Question 1

During the Middle Ages education was confined only to:-

Accepted Answer

During the Middle Ages education was confined only to Brahmins.

Question 2

Examine these two statements carefully and select the correct answer using the code given below. Statement I :The Zamindars were an exploitative class in Mughal India. Statement II :The Zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in a larg…

Accepted Answer

During the Mughal Empire, zamindars belonged tothe nobility and formed the ruling class. Emperor Akbar granted them mansabs and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs. In some respects of zamindars and the peasants were natural allies in any struggle against the Mughal government. The Zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in many agrarian uprisings in North India in the seventeenth century.

Question 3

Examine these two statements carefully and select the correct answer using the code given below. Statement I :King Ashoka abolished capital punishment and disbanded his army. Statement II :After Kalinga War, Ashoka was remorseful and become a Buddhi…

Accepted Answer

Edict 13 on the Edicts of Ashoka Rock Inscriptions reflect the great remorse the king felt after observing the destruction of Kalinga: The lethal war with Kalinga transformed the vengeful Emperor Ashoka into a stable and peaceful emperor, and he became a patron of Buddhism. He ended the military expansion of the empire. The Kalinga war became his first and last war. He made some significant changes in the state policy of Magadh.

Question 4

Which one of the following sources tells us about women protesting against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household?

Accepted Answer

Documents from Western India –Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra –record petitions sent bywomen to the village panchayat, seeking redress and justice. Wives protested against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household, the grihasthi. While male infidelity was not always punished, the state and “superior” caste groups did intervene when it came to ensuring that the family was adequately provided for. In most cases when women petitioned to the panchayat, their names were excluded from the record: the petitioner was referred to as themother, sister or wife of the male head of the household.

Question 5

The basic structure doctrine with regard to the Constitution of India relates to 1.the power of judicial review 2.the judgment in Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) 3.the constraints on Article 368 of the Constitution of India 4.the judgment in Golakna…

Accepted Answer

The Golaknath Case of 1967 relates to the power of the Parliament to curtail the Fundamental Rights provided in the Constitution.In 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State of Punjab. It held that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution are given a "transcendental position" and arebeyond the reach of Parliament. It also declared any amendment that "takes away or abridges" a Fundamental Right conferred by Part III as unconstitutional. By 1973, the basic structure doctrine triumphed in Justice Hans Raj Khanna's judgment in the landmark decision of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala.

Question 6

Which of the following statements about the Deccan Riots of 1875 is/are true? 1.TheDeccan Riots resulted in protection for peasants through the Deccan Agriculturalists Relief Act of 1879. 2.The riots did not spread to the whole of Maharashtra becaus…

Accepted Answer

In 1861, civil war broke out in the USA. USA was the largest supplier of cotton to Britain. Once the civil war broke out, the demand for cotton from India became high and this led to a surge in cotton cultivation in India and there was a period of ‘boom’ then.In May and June 1875, peasants of Maharashtra in some parts of Pune, Satara and Ahmednagar districts revolted against increasing agrarian distress. The Deccan Riots of 1875 targeted conditions of debt peonage (kamiuti) to moneylenders.In 1879, the Agriculturists Relief Act was passed which ensured that the farmers could not be arrested and imprisoned if they were unable to pay their debts.

Question 7

The ‘four great needs’ of the people as identified by the Guomindang were

Accepted Answer

Founded in 1912, the Kuomintangis the oldest still active political party in the Chinese-speaking world.Its main leader was Sun Yat-Sen. He divided the livelihood into four parts: clothing, food, housing and transportation.

Question 8

The epic, Silappadikaram refers to the

Accepted Answer

Silappadikaram is one of The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature. Epic revolves around Kannagi, who having lost her husband to a miscarriage of justice at the court of the Pandyan Dynasty, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom.

Question 9

Consider the following statements about Harappan cities : 1.Roads were not always absolutely straight and did not always cross one another at right angles. 2.A striking feature is the uniformity in the average size of the bricks for houses and for c…

Accepted Answer

Harappa cities followed the rectangular grid pattern where roads were straight and cut each other at right angle. But it may not be the case always. Brick size was uniform in nearly every Harappan city from Sutkagendor in Baluchistan to Alamgirpurin Meerut, from Manda in Jammu Kashmir to Daimabad in Maharashtra.

Question 10

The Damin-i-Koh was created by the British Government to settle which one of the following communities?

Accepted Answer

Damini-i-Koh was the land allocated to the Santhals. The Santhals could live on the land and practise plough agriculture, thus helping them to carry out settled agriculture.

Question 11

The Limitation Law, which passed by the British in 1859, addressed which one of the following issues?

Accepted Answer

The ryots came to see the moneylender as devious and deceitful. They complained of moneylenders manipulating laws and forging accounts. In 1859 the British passed a Limitation Law that stated that the loan bonds signed between moneylenders and ryots would have validity for only three years. This law was meant to check the accumulation of interest over time. The moneylender, however, turned the law around, forcing the ryot to sign a new bond every three years.

Question 12

Who designed the Bombay Secretariat in the 1870s?

Accepted Answer

The Bombay Secretariat was completed in 1874 and designed by Captain Henry St. Clair Wilkins in the Venetian Gothic style. With its arcaded verandahs and huge gable over the west facade, it was a monument to the civic pride of Bombay's British rulers.

Indian History Questions