[Mission 2024] STATIC QUIZ, 4 October 2023 – History

Solution: b)

The chief male deity was Pasupati, (proto-Siva) represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture with three faces and two horns. In latter times, Linga worship was prevalent.

The chief female deity was the Mother Goddess, which shows that the religion was not strictly masculine in nature. She was represented in terracotta figurines.

Solution: d)

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the step-mother and maternal aunt (mother’s sister) of the Buddha. In Buddhist tradition, she was the first woman to seek ordination for women, which she did from Gautama Buddha directly, and she became the first bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun).

Solution: c)

The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks, who established control over the north-western part of the subcontinent.

Both Kushanas and Guptas issued gold coins.

Coins were also issued by tribal republics such as that of the Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana (c. first century CE). Archaeologists have unearthed several thousand copper coins issued by the Yaudheyas, pointing to the latter’s interest and participation in economic exchanges.

Solution: a)

Only statement 3 is correct.

In the North Western Provinces of the Bengal Presidency (most of this area is now in Uttar Pradesh), an Englishman called Holt Mackenzie devised the new system which came into effect in 1822. He felt that the village was an important social institution in north Indian society and needed to be preserved. Under his directions, collectors went from village to village, inspecting the land, measuring the fields, and recording the customs and rights of different groups. The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added up to calculate the revenue that each village (mahal) had to pay. This demand was to be revised periodically, not permanently fixed. The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the Company was given to the village headman, rather than the zamindar. This system came to be known as the mahalwari settlement.

The land included under this system consisted of all land of the villages, even the forestland, pastures etc.

Solution: d)

Dadabhai Naoroji in his famous book Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India wrote his Drain Theory.

He showed how India’s wealth was going away to England in the form of: (a) salaries, (b)savings, (c) pensions, (d) payments to British troops in India and (e) profits of the British companies.

The British Government was forced to appoint the Welby Commission, with Dadabhai as the first Indian as its member, to enquire into the Matter.

The Welby Commission’s report, published in 1900, showed a number of cases where excessive or unjust payments had been made by the Indian government.