Question 1

Indian national movement: British title/decoration returned by Gandhi.  During the Non-Cooperation Movement, which British honor conferred on Mahatma Gandhi did he surrender?  Choose the correct title/decoration.

Accepted Answer

Given Which British honor Gandhi returned during Non-Cooperation (1920–22). Concept/Approach Gandhi had been awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal (1915) for public service in South Africa. As a protest after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and repressive policies, he returned it during the Non-Cooperation Movement. Common pitfalls Confusing with knighthood—Gandhi was never knighted. Final Answer Kaiser-i-Hind Medal.

Question 2

Vaishnava theology (Vaikhanasa): Identify the fivefold conception of Vishnu.  From the items listed — brahman, purusha, prakriti, satya, achyuta, aniruddha — select the five that constitute the Vaikhanasa fivefold conception.  Choose the correct set.

Accepted Answer

Given Select the five Vaikhanasa conceptual forms of Vishnu from six provided terms. Concept/Approach Vaikhanasa texts present a fivefold manifestation involving the supreme principle and four personal forms. Prakriti (primordial matter) is not counted among the five forms of Vishnu in this doctrinal set. Reasoning Chosen: Brahman (supreme), Purusha, Satya, Achyuta, Aniruddha.Excluded: Prakriti (cosmic matter, not a personal or transcendent form). Final Answer Brahman, Purusha, Satya, Achyuta, Aniruddha.

Question 3

Ancient scripts: Source of Kharosthi usage in India.  The adoption of the Kharosthi script in ancient northwestern India resulted primarily from contact with which region/power?  Choose the correct source.

Accepted Answer

Given Explain the origin of Kharosthi script use in ancient India. Concept/Approach Kharosthi developed from Aramaic during Achaemenid Persian rule in the northwest. Its usage in Gandhara and adjacent regions reflects Iranian administrative and cultural contact. Final Answer Iran (Achaemenid/Persian influence via Aramaic).

Question 4

Socio-religious reform: Identify who asserted that the Vedas contain all truth.  Which reformer famously interpreted the motto that "the Vedas contain all the truth"?  Choose the correct person.

Accepted Answer

Given Attribute the statement about the Vedas containing all truth. Concept/Approach Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj (1875), advocated a return to Vedic authority, proclaiming that the Vedas encapsulate true knowledge. Final Answer Swami Dayananda Saraswati.

Question 5

Delhi Sultanate architecture: Sites of Alauddin Khalji's key monuments.  Where were the Jama'at Khana Masjid and the Alai Darwaza—two principal monuments of Alauddin Khalji's reign—constructed?  Choose the correct city.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify the city associated with two Alauddin Khalji monuments. Concept/Approach The Alai Darwaza stands at the Qutb complex, Mehrauli, Delhi; the Jama'at Khana Masjid is part of the Nizamuddin Dargah complex in Delhi. Final Answer Delhi.

Question 6

Mughal revenue terms: Meaning of Khalisa.  In Mughal administration, what did the term "Khalisa" signify?  Choose the correct description.

Accepted Answer

Given Define the term Khalisa. Concept/Approach Khalisa denoted crown lands reserved for direct collection by the state; revenue from these areas accrued to the imperial treasury rather than to jagirdars. Final Answer Crown lands whose revenue went directly to the imperial treasury.

Question 7

Bhakti literature and timelines: Tulsidas' contemporary ruler.  Tulsidas, composer of the Ramcharitmanas, was a contemporary of which Mughal emperor?  Choose the correct ruler.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify the Mughal emperor contemporary with Tulsidas. Concept/Approach Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623) lived largely during Akbar's reign (1556–1605) and into Jahangir's early years; the Ramcharitmanas is generally dated to Akbar's period. Final Answer Akbar.

Question 8

Independence plan of 1947: Province with a plebiscite.  Under the Mountbatten Plan (June 1947), people of which region were given the right to decide via plebiscite whether to join India or Pakistan?  Choose the correct region.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify which region had a plebiscite under the Mountbatten Plan. Concept/Approach The Plan provided for a plebiscite in NWFP to choose between India and Pakistan. (Note: Sylhet held a separate referendum to decide whether to remain with Assam/India or join East Bengal—Pakistan.) Final Answer North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Question 9

Hinduism's revival: Significance of the year 788 CE.  Why is the year 788 CE remembered as auspicious for Hinduism in Indian religious history?  Choose the correct reason.

Accepted Answer

Given Explain the importance of 788 CE. Concept/Approach Tradition places the birth of Adi Shankaracharya around 788 CE. His philosophical and monastic reforms reinvigorated Hindu thought through Advaita Vedanta and the organization of mathas. Final Answer Birth of Adi Shankaracharya, who revitalized Advaita Vedanta.

Question 10

Early medieval polity: Original meaning of the term "samanta".  The term "samanta", later used for feudatories from the 6th century CE onward, originally meant what?  Choose the correct meaning.

Accepted Answer

Given Determine the original sense of the word samanta. Concept/Approach In Sanskrit, samanta originally means neighbor. Over time it became a technical term for subordinate chiefs/feudatories in early medieval Indian polity. Final Answer Neighbor.

Question 11

Calendrical eras: Victory commemorated by Vikrama Samvat (58 BCE).  Vikramaditya of Ujjain is said to have started the Vikrama Samvat in 58 BCE to commemorate victory over which group?  Choose the correct adversary.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify the foe linked with the founding of Vikrama Samvat. Concept/Approach Tradition associates Vikramaditya's era with victory over the Sakas (Scythians). Hence, 58 BCE marks that commemorative origin. Final Answer Sakas (Scythians).

