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Are you preparing for UPSC CSE Prelims 2025? UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of daily subject-wise quizzes. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus. Attempt today’s subject quiz on History, Culture and Social Issues to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the Polity and Governance MCQs. Don’t miss checking the answers and explanations.
With reference to Ayurveda, consider the following statements:
1. The National Ayurveda Day, started in 2016 is celebrated on Dhanvantri Jayanti, or what is believed to be the birth anniversary of god Dhanvantri.
2. Ashtanga Hridaya by Vagbhata, Madhava Nidana by Madhava-kara and Sharangdhar samhita by Sharandhara are some of the texts related to Ayurveda.
Which of the above given statements are true?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation:
— Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched health-linked projects worth nearly Rs 12,850 crore on October 29, which is the ninth Ayurveda Day and also the festival of Dhanteras. The national Ayurveda Day is celebrated on Dhanvantri Jayanti, or what is believed to be the birth anniversary of god Dhanvantri. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
— Charak Samhita of Charaka (Agnivesh), Sushruta Samhita from Sushruta, Ashtanga Hridaya from Vagbhata, Lagurtai (3 short Ayurveda treatises): Madhava Nidana from Madhava-kara, Bhavaprakasa from Bhav Mishra, Sharangdhar samhita from Sharandhara are some of the texts related to Ayurveda. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Therefore, (c) is the correct answer.
He put an end to the institution of the Yogiatirippads — the erstwhile spiritual heads of the Vadakkumnathan and Perumanam temples, who had conspired against the previous Cochin king in his wars against the Calicut Zamorin — and entrusted temple management to the government.
Who is referred to in the above lines?
(a) K. Kelappan
(b) EMS Namboodiripad
(c) Accamma Cherian
(d) Sakthan Thampuran
Explanation:
— Minister of State for Tourism and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi on Saturday (September 7) pledged to replace a statue of Sakthan Thampuran that was knocked over by a state transport bus in June with a new bronze statue if the Kerala government did not do so within 14 days.
Who was Sakthan Thampuran?
— Raja Rama Varma Kunjipillai or Rama Varma IX, better known today as Sakthan Thampuran, ruled over the Cochin kingdom from 1790 to 1805. He was born in 1751 to Ambika Thampuran and Chendose Aniyan Namboodiri of the Cochin royal family, but was raised by an aunt who called him Sakthan, meaning ‘powerful’. The word thampuran is believed to be an appropriation of the Sanskrit samrat, meaning emperor.
— The Cochin kingdom, which was part of the Late Chera Empire, covered the regions between Ponnani in Malappuram and Thottappally in Alappuzha in today’s Kerala. (Ashalatha Thampuran, History of the Cochin Royal Family: Tracing the Journey of Perumpadappu Swarupam, 2019)
Strategist and ruler
— Sakthan Thampuran became heir apparent in 1769 as an 18-year-old. He advised his king to maintain friendly relations with both the Dutch and the English, who were vying for a larger share of trade in the region.
— Sakthan is said to have orchestrated Mysore’s attempt to invade the Travancore kingdom, which had established relations with the English East India Company. This would result in the Powney treaty which freed the Cochin kingdom from its allegiance to Mysore, and helped formalise its relations with the British.
— Sakthan Thampuran put an end to the institution of the Yogiatirippads — the erstwhile spiritual heads of the Vadakkumnathan and Perumanam temples, who had conspired against the previous Cochin king in his wars against the Calicut Zamorin — and entrusted temple management to the government.
— He built a fearsome reputation for himself, and is said to have largely freed his kingdom of crime.
Therefore, (d) is the correct answer.
Who are the authors of the landmark book, Freedom At Midnight?
(a) Jadunath Sarkar and RC Mazumdaar
(b) Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
(c) Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
(d) Diana and Michael Preston
Explanation:
— On November 15, an adaptation of Freedom At Midnight, the landmark book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, premiered on SonyLIV. Directed by Nikkhil Advani, the series seeks to uncover a version of history that, according to its creators, is one “you may not know, but you should know.”
Therefore, (b) is the correct answer.
