Day-640 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: He organized Indians in Durban and founded the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 to advocate for voting rights for Indians.
Statement 2 is correct: Gandhi founded the Phoenix Settlement in Durban in 1904 as a community living experiment.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Gandhi launched his first Satyagraha (nonviolent resistance) campaign in Johannesburg in 1906 against an ordinance that imposed restrictions on Asians.
Additional information:
Satyagraha against Registration Certificates (1906)
● To comply with the new law, Indians mandatorily need to carry at all times certificates of registration with their fingerprints.
● Gandhi formed the Passive Resistance Association to fight for this without the use of violence.
● He conducted a campaign to defy the law and asked people not to register themselves.
● Gandhi and the people retaliated by publicly burning their registration certificates.
● Gandhi faced a penalty and was jailed.
● It finally led to a compromise settlement with the government.
Campaign against Restrictions on Indian Migration
● Inspired by the earlier campaign people also protest against a new legislation imposing restrictions on Indian migration.
● People crossed over from one province to another without licences and were jailed in this process
● Campaign against Poll Tax and Invalidation of Indian Marriages
● A poll tax of three pounds was imposed on all ex-indentured Indians.
● All marriages were invalidated, if not conducted according to Christian rituals and subsequently registered, by an order of Supreme Court order.
● It made Hindu, Muslim and Parsi marriages illegal and children born out of such marriages illegitimate.
Protest against Transvaal Immigration Act
● A Transvaal Immigration Act was also protested where Indians migrated from Natal into Transvaal.
● In a bid to sustain the high pitch of the struggle, he founded Tolstoy Farm in 1910.
● Finally in the end viceroy, Lord Hardinge, condemned the repression. Negotiations by the government were started with Gandhi and a Compromise Solution was reached.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: Silambam is a martial art which allows the use of weapons. It is very famous in Tamil Nadu. In silambam, a broad range of weapons are utilized. Lord Muruga (son of Lord Shiva, also known as Kartekeya) and sage Agasthya created this martial art style.
Statement 2 is correct: Use of footworks is a very prominent characteristic of this art form.
Statement 3 is correct: It incorporates animal motions such as snake, tiger, and eagle forms.
Additional information:
● References in the Silappadikaram and other works of the Sangam literature show that Silambam has been practiced since at least the 4th century BC.
● It derives from the Tamil word silam, meaning hill. The term silambambu refers to a particular type of bamboo from the Kurinjimala (kurinji hills) in present-day Kerala.
● Thus silambam was named after its primary weapon, the bamboo staff. It may have been earlier used for self-defense and to ward off animals in the Kurinji hills and later evolved into the present-day martial art.
● Bamboo staff – as well as swords, pearls and armor – were in great demand from foreign traders.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Given below is correctly matched pairs:
Reform movements – Founding place
1) Prarthana Samaj – Bombay
2) Arya Samaj – Bombay
3) Theosophical Society – New York City
Prarthana Samaj: In 1867, Keshab Chandra Sen assisted Atmaram Pandurang establish the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay. The Prarthana Samaj supported monotheistic while denouncing caste prejudice and the power of the priesthood. The Prarthana Samaj predated the Paramahansa Sabha, a sort of hidden organisation that supported liberal principles and the removal of caste and community barriers. Mahadeo Govind Ranade (1842-1901), who joined the samaj in 1870, was largely responsible for the society’s success and the work it accomplished. His efforts helped the samaj develop a reputation throughout India. R.G. Bhandarkar (1837–1925) and N.G. Chandavarkar were additional samaj chiefs (1855-1923).
Arya Samaj was one of the Hindu organisations that worked towards growing civil rights movements in India in the 1800s. Swami Dayanand Saraswathi was the founder of the Arya Samaj. His teachings are essential in today’s world. More than a religious leader, he left a profound impact on the concept of religion and Indian society. Swami preached Universalism, not any particular caste. The Samaj promoted values and practices based on the belief of the Vedas. It was the first Hindu organisation that introduced proselytisation. Proselytisation means converting people’s religious or political beliefs. The Arya Samaj campaigned against casteism, widow remarriage, and women’s empowerment.
