Search Previous Year Questions

The correct answer is None of the above/More than one of the above.

Key PointsRoman trading partners: The Kushans

• Gandhāra was an ancient region in the Peshawar basin in the northwest of the ancient Indian subcontinent, corresponding to present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan.
• Gandhara attained its height from the 1^st century to the 5^th century CE under the Kushan Empire.
• The Kushans moved into Gandhāra from Central Asia after the fall of the Parthian dynasty in about 75 CE. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire, and the Han dynasty of China and was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China.

The Kushans

• The Kushan dynasty was administered from two capitals - Purushapura (Peshawar), and Mathura in northern India.
• In the 1^st century CE, Kujula Kadphises (Kadphises - 1) founded the Kushan dynasty.
• The Kushans are considered to be one of the five branches of the Yuezhi tribe who lived in the Chinese frontier of Central Asia.
• Kanishka is considered the greatest ruler of the Kushan dynasty. He was the son of Bhima Kadphises.

Additional Information 

• The Chera Dynasty, a historical Dravidian kingdom in present-day Kerala in India, also had considerable trade connections with the Roman Empire.
• The Chera dynasty ruled over southern India.
• The Cheras controlled the central and northern parts of Kerala and the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu
• The Chera dynasty had a prosperous kingdom owing to its trade with the Romans.
• Vanji was their capital and the ports of the west coast, Musiri, and Tondi was under their control
• The emblem of the Cheras was ‘Bow and arrow’.
• The most common sources of information about Chera's include Sangam texts like the Pathitrupattu, the Akananuru, and the Purananuru.
• The Pugalur inscription of the 1^st century A.D refers to three generations of Chera rulers.
• Padirruppattu also provides information on Chera kings.
• Perum Sorru Udhiyan Cheralathan, Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralathan and Cheran Senguttuvan were the famous rulers of this dynasty.
• In the Battle of Venni, Chola king Karikala defeated the mighty confederacy consisting of the Cheras, Pandyas, and eleven minor chieftains.  This event is mentioned in many Sangam poems.
• The Chera population was not divided into castes and communities.
• The Varna system had not taken a clear shape.
• Social exclusiveness and unapproachability were unknown.
• Women enjoyed a high status in the Chera realms.
• The royal queen had a very important and privileged status and she took her seat by the side of the king in all religious ceremonies.

The correct answer is Iltutmish.

Key Points

• For Muslims, the concepts Dar al-Islam (Abode of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (Abode of War) serve most generally to differentiate Muslim spaces from non-Muslim spaces. Dar al-Islam designates a territory where Muslims are free to practice their religion, though this often implies the implementation of Islamic law, whereas Dar al-Harb represents those lands ruled by non-believers.
• Since the latter are not subject to Islamic governance, it was deemed incumbent upon Muslim rulers – specifically the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphs who often continued the expansion begun by the Prophet Mohammad – to extend the Dar al-Islam vis-à-vis jihad.
• It is important to note that the objective of this jihad was not to forcibly convert non-believers to Islam, but to extend the jurisdiction of Islamic government, i.e. Dar al-Islam (Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, entry: Dar al-Harb).

The correct answer is More than one of the above

Key Points

• Alauddin Khalji: He asserted his own authority and limited the influence of the Caliph in political matters.
• Muhammad-bin-Tughluq: Similar to Alauddin Khalji, he downplayed the Caliph's authority.
• Balban: While respecting the Caliph's religious authority, he didn't necessarily cede complete power to him.
• Iltutmish: Though acknowledging the Caliph as the head of the Islamic world, he ruled independently.

These Sultans of Delhi generally acknowledged the Caliph's religious leadership but limited their temporal (worldly) power over their own Sultanates.

