Indian History : Solved Paper (RAS/RTS (Pre.) Examination, 2007)

RAS/RTS (Pre.) Examination, 2007

Indian History : Solved Paper

(Held on 23–12–2007)

1. The Sikh Kingdom of Punjab was annexed by the English East India Company in—

(A) 1836

(B) 1839

(C) 1849

(D) 1852

Ans : (C)

2. The Kol Uprising of 1831 started in—

(A) Gujarat

(B) Bengal

(C) Rajputana

(D) Chota Nagpur

Ans : (D)

3. Who led the Revolt of the Bareilly troops in 1857 ?

(A) Kunwar Singh

(B) Bakht Khan

(C) Azimullah

(D) Maulvi Ahmadullah

Ans : (All the four options of the question are not correct.)

Khan Bahadur Khan, the successor of the former ruler (Nawab) of Rohilkhand, led the Revolt of the Bareilly troops in 1857.

4. Who among the following leaders of the Revolt of 1857 declared himself to be the Governor of Bahadur Shah ?

(A) Nana Sahib

(B) Tantia Tope

(C) Kunwar Singh

(D) Bakht Khan

Ans : (All the four options of the question are not correct.)

Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, declared himself to be the Governor (Nazim) of Bahadur Shah.

Nana Sahib declared himself as Peshwa, Kunwar Singh was a Zamindar of Bihar, Tantia Tope was the army-chief of Nana Sahib and Bakht Khan was the army-chief of Bahadur Shah.

5. The first Indian Factories’ Act was passed in—

(A) 1881

(B) 1885

(C) 1891

(D) 1894

Ans : (A)

6. Which of the following was not a consequence of the British Land Revenue Policy in India ?

(A) Increasing impoverishment of the peasants

(B) Growing peasant indebted-ness

(C) The spread of landlordism

(D) The ruin of artisan indus-tries

Ans : (D)

7. The Archaeological Survey of India was set up during the Viceroyalty of—

(A) Lord Lytton

(B) Lord Ripon

(C) Lord Dufferin

(D) Lord Curzon

Ans : (D)

8. Who was known as ‘The Grand Old Man of India’ ?

(A) B.G. Tilak

(B) G.K. Gokhale

(C) Mahatma Gandhi

(D) Dadabhai Naoroji

Ans : (D)

9. The most important Pre-Con-gress Nationalist Organisation was—

(A) The Indian Association of Calcutta

(B) Poona Sarvajanik Sabha

(C) Bombay Presidency Asso-ciation

(D) The Madras Mahajan Sabha

Ans : (A)

10. Who among the following was a leader of Prarthana Samaj ?

(A) Gopal Hari Deshmukh

(B) Vasudeo Balwant Phadke

(C) R.G. Bhandarkar

(D) G.K. Gokhale

Ans : (C)

11. All India Women’s Conference was founded in—

(A) 1922

(B) 1927

(C) 1929

(D) 1932

Ans : (B) The All India Women’s Con-ference (AIWC), one of the oldest voluntary organization in the country was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins, an Irish Lady, who had made India her home. AIWC original concern was women’s education but grad-ually it took up various social and economic issues concerning women, such as Purdah, Child Marriage, Traf-ficking, Women’s Property Right etc.

Today, AIWC has over 1,00,000 members in 500 branches all over country. It is recognized as a premier organization working for Women’s Development and Empowerment.

12. Who among the following oppo-sed the Age of Consent Bill of 1891 ?

(A) Swami Dayanand

(B) Rabindranath Tagore

(C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak

(D) Surendranath Sen

Ans : (C)

13. The worst famine in India under the British rule occurred in—

(A) 1860–61

(B) 1876–78

(C) 1896–97

(D) 1899–1900

Ans : (B)

14. The first textile mill was started in Bombay in the year—

(A) 1853

(B) 1855

(C) 1866

(D) 1879

Ans : (A)

