Which Veda depicts the information about the most ancient Vedic age culture?

The correct answer is C, 1784. Pitt's India Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1784, named after Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and it separated the commercial work of the East India Company from its political work. Trade stayed with the Court of Directors, while a Board of Control of six members, answerable to the British government, took charge of civil, military and revenue matters in India. This began the dual government of the Company and the Crown, which lasted until the Government of India Act of 1858, and the term British possessions in India was used for the first time. The Act corrected the weaknesses of the Regulating Act of 1773, which had made Warren Hastings the Governor-General of Bengal. Option A is wrong because 1818 is the year the Third Anglo-Maratha War ended. Option B is wrong because no India Act was passed in 1792. Option D is wrong because 1802 is the year of the Treaty of Bassein. Exam tip: Regulating Act 1773, then Pitt's India Act 1784 with its Board of Control and dual government.

The correct answer is B, 1240. Razia Sultan was removed from the throne of Delhi in 1240 and killed the same year. She was the daughter of Iltutmish, who named her his successor over his sons, and she ruled from 1236 to 1240, the only woman ever to sit on the throne of the Delhi Sultanate. She gave up the veil, held court in men's dress and rode into battle herself, and she raised Jamaluddin Yaqut, an Abyssinian noble, to high office, which the Turkish nobles of the Chalisa resented. Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, rose in revolt; Razia married him, but both were defeated by the supporters of her brother Bahram Shah and killed near Kaithal. Option A is wrong because 1244 falls in the reign of Alauddin Masud Shah. Option C is wrong because 1238 falls in the middle of her own rule. Option D is wrong because 1236 is the year she came to the throne. Exam tip: Razia ruled 1236-1240; the Turkish nobles of the Chalisa brought her down.

The correct answer is C, China. The Panchsheel agreement was signed on 29 April 1954 between India and China, as part of the treaty on trade between India and the Tibet region of China. Jawaharlal Nehru and Zhou Enlai gave it the name Panchsheel, the five principles: respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. The slogan Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai belongs to those years, and the five principles later shaped the Non-Aligned Movement. The war of 1962 showed how little the agreement held. Option A is wrong because India's main agreements with Pakistan are the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and the Simla Agreement of 1972. Option B is wrong because Bangladesh came into being only in 1971. Option D is wrong because the India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed in 1950. Exam tip: Panchsheel - India and China, 29 April 1954, five principles.

The correct answer is A, Maharana Pratap. The Battle of Haldighati was fought on 18 June 1576 near Gogunda in Rajasthan, between Maharana Pratap of Mewar and the Mughal army sent by Akbar. Pratap rode his horse Chetak and fought alongside his Rajput soldiers and the Bhil archers of the hills; the Mughal force was led by Raja Man Singh of Amber with Asaf Khan. The Mughals held the field, but Pratap escaped and carried on a long guerrilla war, winning back much of Mewar at Dewair in 1582. Option B is wrong because Amar Singh was Pratap's son and became Rana after him. Option C is wrong because Udai Singh II, Pratap's father, founded Udaipur and died in 1572. Option D is wrong because Man Singh commanded the Mughal side, not Mewar. Exam tip: Haldighati 1576 - Maharana Pratap against Akbar's general Man Singh; Pratap's horse was Chetak.

The correct answer is B, Non-violence. Ahimsa, or non-violence, is the first and greatest vow of Jainism, and every other rule of Jain life follows from it, down to the mask and the soft broom a Jain monk carries to avoid harming the smallest creature. Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara, taught five vows: ahimsa or non-violence, satya or truth, asteya or non-stealing, aparigraha or non-possession and brahmacharya or celibacy. Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, had already taught the first four, and Mahavira added celibacy. The three jewels of Jainism are right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. Option A is wrong because karma explains the soul's bondage and is shared with other Indian religions, so it is not the chief rule of conduct. Option C is wrong because dispassion follows from keeping the vows rather than standing above them. Option D is wrong because loyalty is not a Jain vow at all. Exam tip: the five vows of Mahavira are ahimsa, satya, asteya, aparigraha and brahmacharya.