Day-508 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: B
Explanation:
● The Temples of Khajuraho are a magnificent example of the Nagara style of temples but not the earliest example of the Panchayatana style. The earliest example of Panchayatana style is Vishnu Temple at Deogarh (Lalitpur District, U.P.). This temple is in the panchayatana style of architecture where the main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with four smaller subsidiary shrines at the four corners (making it a total number of five shrines, hence the name, panchayatana). Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
● Khajuraho, known for its ornate temples, was built by the Chandela rulers between 900 CE to 1130 CE. The first mention of Khajuraho and its temples is in the accounts of Abu Rahyan Al Biruni ( 1022 CE) and Ibn Batuta (1335 CE). Hence, statement 2 is correct.
● The Temples of Khajuraho are divided into three groups, the Western Group, the Eastern Group and the Southern Group. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.

Western Group of Temples
The Western Group of Temples are situated on the west of the Bamitha-Rajnagar road on the banks of Sib-Sagar. They comprise six major edifices and are dedicated to the Shaivite and Vaishnavite cults.
Examples:
● Chausath Jogini Temple
● Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
● Devi Jagdamba Temple
● Chitragupta or Bharatji’s Temple
● Vishwanath Temple
● Laxmana Temple

Eastern Group of Temples
The Eastern Group of Temples are situated in close proximity to the village of Khajuraho. The complex comprises three Brahmanical (or Hindu) and three large Jain temples, viz, the Ghantai temple, the temple of Adinath and that of Parsawanatha. The Hindu temples are those of Brahma, Vamana and Javari.
Examples:
● Brahma Temple
● Vamana Temple
● Ghantai Temple
● Parsawanatha Jain Temple

Southern Group of Temples
The Southern Group consists of two temples, the Duladeo and the Jatkari temple.
Examples:
● Duladeo Temple
● Jatkari or Chaturbhuja Temple

Answer: D
Explanation:
All the above mentioned factors were responsible for bringing a change in the nature of the colonial city in the mid-19th century.
● Fear of Rebellion: After the Revolt of 1857 British attitudes in India were shaped by a constant fear of rebellion. They felt that towns needed to be better defended, and white people had to live in more secure and segregated enclaves, away from the threat of the “natives”. Pasturelands and agricultural fields around the older towns were cleared, and new urban spaces called “Civil Lines” were set up. White people began to live in the Civil Lines. Cantonments- places where Indian troops under European command were stationed – were also developed as safe enclaves.
● Sanitary Vigilance: For the British, the “Black” areas came to symbolise not only chaos and anarchy, but also filth and disease. For a long while the British were interested primarily in the cleanliness and hygiene of the “White” areas. But as epidemics of cholera and plague spread, killing thousands, colonial officials felt the need for more stringent measures of sanitation and public health. They feared that disease would spread from the “Black” to the “White” areas. From the 1860s and 1870s, stringent administrative measures regarding sanitation were implemented and building activity in the Indian towns was regulated. Underground piped water supply and sewerage and drainage systems were also put in place around this time. Sanitary vigilance thus became another way of regulating Indian towns.
● Colonial Economy: The introduction of railways in 1853 meant a change in the fortunes of towns. Economic activity gradually shifted away from traditional towns which were located along old routes and rivers. Every railway station became a collection depot for raw materials and a distribution point for imported goods. For instance, Mirzapur on the Ganges, which specialised in collecting cotton and cotton goods from the Deccan, declined when a railway link was made to Bombay. With the expansion of the railway network, railway workshops and railway colonies were established. Railway towns like Jamalpur, Waltair and Bareilly developed.
● Defence of Empire: As in the case of cantonments, hill stations were a distinctive feature of colonial urban development. The founding and settling of hill stations was initially connected with the needs of the British army. Simla (present-day Shimla) was founded during the course of the Gurkha War (1815-16); the Anglo-Maratha War of 1818 led to British interest in Mount Abu; and Darjeeling was wrested from the rulers of Sikkim in 1835. Hill stations became strategic places for billeting troops, guarding frontiers and launching campaigns against enemy rulers.

