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Indian HistoryMediumAsked in: CTET · Paper II SST, 20 Aug 2023

Jyotirao Phule's book of 1873 on the dismal conditions of 'lower' castes was dedicated to:

  1. A.Nationalists of anti-colonial movement of India.
  2. B.Bhakti singers.
  3. C.Anti-slavery activists of American Civil War.
  4. D.Brahmo Samaj reformers.

Correct answer

C. Anti-slavery activists of American Civil War.

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Anti-slavery activists of American Civil War. Phule saw the condition of India's 'lower' castes as a form of slavery, so he dedicated his book to the Americans who had fought to free slaves. The book is Gulamgiri, which means slavery, published in 1873. Eight years earlier, in 1865, the American Civil War had ended with slavery abolished in the United States. By this dedication Phule linked the struggle against racial slavery in America with the struggle against caste in India. In the same year, 1873, he founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to work for caste equality. A is wrong because the book was not dedicated to India's anti-colonial nationalists. B is wrong because the Bhakti saints were poets of an earlier age, not the people Phule honoured in this book. D is wrong because the Brahmo Samaj reformers of Bengal were not the ones he dedicated it to. Exam tip: Gulamgiri (1873) and Satyashodhak Samaj (1873), both by Jyotirao Phule.

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Q1.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKMedium

The Ryotwari experiment in land revenue was started by

  1. A.Henry Dundas
  2. B.Alexander Reed
  3. C.David Ricardo
  4. D.Mountstuart Elphinstone
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Alexander Reed

Captain Alexander Read (the name is also spelt Reed) began the Ryotwari experiment in 1792 in the Baramahal region, which the Company had taken from Tipu Sultan, with Thomas Munro as one of his assistants.

Q2.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2018, GKEasy

Who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts?

  1. A.Piyadassi
  2. B.Colin Mackenzie
  3. C.Alexander Cunningham
  4. D.James Prinsep
Show answer
Correct answer: D. James Prinsep

Prinsep, an official of the East India Company's mint and secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, deciphered the Brahmi script in 1837 and also made the key breakthrough in reading Kharoshthi.

Q3.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKHard

Which one of the following statements about the Justice Party is not correct?

  1. A.It clamoured for the same kind of separate communal representation for the Non-Brahmins as had been granted to the Muslims by the Morley-Minto Reforms.
  2. B.It was patronized mainly by richer landowning and urban middle class Non-Brahmins.
  3. C.It succeeded in getting the provision for 28 reserved seats for the Non-Brahmins in the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
  4. D.It supported the call given by the Congress to boycott elections in 1920.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. It supported the call given by the Congress to boycott elections in 1920.

The Justice Party did not join the Congress boycott of the 1920 elections; it contested them, won a majority in the Madras Legislative Council and formed the first ministry under the new reforms.

Q5.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2017, GKHard

Which one of the following statements about the All India Depressed Classes Association is not correct?

  1. A.The All India Depressed Classes Association was formed in Nagpur with M. C. Rajah as its first elected President.
  2. B.The All India Depressed Classes Association was not attended by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in 1926.
  3. C.Ambedkar resigned from the All India Depressed Classes Association and formed his own All India Depressed Classes Congress in 1930.
  4. D.The All India Depressed Classes Association favoured Ambedkar's demand for separate electorate for the depressed classes.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. The All India Depressed Classes Association favoured Ambedkar's demand for separate electorate for the depressed classes.

The All India Depressed Classes Association did not back Ambedkar's demand for a separate electorate; under M. C. Rajah it supported joint electorates with seats reserved for the depressed classes.