Consider the following statements:
1. There are two main calendars in common use in India today, the Shaka Samvat with a zero point of 57 BC and the Vikram Samvat with a zero point of 78 AD.
2. Indian months are divided into two halves, one for the waning moon (Krishna paksh) and one for the waxing moon (Shukla Paksh).
Which of the above given statements are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation:
— Today, everyone across the globe follows a year of 12 months of 365 days. This calendar is purely solar, meaning it depends purely on the movement of earth around the sun and was first introduced by that famous Roman Julius Caesar back in 45 BC. It is today called the Gregorian calendar.
— However, throughout most of history, most calendars were based on the moon and each waxing and waning of the moon would count as one month. One example of this is the Muslim Hijri calendar, which takes 12 lunar months.
— However, 12 lunar months are only 354 days, which is 11 days shorter than a solar year. This creates a problem, because if people use a purely lunar calendar, the months in which spring, summer or winter occur will change from year to year (as the seasons depend on the earth’s movement around the sun). In fact, every few years, summer would occur in December!
— So, for spring or summer to come at the same time every year, the lunar calendar needed to be somehow matched with the solar year.
— The ancient Indians came up with a calendar that is a very interesting mix of these two.
— The Hindu calendar is known as a lunisolar calendar. The 12 months move according to the moon and the year is 354 days long. However, every third year, 33 days (11 extra days * 3) are added by creating one extra lunar month of 29 days. The remaining four days are adjusted here and there.
— The 12 Indian months are: Chaitra, Vaisakha, Jyeshtha, Ashadha, Shravana, Bhadra, Ashvin, Kartik, Agahana, Pausha, Magha, Phalguna. So every three years, one of these months occurs twice in the same year…it’s like having two Marches or two Julys in a year!
— Indian months were also divided into two halves, one for the waning moon (Krishna paksh) and one for the waxing moon (Shukla Paksh). Hence, statement 2 is correct.
— So an example of a date would be: ‘Ekadashi, Shukla Paksh, Kartik mas, Vikram Samvat 2057’. This meant 11th day of the fortnight of waxing moon, the month of Kartik, year 2057 of the Vikram Era.
— This Indian calendar was used not only throughout India, but spread to South-East Asia as well, and is still used to calculate religious dates there.
— Today, along with the Gregorian calendar, most countries use the year of the birth of Jesus Christ as the zero year, but this was not the case until British rule over India.
— Indian kings absolutely loved to declare new zero-dates when they started a new dynasty, to signify the beginning of a new glorious era. This new zero-date would be followed throughout their kingdoms, until they were replaced by a new dynasty and a new calendar was inaugurated with a new zero-date!
— Across India, hundreds of such calendars were created over the centuries, including the Gupta Era beginning in 319 AD, and the Harsha Era beginning in 606 AD. This made comparing days and years impossibly confusing for historians studying India!
— There are two main calendars in common use in India today, the Vikram Samvat with a zero point of 57 BC and the Shaka Samvat with a zero point of 78 AD. They are used for calculating the dates of all Hindu festivals like Diwali and Holi. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
Therefore, (b) is the correct answer.
Consider the following statements:
1. ‘The Untouchables: Who were they and why they Became Untouchables’ is a text of an undelivered speech prepared by Ambedkar for the 1936 annual conference of the Jat Pat Todak Mandal, an anti-caste organisation based in Lahore.
2. The issue of temple entry was first raised by Ezhava leader T K Madhavan in a 1917 editorial in his paper Deshabhimani.
Which of the above given statements are true?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation:
— Annihilation of caste is a text of an undelivered speech prepared by Ambedkar for the 1936 annual conference of the Jat Pat Todak Mandal, an anti-caste organisation based in Lahore. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
— The issue of temple entry was first raised by Ezhava leader T K Madhavan in a 1917 editorial in his paper Deshabhimani. Inspired by the success of Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement, by 1920, he began to advocate for more direct methods. That year, he himself went beyond the restrictive notice boards on a road near the Vaikom temple. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
Therefore, (b) is the correct answer.
Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 89)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 90)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Science and Technology (Week 90)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment and Geography (Week 90)
Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 90)
Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 90)
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