Indian History Mixed Quiz: Set 57

The correct answer is C, Jayangondar. Jayangondar, a court poet of Kulottunga I, composed the Kalingattuparani, a war poem in the parani form that describes the Chola campaign against Kalinga. Option A is wrong because Kamban wrote the Ramavataram, the Tamil retelling of the Ramayana, which is the best known literary work of the Chola period. Option B is wrong because Sekkizhar wrote the Periyapuranam, the account of the lives of the sixty-three Nayanar saints of Shaiva devotion, composed under Kulottunga II. Option D is wrong because Tiruttakkadevar, a Jain author, wrote the Jivaka-chintamani. All four names are set together as options in examinations, so each should be fixed to its work and not merely to the Chola period. The Kalingattuparani is also valued as evidence of Chola court life, and examiners pair it with the Periyapuranam, the Ramavataram and the Jivaka-chintamani in match-the-following questions on Tamil literature of the Chola age.

The correct answer is B, Indian Opinion. Gandhi started Indian Opinion at Durban in 1903 to put the case of Indians settled in South Africa before the public.

The weekly was printed at the Phoenix Settlement near Durban and came out in English and Gujarati, with Tamil and Hindi sections in its early years. Gandhi later wrote that a struggle such as satyagraha could not be carried on without a journal of its own, and the paper carried his writings on the campaign against the Asiatic Registration Act.

Option A, Young India, was an English weekly Gandhi edited in India from 1919. Option C, Swaraj Hind, is not a paper associated with him. Option D, Navajivan, was his Gujarati weekly, also taken up in India in 1919.

Exam tip: Indian Opinion, 1903, South Africa; Young India and Navajivan, 1919, India.

The correct answer is A, land whose revenue was reserved for the imperial treasury. The territory of the empire was divided between khalisa and jagir: the revenue of khalisa land was collected by imperial officers and credited to the central treasury, while the revenue of jagir land was assigned to mansabdars in place of a cash salary. The proportion of khalisa was watched carefully, since too little of it left the treasury short. B describes grants called madad-i-maash given to scholars and religious men. C describes a watan jagir, held hereditarily by chiefs such as the Rajput rulers. D describes banjar land, which was assessed at concessional rates rather than exempted. The share of khalisa in the empire rose and fell with each reign, and its shrinking is one measure of the later crisis.

The correct answer is D, He was the first recipient of the Padma Shree Award. C. Rajagopalachari was one of the first three recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954, along with C. V. Raman and S. Radhakrishnan, not of the Padma Shri, so this statement is not true. Known as Rajaji, he took charge in 1948 as the last Governor General of India and the only Indian to hold that post, after Lord Mountbatten left. He had earlier been Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Union Home Minister and Chief Minister of Madras State. A is true, since no other Indian held the office. B is true, because he founded the Swatantra Party in 1959 to oppose Nehru's policy of state control and land ceilings. C is true, as he was a close associate of Gandhi and a senior Congress leader. Exam tip: the first Bharat Ratna went to Rajaji, Raman and Radhakrishnan in 1954.

The correct answer is C, Saadat Khan. Saadat Khan, who held the title Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed governor of Awadh in 1722 and converted the governorship into a hereditary principality, keeping the outward forms of allegiance to the Mughal emperor while ruling independently. Option A is wrong because Chin Qilich Khan founded Hyderabad, not Awadh; he took the title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah when he withdrew to the Deccan in 1724, and he is the standard distractor in this question. Option B is wrong because Marthanda Varma was the ruler who built up Travancore in the far south, an independent kingdom of a quite different region. Option D is wrong because Haidar Ali took power in Mysore in 1761, displacing the Wodeyar rulers, and had no connection with Awadh at all.

The correct answer is D, Chin Khilich Khan. Chin Qilich Khan, better remembered by his title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, was a Mughal noble appointed governor of the Deccan by Muhammad Shah. Tired of court intrigue at Delhi, he returned to the south, defeated his rival Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda in 1724 and from then on ruled the Deccan as an independent prince in all but name, founding the Asaf Jahi or Nizam dynasty of Hyderabad that lasted until 1948. He kept the forms of Mughal loyalty, struck coins in the emperor’s name, yet appointed his own officers and made war and peace on his own. Option A is wrong because Asaf Jah II, that is Nizam Ali Khan, was a later ruler of the same line, not its founder. Option B is wrong because Bahadur Shah was the Mughal emperor who ruled from 1707 to 1712. Option C is wrong because Alivardi Khan made himself independent in Bengal, not Hyderabad. Exam tip: Hyderabad 1724 Chin Qilich Khan, Awadh 1722 Saadat Khan, Bengal Murshid Quli Khan.

The correct answer is B, the Treaty of Mangalore. The Second Anglo-Mysore War, fought from 1780 to 1784, ended with the Treaty of Mangalore signed in 1784 between Tipu Sultan and the English East India Company on the basis of mutual restitution of conquered territory. It is historically important as the last treaty in which an Indian power dictated terms to the Company. Option A is wrong because the Treaty of Madras of 1769 closed the First Anglo-Mysore War fought by Hyder Ali. Option C is wrong because the Treaty of Seringapatam of 1792 ended the Third Anglo-Mysore War and cost Tipu nearly half his kingdom. Option D is wrong because the Treaty of Salbai of 1782 belongs to the First Anglo-Maratha War and had nothing to do with Mysore. Remember also that Hyder Ali died in December 1782, in the middle of the second war.

