PSC OBJECTIVE INDIAN HISTORY

Which of the following was a saint of the Bhakti movement in Bengal ?
(a) Tulsidas
(b) Vivekananda
(c) Chaitanya
(d) Kabir
Answer: Chaitanya

 Shankaracharya, during Vikramaditya's period, was a very famous personality. Which of the following statements is not true of Shankaracharya ?
(a) He countered the spread of Buddhism and Jainism
(b) He established four religious centres in different parts of India.
(c) He defined Vedanta.
(d) He propounded Vishistadvaitya?
Answer: He countered the spread of Buddhism and Jainism

Who among the following was not an exponent of Bhakti movement ?
(a) Nanak
(b) Shankaracharya
(c) Ramanada
(d) Kabir
Answer: Shankaracharya

Sri Perumbudur, a temple town in south, is the birthplace of
(a) Adi Shankaracharya
(b) Madhavacharya
(c) Vidyaranya
(d) Ramanuja
Answer: Ramanuja

The pioneer in preaching Nirguna Bhakti in medieval India was
(a) Vallabhacharya
(b) Sri Chaitanya
(c) Ramananda
(d) Namadeva
Answer: Ramananda

Who amongst the following Acharyas is regarded as having combated the absolute monoism of Sankara in the 12th century ?
(a) Udyotaka
(b) None of these
(c) Ramanuja
(d) Hemachandra
Answer: Ramanuja

Who amongst the following was an exponent of Virashaiva ?
(a) None of these
(b) Basavaraja
(c) Shankaracharya
(d) Ramanuja
Answer: Basavaraja

Which of the following does not belong to Nirgun cult ?
(a) Kabir
(b) Ravidas
(c) Nanak
(d) Meera
Answer: Meera

The saint from Gujarat, who preached non-sectarianism in medieval times was
(a) Ramanand
(b) Dadu
(c) Raghunandan
(d) Tukaram
Answer: Dadu

PSC OBJECTIVE INDIAN HISTORY

The first dicourcse of Buddha at Deer Park in Sarnath is called
(a) Mahabhiniskraman
(b) Mahamastabhisheka
(c) Mahaparinirvana
(d) Dharmachakrapravartan
Answer: Dharmachakrapravartan

Who, according to Jains, was the founder of Jainism ?
(a) Parsavanatha
(b) Arishtanemi
(c) Rishabha
(d) Mahavira
Answer: Parsavanatha

Which one of the following is a doctrine said to have been added by Mahavira to the four other doctrines propounded by previous teachers ?
(a) Observe brahmacharya
(b) Do not acquire property
(c) Do not commit violence
(d) Do not speak a lie
Answer: Observe brahmacharya

In India, Jainism spread during the reign of
(a) Harshavardhana
(b) Chandragupta Vikramaditya
(c) Samudragupta
(d) Chandragupta Maurya
Answer: Chandragupta Maurya

Who delivered his first sermon at Sarnath ?
(a) None of these
(b) Buddha
(c) Mahavira
(d) Shankaracharya
Answer: Buddha

Right belief, Right knowledge and Right action are the three jewels of
(a) Buddhists
(b) Kabir Panthis
(c) Jains
(d) Shaivites
Answer: Jains

Buddhism and Jainism both gave stress on
(a) Worship of God
(b) None of these
(c) Self-mortification
(d) Non-violence
Answer: Non-violence

In which of the following languages were the original Buddhist religious texts written ?
(a) Sanskrit
(b) Magadhi
(c) Pali
(d) Brahmi
Answer: Pali

Lord Buddha was born in
(a) Bodh Gaya
(b) Pataliputra
(c) Lumbini
(d) Vaishali
Answer: Lumbini

A well-known patron of the Mahayana form of Buddhism was
(a) Kanishka
(b) Ashoka
(c) Ajatashatru
(d) Bimbisara
Answer: Kanishka

PSC OBJECTIVE TYPE

The main Characteristic of the Indus Valley Civilization was
(a) Pucca houses
(b) Drainage system
(c) Town Planning
(d) Well laid out roads
Answer: town planning

The main occupation of the people of the Indus Valley civilization was
(a) Cattle rearing
(b) Trade
(c) Hunting
(d) Agriculture
Answer: Agriculture

Which one of the following archaelogists initially discovered the Mohenjodaro site of the Indus Valley Civilization ?
(a) Rakhal Das Banerji
(b) Sir Martimer Wheeler
(c) Sir John Marshall
(d) Daya Ram Sahni
Answer: Rakhal Das Banerji

Which one of the following was not an Indus Valley Civilization site ?
(a) Sukatagendor
(b) Patliputra
(c) Lothal
(d) Rangpur
Answer: Patliputra

Which one of the following elements of Hinduism were practised in the Indus Valley Civilization ?
(a) Worshipping cows
(b) Cult of Shiva
(c) Idol worship
(d) Wearing of sacred threads
Answer: Cult of Shiva

Which of the following metals was not known to Indus Valley people ?
(a) Bronze
(b) None of these
(c) Iron
(d) Copper
Answer: Iron

HISTORY OF INDIAN LEARNING AND EDUCATION

HISTORY OF INDIAN LEARNING AND EDUCATION

The highly esteemed Vedas have come to down to us. They existed for nearly 2000 years before they were known in India. It was the knowledge of acustics that enabled ancient Indians to orally transmit the Vedas from generation to generation. Institutional form of imparting learning came into existence in the early centuries of the Christian era. The approach to learning was to study logic and epistemology.

