UPSC daily subject quiz | History and Culture (Week 157) : Ancient India and historical personalities — think you can master these MCQs?

Mr. X refers to:

(a) Rajendralal Mitra

(b) M.G. Ranade

(c) Srinivasa Ramanujan

(d) Prafulla Chandra Ray

Relevance: 

Questions that require identifying a personality from a descriptive paragraph can be both challenging and time-consuming. However, a basic awareness of the professions, fields of work, and major contributions of the personalities mentioned in the options can make the task much easier. Even if the description is unfamiliar, aspirants can often arrive at the correct answer through the process of elimination.

Explanation

From the East India Company to the British Raj, science became the language of rule. Empirical rationality was deployed as both method and justification for domination. Surveys, censuses, geological studies, and botanical classification rendered India knowable, manageable, and controllable. Science functioned as an apparatus of power.

This produced profound epistemological consequences. If science marked civilisation — and science was Western — then the absence of ‘Indian’ science became proof of Indian inferiority. Colonial ideology portrayed indigenous knowledge as pre-scientific, superstitious, and mythological. Western science was introduced not merely to educate Indians in rational methods, but to civilise them.

A profound contradiction lay embedded here. Colonial rule required Indians accept the universality of Western science while accepting their own particularity—their difference, their unfitness for equality with European rulers. Science was universal yet Western; to become modern, Indians should embrace it yet recognize it as not theirs. This created the colonial paradox: to be modern meant possessing science, yet science was Western, which meant Indians could never fully be modern without ceasing to be Indian.

This paradox generated acute intellectual anxiety among Western-educated Indian elites. Their response was to deny the Western monopoly on science. Ancient India, they argued, possessed sophisticated scientific knowledge.

Rajendralal Mitra exemplified this response. An antiquarian and archaeologist who became head of the Asiatic Society, Mitra confronted James Fergusson, the leading British authority on Indian architecture. Fergusson argued Indian stone architecture derived from Greek models via Alexander and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms. Mitra countered: Indian architecture was “perfectly self-evolved, self-contained, and independent,” equivalent to Greek classicism.

Yet in defending Indian architecture, Mitra did not reject the criteria by which Greek architecture was valued. He accepted entirely that a civilization’s greatness derived from possessing a classical tradition—he proved India possessed such a tradition by measuring Indian temples against Greek standards of beauty and proportion. He did not dispute classicism as a way to measure a civilization’s worth; he merely argued India met these standards.

As comparative scholars have noted, while Mitra denied Greek influence, his Japanese contemporary Itō Chūta sought to prove Japanese architecture’s links to Greek antiquity. Both operated within identical logic: proving their civilisations’ equality by demonstrating classical traditions, using classicism — itself a European invention — as the yardstick of value

Note: Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematician.

Prafulla Chandra Ray was a scientist. 

Mahadev Govind (M.G.) Ranade was a  Indian judge, social reformer, author, and economist.

Hence, these options can be eliminated, as they do not align with the context of the passage.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 2

Which of the following rulers assumed the title ‘Vatapikonda’?

(a) Mahendravarman I

(b) Narasimhavarman I 

(c) Pulakesin II

(d) Nandivarman II

Relevance: 

Every detail matters in History. Questions based on titles, epithets, and lesser-known facts are common in the examination. A sound understanding of the broader historical context often enables aspirants to make informed guesses even when they are unsure of the exact answer.

Explanation

Narasimhavarman I (Mahamalla), son and successor of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I, defeated the Chalukya ruler Pulakesin II and captured Badami (Vatapi). To commemorate this achievement, he assumed the title Vatapikonda. He also sent a naval expedition to Sri Lanka. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kanchipuram during his reign.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 3

With reference to Indian History, the term Kanyakubja refers to:

(a) A prominent centre associated with political and cultural developments in northern India

(b) A ritual traditionally performed during wedding ceremonies

(c) A monastic institution patronised by early Buddhist rulers

(d) A major seaport that facilitated maritime trade with Southeast Asia

Relevance: 

UPSC may ask direct questions on less familiar names from Indian History. Such questions reward aspirants who have gone beyond superficial preparation and developed a deeper understanding of the subject.

Explanation

It is a Sanskrit name of present day Kannauj. It emerged as an important political and cultural centre in early medieval northern India.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 4

With reference to the Academy Awards, more commonly known as the Oscars, consider the following statements:

1. Mother India was the first Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

2. RRR won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu.

3. The Elephant Whisperers won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Relevance: 

Film-related trivia can occasionally appear in UPSC Prelims under the miscellaneous current affairs and culture category. Aspirants should pay attention to major international awards, particularly Oscar-winning or Oscar-nominated Indian films, documentaries, and songs, as such achievements often remain in the news and can become the basis of factual questions.

Explanation

Directed by Mehboob Khan, Mother India (1957) made history by becoming the very first Indian film to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (now known as the Best International Feature Film) at the 30th Academy Awards in 1958.

The Elephant Whisperers made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards. Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, it became the first Indian production to win an Oscar in that category.

The track “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu-language film RRR made history at the 95th Academy Awards by winning the Oscar for Best Original Song. Composed by M. M. Keeravani with lyrics by Chandrabose, the energetic track became the first song from an Indian film to ever win the prestigious award.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 5

With reference to Early Indian History, Ajita Kesakambali is related to which of the following fields?

(a) Ayurvedic medicine and surgery

(b) Philosophy and heterodox thought 

(c)  Sanskrit grammar and linguistics

(d) Temple architecture and sculpture

Relevance: 

UPSC may ask direct questions on less familiar figures from Early Indian History. Such questions reward aspirants who have gone beyond superficial preparation and developed a deeper understanding of core historical themes and personalities.

Explanation

Ajita Kesakambali was a materialist thinker and an early Indian philosopher of the 6th century BCE. He rejected the belief in an afterlife and held that all existence was composed of four primary elements: earth, water, fire, and air. He is often regarded as a precursor to the Lokayata (Charvaka) school of philosophy.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

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