UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : History, Culture and Social Issues MCQs on Kakori train incident, geoglyphs and more (Week 59)

1. It is a traditional hand block print with natural colours.

2. It is associated with Tamil Nadu.

3. The process of Bagh print involves only pre-printing and does not involve post printing.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 2

Consider the following statements:

1. He served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore and wrote two books on the Indian economy.

2. He is credited for his role as a civil engineer and administrator in colonial India.

3. He introduced the block system of irrigation in the Deccan canals in 1899.

The above mentioned statements refer to:

(a) Hyder Ali

(b) C. V. Rungacharlu

(c) T. Ananda Rao

(d) M. Visvesvaraya

QUESTION 3

With reference to the geoglyphs, consider the following statements:

1. These are rock art produced on the surface of the earth either by positioning rocks or by reduction technique.

2. They can be present only in the form of cup marks and ring marks.

3. The central Indian region is known to have a dense concentration of geoglyphs.

4. These are comparable to petroglyphs in that they both require the capacity to remove pieces or etch symbols on the rock surface.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

QUESTION 4

Phanigiri — a renowned heritage site was recently in news due to the excavation of lead coins. It is a:

(a) Jain site

(b) Buddhist site

(c) Indus Valley site

(d) Hindu site

QUESTION 5

With reference to the Kakori Train incident, consider the following statements:

1. The objective was to fund the HRA and garner public attention for their work and mission.

2. It was the first major action which took place under the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA).

3. The only major leader of HRA at this time who evaded arrest was Chandrashekhar Azad.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

ANSWERS TO THE MCQs

1. (a)

FYI:

— Bagh Print is a traditional Indian hand block print with natural colours that is practiced in Bagh, Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Its name is derived from Bagh, a settlement on the banks of the Bagh River. Bagh print fabric, which features duplicated geometric and floral compositions in red and black on a white backdrop, is a popular textile printing product. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Bagh Print, as it is currently known in Madhya Pradesh, was founded in 1962 by a group of Muslim Khatris (converts to Islam through the influence of a sufi saint) who relocated from Manawar to Bagh. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— After the printing process is completed, the printed fabric is washed several times in the river’s running waters before being sun-dried for a set length of time to achieve a fine lustre.

— Bagh Prints are a one-of-a-kind art form created by weaving and hand block printing with geometric motifs, inventive use of red and black natural colours, and taking advantage of the chemical qualities of the river. The process includes pre-printing, printing, and post-printing. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: dhar.nic.in)

2. (d)

FYI:

— Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962), who is known for his work as a civil engineer and administrator in colonial India, was born on September 15.

— Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1861, in Muddenahalli village, Karnataka. He attended school in his hometown before pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Madras.

— He participated in important public works projects around the country, subsequently becoming the 19th Dewan of Mysore and writing two books on the Indian economy.

— His initial job was to build a pipe syphon over one of the Panjra River’s channels. On November 15, 1909, he joined the Mysore service as Chief Engineer, eventually rising to the position of 19th Dewan of Mysore.

— Some of his significant works include the introduction of the block irrigation system in the Deccan canals in 1899, the solution to the problem of “muddy and discoloured” water in the city of Sukkur located on the banks of the Indus river, and the invention of automatic gates to regulate the flow of water in reservoirs, which is patented.

— According to Vigyan Prasar, “The objective of the Block System of Irrigation was ‘to distribute the benefits of an irrigation work over a large number of villages and to concentrate the irrigation in each village within blocks of specified limits and in selected soils and situations‘”.

— His books, “Reconstructing India” and “Planned Economy of India” were published in 1920 and 1934, respectively.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

3. (b)

FYI:

— Geoglyphs are a form of prehistoric rock art, created on the surface of laterite plateaus (Sada in Marathi). They are made by removing a part of the rock surface through an incision, picking, carving or abrading. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— They can be in the form of rock paintings, etchings, cup marks and ring marks. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The listing by UNESCO mentions “Konkan geoglyphs.” However, the term petroglyph (literally, “rock symbol/character”) is also used elsewhere. According to the UNESCO listing, petroglyphs and geoglyphs are similar in that both require the ability to remove parts or engrave a symbol on the rock surface. Hence, statement 4 is correct.

— Ratnagiri district has more than 1,500 pieces of such art, also called “Katal shilpa,” spread across 70 sites.

— According to UNESCO, “rock art in India is one of oldest material evidence of the country’s early human creativity.” Ratnagiri’s rock art is evidence of the continued existence of human settlements from the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) to the early historic era.

— However, the dense concentration of geoglyphs on the laterite plateaus (Sada) of the Konkan region (south western Maharashtra to Southern Karnataka) is the most remarkable open-air ensemble of prehistoric human expression of rock art in the Konkan region (south western Maharashtra to Southern Karnataka) from Mesolithic (10Kya) to Early Historic (1.7Kya). Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: whc.unesco.org)

4. (b)

FYI:

— Telangana’s Department of Heritage has recently unearthed a coin hoard at Phanigiri, a renowned Buddhist heritage site located 110 km away from the state capital of Hyderabad.

— In Telangana’s Suryapet district, a team led by director N Sagar and co-excavator B Mallu found lead coins in an earthen pot during the ongoing excavations.

— According to principal secretary Sailaja Ramaiyer and department’s director Bharathi Hollikeri, the coins belong to the Ikshvaku period.

— Many other valuable cultural antiquities and structural remains, including beads of stone and glass, shell bangle fragments, stucco motifs, broken limestone sculptures, toy cartwheels, iron nails, and pottery, were also unearthed during the excavation.

— Phanigiri is believed to be one of the important Buddhist monasteries strategically located on the hilltop, on the ancient trade route (Dakshinapatha) connecting the west and the east coast of the Deccan.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

5. (c)

FYI:

— In 1927, four revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement were hanged on December 17 (Rajendranath Lahiri) and December 19 (Ashfaqullah Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil, Thakur Roshan Singh). It came two years after the Kakori Train Robbery, in which members of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) had looted a train transporting money to the British treasury.

— The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was founded by a group of young men who were disillusioned by Gandhi’s tactics and what they felt was zealous preaching of “non-violence.”

— Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan, both poets, were among the group’s founding members. Sachindra Nath Bakshi and trade unionist Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee were among the others. The HRA would also include figures such as Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh. Their manifesto, Krantikari (Revolutionary), was published on January 1, 1925.

Kakori Train Action incident

— The train robbery at Kakori was the HRA’s first major action, in August 1925. The Number 8 Down Train ran between Shahjahanpur and Lucknow. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— The revolutionaries planned to rob this money, which they believed legitimately belonged to Indians anyway. Their objective was both to fund the HRA and garner public attention for their work and mission. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— On August 9, 1925, as the train was passing the Kakori station, about 15 km from Lucknow, around ten revolutionaries, including Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, entered the train and overpowered the guard. They looted the treasury bags (containing approx Rs 4,600) and escaped to Lucknow.

— The only major leader of HRA at this time who evaded arrest was Chandrashekhar Azad. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 59)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 58)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 58)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 58)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 58)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.