Search Previous Year Questions

The correct answer is Usha Mehta.

Key Points

• Ms. Usha Mehta, Vitthaldas Javeri, and Chandrakant Babu Javeri started a Secret Radio Station in Mumbai and through it spread the inspiration and message of the 1942 revolution all over India.
• The secret radio was also assisted by veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.
• Congress Radio functioned for a few months during the Quit India Movement of 1942.​
• However, in November of that year, the police found out their location and arrested everyone including Mehta. They were betrayed by an insider.
• She was released in 1946 by the interim government in Bombay under the orders of the home minister Morarji Desai.

Additional Information

• Usha Mehta, born on March 25^th, 1920, was a native of the village of Saras, which is located close to Surat in the state of Gujrat.
• She discovered herself to be an active participant in the struggle against British authority from an early age.
• Dr. Usha Mehta attended a 1942 meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), where Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel delivered stirring remarks.
• This inspired her to establish a clandestine radio station and assist in spreading the news to the most distant regions of the globe.

The correct answer is Jeevaka.

Key Points

• Jeevak was the name of the famous doctor in the court of King Bimbisara who was the personal physician of Lord Buddha.
• He lived in Rajgraha, present-day Rajgir in the 5^th century BCE.
• Jeevak was also sometimes described as the "Medicine King".

The correct answer is Ibn Bakhtiyar Khilji

Key Points

Bihar and Turkish Invasion

• Mohammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji was one of the Military Generals of Qutb-ud-din Aibak who invaded some parts of eastern India at the end of the 12^th Century and at the beginning of the 13^th century.
• During his invasion, many of the Viharas and universities were sacked and thousands of Buddhist monks were massacred.
• He also named Malik Ghazi Ikhtiyar 'l-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji or Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji or Bakhtiyar Khilji,
• He sacked the universities of Nalanda, Vikramashila, and Odantapuri.
• He established a town called Bakhtiyarpur.
• He was assassinated by Ali Mardan and his mausoleum is in Bihar Sharif.

The correct answer is Satyendra Prasanna Sinha.

Key Points

• Satyendra Prasanna Sinha also known as Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa.
• He was the first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal also the first Indian to become a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry.
• Shri Jairamdas Daulatram was appointed as the first Governor of Bihar after India's Independence.
• Before the Independence of India, James Sifton was the first Governor of Bihar appointed on 01 April 1936.

Additional Information

Brajkishore Prasad

• Brajkishore Prasad (1877–1946) was a lawyer inspired by Gandhi Ji during the Indian Independence Movement.
• Gandhi was so impressed by Brajkishore Prasad's dedication that he set aside a full chapter on him in his autobiographical book, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, called "The Gentle Bihari".
• The National Book Trust, India, recently published a biography titled Braja Kishore Prasad: The Hero of Many Battles, authored by Sachidanand Sinha.

Shri Krishna Singh

• Shri Krishna Singh was the first Chief Minister of Bihar and he served the office from 2 April 1946 to 31 January 1961.
• Shri Krishna Singh along with Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Rajendra Prasad is regarded as the "Architects of Modern Bihar".
• He was also the first Chief Minister in India to abolish the Zamindari system.

The correct answer is Sidhu and Kanhu.

Key PointsSanthal Rebellion

• Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu were brothers and the leaders of the Santhal rebellion, which started in 1855, in present-day Jharkhand and Bengal (Purulia and Bankura) in eastern India against both the British colonial authority and the corrupt 'zamindari' system.
• The Santhal Revolt took place in 1855-56. Santhals are a tribal group concentrated in the state of Jharkhand. This was the first peasant revolt that occurred in India. The revolt can be attributed to the introduction of the Permanent Land Settlement of 1793.
• The aforesaid settlement pattern by the British snatched lands that the Santhals had been cultivating for centuries from them. The zamindars, moneylenders, Europeans and the British government officials raised the land tax and exploited farmers. They were so oppressed that they resolved to rebel against the landlords and the government.
• The Santhals engaged in guerrilla warfare. This was a new occurrence for Bihar. The Santhals formed their own armies composed of peasants marching against their op­pressors. The Santhal army dismantled the rail­way and postal communications. Surely, the Santhal revolt was very effective for a while but it could not succeed against the absolute power of the government and was suppressed.

The correct answer is 1798.