15. Abhinava Bharat organised in 1904 was—

(A) a secret society of revolu-tionary activists

(B) a newspaper advocating revolutionary activities

(C) a cultural organisation

(D) a trade union movement

Ans : (A)

16. A newspaper Al Hilal was brought out in 1912 by—

(A) Dr. M.A. Ansari

(B) Hakim Ajmal Khan

(C) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

(D) Maulana Muhammad Ali

Ans : (C) The Al-Hilal was a news-paper established by Indian leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and used as a medium for criticism of the British Raj in India. The newspaper also espoused the cause of the Indian independence movement and exhorted Indian Muslims to join the movement. The newspaper was shut down under the Press Act of 1914.

17. The cancellation of the partition of Bengal was announced in—

(A) 1909

(B) 1911

(C) 1913

(D) 1916

Ans : (B)

18. Who criticised Indians for having lost touch with the rest of the World ?

(A) Raja Rammohan Roy

(B) Sayyed Ahmad Khan

(C) Vivekananda

(D) Swami Dayanand

Ans : (C)

19. All India Harijan Sangh was founded by—

(A) B.R. Ambedkar

(B) Mahatma Gandhi

(C) Jotiba Phule

(D) B.M. Malabari

Ans : (B)

20. Who among the following was not a leader of militant nationa-lism ?

(A) Rajnarain Bose

(B) V.S. Chiplunkar

(C) Arbindo Ghosh

(D) Sasipada Bannerjee

Ans : (A)

21. Who among the following was the leader of Bihar Kisan Sabha ?

(A) Sahajanand Saraswati

(B) Baba Ramchandra

(C) Vijay Singh Pathik

(D) Shraddhanand

Ans : (A)

22. Who became the Vice-President of the Viceroy’s Council in the Interim Government of 1946-47 ?

(A) C. Rajagopalachari

(B) Dr. Rajendra Prasad

(C) Jawahar Lal Nehru

(D) M.A. Jinnah

Ans : (C)

23. Who among the following woman social reformers was called ‘Pandita’ ?

(A) Gangabai

(B) Ramabai

(C) Sister Subbalaksmi

(D) Annie Besant

Ans : (B)

24. Who was the leader of No Tax Campaign of the peasants orga-nised in 1928 ?

(A) S.A. Dange

(B) Baba Ramchandra

(C) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

(D) Subhash Chandra Bose

Ans : (C)

25. The Second Civil Disobedience Movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi in—

(A) 1928

(B) 1930

(C) 1932

(D) 1934

Ans : (C)

26. An All India Strike by Postal and Telegraph Workers started in—

(A) November, 1945

(B) February, 1946

(C) July, 1946

(D) August, 1946

Ans : (B)

27. Samhita is—

(A) Collection of hymns

(B) Text on grammar

(C) Text on Ayurveda

(D) Forest treatises

Ans : (A)

28. Which of the following state-ments is not true about Rigvedic Aryans ?

(A) They lived in villages.

(B) They did not know gamb-ling.

(C) They practised polygamy.

(D) Family was the unit of social life.

Ans : (B)

29. Early Vedic society was organi-sed in—

(A) Janas

(B) Jati

(C) Rajanya

(D) Sabha

Ans : (A)

30. Who was the author of Astadh-yayi ?

(A) Patanjali

(B) Panini

(C) Magha

(D) Visakhadatta

Ans : (B) Panini was an ancient Indian grammarian from Gandhara. He is known for his Sanskrit gram-mar, particularly for his formula-tion of the 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology in the grammar known as Ashtadhyayi, the foundational text of the gram-matical branch of the vedanga, the auxiliary scholarly discipline of vedic religion. The Ashtadh-yayi is the earliest known gram-mar of Sanskrit, and the earliest known work on descriptive ling-uistics, generative linguistics, and together with the work of his immediate predecessors stands at the beginning of the history of linguistics itself.

