Day-647 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: B
Explanation:
Given below is correctly matched pairs:
Ancient names of cities – States situated
1) Vengi – Andhra Pradesh
2) Tondaimandalam – Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
3) Anuradhapuram – Sri Lanka
4) Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Cholapuram – Tamil Nadu

Additional information:
Vengi or Venginadu is an Indian region in modern-day Andhra Pradesh spread over the Godavari and Krishna river deltas. The capital city of Vengi is located at Pedavegi near Eluru. Vengi was the most prominent city in Ancient Andhra for nearly seven centuries. Vengi served as the capital for Andhra dynasty like Salankayanas This region was part of Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire in the mid-3rd century BCE. After the Mauryan Empire collapsed in 185 BC, the region was dominated by the Satavahanas, who were succeeded in Vengi by the Andhra Ikshvakus. Around 300 CE, the Andhra Ikshvakus were replaced by the Salankayanas. In the late 5th century, the Salankayanas were annexed by the Vishnukundinas.
Tondaimandalam, also known as Tondai Nadu, is a historical region located in the northernmost part of Tamil Nadu and southernmost part of Andhra Pradesh. The region comprises the districts which formed a part of the legendary kingdom of Athondai Chakravarti. The boundaries of Tondaimandalam are ambiguous – between the river basins of Penna River and Ponnaiyar River. During the reign of Rajaraja I, this region was called Jayankonda Cholamandalam.
Anuradhapura is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies 205 kilometers (127 mi) north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malwathu Oya. The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilization.
Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years.
The town is about approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Tiruchirapalli international airport. As of 2014, the ancient city exists as a heritage town in the Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, India. The great Arulmigu Peruvudaiyar Temple at this place is next only to the Arulmigu Peruvudaiyar Kovil at Thanjavur in its monumental nature and surpasses it in sculptural quality. It has been recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Answer: D
Explanation:
● Puppetry has long been of interest in India, both for entertainment and educational purposes. The excavation sites at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have yielded puppets with sockets attached to them, which suggest the presence of puppetry as an art form.
● Some references of marionette theatre have been found in the period around 500 B.C. However, the oldest written reference to puppetry is found in the Tamil classic Silappadikaram, written around 1st and 2nd century B.C.
● Apart from the art form, puppetry has been of philosophical importance in the Indian culture. In the Bhagwata, God has been described as a puppeteer, controlling the universe with the three
● strings – Satta, Raja and Tama. Similarly, in the Indian theatre, the narrator was called Sutradhar, or the ‘holder of strings’.
Pavakoothu
● It is the traditional glove puppet show of Kerala. It originated in the period around 18th century A.D. The puppets are decorated with colourful headgears, feathers and face paints, which is evidence of a heavy influence of Kathakali dance form.

● The plays are themed around narrations of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Gombeyatta
● It is the traditional puppet show of Karnataka. They are styled and designed on the various characters of the Yakshagana theatres.
● A unique feature of this puppetry is that more than one puppeteer is used to manipulate the puppets.

Kundhei
● The string puppets of Odisha are known as Kundhei. They are made of light wood and are dressed in long skirts. The puppets have more joints, thus giving the puppeteer more flexibility.
● The strings are attached to a triangular prop. There is a marked influence of Odissi dance on Kundhei puppet shows.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: Aurangzeb served as the viceroy of the Deccan in 1636–1637 and the governor of Gujarat in 1645–1647.
Statement 2 is incorrect: In 1675 Aurangzeb arrested and executed the Sikh Guru (spiritual leader) Tegh Bahadur, who had refused to embrace Islam. The succeeding Guru, Gobind Singh, was in open rebellion for the rest of Aurangzeb’s reign.
Statement 3 is correct: Bibi Ka Maqbara was built by Aurangzeb in the memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum is situated in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Additional information:
● Aurangzeb was born in Dohad (or Dahod) in present-day Gujarat on November 3, 1618.
● Early Life – At the time, Khurram had been made the governor of the Gujarat province, appointed to the post by his father, Emperor Jahangir in 1618.
● Aurangzeb would, thus, spend his early years in Gujarat until his father decided to (unsuccessfully) rebel against the Emperor in 1622.
● Khurram had to submit to his father his young sons, Dara and Aurangzib, as hostages.
● Aurangzeb grew up as a serious-minded and wedded to the Muslim orthodoxy of the day and free from the royal Mughal traits of sensuality and drunkenness.
● He commanded troops against the Uzbeks and the Persians with distinction and, as viceroy of the Deccan provinces in two terms, reduced the two Muslim Deccan kingdoms to near-submission.
● Aurangzeb ruled India between 1658 to 1707.
● In the struggle for power (1657–59), Aurangzeb defeated Dara and confined his father in his own palace at Agra.
● Aurangzeb’s reign is often characterised by his strict Islamic policies, including the imposition of the Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) and the destruction of Hindu temples.
● Aurangzeb died as the emperor of India on March 3, 1707.

Answer: C
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: It was for the first time that the Indians and the British were meeting as ‘equals’.
Statement 2 is correct: Congress did not participate in the first and third conferences. Gandhiji participated in the second conference after the Gandhi-Irwin pact.
Statement 3 is correct: Dr B. R. Ambedkar represented the depressed class, Tej Bahadur Sapru represented Liberals and Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz represented women in all three RTCs.
Additional information:
● The conferences were based on the recommendation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India and James Ramsay MacDonald, the then British Prime Minister, and the Simon Commission report.
● First Round Table Conference officially inaugurated by King George V on November 12, 1930 in Royal Gallery House of Lords at London and chaired by the Prime Minister
● Ramsay MacDonald presided over the first Round Table Conference.
● The Round Table Conferences (RTC) of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India.
● The conference resulted from a review of the Government of India Act of 1919, undertaken in 1927 by the Simon Commission, whose report was published in 1930.
Background of the conferences:
● There were increasing demands of granting dominion status to India among a certain section of the British polity.
● In India, the freedom movement was in full swing with its demand for Swaraj or self-rule spearheaded by Gandhi.
● The conferences were based on the recommendation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India and James Ramsay MacDonald, the then British Prime Minister, and the Simon Commission report.
● It was for the first time that the Indians and the British were meeting as ‘equals’. The first conference started on November 12th, 1930.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: Bose thought art should be accessible to all, including the poorest. Tagore, while appreciating Bose’s viewpoint, had a different perspective. According to Tagore, “When art reaches its pinnacle, that is the high point of the aesthetic of the creator. It is unfair to assume that everyone will appreciate that. If the forces of appeasing every individual are mandated on the creator, then it will spell disaster.”
Statement 2 is incorrect: During that interaction, Tagore told Bose that though he was not against Gandhi’s movement, he did not agree with a lot of what Gandhiji was attempting. He did not attest to Gandhi’s call for boycotting the educational institutions established by the British.
Although Bose heard Tagore’s viewpoint, he was not influenced to act accordingly. He took part in the boycott of British educational institutions and the creation of a parallel national educational system, even becoming a key figure in establishing the Kolkata Vidyapith in 1921.
Statement 3 is correct: Ultimately, when Bose resigned from the Congress, Tagore expressed his solidarity thus: “The dignity and forbearance which you have shown in the midst of a most aggravating situation has won my admiration and confidence in your leadership. The same perfect decorum has still to be maintained by Bengal for the sake of her own self-respect and thereby to help to turn your apparent defeat into a permanent victory.”
Immediately after this in January 1939 he hailed Bose as “Deshnayak” (hero of the nation) and wrote a remarkable essay on him.