Day-625 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: It believes in the process of logical reasoning to obtain salvation, as the name of the school implies. It is considered as a technique of logical thinking. According to Nyaya Philosophy, nothing is acceptable unless it is in accordance with reason and experience (scientific approach).
Statement 2 is incorrect: Vaisheshika school of philosophy only accepted perception and inference as sources of valid knowledge. Nyaya accepts four kinds of Pramā (valid presentation): (1) perception, (2) inference, (3) comparison or analogy, (4) word or testimony. Nyāya defends a form of direct realism and a theory of substances (dravya).
Additional information:
Nyaya School of Philosophy
● Nyaya school is one of the six astika schools of Indian Philosophy. This school’s most significant contributions to Indian philosophy were the systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, etc.
● They regard life, death, and redemption as enigmas that can be deciphered via rational and analytical reasoning.
● Gautama, who is also known as the author of the Nyaya Sutra, is said to have developed this school of thought.
Vaisheshika school of philosophy
● The reality according to this philosophy has many bases or categories which are substance, attribute, action, genus, distinct quality and inherence.
● Vaisheshika thinkers believe that all objects of the universe are composed of five elements–earth, water, air, fire and ether.
● They believe that God is the guiding principle. The living beings were rewarded or punished according to the law of karma, based on actions of merit and demerit.
● The Vaisheshika and Nyaya schools eventually merged because of their closely related metaphysical theories (Vaisheshika only accepted perception and inference as sources of valid knowledge).

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: Home Rule Movement was India’s response to the First World War.
Statement 2 is correct: Indian people faced hardships caused by high taxation and rise in prices of goods during the first world war.
There were several factors that contributed to the formation of the Home Rule Movement. One of them was consequences of world war. The war, which was fought between the major imperialist powers of the time and was backed by open propaganda against each other, exposed the myth of white superiority. The world war led Indian people to feel the burden of war time miseries caused by high taxation and a rise in prices.
Additional information:
Tilak and Annie Besant were ready to assume the leadership, and the movement started with great vigour. Two Indian Home Rule Leagues were organised on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues and they represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive politics. The League campaign aimed to convey to the common man the message of home rule as self-government.
Objectives of Home Rule Movement:
● To achieve self-government in India.
● To promote political education and discussion to set up agitation for self-government.
● To build confidence among Indians to speak against the government’s suppression.
● To demand a larger political representation for Indians from the British government.
● To revive political activity in India while maintaining the principles of the Congress Party.

Answer: A
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is incorrect: In the early decades of the foundation of the Bahmani Kingdom, feuds arose among the nobility and the nobles were divided into “Deccanies” and “Afaqis”. The struggle between the Afaqis and Deccanis had a destabilizing effect on the Bahmani Sultanate’s political structure. Succession disputes and conflicts over the throne were often exacerbated by the internal divisions, leading to periods of political instability.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: For administrative purposes, the Bahamani kingdom was divided into four “Taraf,” or provinces headed by Tarafdars or Subedars not Amirs.
• Statement 3 is correct: Bahmani rulers were influenced by the “Iqtadari System” for administration adopted from the Delhi Sultanate.
Additional information:
● The Bahmani Kingdom was a Muslim dynasty in southern India during the medieval period in Indian history.
● The founder of the Bahmani kingdom was Alauddin Hassan Gangu Bahaman Shah. He rebelled against Muhammad Bin Tughlaq in 1347.
● Bahmani Kingdom’s capital city was Gulbarga in present-day Karnataka. This Bahmani kingdom was ruled by 14 sultans. Among them, Alauddin Bahman Shah, Muhammad Shah I, and Firoz Shah were important rulers.
● The power of the Bahmani kingdom reached its peak during the reign of Muhammad Shah III. The borders of the Bahmani kingdom extend from Goa to Bombay in the west and from Krishna to Kakinada in the east.
● The Bahmani dynasty was the first to unite the Deccan part of the Indian subcontinent with their kingdom. The Bahmani kingdom served as a cultural bridge between the northern and southern regions of the Indian subcontinent.
● Dakhini Urdu was a popular language widely propagated from the Bahmani kingdom and Dakhini poetry also flourished during that time and is still performed in Hyderabad today.

Answer: A
Explanation:
● Satamana and Nishka were gold coins which were used for trading during vedic period.
● The unit value of goods was a gold bar called “nishka” weighing three hundred and twenty ratis, which was also the weight of a satamana.
Additional information:
● The Coinage of India began anywhere between early 1st millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE, and consisted mainly of copper and silver coins in its initial stage. The coins of this period were Karshapanas or Pana.
● A variety of earliest Indian coins, however, unlike those circulated in West Asia, were stamped bars of metal, suggesting that the innovation of stamped currency was added to a pre-existing form of token currency which had already been present in the Janapadas and Mahajanapada kingdoms of the Early historic India.
● The kingdoms that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Magadha, Panchala, Shakya, Surasena, Surashtra and Vidarbha etc.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Given below is the correctly matched pairs:
Festivals/Fairs – Associated states
1) Nabakalebar festival – Odisha
2) Tyagaraja Aradhana – Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
3) Sarhul – Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal
4) Saga Dawa – Sikkim
Additional information:
Nabakalebar festival
● Nabakalebar festival is observed at Shri Jagannath temple, Puri (Odisha) at a pre-defined time (after every 8 to 19 years) according to the Hindu calendar.
● Nabakalebar means new body, i.e. the idols of Lord Jaganath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced with new idols. The new idols are made from the log (daru) of 04 separate neem trees which are selected as per set criteria and after a rigorous search.
● From the daru or log of the selected neem trees, the idols are carved and are replaced during the Adhik Masa (intercalary month).
● Lakhs and Lakhs of pilgrims attend to worship the selected neem tree and the ceremony of replacement of idols.
Tyagaraja Aradhana
● It is held annually to commemorate the ‘Samadhi’ day of the famous Telugu Saint and composer Tyagaraja.
● It is held in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, primarily at Thiruvaiyaru (where he attained Samadhi).
● The festival is attended by leading exponents of Carnatic music who come to pay their tribute to the saint.
● Saint Tyagaraja along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, comprise the Trinity of Carnatic music.
Sarhul
● Sarhul marks the beginning of the New Year for the tribals of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
● It is mainly celebrated by the Munda, Oraon and Ho tribes.
● Sarhul literally means ‘Worship of Sal’. It is celebrated in the spring season, i.e. in the month of Phalgun according to the Hindu calendar.
● Tribals hold nature in great reverence and Mother Earth is worshipped during the festival.
● Sarhul is celebrated for several days during which the main traditional dance Sarhul is performed. It is related to religion called “Sarnaism
Saga Dawa (Triple Blessed Festival)
● It is mostly celebrated in the Buddhist communities living in the State of Sikkim. It is celebrated on the full moon day that falls in the middle of the Tibetan lunar month called the Saga Dawa.
● This day is considered to be a very auspicious day for the Tibetan community. This falls between May and June and this month is called Saga Dawa or the ‘Month of merits’.
● The festival is celebrated to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death (parinirvana) of Buddha. Most people make a pilgrimage to the monasteries and offer incense sticks, Dhog and water. People also circumambulate the Gompas of the monastery and chant mantras, recite the religious texts and turn the prayer wheels.
● Throughout the month of Saga Dawa, the community of Buddhists has to follow three teachings of Buddhism: generosity (dana), morality (sila), and meditation or good feelings (bhavana).