31. Which of the following metal was not used by the people of the Indus Civilization ?

(A) Iron

(B) Bronze

(C) Gold

(D) Silver

Ans : (A)

32. Which of the following Harap-pan sites is located in Gujarat ?

(A) Banawali

(B) Sanghol

(C) Mudiala Kalan

(D) Surkotada

Ans : (D) Surkotada is an archaeolo-gical site located in India. It is famous for horse remains dated to ca. 2008 BCE. The site at Surkotada is located 160 km north east of Bhuj, in the District of Kutch, Gujarat.

33. The hallmark of Vedic religion and culture was—

(A) Dhyana

(B) Brahmacharya

(C) Puja

(D) Yajna

Ans : (D)

34. Under whose patronage was the Sangam literature composed ?

(A) Cholas

(B) Cheras

(C) Pandyas

(D) Chalukyas

Ans : (C)

35. What is the language of the Sangam literature ?

(A) Tamil

(B) Pali

(C) Prakrit

(D) Sanskrit

Ans : (A)

36. Which of the following ideas is not associated with Buddhism ?

(A) Sila

(B) Prajna

(C) Pitru

(D) Dhyana

Ans : (C)

37. The highest goal in Buddhism is—

(A) Nirvana

(B) Madhyama Marga

(C) Vinaya

(D) Atmavad

Ans : (A)

38. The Third Buddhist Council was convened at—

(A) Takshasila

(B) Sarnath

(C) Bodhgaya

(D) Pataliputra

Ans : (D) The third Buddhist Council was convenced in about 250 BCE at Asokarama in Patilputra, under the patronage of Emperor Asoka. The reason for convening the third Buddhist Council is reported to have been to red the sangha of corruption and bogus monks who held heretical views. It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliutta Tissa and one thou-sand monks participated in the Council.

39. Who among the following scho-lars wrote ‘History of Dharam Sastra’ ?

(A) D.P. Chattopadhyay

(B) P.V. Kane

(C) A.S. Altekar

(D) D.C. Sarkar

Ans : (B) History of Dharmasastra, with subtitle Ancient and Medie-val Religious and Civil Law in India, is a monumental five-volume work consisting of around 6,500 pages, and was written by Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane, an indologist. The first volume of the work was publi-shed in 1930 and the last one in 1962. The work is considered as Dr. Kane’s Magnum opus in English.

40. Who among the following argued that the Aryans came from Central Asia ?

(A) B.G. Tilak

(B) Brandenstein

(C) William Jones

(D) V.A. Smith

Ans : (B)

41. According to tradition, how many Sangam were held ?

(A) Two

(B) Three

(C) Four

(D) Five

Ans : (D)

42. Which of the following terms denotes a market centre ?

(A) Prasada

(B) Nigama

(C) Grama

(D) Nadi

Ans : (B)

43. Which of the following denotes a land revenue term ?

(A) Vivita

(B) Bhaga

(C) Sulka

(D) Kara

Ans : (B)

44. Which of the following officers according to Arthasastra was entrusted with the collection of revenue ?

(A) Sitadhyaksa

(B) Sansthadhyaksa

(C) Samahartta

(D) Sannidhata

Ans : (C)

45. Megasthenes divided Indian society into—

(A) Four groups

(B) Seven groups

(C) Eight groups

(D) Twelve groups

Ans : (B)

46. The Mauryan King Bindusara faced the rebellion of the people of—

(A) Kosala

(B) Nalanda

(C) Kalinga

(D) Takshasila

Ans : (D)

47. Which sect was initially called Nirgrantha ?

(A) Buddhist

(B) Jaina

(C) Ajivika

(D) Pashupata

Ans : (B)

48. Which of the following is regar-ded as the early Jaina Text ?

(A) Sutra Kritang

(B) Tripatika

(C) Mahavastu-Avdana

(D) Avdana Kalpalata

Ans : (A)

49. Which of the following is a Harappan port ?

(A) Alexandria

(B) Lothal

(C) Mahasthangarh

(D) Nagapattanam

Ans : (B)