Question 12

Akbar's religious policy: Where is the text of the Mahzar preserved?  The document called the Mahzar (1579), by which Akbar assumed supreme arbitration in religious matters, is preserved in which historical work?  Choose the correct source text.

Accepted Answer

Given Locate the textual preservation of Akbar's Mahzar. Concept/Approach The text of the Mahzar is found in 'Abd al-Qadir Badauni's Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, where he critically recounts Akbar's religious interventions. Final Answer Badauni's Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh.

Question 13

Ancient trade terms: Meaning of "Yavanapriya" in Sanskrit texts.  In early Sanskrit sources, the term "Yavanapriya" (literally, "dear to the Yavanas/Greeks") referred to which commodity?  Choose the correct item.

Accepted Answer

Given Define the commodity denoted by Yavanapriya. Concept/Approach Classical trade records note Mediterranean demand for Indian spices; Yavanapriya commonly denotes pepper, prized by Greeks and Romans and exported from the Malabar coast. Final Answer Pepper (black pepper).

Question 14

Founding of the All-India Muslim League (1906): Identify the leading patron.  Under whose leadership/patronage was the All-India Muslim League established at Dacca in 1906?  Choose the correct leader.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify the leader under whose patronage the Muslim League was set up. Concept/Approach The All-India Muslim League formed at Dacca (1906) under the leadership/patronage of Aga Khan; key roles were also played by Nawab Salimullah and Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk. (Jinnah joined later.) Final Answer Aga Khan (Sultan Muhammed Shah).

Question 15

Buddhist teachings: Language of the Buddha's discourses.  The discourses of Gautama Buddha were delivered mainly in which language/dialect for accessibility to common people?  Choose the correct language.

Accepted Answer

Given Pinpoint the language of the Buddha's sermons. Concept/Approach The Buddha taught in the vernacular; the canon preserved by the Theravada is in Pali, a Middle Indo-Aryan language closely related to Magadhi Prakrit. Final Answer Pali (Magadhi Prakrit).

Question 16

Vijayanagara administration: Instrument of royal control over villages.  Through which mechanism did the Vijayanagara king exercise control over villages and local administration?  Choose the correct mechanism.

Accepted Answer

Given Identify how the Vijayanagara state extended control to the village level. Concept/Approach The Nayaka (Nayankara) system assigned revenue/military obligations to nayakas, who acted as intermediaries ensuring order, tax collection, and military readiness, thereby projecting royal authority into localities and villages. Common pitfalls Assuming only hereditary headmen; Vijayanagara relied on a layered chain of authority anchored by nayakas. Final Answer Nayaka (Nayankara) system of military-feudal chiefs.

Question 17

International relations: Identify the non-aligned Afro-Asian nations that met to mediate the 1962 India–China conflict.  Conference held in December 1962 to evolve a peaceful settlement after the Sino-Indian War.  Choose the correct participating se…

Accepted Answer

Given data Event: A December 1962 conference of non-aligned Afro-Asian nations convened to help settle the India–China border conflict. Concept/Approach Recall the 'Colombo Proposals' and the six-nation mediation initiative led by Ceylon (Sri Lanka) shortly after the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Reasoning The six participating non-aligned countries were Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Ghana, and the United Arab Republic (Egypt). They formulated the 'Colombo Proposals' and communicated them to both New Delhi and Beijing. Common pitfalls Confusing the Colombo group with SAARC (formed later) or mixing in South Asian neighbours that were not part of the mediation. Final Answer Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Ghana, and the United Arab Republic (Egypt)

Question 18

Medieval Indian history: Duration of the Turko-Afghan (Delhi Sultanate) rule in India.  Approximate length from the establishment of the Sultanate in 1206 CE to the advent of the Mughals in 1526 CE.  Choose the correct estimate.

Accepted Answer

Given data Sultanate begins: 1206 CE (Qutb al-Din Aibak). Sultanate ends: 1526 CE (First Battle of Panipat; Mughal rule begins). Step-by-step calculation Duration = 1526 − 1206 = 320 years (approx.). Concept/Approach Treat the Delhi Sultanate (Turko-Afghan dynasties: Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi) as a continuous period. Final Answer About 320 years

Question 19

Historiography of 1857: Who first described the Uprising of 1857 as the ‘‘First War of Indian Independence’’?  Identify the author who framed the 1857 revolt in national-liberation terms for the first time.  Choose the correct option.

Accepted Answer

Given data We must identify the historian/political thinker who labeled 1857 the ‘‘First War of Indian Independence’’. Reasoning Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used the title and interpretation in his work on 1857, popularizing the nationalist framing. Others (e.g., R. C. Majumdar) later offered different interpretations. Final Answer V. D. Savarkar

Question 20

Religions and scriptures: ‘‘Tripitaka’’ — the sacred books of which religion?  Identify the faith tradition for which the Tripitakas constitute core scripture.  Choose the correct option.

Accepted Answer

Given data Term: Tripitaka (‘‘Three baskets’’ of doctrine). Concept In Buddhism, the Tripitaka comprises Vinaya Pitaka (discipline), Sutta/Sutra Pitaka (discourses), and Abhidhamma/Abhidharma Pitaka (philosophical analyses). Final Answer Buddhism

Indian History Questions