UPSC daily subject quiz | History and Culture (Week 161) : How well do you know India’s past?

2. Each provincial Boundary Commission comprised Radcliffe as chairman and four High Court judges, with two judges nominated by the Indian National Congress and two by the All-India Muslim League.

3. In the Punjab Boundary Commission, the judges nominated by the Muslim League were Din Muhammad and Muhammad Munir, while Mehr Chand Mahajan and Teja Singh were nominated by the Congress.

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:

The question tests factual understanding of the Partition of India and the boundary-making process in 1947, an important theme in Modern Indian History.
It also helps aspirants understand the institutional composition and functioning of the Radcliffe Boundary Commissions, rather than viewing Partition only through its political events.

Explanation: 

The man entrusted with drawing the India-Pakistan boundary, Sir Cyril Radcliffe, had been in India for only six weeks. Yet in that short time, he and the Boundary Commission decided the fate of the subcontinent. 

1947 had not been kind to Britain. A cold winter, coal and food shortages, and wartime debt had weakened morale. In India, rising tensions between Muslims and Hindus and growing pressure from nationalist groups made the empire increasingly difficult to sustain. Meanwhile, the United States was pressing Britain to give up its colonies.

Britain was determined to transfer power quickly. Two boundary commissions were established, one for Punjab and one for Bengal, both to be chaired by Radcliffe, a British barrister. On June 26, British officials formally announced his appointment.

Radcliffe had never visited India. Yet, in many ways, that was seen as his greatest asset. The assumption was that his unfamiliarity would make him impartial.

Aware of the international scrutiny surrounding India’s decolonisation, British officials agreed to involve South Asian nationalist leaders in key decisions. Each boundary commission comprised four South Asian judges—two nominated by Congress and two by the Muslim League. For the Punjab commission, it was agreed that one of Congress’s nominees would be a Sikh. All four judges were well versed in criminal law, with no requirement that they possess geographical expertise or knowledge of the complex precedents surrounding Partition.

Mountbatten meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru (left) and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (right), 1947 (Wikipedia)

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 2

Supported by the Communist International (Comintern) in Moscow, the Brussels Congress of 1927 led to the formation of the League Against Imperialism (LAI). Who among the following served as its international secretary?

(a) Lala Lajpat Rai

(b) Virendranath Chattopadhyaya

(c) M.N. Roy

(d) Shapurji Saklatvala

Relevance:

This question links the Indian freedom struggle with international anti-imperialist movements, a recurring theme in Modern Indian History. It also tests knowledge of Indian revolutionaries and their global networks, particularly the role of the Comintern and some lesser known organistions.

Explanation: 

On February 10, 1926, forty-three anticolonialists, socialists, pacifists, and radicals — foreigners and Germans — met at the Rathauskeller, a restaurant in Berlin’s city hall, to organise an international conference against colonialism and imperialism. It was led by the German communist Willi Münzenberg, and one of its most prominent delegates was the veteran Indian revolutionary Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (known as Chatto). At the time, Chatto was a central figure among Indian and global radical networks in Berlin.

Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (Wikimedia Commons)

The Rathauskeller conference led to the formation of the League Against Colonial Oppression (LACO) and the decision to prepare for a larger, global anticolonial congress to be held in Brussels a year later.

When 174 delegates from across the colonial and semi-colonial worlds convened in Brussels from February 10-15, 1927, Chatto had invited several other Indians from Berlin and elsewhere in Europe, including Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress (INC), the veteran Indian revolutionary, Muhammed Barkatullah of the Ghadar Party, and Monindra Kumar Sen and Jaya Surya Naidu (Chatto’s nephew and son of Sarojini Naidu), both students in Berlin. Supported by the Communist International (Comintern) in Moscow, the Brussels congress led to the formation of the League Against Imperialism (LAI), with its headquarters in Berlin, with Chatto as its international secretary.

Although it existed for only 10 years and was often marred by internal disagreements and external pressures, the LAI had a profound impact on anticolonial leaders and on their politics and visions for independent nations. As Nehru became a vital link between India and the LAI, Chatto operated in the background from Berlin.

(Refer: How Berlin became the centre of the Indian freedom struggle abroad by Ole Birk Laursen, Research, The Indian Express)

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 3

Why was August 15 chosen as India’s Independence Day?