50. The commonest term for peasan-try in early medieval North India is—

(A) Kutumbin

(B) Bhogin

(C) Baddhahalika

(D) Swami

Ans : (A)

51. By Mauryan times the main sea-port of the Ganges basin was—

(A) Sopara

(B) Bhragukachchha

(C) Patala

(D) Tamralipti

Ans : (D)

52. Which of the following is not an Antyaja ?

(A) Chandala

(B) Rajaka

(C) Nata

(D) Yavana

Ans : (D)

53. Buddhism was introduced into Tibet from—

(A) The Pala Empire

(B) Harsha Vardhana’s State

(C) The Kushana State

(D) The Mauryan State

Ans : (A)

54. Which of the following state-ments is not true of Ashoka’s Dhamma ?

(A) There was a stress on non-violence

(B) Capital punishment was discontinued

(C) Donation to Brahmans was stressed

(D) There was a concern for master-servant relationship

Ans : (B)

55. Which of the following commo-dities was a major item of export trade in the Kusana period ?

(A) Cotton textiles

(B) Horse

(C) Gold

(D) Paper

Ans : (A)

56. Who among the following is described as a fabulously rich merchant in Buddhist Jatakas ?

(A) Vanik

(B) Sarthavaha

(C) Setthi

(D) Apanika

Ans : (C)

57. Alberuni’s account of India is—

(A) Kitab-ul-Hind

(B) Chachnama

(C) Futuh-us-Salatin

(D) Tarikh-i-Yamini

Ans : (A)

58. Wali under the Sultans of Delhi was—

(A) Provincial Governor

(B) Head of Revenue Depart-ment

(C) Minister with full powers

(D) Head of the State news-agency

Ans : (A)

59. Amir Khusro describes the mili-tary campaigns of Jalal-ud-din Khalji in his work—

(A) Nuh Sipihar

(B) Mifta-ul-Futuh

(C) Qiran-us Sadain

(D) Khazain-ul-Futuh

Ans : (B)

60. The most powerful Kings of Northern India in the 9th and 10th Centuries were—

(A) The Palas

(B) The Chahmanas

(C) The Rashtrakutas

(D) The Gurjara Pratiharas

Ans : (D)

61. Who declared that there were no slaves in India ?

(A) Kautilya

(B) Megasthenes

(C) Patanjali

(D) Fahien

Ans : (B)

62. The view that the Rajputs were descendents of the Vedic Aryans is expressed by—

(A) James Tod

(B) Dashrath Sharma

(C) V.A. Smith

(D) C.V. Vaidya

Ans : (D)

63. Which Sultan replaced the system of measurement of land by crop sharing in the Khalisa areas ?

(A) Balban

(B) Ala-ud-din Khalji

(C) Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq

(D) Muhammad Tughlaq

Ans : (C)

64. Who among the following Vijay-anagara rulers bore the title of Gajabentakara ?

(A) Krishna Deva Raya

(B) Deva Raya II

(C) Deva Raya I

(D) Rama Raya

Ans : (B)

65. Which Vijayanagara ruler sent an embassy to China ?

(A) Harihara I

(B) Krishna Deva Raya

(C) Bukka I

(D) Saluva Narasimha

Ans : (C)

66. The Sultan Ghari was built as the mausoleum of—

(A) Qutab-ud-din Aibak

(B) Rukh-ud-din Firoj

(C) Nasir-ud-din Mahmud

(D) Kaikubad

Ans : (C)

67. The first Madrasa at Delhi namely “Madrasae Muizz” was established by—

(A) Qutub-ud-din Aibak

(B) Iltutmish

(C) Nasir-ud-din Mahmud

(D) Balban

Ans : (B)

68. Officer in-charge of royal household under the Sultans of Delhi was designated—

(A) Amir-i-hajib

(B) Wakil-i-dar

(C) Barid-i-mumalik

(D) Mustaufi-i-mumalik

Ans : (B)

