ESSAY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS-indian history

ESSAY  QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

6) In which one of the following Smritui is found the statement: “the royal charters were written on cloth or copper plate?
a) Manusmruti
b) Parasharasmruti
c) Yagnyavalkyasmruti
d) Shankhasmruti

Ans: C Yagnyavalkyasmruti. 

The statement is taken from Yagnyavalkya Samruti from Book 1, page 316. It is mentioned in the book of D. C. Sircar on page 66, of the book titled Indian Epigraphy. The book was published in1965 by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. ISBN no 81-208-1166-6. In the chapter III titled Writing Materials, Dr. Sircar has elaborated on the epigraphy and the material used for writing. 

7) The famous Dasarajna (battle of ten kings) is mentioned in
a) Rigveda
b) Yajurveda
c) Samaveda
d) None of the above

Ans: a. Rigveda. 

The battle of ten kings is mentioned in Rig Veda, Mandal 7, hymn 83. Suda of Trtsu family of Bharta Tribe fought against ten kings on the River Purushani that is present River Ravi. Bharata Tribe was assisted by Vashishta and the ten kings were assisted by Vishvamitra. The hymns in which the battle and victory is mentioned invoked Indra and Varun.
The ten tribes were Alina, Anu, Bhrigu, Bhalana, Dasa or Dasyu, Druhyu, Matsya, Parshu, Purus, Pani or Parnis.

The King Suda killed Bheda, one of the independent commander of a tribe without a king.
King Suda was grandson of Devodasa Atithigva . (Mentioned in Devadatta Ramkrishana Bhandarkar's Some Aspects of Ancient Culture' published from Madras.) 

iINDIAN HISTORY ESSAY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

(1)The copper – hoard culture in the post – Harappa period has provisionally been identified with which one of the following pottery types?
a) Sothi Pottery 
b) Ochre colour pottery
c) Painted grey ware 
d) Northern Black polished ware
Answer: Ochre Colour Pottery

The Sothi Pottery: The Sothi Pottery belongs to the earlier stage of the Harapa Culture. The pottery of this phase was found at Sothi in Bikaner District of Rajesthan. The Sothi pottery is about the earliest stages of the Harapa Culture and not the post Harapa Culture. The main scholar giving this view is Amalanand Ghose as described in An Encyclopedia of Indian Archeology page 72. The phase is early stage is identified with Kalibangan finds also. 

Painted Grey Ware: Painted Grey Ware refers to the post Harapa culture but it is later than OCP-Copper Hoard culture. It belongs to Iron Age Culture of Gangetic Plain. It does not belong to the Bronze Age. The time period is between 1100 BC to 350 BC. It succeeds Black and red ware culture. Some of the earlier phase is contemporary to the Black and Red Ware culture. It belongs to rather Later Vedic period. It was followed by Northern Black Polished Ware culure. According to B. B. Lal, it flourished in around Hastinapur, Mathura, Ahichatra, Barnawa and Kurukshetra. 

Northern Black Polished Ware: Northern Black Polished Ware culture succeeded Painted Grey Ware Culture. It had started in the middle of Later Vedic Period. It continued upto the rise of the Mauryan Empire. This culture is of interest more for its impact of Harapa Culture on the later period. The impact had been seen in the use of the mud bricks, backed bricks, architecture, and different crafts. But it appeared long after the disappearance of Harapa culture. 

Hence, the Harapa Culture period is identified with 3000 to 1750 BC. The Sothi Culture is identified with the 3000 to 2000 BC. The Ochre Colour pottery culture more recognizable for the collection of refined copper implements belongs to 2000 to 1000 BC. The Painted Grey Ware culture belongs to 1000 to 300 BC. Northern Black Polished Ware belongs to 700 BC to 300 BC. 
The Harappan Culture followed the Chalcolithic Age or the Copper Age. The Sothi culture belongs to Bronze Age. The Ochre coloured belongs to later stage of Bronze Age but with increased use of refined copper but pre-Iron Age. The rest of the two belongs to Iron age.