The correct answer is Balban

Key Points

Balban (c. 1266 – 1286 CE)

• Balban’s experience as a regent made him understand the problems of the Delhi Sultanate. He knew that the real threat to the monarchy was from the nobles called “The Forty”. He, therefore, was sure that by enhancing the power and authority of the monarchy, he could solve the problem.
• According to Balban, the Sultan was God’s shadow on earth, Zil-e-Ilahi and the recipient of divine grace, Nibyabat-e- Khudai.
• Balban enhanced the power of the monarchy. He introduced rigorous court discipline and new customs like prostration (sajida) and kissing the Sultan’s feet (paibos) to prove his superiority over the nobles. He introduced the Persian festival of Nauroz to impress the nobles and people with his wealth and power.
• He stood forth as the champion of Turkish nobility. He excluded non-Turks from administration and Indian Muslims were not given important positions in the government. To monitor the activities of the nobles he appointed spies and developed an efficient spy system.
• Balban was determined to break the power of ‘The Forty’. He spared only the loyal nobles and eliminated all others by fair or foul means. Malik Baqbaq, the governor of Bedaun, was publicly flogged for his cruelty towards his servants. Haybat Khan, the governor of Oudh was punished for killing a man who was drunk. The governor of Bhatinda, Sher Khan was poisoned.
• He established a separate military department, Diwan-e-arz and reorganised the army. He deployed the army in different parts of his country to suppress the rebellious elements. Balban paid more attention to restore law and order instead of expanding his kingdom. Balban took stern action against the Mewatis and prevented such robberies. Robbers were mercilessly pursued and sentenced to death, as a result of which the roads became safe for travel.
• In c. 1279 CE, Tughril Khan, the governor of Bengal revolted against Balban. Balban sent his forces to Bengal and Tughril Khan was beheaded. Balban appointed his son Bughra Khan as the governor of Bengal.
• In the northwest, the Mongols reappeared and Balban sent his son Prince Mahmud against them. But the prince was killed in the battle and it was a moral blow to Balban. Balban died in c. 1287 CE. He was one of the main architects of the Delhi Sultanate. However, he could not fully safeguard India from the Mongol invasion.

The correct answer is Aurangzeb

Key Points

• **​Aurangzeb was the first Mughal emperor conflicted with British in 1689.**​
• The first conflict of a Mughal emperor with the British can be traced back to the Child’s War.
• The Child's War was a war which lasted from 1686 to 1690 between the English East India Company and the Mughal Empire of India.
• -William Hedges was sent to Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor of Bengal, in 1682 by the English East India Company to obtain a firm: an imperial order that would grant routine trading rights to England in the Mughal empire.
• Sir Josiah Child, the governor of the company in London, then interfered with the task of Hedges, causing the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to break off the negotiations. The Child began a war with the Mughals after that.

The correct answer is 1 and 4 only.

Key PointsThe social reforms introduced by William Bentinck 

• Lord William Bentinck is known as India's liberal Governor-General.
• He is credited with major social and educational reforms in India, including the abolition of Sati, the suppression of female infanticide and Thuggee, the abolition of lawlessness, and the abolition of human sacrifices.
• Lord William Bentinck served as Governor General of India between 1828 to 1835.
• His tenure is known for social reforms such as the Abolition of Sati in 1829, the Suppression of Thugi, the Suppression of Infanticide, etc.  Hence, statements 1 and 4 are correct.
• English was introduced as a medium of higher education on the advice of his council member, Thomas Babington Macaulay.
• A pact with Maharaja Ranjit Singh was made. Charter act 1833 was passed by which East India Company ceased to be a trading company.
• Some corrective measures in civil services were taken.
• This seven years period was an epoch for administrative reforms in India.
• It started a process by which the Indian population, which is furious of sudden changes, was made to obey the British rulers and administration slowly. Partially this period can be said to of “benevolent administrators”.
• There is an inscription on his statue at Calcutta which was penned by Lord Macaulay.

