Day-499 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: D
Explanation:
● From the mid-eighteenth century, there was a new phase of change. Commercial centres such as Surat, Masulipatnam and Dhaka, which had grown in the seventeenth century, declined when trade shifted to other places.
● As the British gradually acquired political control after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and the trade of the English East India Company expanded, colonial port cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay rapidly emerged as the new economic capitals. They also became centres of colonial administration and political power. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
● After the 1850s, cotton mills were set up by Indian merchants and entrepreneurs in Bombay, and European-owned jute mills were established on the outskirts of Calcutta. This was the beginning of modern industrial development in India.
● Although Calcutta, Bombay and Madras supplied raw materials for industry in England, and had emerged because of modern economic forces like capitalism, their economies were not primarily based on factory production. The majority of the working population in these cities belonged to what economists classify as the tertiary sector.
● There were only two proper “industrial cities”. Kanpur, specialising in leather, woollen and cotton textiles, and Jamshedpur, specialising in steel. India never became a modern industrialised country, since discriminatory colonial policies limited the levels of industrial development. Calcutta, Bombay and Madras grew into large cities, but this did not signify any dramatic economic growth for colonial India as a whole. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Answer: A
Explanation:
● According to Buddhist philosophy, the world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; it is also soulless (anatta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it. Hence, statement a is correct.
● Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence. It is by following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles. Hence, statement b is incorrect.
● The Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin. Hence, statement c is incorrect.
● The Buddha emphasised individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana, literally the extinguishing of the ego and desire – and thus end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world. Hence, statement d is incorrect.

Answer: A
Explanation:
● Located in the western state of Gujarat and set along the backdrop of River Pushpavati, the Sun temple of Modhera is a masterpiece of Solanki-era design and craftsmanship built during the reign of Raja Bhimdev I. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
● One of the most remarkable features of this temple is that on 21st June, the longest day of the year, one cannot see his/her own shadow and the temple’s shadow also does not fall on the ground. The reason being, the temple was intentionally built along the Tropic of Cancer at which the sun appears directly.
● On equinoxes, the only two days of the year, when the days and nights are equal, the first rays of the morning sun pass through the entrance of the temple and illuminate the main shrine, which once housed a giant image of ‘Sun God’. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
Additional Information:
● In the month of October 2022, inaugurated Heritage Lighting at Surya Mandir which makes it the first heritage site in India to be powered solely by solar energy. He also inaugurated the 3D Projection Mapping of Modhera Sun Temple. The Prime Minister also declared Modhera as India’s first 24×7 solar-powered village.
Other important features:
● There is a massive rectangular stepped tank called the surya kund in front of it. This hundred-square-metre rectangular pond is perhaps the grandest temple tank in India. A hundred and eight miniature shrines are carved in between the steps inside the tank. A huge ornamental arch-torana leads one to the sabha mandapa (the assembly hall) which is open on all sides, as was the fashion of the times in western and central Indian temples.

Answer: A
Explanation:
The correct match is given below:
● Yadavas – Southern Gujarat
● Kakatiyas – Andhra Region
● Hoysalas – Karnataka
● Pandyas – Kerala
Additional Information:
The history of South India from the 13th to the 15th centuries presents two distinct phases:
● The beginning of the 13th century is marked by the disintegration of the Chola and the Chalukya empires. On their ruins emerged four independent kingdoms in this region. There were the Pandyas and the Hoysalas in the south (on the debris of the Chola power), the Kakatiyas and the Yadavas in the north of this region (in the Deccan as a result of the decline of the Chalukya power). These kingdoms lasted for more than a century.
● In the second phase, beginning from the 2nd quarter of the 14th century, there emerged two powerful states; the Bahmani and the Vijayanagara. These two controlled almost the whole of South India for about two hundred years.
The Yadavas
● The history of the Yadava dynasty may be traced to the 9th century. For around 300 years, they ruled as the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas and the Chalukyas. With the decline of the latter, they emerged as independent rulers with a big territory under their control.
● Bhillama V (1175-1191), the feudatory of the Chalukya ruler, Somesvara IV (1181- 1189), acquired independent status in CE 1187 and laid the foundation of the Yadava rule. During Simhana’s reign (1210-46), the Yadava boundaries extended to southern Gujarat; Western Madhya Pradesh and Berar; parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, the Western half of Hyderabad State and the northern districts of Mysore. Krishna (1246-60) and Ram Chandra (1271-1311) were other important rulers of the Yadava dynasty. With the latter’s death came the end of the Yadava power itself (1311-12).
The Kakatiyas
● The Kakatiyas were the feudatories of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. Kakati Rudradeva (Prataprudra I), the founder of the Kakatiya state, succeeded in overpowering the Chalukya ruler, Tailapa III, during the second half of the 12th century (c. 1162). He also succeeded in capturing Kurnool district from the Velananti chiefs sometime around 1185. Ganapati (1199-1262), Rudrambe (1262-95) and Prataprudra II (1295- 1326) were other important rulers of the dynasty. Their rule extended over most of the Andhra region up to Godavari, Kanchi, Kurnool and Cudappah districts. Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad Tughlaq) overran the whole of Telingana in 1322 and thus sealed the fate of the Kakatiya rule.
The Hoysalas
● The Hoysalas ruled over parts of the present Karnataka and most of the Tamil region. The first independent ruler of the kingdom was Ballala II (1173-1220). The kingdom achieved independent status by the close of the 12th century but its end came at the beginning of the 14th century. The Hoysala rulers Narasimha II, (1234-63), Narasimha III (1263-91) and Ballala III (1291-1342), had to defend themselves against the aggressive designs of Pandya and Yadava rulers.
The Pandyas
● The Pandya kingdom included parts of modern Tamil Nadu and almost the whole of the present Kerala. The kingdom enjoyed independent status around the first quarter of the 13th century and came to an end by the first quarter of the 14th century. The first independent king was Maravaraman Sundara Pandya (1216-1238). Other important rulers of the dynasty were Maravaraman Sundara Pandya II (1238-51), Jatavaraman Sundara Pandya I (1251-68), Maravaraman Kulsekhara Pandya (1268-1310) and Jatavaraman Sundara Pandya II and Jatavaraman Vir Pandya.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Sangam literature reflects a society with its distinctive cultural traditions, one which celebrated war (puram) and love (akam).
The poet does not speak through his or her own persona, but uses various characters such as the heroine, her friend, her foster mother, or the hero as his mouthpiece. The love poems use an interesting convention of associating themes with different landscapes known as tinai, each named after a flower.
● The kurinchi or mountain landscape was associated with the union of lovers,
● The palai (arid terrain) with separation,
● The mullai (pastoral region) with patient waiting,
● The neytal (seashore) with pining, and
● The marutam (riverine tracts) with sulking.
The poems use vivid imagery and often rely on understatement and suggestion to convey deep emotion.