69. The Chishti Saint who founded a branch of Chishti Silsilah in Gulbarga was—

(A) Shaikh Nasir-ud-din Chirag-i-Delhi

(B) Gesu Daraz

(C) Shaikh Hamid-ud-din Nagori

(D) Jalal-ud-din Tabrizi

Ans : (B)

70. Who among the following was not a Nirguni Bhakti Saint ?

(A) Shankardev

(B) Raidas

(C) Dadu

(D) Dhanna

Ans : (A)

71. Bhramar Geet were composed by—

(A) Mirabai

(B) Nabhadas

(C) Surdas

(D) Haridas

Ans : (C)

72. Select the correct chronology of dynasties that ruled Vijayana-gara ?

(A) Sangama, Tuluva, Saluva, Aravidu

(B) Tuluva, Sangama, Saluva, Aravidu

(C) Aravidu, Sangama, Tuluva, Saluva

(D) Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu

Ans : (D)

73. The largest administrative divi-sion in Vijayanagara was—

(A) Kottam

(B) Rajyam

(C) Kurram

(D) Nadu

Ans : (B)

74. Pushti Marg was founded by—

(A) Chaitanya

(B) Vallabhacharya

(C) Ramananda

(D) Nimbarka

Ans : (B)

75. Which of the following rulers of Bikaner was deposed by Jahan-gir ?

(A) Raja Rai Singh

(B) Raja Sur Singh

(C) Raja Dalpat Singh

(D) Raja Karan Singh

Ans : (A)

76. Who is the author of Safinat-ul-Aulia ?

(A) Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi

(B) Mohsin Fani

(C) Dara Shukoh

(D) Jahandar Shah

Ans : (C)

77. Who made the Madad-i-maash grants completely hereditary ?

(A) Akbar

(B) Shahjahan

(C) Aurangzeb

(D) Bahadur Shah

Ans : (D)

78. The Ibadatkhana was closed in the year—

(A) 1579

(B) 1580

(C) 1582

(D) 1583

Ans : (C)

79. Who among the following Mughal Emperors made serious attempt to annex Trans-Oxiana ?

(A) Humayun

(B) Akbar

(C) Jahangir

(D) Shahjahan

Ans : (D)

80. Cultivation of tobacco was intro-duced in India during the reign of—

(A) Akbar

(B) Jahangir

(C) Shahjahan

(D) Aurangzeb

Ans : (B)

81. In 1585 Akbar shifted his capital to—

(A) Kabul

(B) Lahore

(C) Fatehpur Sikri

(D) Multan

Ans : (B)

82. Nasaq during the Mughal Period was—

(A) A system of land revenue assessment

(B) A unit of measurement of land

(C) A Zamindari territory

(D) Revenue free land grant

Ans : (A) Nasaq–A subordinate met-hod of revenue assessment which could be used under some major method of assessment. In this method, the revenue was asses-sed on the basis of the previous figures of assessment.

83. Which of the following mosques is entirely made of marble ?

(A) Jama Masjid at Sikri

(B) Moti Masjid in the Agra Fort

(C) Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid in the Purana Qila of Delhi

(D) Jama Masjid of Delhi

Ans : (B)

84. Who among the following is the first comprehensive historian of the Marathas ?

(A) M.G. Ranade

(B) G.S. Sardesai

(C) James Cuningham Grant Duff

(D) C.A. Kincaid

Ans : (C)

85. Who among the following rulers patronized musician Lal Khan Gun Samudra ?

(A) Hussain Shah Sharqi

(B) Islam Shah Sur

(C) Ibrahim Adil Shah II

(D) Shahjahan

Ans : (D)

86. Dastan-i-Amir-i-Hamza was illu-strated during the reign of—

(A) Humayun

(B) Akbar

(C) Jahangir

(D) Shahjahan

Ans : (B)

87. The English East India Company obtained the lease of Madras in—

(A) 1611

(B) 1623

(C) 1639

(D) 1646

Ans : (C)

88. Who among the following was imprisoned by the Mughal Emp-eror Jahangir ?

(A) Gosain Jadrup

(B) Miyan Mir

(C) Guru Ramdas

(D) Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi

Ans : (D)

