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

GivenWhich British honor Gandhi returned during Non-Cooperation (1920–22).Concept/ApproachGandhi 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 pitfallsConfusing with knighthood—Gandhi was never knighted.Final AnswerKaiser-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

GivenSelect the five Vaikhanasa conceptual forms of Vishnu from six provided terms.Concept/ApproachVaikhanasa 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.ReasoningChosen: Brahman (supreme), Purusha, Satya, Achyuta, Aniruddha.Excluded: Prakriti (cosmic matter, not a personal or transcendent form).Final AnswerBrahman, 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

GivenExplain the origin of Kharosthi script use in ancient India.Concept/ApproachKharosthi developed from Aramaic during Achaemenid Persian rule in the northwest. Its usage in Gandhara and adjacent regions reflects Iranian administrative and cultural contact.Final AnswerIran (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

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

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

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

GivenDefine the term Khalisa.Concept/ApproachKhalisa denoted crown lands reserved for direct collection by the state; revenue from these areas accrued to the imperial treasury rather than to jagirdars.Final AnswerCrown 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

GivenIdentify the Mughal emperor contemporary with Tulsidas.Concept/ApproachTulsidas (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 AnswerAkbar.

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

GivenIdentify which region had a plebiscite under the Mountbatten Plan.Concept/ApproachThe 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 AnswerNorth-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

GivenExplain the importance of 788 CE.Concept/ApproachTradition 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 AnswerBirth 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

GivenDetermine the original sense of the word samanta.Concept/ApproachIn Sanskrit, samanta originally means neighbor. Over time it became a technical term for subordinate chiefs/feudatories in early medieval Indian polity.Final AnswerNeighbor.

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

GivenIdentify the foe linked with the founding of Vikrama Samvat.Concept/ApproachTradition associates Vikramaditya's era with victory over the Sakas (Scythians). Hence, 58 BCE marks that commemorative origin.Final AnswerSakas (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

GivenLocate the textual preservation of Akbar's Mahzar.Concept/ApproachThe text of the Mahzar is found in 'Abd al-Qadir Badauni's Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, where he critically recounts Akbar's religious interventions.Final AnswerBadauni'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

GivenDefine the commodity denoted by Yavanapriya.Concept/ApproachClassical trade records note Mediterranean demand for Indian spices; Yavanapriya commonly denotes pepper, prized by Greeks and Romans and exported from the Malabar coast.Final AnswerPepper (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

GivenIdentify the leader under whose patronage the Muslim League was set up.Concept/ApproachThe 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 AnswerAga 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

GivenPinpoint the language of the Buddha's sermons.Concept/ApproachThe 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 AnswerPali (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

GivenIdentify how the Vijayanagara state extended control to the village level.Concept/ApproachThe 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 pitfallsAssuming only hereditary headmen; Vijayanagara relied on a layered chain of authority anchored by nayakas.Final AnswerNayaka (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 dataEvent: A December 1962 conference of non-aligned Afro-Asian nations convened to help settle the India–China border conflict.Concept/ApproachRecall the 'Colombo Proposals' and the six-nation mediation initiative led by Ceylon (Sri Lanka) shortly after the 1962 Sino-Indian War.ReasoningThe 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 pitfallsConfusing the Colombo group with SAARC (formed later) or mixing in South Asian neighbours that were not part of the mediation.Final AnswerCeylon (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 dataSultanate begins: 1206 CE (Qutb al-Din Aibak).Sultanate ends: 1526 CE (First Battle of Panipat; Mughal rule begins).Step-by-step calculationDuration = 1526 − 1206 = 320 years (approx.).Concept/ApproachTreat the Delhi Sultanate (Turko-Afghan dynasties: Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi) as a continuous period.Final AnswerAbout 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 dataWe must identify the historian/political thinker who labeled 1857 the ‘‘First War of Indian Independence’’.ReasoningVinayak 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 AnswerV. 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 dataTerm: Tripitaka (‘‘Three baskets’’ of doctrine).ConceptIn Buddhism, the Tripitaka comprises Vinaya Pitaka (discipline), Sutta/Sutra Pitaka (discourses), and Abhidhamma/Abhidharma Pitaka (philosophical analyses).Final AnswerBuddhism

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