The Theosophical Society was founded by Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott in 1875 in New York. It was only in 1879, that this ideology gained its roots in Indian culture and Society. In 1882, they shifted their headquarters to Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras (at that time) in India.
The movement was popularised by Annie Besant in India. Its teachings aid the revelation of the latent spiritual nature in the human being, without dependence on any external phenomena. The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance theosophy.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Allahabad Pillar Inscription (Prayag Prasasti) was issued by Samudragupta and was composed by Harisena. It is written in very simple and refined Sanskrit in Champu kavya style. It lists the achievements of Samudragupta. It mentions that Samudragupta defeated 9 kings in North, 12 Kings in South.It contains a list of Samudragupta’s accomplishments. The conquests of Samudragupta and the bounds of the Gupta Empire are mentioned in this inscription, which is a glorification of Samudragupta. More than five states in the frontier states submitted and acknowledged his suzerainty, according to the document. He maintained strong ties with the Ceylonese monarchy and South East Asian territories.
Additional information:
● Hathigumpha Inscription is a seventeen-line inscription in a Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated between the second century BCE and the first century CE, it was inscribed by the Jain king Kharavela of the Kalinga kingdom.
● Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman, also known as the Girnar Rock inscription of Rudradaman, is a Sanskrit prose inscribed on a rock by the Western Satraps ruler Rudradaman I. It is located near Girnar hill near Junagadh, Gujarat, India. The inscription is dated to shortly after 150 CE. The Junagadh rock contains inscriptions of Ashoka (one of fourteen of the Major Rock Edicts of Ashoka), Rudradaman I and Skandagupta.
● Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana, is a Sanskrit inscription in the Gupta script dated to about 532 CE, on a slate stone measuring about 2 feet broad, 1.5 feet high and 2.5 inches thick found in the Malwa region of India, now a large part of the southwestern Madhya Pradesh. On the back are engraved a sign of sun and moon, as well as two horsemen. The inscription opens with the sign for siddham, is entirely in verse of various meters, and is signed at the end with the name of the engraver. The script says Fleet belongs to the “northern class of alphabet” and opens with invocations to Hindu god Shiva.

Answer: C
Explanation:
Irwin on the behalf of the Government Agreed on:
● The immediate release of all political prisoners who have not been found guilty of violence.
● Elimination of the salt tax
● Return of all lands that have not yet been sold to third parties; Courteous treatment of resigned government employees; Right to make peaceful and nonviolent pickets; Right to produce salt in coastal towns for personal consumption.
The Viceroy Lord Irwin Rejected the Following Demands Made by Mahatma Gandhi:
● The life sentences for Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev.
● The call for a public investigation into police abuses during the civil disobedience movement
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
● The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on March 5, 1931, by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, viceroy of India at the time. Just before the start of the second-round table conference in London, the agreement was signed. Congress and the government were on equal footing after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, commonly known as the Delhi Pact.
● Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin met for a fortnight to discuss plans for the Round Table Conference, which would take place in England. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was then signed by Gandhi on behalf of the Congress and Lord Irwin on behalf of the British Indian administration.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact Objective
● The salt satyagraha helped the world realize India and the terrible features of the British. Lord Irwin was angry and wanted to stop these actions. However, because the first round table conference was unsuccessful, Lord Irwin was able to add INC as a representative.
● The Indian National Congress approved the Round Table Conference. The INC would put an end to the campaign of civil disobedience. Rejection of any legislation limiting Congress’s operations. With the exception of cases involving serious offences, all cases are withdrawn. Persons who were detained for taking part in the civil disobedience campaign are released. Another goal was to abolish the salt fee. Accords outlined in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.