Day-520 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: A
Explanation:
● Cārvāka: It is the first and foremost nāstika darśana. Tradition names it as lokāyata, meaning, ‘which appeals to the mass’. It is an extreme nastika darśana which believes only one means of valid knowledge, i.e., direct perception or pratyakṣa and all other sources of knowledge are not trustworthy or misleading. This philosophy discards the fifth fundamental element of the universe, i.e., the ākāśa (the space) as it is not perceived to us. So, only four fundamental elements are there, viz., earth, water, fire and air, which our sense organs can perceive.
● The Jaina philosophy revolves around two main doctrines, i.e., Anekāntavāda and Syādvāda. Both are extremely connected doctrines. According to anekāntavāda, every being has numerous properties. The permanent property that constitutes the nature of a thing is called attribute (guna). The accidental property is called mode (paryāya). According to syādvāda, our knowledge is partial and relative because passion, anger, greed, etc., obstruct our knowledge. But, we deem our partial and relative knowledge as complete and absolute. Only a liberated soul can know the reality in totality.
● According to Sāṅkhya there can be only three valid means (pramāṇas) of acquiring the right cognition which are—direct sense perception (Dṛṣṭa/Pratyakṣa), inference (Anumāna) and verbal testimony (Āptavacana). Sāṅkhya doesn’t accept Upamāna or analogy to be a valid source of knowledge.
● The Vaiśeṣika system believes in the reality of the world and recognises seven ‘Padārthas’ or categories, which are: substance (dravya), quality (guṇa), action (karma), generality (sāmānya), particularity (viśeṣa), relation of inherence (samavāya) and non-existence (abhāva).

Answer: D
Explanation:
The rural society of medieval Deccan consisted of primarily five groups:
● The large landholders who held administrative positions in the village. They were primarily the deshmukhs and deshpandes.
● Village officers such as the headman or patil and muqaddam, accountant or kulkarni and so on.
● Proprietary peasants called mirasdars or thalkari or thalvaik.
● Temporary peasants called uparis.
● Village servants and artisans collectively called balutedars.
Mokasa, Jagir Saranjam Tenures: These were essentially military tenures. Though they were in principle temporary, in course of time, they became hereditary. Civil functions were often attached to these tenures. These military tenures were common in the seventeenth century in the Sultanate of the Adil Shahis of Bijapur in the north Karnataka region. In case, the mokasadars failed in performing their duties, they were transferred or replaced or sometimes their mokasas were confiscated.

Answer: B
Explanation:
The correct order/sequence is: Bharhut, Sanchi, Junnar and Karle.

Answer: C
Explanation:
● Inscriptions reflect the history of languages and literature and a few refer to the performing arts. For instance, the 7th century Kudumiyamalai inscription gives the musical notes used in seven classical ragas.
Additional Information:
● The earliest stone inscriptions recording land grants with tax exemptions are Satavahana and Kshatrapa epigraphs found at Nashik.
● The mid-4th century Pallava and Shalankayana grants are the earliest surviving copper plate grants.
● One of the oldest copper plate grants from north India is the late 4th century CE Kalachala grant of king Ishvararata.

Answer: D
Explanation:
● The Kushana kings used the title devaputra. Historians have described them as exalting the position of the king to the extent of projecting him as divine, an idea quite common in other ancient empires.
● The Rabatak inscription also throws important light on the Kushana conception of kingship. Kanishka claims to have obtained kingship through the agency of a number of mostly Zoroastrian deities, headed by the goddess Nana. There is also mention of images of the reigning king and his predecessors in connection with the temple that had been built.