Provision of the Charter Act of 1833

• Britain proclaimed the emancipation of slavery in the year 1833 bypassing The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.
• Later, in 1843 slavery was declared illegal throughout India by enacting the Indian slavery act of 1843. The Governor-general at this time was Lord Ellenborough.
• Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Religious Disability Act in 1850

• Lord Dalhousie passed the Religious Disability Act in 1850 which enabled the Hindu convert to inherit his ancestral property. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

The correct answer is Napier

Key Points

• Napier was a British military officer that served in the Peninsular War against Napoleon Bonaparte, later he led the Bombay Army in the conquest of the Sindh.
• In the 16^th and 17^th centuries Sindh was ruled by the Mughals (1591–1700) and then by several independent Sindhian dynasties, the last of which lost the region to the British in 1843. At that time most of Sindh was annexed to the Bombay Presidency.
• Whole of Sind was annexed to British Empire in 1843.
• The territory was annexed by the Bombay Presidency of British India in 1843, following a British Indian conquest led by then Major-General Charles Napier in order to quell the insurrection of Sindhi rulers who had remained hostile to the British Empire following the First Anglo-Afghan War.

The correct answer 1872.

Key Points

• Census was done for the first time in 1872 under the British Viceroy Lord Mayo.
• After that, it was done every 10 years. Yet, the first complete census of India was conducted in 1881.
• Since 1949, it is dispensed by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.​

Additional Information

• Census is the process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, and disseminating demographic, economic, and social data of all individuals in a country or a well-defined part of the country at a specific time.
• The Indian Census is one of the largest administrative exercises conducted in the world.
• It also throws light on the characteristics of the population.
• The history of census dates back to 1800 AD when England started its census.
• In continuation of this census was conducted by James Prinsep in Allahabad (1824) and Banaras (1827-28).
• The first full census of an Indian city was conducted in 1830 by Henry Walter in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh).
• The second census was conducted by Fort St George in the year 1836-37.
• In the year 1849, the Government of India ordered the local governments to conduct a five-year operation on the population.

First non-synchronous census:

• It was conducted in India in the year 1872 during the rule of Governor-General Lord Mayo.

First Synchronous Census:

• The First Synchronous Census was conducted on February 17, 1881, under British rule in W.C. Plauden (Census Commissioner of India).

Since then the census has been conducted uninterruptedly once every ten years.

The correct answer is 23^rd March 1931.

Key Points

• On December 17, 1927, revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajgur shot and killed Police Assistant Superintendent John Saunders.
• Their compatriots Sukhdev Thapar and Chandrashekhar Azad helped them in this act.
• However, their initial target was not Saunders, but police superintendent James Scott, who directed his men to lathi the demonstrators leading to the death of nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai.
• Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were later hanged to death.
• Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case and were ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931.
• The timetable was pushed ahead by 11 hours and the three were **hanged at 7:30 p.m. in Lahore prison on 23 March 1931.**​

Additional Information

• ​Bhagat Singh was an Indian communist revolutionary whose two acts of spectacular brutality against the British in India and execution at the age of 23 made him a famous hero of the Indian independence movement.
• Shivaram Hari Rajguru was an Indian nationalist from Maharashtra, mainly known for his role in the assassination of a British Raj police officer.
• Sukhdev Thapar was a visionary in India. A senior member of the Hindu Socialist Republican Association, he engaged in a variety of acts alongside Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru.

The correct answer is Brahma Dutt.

Key Points

• Individual satyagraha (1940-41):
• Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Individual Satyagraha to affirm the right to free speech.
• Mahatma Gandhi had chosen Acharya Vinoba Bhave as the first Satyagrahi to start Individual Satyagraha and Jawaharlal Nehru as the second and Brahma Datt as the third.
• Acharya Vinoba Bhave:
• Vinobha Bhave was the first Individual Satyagrahi.
• Bhoodan Movement was started in 1951 by Acharya Vinoba Bhave at Pochampally village (Telangana), India.
• Nehru:
• He was the First Prime Minister of India
• ​Nehru was elected as the president of the Lahore session of INC on 29 December 1929 and introduced a successful resolution calling for Swaraj.
• He was Second Individual Satyagrahi.
• Brahma Datt:
• He was the third Individual Satyagrahi.
• He was one of the inmates of Gandhi's Ashram.
• C. Rajagopalachari:
• He was popularly known as Rajaji.
• He was independent India's first Indian Governor-General.
• He received Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian award in the year 1954.
• He was the founder of the Swatantra Party.