The correct answer is A, Treaty of Mangalore. The Second Anglo-Mysore War ran from 1780 to 1784. Haidar Ali fought the English East India Company with the Marathas and the Nizam on his side, and after his death in December 1782 his son Tipu Sultan carried the war on and signed the Treaty of Mangalore in March 1784. By its terms the two sides gave back the territory and the prisoners each had taken, so the war ended in a draw and left Mysore undiminished; it was the last treaty the Company signed with an Indian power on equal terms. B is wrong because no Treaty of Arcot closed this war. C is wrong because Wandiwash was the battle of 1760 in which the English beat the French in the Third Carnatic War, not a treaty. D is wrong because the Treaty of Madras of 1769 ended the First Anglo-Mysore War. Exam tip: the four wars end at Madras 1769, Mangalore 1784, Seringapatam 1792 and Tipu's death in 1799.

The correct answer is A, merchant guilds. Ayyavole, also called the Five Hundred of Ayyavole, along with Manigramam and Nanadesi, were associations of traders who handled inland and overseas commerce, financed temples, maintained their own guards and left inscriptions in South India and as far away as Sumatra. Their trade with Song China and South-East Asia is the economic background to Rajendra I's naval expedition. Option B is wrong because the Chola military formations were the kaikkolar infantry and the velaikkarar, troops bound to defend the king. Option C is wrong because the committees of a village or temple assembly were called variyams. Option D is wrong because land in the Chola grants was described by its purpose, as brahmadeya, devadana, pallichchandam, shalabhoga or vellanvagai, not by these names.

The correct answer is B, Ricardian theory of rent. The Ryotwari settlement rested on David Ricardo's theory of rent, which held that rent is the surplus left after the cost of cultivation is met, so the state could claim that surplus straight from the tiller. Alexander Read and Thomas Munro introduced the system in Madras, and it spread to Bombay, Assam and Berar, covering about half of British India. Revenue was settled directly with the ryot, the peasant, who was treated as the owner of his land so long as he paid; there was no zamindar in between, the demand was fixed in cash and high, and the settlement was revised about every thirty years. A is wrong because Adam Smith wrote on the division of labour and free trade, not on this settlement. C is wrong because Malthus is remembered for his theory of population. D is wrong because Marx wrote later and had no hand in British revenue policy. Exam tip: Permanent Settlement with Cornwallis in Bengal, Ryotwari with Munro in Madras, Mahalwari with Holt Mackenzie in the North-Western Provinces.

The correct answer is B, batai or ghalla-bakhshi, in which the harvested crop itself was divided in an agreed proportion between the state and the cultivator, either on the threshing floor or in the standing field. It suited areas where measurement was costly and prices unsteady, and the peasant could sometimes choose it. A, zabti, is the dahsala method in which a cash rate per bigha was fixed from ten-year averages. C, kankut, was an estimate of the yield of a standing crop made by appraisal, with kan meaning grain and kut an estimate. D, nasaq, was a rough demand based on previous collections for the whole village, without either measurement or division of the crop. Of the four methods, zabti covered the greatest area under Akbar, and the other three survived at the edges of the empire.

The correct answer is D, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati. Swami Sahajanand Saraswati set up the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha in 1929 to organise the peasants of Bihar against the zamindars. He was a sanyasi who turned to peasant work, and his Sabha pressed for an end to illegal cesses and begar and for security of tenancy for the raiyat. What he built in Bihar grew into the All India Kisan Sabha, founded at Lucknow in 1936 with Sahajanand Saraswati as its first president and N G Ranga as general secretary. A is wrong because Kunwar Singh led the revolt of 1857 in Bihar and died in 1858. B is wrong because J M Sengupta was a Congress leader of Bengal with no part in it. C is wrong because Jayaprakash Narayan, though a Bihar leader, was then building the Congress Socialist Party, which was founded in 1934. Exam tip: Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha 1929 and the All India Kisan Sabha at Lucknow in 1936, both with Sahajanand Saraswati.

The correct answer is B, Chin Qilich Khan. He served as Mughal governor of the Deccan and for a short time as wazir of the empire, and on withdrawing to the south in 1724 he ruled as Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, founding the line of the Nizams of Hyderabad. Option A is wrong because Murshid Quli Khan was the officer who made Bengal effectively independent and after whom Murshidabad is named. Option C is wrong because Saadatullah Khan established the authority of the Nawabs of Arcot in the Carnatic, a dependency of Hyderabad that drifted into independence of its own. Option D is wrong because Safdar Jung was the second ruler of Awadh, successor to Saadat Khan, and also served as wazir at Delhi, which is why his name is used as a distractor here.