(a) As per the advice of astrologers from Varanasi

(b) It marked the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender

(c) It marked the anniversary of the Quit India Movement launched in 1942

(d) It was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Indian National Congress’ declaration of Purna Swaraj in 1930

Relevance:

The question tests an important detail of India’s independence and the transfer of power in 1947, linking the choice of August 15 to the broader context of the end of World War II. It is relevant to Modern Indian History, particularly the events leading up to Independence and the role of Lord Mountbatten.

Explanation: 

A compromise was made: to keep the date but change the hour, prompting Indian leaders to hold the Constituent Assembly’s special session on August 14 and carry it into midnight. (Wikimedia Commons)

As soon as the radio announced Lord Louis Mountbatten’s date for India’s independence, astrologers all over the country began to consult their charts. Those in the holy city of Varanasi and several others in the South immediately proclaimed August 15 as inauspicious.

What followed was a compromise that would make midnight central to India’s freedom.

The date of India’s independence was fixed in the final months of British rule. Lord Mountbatten announced August 15, 1947, bringing forward the original June 1948 deadline. But the choice had a personal significance for the last Viceroy.

QUESTION 4

In India, the earliest undisputed inscription showing zero is associated with which of the following temples?

(a) Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh

(b) Chaturbhuj Temple, Gwalior

(c) Sun Temple, Konark

(d) Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho

Relevance: 

This question connects ancient Indian mathematics, inscriptions, temple architecture and India’s contribution to science and knowledge systems, making it relevant to Art & Culture and the broader theme of India’s scientific heritage.

Explanation: 

In India, the earliest undisputed inscription showing zero is from the the Chaturbhuj Temple in Gwalior, dated to 876 CE. Another important source is the Bakhshali manuscript, which also uses a dot for zero and is generally dated to around the seventh century CE, although scholars still debate its exact age.

Chaturbhuja temple (Wikipedia)

The Chaturbhuj Temple is located within the historic Gwalior Fort, one of India’s most impressive hill forts. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

This little-known monument has earned the nickname “Zero Temple” because of an inscription believed to contain the world’s oldest recorded use of the circular zero symbol.

Unlike many temples inside the fort, Chaturbhuj Temple is relatively modest in design. Yet its walls preserve an inscription that changed the history of mathematics.

The temple’s fame comes from a stone inscription dated around 876 CE, written in Sanskrit using the Nagari script.

The inscription records the donation of a flower garden to the temple and mentions measurements using numbers. Among these numbers appears a small circular symbol representing zero, making it one of the earliest known examples of the symbol in its modern form.

Indian mathematicians treated zero not just as an empty space but as a number with its own mathematical properties. They developed rules for using zero in calculations such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication. This was a major advance in mathematics.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 5

Who among the following is the author of the short story Juloos, which portrays a police officer’s moral awakening while dealing with a nationalist procession during British rule?

(a) Munshi Premchand

(b) Chandradhar Sharma Guleri

(c) Bhagwati Charan Verma

(d) Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Relevance: This question connects Indian literature, the freedom struggle, colonial administration and social awakening, making it useful for GS Paper I (Art & Culture/Modern History) and for understanding how literature reflected the socio-political realities of colonial India.

Explanation: 

‘Juloos’ is a famous short story written by the Hindi-Urdu author Munshi Premchand. It is part of his  multi-volume short story collection titled Mansarovar which compiles stories depicting Indian social realities, rural life, and the freedom struggle.

During the freedom struggle, police officer Birbal Singh is ordered to stop a nationalist procession. His harsh lathi-charge leads to the death of a protester, forcing him to confront his conscience, regret his actions, and question his role in serving the colonial administration.

About Premchand: 

Premchand (Wikimedia Commons)

Born on July 31, 1880, Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava, most famously known by his pen name Premchand, was a pioneer in Hindi literature in India. His literary career spanned across three decades and his first story titled, Duniya ka Sabse Anmol Ratan (The Most Precious Jewel in the World) appeared in an Urdu monthly, Zamana in 1907. Later, we went on to write other novels like Karmabhoomi, Godaan, Idgah among others.

He was very inspired by Gandhi, and after attending a meeting in Gorakhpur where the leader had entreated citizens to resign from government jobs, the author too had left his job as a Deputy Inspector of Schools in Allahabad. He passed away in 1936 leaving a wealth of wisdom that continues to serve till this day.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 160)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 175)

Daily subject-wise quiz —  Science and Technology (Week 175)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 175)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment and Geography (Week 174)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 174)

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