QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 12 June 2020 – History

Solution: c)

Land revenue was the chief source of income. Land was divided into four categories for purposes of assessment: wet land, dry land, orchards and woods. Usually the share was one sixth of the produce. Land revenue could be paid in cash or kind. The rates varied according to the type of the crops, soil, method of irrigation, etc.

Besides land tax, many professional taxes were also imposed. They were on shopkeepers, farm servants, workmen, posters, shoemakers, musicians etc. There was also a tax on property. Grazing and house taxes were also imposed. Private owners of workshops paid an industries tax.

Solution: a)

Strain began to show within the imperial structure following Krishnadevaraya’s death in 1529 as his successors were troubled by rebellious nayakas or military chiefs. By 1542 control at the centre had shifted to another ruling lineage, that of the Aravidu, which remained in power till the end of the seventeenth century. During this period, as indeed earlier, the military ambitions of the rulers of Vijayanagara as well as there of the Deccan Sultanates resulted in shifting alignments.

Eventually this led to an alliance of the Sultanates against Vijayanagara. In 1565 Rama Raya the chief minister of Vijayanagara, led the army into battle at Rakshasi Tangadi (also known as Talikota), where his forces were routed by the combined armies of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Golconda. The victorious armies sacked the city of Vijayanagara. The city was totally abandoned within a few years.

Invasion of the Mughals is not a reason for the decline of Vijayanagar empire in South.

Solution: d)

The revolt of 1857 was held during the reign of Governor General Lord Canning.

The immediate cause of the revolt of 1857 was that Mangal Pandey killed two British officers on parade at Barrackpore.

This revolt spread in Lucknow, Ambala and Meerut cantonments. On May 10, 1857 soldiers at Meerut refused to touch the new Enfield rifle cartridges. The soldiers along with other group of civilians, went on rampage.

They marched to Delhi, seized the city and proclaimed the Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor of India. Due to the lack of unity and organisation this revolt failed.

Solution: d)

Although the rebels received the sympathy of the people, the country as a whole was not behind them. The merchants, intelligentsia and Indian rulers not only kept aloof, but actively supported the British. Meetings were organized in Calcutta and Bombay by them to pray for the success of the British. Despite the Doctrine of Lapse, the Indian rulers who expected their future to be safer with the British liberally provided them with men and materials. Indeed, the sepoys might have made a better fight of it if they had received their support. Almost half the Indian soldiers not only did not Revolt but fought against their own countrymen. Apart from some honourable exceptions like the Rani of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh and Maulvi Ahmadullah, the rebels were poorly served by their leaders. Most of them failed to realize the significance of the Revolt and simply did not do enough. Bahadur Shah and Zeenat Mahal had no faith in the sepoys and negotiated with the British to secure their safety. Most of the taluqdars tried only to protect their own interests. Some of them, like Man Singh, changed sides several times depending on which side had the upper hand. Apart from a commonly shared hatred for alien rule, the rebels had no political perspective or a definite vision of the future. They were all prisoners of their own past, fighting primarily to regain their lost privileges. Unsurprisingly, they proved incapable of ushering in a new political order.

Solution: a)

Famous sedition trials during freedom movement:

The first is the trial of Jogendra Chandra Bose in 1891. Bose, the editor of the newspaper, Bangobasi, wrote an article criticizing the Age of Consent Bill for posing a threat to the religion and for its coercive relationship with Indians.

The other most well-known cases are the sedition trials of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the trial of Mahatma Gandhi in 1922. Mahatma Gandhi for his articles published in Young India.