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Indian HistoryEasyAsked in: RRB NTPC · 9 May 2022, Shift 2 (CBT 2, Level 6)

Kalhana's Rajatarangini in Sanskrit language covers the history of kings who ruled over _____.

  1. A.Bengal
  2. B.Bihar
  3. C.Kashmir
  4. D.Delhi

Correct answer

C. Kashmir

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Kashmir. Rajatarangini, meaning the river of kings, is a Sanskrit verse chronicle of the rulers of Kashmir written by Kalhana around 1148–1150 CE. It runs to about 8,000 verses arranged in eight books called tarangas, or waves, and traces Kashmir's kings from legendary times down to Kalhana's own day in the reign of Jayasimha. Because Kalhana used inscriptions, coins, older records and his own judgement, it is often called the first real work of history written in India. Later authors Jonaraja, Srivara and Prajyabhatta continued the story into the Mughal period. A is wrong because Bengal's rulers are recorded in works like Ramacharita of Sandhyakara Nandi, not in Rajatarangini. B is wrong because Bihar was the seat of Magadha and the Palas, who are not the book's subject. D is wrong because the Delhi Sultans are covered by Persian chronicles such as Tabaqat-i-Nasiri. Exam tip: Kalhana, Rajatarangini, Kashmir, 12th century, eight tarangas.

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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.