Ans: C. Both 1 and 2.
In Mohenjo daro the lime mortar use is quite evident in the Great Hall and Great Bath complex.
Dholavira (Kotada), in Bhachau taluka of district Kutch of Gujarat, is another metropolis of Harappan Civilization which has similar city plan as that of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. No doubt that main contruction material is sun baked burned mud bricks but the most significant feature of Dholavira is the use of stone in the dwelling buildings. It was discovered by J P Joshi in 1967-68. It is one of the four main major cities of the Harappan culture. It is also distinctivly different from other cities because of more importance is given to fortification in this city. Dholavira is also famous for ten large sized inscriptions which has been identified as the oldest sign board in the world. It is also famous for making arrangement for the water storage. It used limestone along with baked bricks. 

3) With reference to Indus Valley Civilization, consider the following animals:
1. Bull 2. Elephant 3. Rhinoceros
The figure/figures of which of the above animal/animals is/are found on the Indus seals?
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1,2 and 3

Ans: Bull, Elephant and Rhinoceros, are all shown the seals. Apart from that the markhor (a goat), tiger, Buffaloes, crocodile, fish, hare and dogs are other animals shown on the seals. In addition to that there are shown composite animals wherein like the head is that of a tiger but hind legs are of bull. The special animal is unicorn. 

4) Which one of the following contains the famous Gayatri Mantra?
a) Rig Veda
b) Samveda
c) Yajurveda
d) Atharvadeda

Ans: a. Rig Veda.
Gayatri Mantra is found in Third Mandal of Rig Veda. The Mandal has 62 hymns and the tenth richa in the 62th hymn is the gyatri mantra. It is attributed to Rishi Vishvamitra. The Gayatri Mantra is addressed to god Savitar. The rest of the hymns of the third mandal at attributed Agni and Indra. It being in the third Mandal, hence, it belongs to the core part of the Rig Veda as the first and the tenth mandals are considered to be the latter additions. It is called gayatri because of the meter used to chant is gayatri. The second name is Savitri Mantra, after the name of the god who is invoked in this mantra. (Savitar is shown as an aspect of Usha – a goddess whereas in most of the books checked, Savitri is shown as male divinity and thus an aspect of Surya). Savitri Mantra is repeated again and again in numerous upnishads. It has been widely praised and interepreted by leading brains of India like Swami Vivekananda, S Radhakrishanan, J. Krishnamurthi and many others.

5) The famous phrase “tattvamasi” is found in which one of the following Upanishads?
a) Chandogya
b) Mundaka
c) Mandukya
d) Isavasya
Ans: a. Chandogya Upnishad.
Tattvamasi literary means You Are That. Linguistically correct version is Thou art That.
It is an utterance in the dialogue between Uddalaka Aruni and Shvetaketu. Shvetaketu was son of Uddalaka. 

 

Michael Foucault in History

Michael Foucault, (1926-1984) - French writer, philosopher, and historian, Foucault was born on 15 October 1926 in Poitiers, France, where he undertook his early studies, he attended the Jesuit College of St. Stanislas. Thereafter, he studied philosophy at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris (1946), where after many years of travel he spent most of his life. Foucault received degrees in philosophy, psychology, and his diploma in psycho-pathologie (1952) before accepting a position in Uppsala (1955-1958), Warsaw (1958), and Hamburg (1959). In 1964 he accepted a professorship in philosophy at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, and in 1970 was appointed Chair in the "History of Systems of Thought" at the College de France. Appropriately, he invented the title himself. In the course of his career he lectured in a dozen countries, visited Attica Prison, and travelled in the far East. He was author of many books (see below), a number of which were both influential and controversial. He aimed, as one scholar suggested, to escape the demands of what others considered thought-worthy.

The Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration

---

Explorer	Years of Exploration	Accomplishments of Explorer
Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias	1487-1488	Sailed Around the southern tip of Africa
Vasco de Gama	1497-1499	Sailed Around Africa to India
Pedro Alvares Cabral	1500	Sailed to Brazil
Spain
Christopher Columbus	1492-1504	Explored the Caribbean and parts of Central America
Juan Ponce De Leon-	1508-1509,1513	Conquered Puerto Rico, Explored Florida
Vasco Nunez de Balboa	1513	Discovered the Pacific
Hernan Cortes	1519	Conquered Mexico
Ferdinand Magellan	1519	Crew Circled the World
Francisco Pizarro	1531	Conquered the Incas in Peru
Francisco Coronado	1540	Explored South Western of United States
Hernado De Soto	1539--1543	Explored to Mississippi River
England
John Cabot	1497	Explored the East Coast Of North America
Henry Hudson	1610-1611	Explored the Hudson Bay of Canada
Netherland
Henry Hudson	1609	Explored Hudson River of New York
France
Giovanni De Verrazano	1524	Discovered New York Harbor
Jaques Cartier	1534	Explored St Lawrence
Samuel de Champlain	1603	Explored St Lawrence, Settles Quebec

Voyage Of Vasc da Gama

Vasco da Gama was born around the year 1496, in Sines Portugal. Da Gama was born into a noble family. Da Gama distinguished himself by defending Portuguese interests on the coast of Guinea, against the French. In January 1497, da Gama was placed in command of an expedition to round Africa and reach India.
On July 8th, 1497, da Gama sailed with his four ships for Southern Waters. By November, they had rounded the horn and reached the furthest point to which Dias had previously traveled. Da Gama needed the services of a navigator to direct him to India. He encountered difficulties when he attempted to secure those services from Muslim Mozambique. He was received warmly in Melinda, East Africa, where he was able to obtain the serviced of a navigator.

INDIAN HISTORY OBJECTIVE

1. Who was the founder of Brahmo Samaj?
(A) Swami Vivekananda
(B). Swami Dayanand Sarsäwati
(C) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(D) Ranadey
Ans. (C)

2. Who said the words ‘Go to Vedas’?
(A) Swami Dayanand
(B) Mahatma Gandhi
(C) Bhagat Singh
(D) Lal Bahadur Shastri
Ans. (A)

3. Who wrote the famous book ‘Hindu View of Life’ ?
(A) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(B) Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
(C) Rabindranath Tagore
(D) Arundhati Roy
Ans. (B)

4. Whose name is associated with Basic Education?
(A) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(B) Rajendra Prasad
(C) Mahatma Gandhi
(D) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Ans. (C)

5. Who among the following first received the Bharat Ratna Award?
(A) Jawaharlal Nehru
(B) C. V. Raman
(C) B. C. Roy
(D) Zakir Husain
Ans. (B)

INDIAN HISTORY OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

INDIAN HISTORY OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. For the eradication of the evil of untouchability the Anti- Untouchability League was set up by

(a) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

(b) Jagjivan Ram

(c) Mahatma Gandhi

(d) K. Kelappan

Ans:-C

2. The Muslim League started demanding a separate nation for the Muslims from the year

(a) 1919

(b) 1925

(c) 1929

(d) 1940

Ans:-D

3. Who among the following is known as the ‘Heroine of 1942 Quit India Movement’?

(a) Dr. Annie Besant

(b) Suchitra Kriplani

(c) Aruna Asaf Ali

(d) Sarojini Naidu

Ans:-C

4. Brahma Samaj mainly insisted upon

(a) Abolition of sati

(b) Abolition of child marriage

(c) Monotheism

(d) Reintroduction of converted Hindus

Ans:-C

5. The first to start a joint stock company trade with India were the

(a) Portuguese

(b) Dutch

(c) French

(d) Danish

Ans:-A