Key PointsChuar Revolt of Bihar 

• Initial Phase (1798-1799): The early dissatisfaction that sparked the Chuar Rebellion first arose towards the end of the 18^th century, around 1798-1799.
• This was a reaction caused by the oppressive land revenue policies of the British and their interference with the traditional rights of the forestry dwelling communities like the Chuars.
• Major Outbreak (1831-1833): The revolt took a major shape during these years, particularly in the Jungle Mahals region of Bengal and parts of Bihar.
• The factors involved in this rebellion were more elaborate, including draconian forest laws, widespread poverty, famine, and increasing taxation policies of British rule.
• The Rebellion: The rebellion involved the local tribal community known as the Chuars, who resented the new tax policies and harsh measures brought about by the British rule.
• The Chuars used guerrilla warfare techniques, attacked police stations, government buildings, and looted treasury buildings.
• End of the Uprising: Although initially taken back by the ferocity of the rebellion, the British eventually suppressed the uprising with force.
• However, the rebellion had a notable impact, drawing attention to the plight of tribal people under colonial rule and to the changing dynamics of control over forests and their produce, which later influenced some modifications in the British approach towards forest-dwelling communities.

The correct answer is 1936.

Key Points

Bihar:

• On 1 April 1912 both Bihar and Orissa were separated from Bengal as Bihar and Orissa Province.
• On 1 April 1936 Bihar and Orissa became separate provinces.
• Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
• The territories were conquered by the British in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and were governed by the then Indian Civil Service of the Bengal Presidency, the largest administrative subdivision in British India.
• Bihar played an active role in the successive phases of Indian nationalism.
• Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi, the nationalist leader who advocated nonviolent resistance, first launched the satyagraha (“devotion to truth”) movement against the tyranny of the European indigo planters in the Champaran region of northern Bihar.
• Rajendra Prasad, who played a leading part in the freedom movement and was elected the first president of independent India, was born in the Siwan district (then a part of the Saran district), northwest of Patna.

The correct answer is Rajgriha.

Key Points

Buddhist Council:-

First Buddhist Council- 483 B.C

• The First Buddhist council convened at the Sattapanni caves in Rajgriha
• It was held under the patronage of King Ajatashatru
• The First Buddhist Council was presided by Monk Mahakasyapa
• The Agenda of the First Buddhist council was to preserve the teachings (Sutta) of the Buddha and the monastic discipline and guidelines for monks(Vinaya).
• It was held just after the death of the Buddha.
• Suttas and Vinaya Pitaka were recited by the monk's Ananda and Upali respectively

The second Buddhist Council: 

• It was convened at Vaisali around 383 B.C.
• It was held during the reign of Kalashoka.

The third Buddhist Council:

• It was held at Pataliputra under the patronage of Asoka.
• Moggaliputta Tissa presided over it.
• The final version of the Tripitakas was completed in this council.

The fourth Buddhist Council: 

• It was convened in Kashmir by Kanishka under the chairmanship of Vasumitra.
• Asvagosha participated in this council.
• The new school of Buddhism called Mahayana Buddhism came into existence during this council.
• The Buddhism preached by the Buddha and propagated by Asoka was known as Hinayana.

The correct answer is Chandragupta II

Key Points

• Also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, he was born in 380 CE and died in 415 CE.
• Chandragupta II dethrones his brother Ramagupta, and becomes the new king.
• He was the son of Samudragupta and grandson of Chandragupta I.
• He is also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya.
• He was deeply interested in art and culture.
• The Gupta Empire reached its zenith during the rule of Chandragupta II.
• The Chinese pilgrim Faxian, visited India during his reign.

Additional InformationSamudragupta:

• Samudragupta was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty.
• The Allahabad Pillar inscription, was composed by his courtier Harishena.
• Samudragupta performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to prove his imperial sovereignty and remained undefeated in battle.
• His gold coins and inscriptions suggest that he was an accomplished poet, and also played musical instruments such as the lyre. His expansionist policy was continued by his son and successor Chandragupta II.

​Skandgupta: 

• Skandagupta was a Gupta Emperor of India.
• His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power.
• Skandagupta’s coins show a woman handing him an unidentified object, most likely a garland or a ring.

Shrigupta: 

• Sri Gupta was the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty.
• He ruled from 240 AD to 280 AD.
• The Poona copper inscription of Prabhavati Gupta (daughter of Chandra Gupta II) describes that Sri Gupta as the Adhiraja of Gupta dynasty.
• During his reign, part of northern or central Bengal might have been the home of the Guptas.
• Sri Gupta is believed to have ordered the construction of a temple at Mṛgasikhavana for the use of Buddhist pilgrims coming from China.

The correct answer is Pushyabhuti.

Key PointsVardhana dynasty 

• Pushyabhuti is considered to be the founder of the Vardhana dynasty.
• Prabhakar Vardhana was the first notable king of the Vardhana Dynasty.