Answer: A
Explanation:
● In the late nineteenth century some changes took place that brought the masses of tribal peasants into the Rampa rebellion of 1879. As the commercial use of forestry began, and the construction of roads opened the hills to commercial penetration, traders and sahukars from the plains came to the mountainous regions and gradually took hold of tribal lands by confiscating properties of the indebted peasants and muttadars. The prohibition of shifting cultivation (podu), restrictions on the use of forest resources and a new tax on toddy tested the tolerance levels of the peasants and they looked to the muttadars for leadership. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
● This situation in turn brought stiffer resistance, as it happened in the Gudem and Rampa hill tracts of Andhra Pradesh, inhabited by the Koya and Konda Dora tribes. The first few rebellions or fituris in this region between 1839 and 1862, were initiated by the local muttadars or estate holders, who found their power curbed and rights denied by the intrusion of the new outside control.
● The fituri broke out first in Rampa in March 1879, and then spread to the neighbouring regions in Gudem. The major targets of attack were the mansabdars, the British and their police stations and the trader-contractors from the plains. The leadership was provided by the muttadars. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Answer: C
Explanation:
The correctly matched pairs are given below:
● India Divided- Rajendra Prasad. The book traces the origins and growth of the Hindu–Muslim conflict and gives the summary of the several schemes for the partition of India which were put forth. It also shows how the suggested scheme of Partition was unfeasible and proposes a new solution to the Hindu–Muslim dichotomy.
● The Golden Threshold- Sarojini Naidu. Published in 1905, the book is a beautiful collection of poetry. Its contents include “Folk Songs”, “Songs for Music”, and “Poems”. Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India.
● Unhappy India- Lala Lajpat Rai: In 1927 Katherine Mayo, a foreign journalist, visited India. She wrote a book called ‘Mother India’. It was about Indian civilization, culture and life. She saw only sheer ignorance and filth in India and nothing good or decent. People who were opposed to the freedom of India had given money for the publication of Miss Mayo’s book. In response to that book Lala Lajpat Rai wrote this book. In this book Lala Lajpat Rai gave a fitting reply to false propaganda of Miss Mayo. In this book Lala Lajpat Rai compared Indian society with contemporary USA and Britain. He pointed out that the situation is not much different than India. This book is really helpful in understanding India and world society of 1928.
● Words of Freedom (Ideas of a Nation)- Aruna Asaf Ali. Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. An active participant in the Indian independence movement, she is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan, Bombay during a Quit India Movement in 1942, giving the movement one of its most long-lasting images.
● Bandi Jivan- Sachindranath Sanyal. Bandi Jivan (A life of Captivity) is the autobiographical three part account written by Sachindranath Sanyal. Born in Varanasi in 1893, Sachindranath was instrumental in establishing the Hindustan Republican Army and led the armed revolt against the British hegemony for which he had to suffer imprisonment almost half of his life. Bandi Jivan continued to inspire people with revolutionary zeal and its translation into Hindi was received by people with jubilation. It served as the “textbook” for anti-imperialist revolutionaries upon its publication.

Answer: D
Explanation:
● The Ghadarites succeeded in popularizing the nationalist ideology — especially the critique of colonialism and the understanding that Indian poverty and backwardness were a consequence of British rule among vast masses of Indians in India and abroad.
● Ghadar ideology was also strongly egalitarian and democratic in content. Their constant references to the Irish, Mexican, and Russian revolutionaries also helped in saving the movement from a chauvinist nationalism and in giving it an internationalist character. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
● The most important achievement of the Ghadarites was that, despite the fact that the vast majority of their followers were recruited from Punjabi Sikh immigrants, they never projected any communal tendencies and were, on the contrary, strongly secular in their outlook. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
● The Ghadar movement inevitably had its share of weaknesses as well, the chief of which was its over-estimation of the level of readiness of the movement. They also underestimated the might of the British rulers, the strength of the ideological foundations of their rule, and thought that all that the people of India needed was a call to revolt.