modern day Yadavs i.e. the cattle rearers or gwalas

Also note that dual government started from 1765 and not 1965.

Admin said on December 29th, 2009

@Shonit:
....widespread pastoral tribe Yadavas has established their principalities in Andhaka, Mathura, Vrishni (Dwaraka, Kathiawar), Vidarbha, avanti Darasana & Haihaya. The Yadavas were known by their generic name Bhojas except Vrishnis from Dwarka.
~A social history of India By S. N. Sadasivan

Whe Krishna returned to Dwarka, the Pandavas, heartwaery and dejected decided to go on a long pilgrimage, accompanied by sage Lomasha.....when they reached Prabahsa near Dwarka , Krishna and entire Vrishni Clan went to meet them and apalled by their condition.
~ The Mahabharata By Meera Uberoi

Shonit said on December 29th, 2009

Going by the question, it is asked the people of which place in 'Ancient India' ? It was only by the medieval times that they emerged as dominant sections in the places that you've mentioned. In ancient period atleast till 3rd century AD they were predominantly settled in Mathura.

You can refer to the following texts to substantiate my point :-

1. H.C Raychaudhuri - Early history of the Vaisnava sect
2. A.L Basham - The wonder that was India; Ch-VII
3. D.N Jha - Ancient India
4. R.S Sharma - NCERT class XI History text book - old pattern
5. R.G Bhandarkar - Vaishnavism, Saivism and minor religious sects

There are several others but these should suffice for you at the moment.

While corroborating historical arguements please refrain from citing excerpts from epics and mythologies as you have done by highlighting the second paragraph from Meera Uberoi's Mshabharata

DIVYA said on December 29th, 2009

healthy competition going on to provide genuine information!!!

Admin said on December 29th, 2009

Greek ambassador Bhagavata Heliodorus erected a Garuda column to Vasudeva at Besnagar; the Mora Well inscription near Mathura mentions the worship of the five Vrishni heroes, including Vasudeva; stone enclosures (Narayana vatika) were built for Vasudeva and his brother Shankarshana (Balarama) at Ghosundi and Hathivada.

Vrishni were an ancient clan who claimed their descent from Vrishni, a descendent of Yadu. It is believed that Vrishni was son of Satvata, a descendant of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari and Madri. He has a son named Devamidhusha by his wife Madri. Vasudeva, the father of Krishna was the grandson of Devamidhusha. Krishna belonged to this branch of the Lunar race of Vrishnis from whom he got the name Varshneya. The people of Dwaraka were known as the Vrishnis.

The Question is asking : The people from which of the following ancient places were called as Vrishnis?
(A)Mathura
(B)Dwarka
(C)Ayodhya
(D)Gandhar
(E)Hastinapur

You say: It was only by the medieval times that they emerged as dominant sections in the places that you've mentioned. In ancient period atleast till 3rd century AD they were predominantly settled in Mathura.

The question is not asking origin of "Vrishnis" The first paragraph tells who was Vrishni. But in general the question is asking about the people of which place were known as vrishnis in Ancient India. I don't know where the medieval India is coming here.
Dwaraka was a federation of many republics rather than a kingdom under a single king, the title of king of the Dwaraka-confederation being only titular. Within the Federation of Dwaraka were included the states of Andhakas, Vrishnis and Bhojas. The Yadavas ruling Dwaraka were also known as Dasarhas and Madhus.
Panini in his Ashtadhyayi mentioned about the Vrishnis along with the Andhakas. The Arthashastra of Kautilya described the Vrishnis as a sangha (tribal confederation). In the Mahabharata (Drona Parva, 141.15) the Vrishnis and the Andhakas are referred as Vratyas.

Shonit said on December 29th, 2009

I appreciate your painstaking efforts in enlightening the candidates about this interesting episode from the epic but you have lifted off the entire paragraph verbatim from Wikipedia -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrishni#Migration_of_Vrishnis_to_Dvaraka

It is true that they later settled in Dwarka but they were originally the inhabitants of Mathura as is indicated by the fact that it was only in the wake of the recurring attacks of Jarasandha, that Krishna decided to leave Mathura for good along with the Vrishni tribe. However, soon after settling in Dwarka, Krishna left for Vaikunth and Dwarka got submerged under the sea which marked the commencement of the Kali Age.

This is what popular myth and epic contends.

But history gives primacy to epigraphs, inscriptions and secular literary sources (not religious) for corroborating the historicity of any event and to this end the Jain texts - Aupapatika Sutra and Uttaradhyana Sutra, Bhitari Pillar (Ghazipur in U.P.) inscription of Skandgupta, Eran inscription of Chandragupta I (Gupta emperor) all refer to Vishnu/Krishna and their worship by the Vrishnis of Mathura.

Even, Megasthenese states that the people of Sourasenoi (Suraseni Mahajanpada) held Heracles (Greek counterpart of Krishna) in special honor.

No doubt, the Satvata-Yadu-Vrishni clan began migrating to the Deccan and Western part of India (including Dwarka) but that was only by 3rd century AD after the foreigners (Indo-Greeks, Sakas and Kushanas) had got assimilated in the fold of Hinduism and numerous small principalities had emerged under different rulers such as Satavahanas, Ikshvakus, Abhiras etc.

This explains as to why Heliodorus -- who was an ambassador of King Antialcidas of Taxila to the court of the Sunga ruler of Vidisa, Bhagbhadra -- erected a pillar with Garuda capital in honour of Vasudeva at Besnagar and called him the "God of the gods" and himself as Param Bhagwata.

Similarly, the Nagari inscription of Rajasthan (near Chittorgarh) refer to the merger of non-Vishnu and Vishnu cult by 2nd century BC and Apasada inscription (Gaya) and Nanaghat inscription of Queen Naganika (wife of Satvahana ruler Gautamiputra Satkarni) all refer to the worship of Vasudeva-Krishna. This definitely proves that the descendants of Vrishnis had settled in Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Thus diffusion of culture and popular cult was a common phenomena in ancient India and to this end Dwarka alone cannot be taken per se as the only place where the Vrishnis settled.

So in the backdrop of this entire discourse, it can be said that either you re-phrase your question or accept multiple answers to the question.

Admin said on December 29th, 2009

I will accept multiple answers or reframe the question Shonit. However isn't this a contradiction to your first comment, which seems overhasty . You said kindly note that answer to Q.4 is Mathura and not Dwarka.
However, I shall take some more time to make this adjustment. Thank you for your active participation.

Shonit said on January 1st, 2010

No it was not a comment made in haste. But since you were very obdurate in your stand so i thought that it would be better, in the light of our discussion, to propose multiple answers and going by your logic, all those places where the vrishnis settled post submergence of Dwarka. Mathura still remains the numero uno choice, if you subscribe to legitimate historical analysis.

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