The correct answer is B, 19 December 1929. The Lahore session of the Indian National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution on 19 December 1929 and declared complete independence to be the goal of the Congress.

The session met on the bank of the Ravi and was presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. On the midnight of 31 December 1929 the tricolour was hoisted there, and the Congress asked people to observe 26 January 1930 as the first Independence Day. The same resolution cleared the way for a civil disobedience programme, which Gandhi began with the Dandi March in March 1930.

Option A, 21 December 1929, is not linked with any decision of the session. Option C, 26 December 1929, is also a wrong date. Option D, 15 December 1929, falls before the session opened.

Exam tip: Lahore session 1929 — resolution 19 December, flag 31 December, first Independence Day 26 January 1930.

The correct answer is B, the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799. Lord Wellesley, who wanted every major state inside his subsidiary alliance system, accused Tipu Sultan of corresponding with the French. The war lasted only a few weeks: Srirangapatna was stormed and Tipu died fighting at its gates on 4 May 1799. Mysore was then partitioned, with Kanara, Coimbatore and Seringapatam kept by the Company and the rest restored to the Wodeyar dynasty under a subsidiary treaty. Option A is wrong because Tipu survived the Third Anglo-Mysore War and signed the Treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, giving up half his territory and two sons as hostages. Option C is wrong because 1784 is the year of the Treaty of Mangalore, which Tipu himself signed. Option D is wrong because 1805 belongs to the closing stage of the Second Anglo-Maratha War, when Holkar signed the Treaty of Rajghat.

The correct answer is A, Singapore. Subhas Chandra Bose proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India, the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, at Singapore on 21 October 1943. He himself took charge as head of state, prime minister and minister of war. The government was recognised by Japan, Germany and Italy among others, declared war on Britain and the United States, later moved its headquarters to Rangoon, and was given charge of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which Bose renamed Shaheed and Swaraj. Bose had reached Singapore in July 1943 and taken command of the Indian National Army from Rash Behari Bose. Option B is wrong because Shanghai had no part in this. Option C is wrong because Berlin is where Bose spent 1941 to 1943 and set up the Free India Centre and the Indian Legion. Option D is wrong because Mandalay in Burma is the jail where he was held in the 1920s. Exam tip: 21 October 1943 at Singapore, with the headquarters shifting to Rangoon in 1944.

The correct answer is A, Karikala of the early Cholas. The Kallanai, known in English as the Grand Anicut, is a dam built across the Kaveri to divert water into the delta channels, and tradition assigns it to Karikala, a king of the early Cholas of the Sangam age who ruled from Uraiyur. It remains one of the oldest water-diversion structures still in use anywhere. Option B is wrong because Rajaraja I, four centuries later, is associated with the Brihadisvara temple and with conquests in Sri Lanka. Option C is wrong because Rajendra I built Gangaikonda Cholapuram and sent the overseas expeditions. Option D is wrong because Rajaraja II built the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram. The question is a standard trap that mixes the early Cholas with the imperial Cholas.

The correct answer is D, Robert Clive. Clive commanded the forces of the East India Company at Plassey on 23 June 1757 and defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, a victory owed chiefly to the defection of the Nawab's commander Mir Jafar. Option A is wrong because Lord Dalhousie was Governor-General almost a century later, from 1848 to 1856, and is remembered for the doctrine of lapse and the annexation of Awadh. Option B is wrong because Captain Hodson belongs to the revolt of 1857, in which he captured Bahadur Shah Zafar and killed the Mughal princes. Option C is wrong because Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of Bengal in 1773 and is linked with ending the dual government, not with Plassey. Clive had already made his name at Arcot in 1751, and after Plassey he went on to become the first Governor of Bengal, which is why his name dominates this period.

The correct answer is B, Peshwa Baji Rao II. Defeated by Yashwantrao Holkar at Poona, the Peshwa fled to British protection and signed the Treaty of Bassein on 31 December 1802, accepting a subsidiary alliance under which a British force was stationed in his territory and his foreign relations passed to the Company. The other Maratha chiefs saw this as the sale of the confederacy and went to war, which is why a treaty, not a battle, is treated as the cause of the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Option A is wrong because Mahadji Scindia had died in 1794, well before this treaty. Option C is wrong because Holkar was the chief who drove the Peshwa out and was the last to submit, signing the Treaty of Rajghat in 1805. Option D is wrong because the Bhonsle of Nagpur fought on and signed the Treaty of Deogaon in 1803 after his defeat.

The correct answer is B, brahmadeya. A brahmadeya was land or a whole village granted to brahmanas, usually free of several taxes, and its assembly of adult male brahmana landholders was the sabha or mahasabha, which worked through committees called variyams; the Uttaramerur inscriptions describe such a sabha. Option A is wrong because devadana was land granted to a temple, whose income supported worship, servants and festivals. Option C is wrong because vellanvagai was the land of ordinary non-brahmana cultivators, whose village assembly was the ur. Option D is wrong because pallichchandam was land given to a Jain institution, the term palli standing for a Jain monastery or school. Examiners set these four terms against one another, so each should be fixed to its beneficiary.