The study of logci was followed by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, one of the most important topics of Indian thoughts was pramana or means of reliable knowledge. The nyaya schools upheld four pramanas - perceptions of areliable by anology or comparison, word (Sabda), and pronounciation of a reliable authority such as the Vedas. The Vedanta school added one more to it i.e. intution.

HISTORY OF INDIAN SCINECE & TECHNOLOGY

HISTORY OF INDIAN SCINECE & TECHNOLOGY

Knowledge of science and technology, however, got linked with religionand social relations. Relying primarily on pragmatism some intellectuals in India acquired intuitive awarness of scientific temper. In view of absence of experiment, some insights became ridiculous.

Knowledge of science was known from very ancient times, although science, as we know today, was not known in India till modern times. The archaeological remains of the Indus Valley reveal knowledge of applied sciences. Scientific techniques were used in irrigation, Metallurgy, making of fired bricks and pottery, and simple recknowing and measurement of areas and volumes.

It contrast more is know about Aryan achievements in the field of astronomy, mathamatcis and medicine. Chinese records indicate knowledge of a dozen books of Indian origin. Brahmagupta's Sidhanta as well as Charaka's and Susrata's Samhitas were translated int Arabic in the 9th or 10th centuries A.D. 

INDIAN IMPACT ON ANCIENT SOUTH-EAST ASIA

INDIAN IMPACT ON ANCIENT SOUTH-EAST ASIA

By the opening of the Christian are the civilization of India and begun to spread across the Bay of Bengal into both island and mainland south-east Asia, and by the fifth century A.D. Indianised states, that is to say states organized along the traditional lines of Indian political theory and following the Buddhists or Hindu religions, had established themselves in many regions of Burma, Thialand, Indo-China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Some of these states were in time to grow into great empires dominating the zone between metropolitan India and the Chiense southern border, which has sometimes been dscribed as "Further India' or "Greater India", once rooted in South-East Again soil, Indian civilization evolved in part through the action of forces of South-East Asian origin, and in part through the influence of cultural and political changes in the Indian Subcontinent civilization in terms of a series of 'waves' and there are good reasons for considering that such "waves" are still breaking in south East Asian beaches today.

THE LINK BETWEEN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SOUTH INDIA

THE LINK BETWEEN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SOUTH INDIA

Indian historians have conducted a heated debate for many decades about the relative marits of different regions with regard to the spread of Indian influenced in southeast Asia. Now a days there seems to be a consensus that, at least as far as the early centuries AD are concerned, South India and specially Tamil Nadu-deserves the gerates credit for this achievement. In subsequent periods, however, several regional shifts as well as parallel influences emanaging from various centers can be noticed. The influence of Tamil Nadu was very strong as far as the earliest inscriptions in Southeast Asia are concerned, showing as they do the influence ofteh script prevalent in the Pallava kingdom. The oldest Buddhist sculputure in Southeast Asia- the famous Buddha of Celebes - shows the marks of the Buddhist sculptures of Amarvati (Coastal Andhra) of the third to the fifth centuries AD. Early Hindu sculptures of Western Java and of the Isthmus of Siam seem to have been guided by the Pallava style of the seventh and eighth centuries AD. Early southeast Asian temple architecture similarly shows the influence of the Pallavas and Chola styles, especially on Java and in Kampuchea.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHIST MONKS

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHIST MONKS

Buddhist monks played an important role in spreading indian culture in south east asia. Two characteristic features of Buddhism enabled it to make a specific impact on southeast Asia, First Buddhist were imbued with a atrong missionary zeal, and second, they ignored the caste system and did not emphasize the idea of ritual purity. By his teaching as well as by the orginzation of his monastic order (Sangha) Gautama Buddha had given rise to this missionary zeal, which had then been fostered by Ashoka's dispatch of Buddhist missionaries to Western Asia, Greece, Central Asia, Sri lanka and Burma.

Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi  was assassinated on 30 January 1948,  shot    at    point-blank range by Nathuram Godse. Since 1934, there had been five unsuccessful attempts to kill Gandhi. Gandhi was outside on the steps of a building where a prayer meeting was going to take place. He was with some of his families and followers when four gunshots killed him. Many of the people who were present remained long after the assassination, weeping and saying that they felt him leave their souls.

ASSASSINATION

After a previous failed attempt to assassinate Gandhi at the Birla House, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Aptereturned to Pune via Mumbai (Bombay). With the help of Dr. Dattatraya Parchure and Gangadhar Dandavate, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte purchased a Beretta and reached Delhi on 29 January 1948, checking into the retiring room No. 6 at Delhi Railway Station.

CONSPIRATORS

DAY OF ASSASSINATION

Godse killed Gandhi on January 30, 1948. He approached Gandhi on the way to a prayer meeting and bowed. A girl accompanying Gandhi said "Brother, Bapu is already late" and tried to put him off but he pushed her aside and shot three times at point-blank range with a .38 Beretta semi-automatic pistol.