89. In 1739 the Portuguese lost their possessions of Salsette and Bas-sein to—

(A) The Dutch

(B) The English

(C) The Mughals

(D) The Marathas

Ans : (D)

90. Lohgarh Fort was built by—

(A) Guru Hargovind

(B) Guru Teg Bahadur

(C) Guru Govind Singh

(D) Banda Bahadur

Ans : (C)

91. In 1585-86 the only Rajput who held the mansab of 5000 was—

(A) Raja Bhagwant Das

(B) Raja Raisingh of Bikaner

(C) Raja Man Singh

(D) Rai Surjan Hada

Ans : (C)

92. Who introduced the Mughal land revenue system in the Deccan ?

(A) Mahabat Khan

(B) Mirza Raja Jaisingh

(C) Diler Khan

(D) Murshid Kuli Khan

Ans : (D)

93. Which one of the following acco-rding to Bernier was the owner of land in India ?

(A) The Zamindar

(B) The King

(C) The Khud Kashta

(D) The Village Community

Ans : (B)

94. Haidar Ali established his autho-rity over the State of Mysore in—

(A) 1755

(B) 1761

(C) 1764

(D) 1766

Ans : (B) Haider Ali, born in 1721 in an obscure family, started his career as a petty officer in the Mysore Army. Though uneducated, he possessed a keen intellect and was a man of great energy, daring and determination. Haider Ali soon found his opportunity in the wars which in valved Mysore for more than twenty years. He established a Modern arsenal in Dindigal in 1755 with the help of French experts. In 1761 he overthrew Nanjaraj and established his authority over the Mysore state.

95. In 1751 the Nawab of Bengal ceded Orissa to—

(A) The English East India Company

(B) The Nawab of Avadh

(C) The Marathas

(D) The Afghans

Ans : (C)

96. Which Peshwa started a long campaign against the sidis of Janjira ?

(A) Balaji Vishwanath

(B) Baji Rao I

(C) Balaji Baji Rao

(D) Madhav Rao

Ans : (B) Baji Rao I was a bold and brilliant commander and an ambitious and clever statesman. He has been described as the greatest exponent of Guerrila tactics after Shivaji hed by Baji Rao, the Marathas waged nume-rous campaigns against the Mughal Empire. In 1733, Baji Rao started a long campaign against the sidis of Janjira and in the end expelled them from the main-land.

97. Who was the founder of the Widow Remarriage Association in the 19th century ?

(A) Raja Rammohan Roy

(B) Vishnu Shastri Pandit

(C) Ramabai

(D) Gopal Hari Deshmukh

Ans : (B)

98. Shahu was granted the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi of the Deccan during the reign of—

(A) Bahadur Shah

(B) Jahandar Shah

(C) Farrukh Siyar

(D) Muhammad Shah

Ans : (C)

99. Farrukh Siyar was deposed and killed by—

(A) Zulfiqar Khan

(B) Jahandar Shah

(C) The Sayyed Brothers

(D) Saadat Khan

Ans : (C) Farrukh Siyar owed his victory to the Sayyed brothers. Abdullah Khan and Hussain Ali Khan Barahow who were there-fore given the offices of Wazir and Mir Bakshi respectively. The two brothers soon acquired domi-nant control over the affairs of the state. Farrukh Siyar lacked the capacity of rule. He was cowardly, cruel, undependable and faithless. In 1719, Farrukh Siyar was deposed and killed by Sayyed brothers.

100. The founder of the autonomous kingdom of Avadh was—

(A) Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk

(B) Safdar Jang

(C) Murshid Kuli Khan

(D) Hussain Kuli Khan

Ans : (A) The Subah of Avadh, exten-ding from Kannauj district in the west to the river Karmanasa in the east, was a large and pros-perous region. It became virtually independent in 1722 when a Persian Shia adventurer named Saadat Khan was appointed its governor by Muhammad Shah.