UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise static quiz: History and Culture MCQs on MONDIACULT, Sarnath and more (Week 127)

QUESTION 1

‘MONDIACULT’ recently seen in news refers to:

(a) A global summit on environmental sustainability

(b) An international trade agreement among developing nations

(c) A United Nations program on world agriculture and food security

(d) A world conference on cultural policies organized by UNESCO

Explanation

— MONDIACULT is a World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, organized by UNESCO in partnership with host countries, such as Spain for the 2025 edition.

— “When a cultural object is stolen, we lose a part of our identity. Learning about these missing objects is the first step toward their recovery,” reads an introductory note of UNESCO’s newly launched Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects.

— The museum, launched September 29 at UNESCO’s MONDIACULT conference, is “an innovative digital platform [which] reconnects communities with their stolen cultural treasures”, and seeks to confront the illicit trafficking of heritage items, particularly as a result of colonialism.

Therefore, d is the correct answer.

(For more, refer: Why UNESCO’s new Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects matters by Poulomi Deb, Explained, The Indian Express.)

QUESTION 2

Consider the following personalities:

1. Friedrich Oertel

2. Alexander Cunningham

3. Jonathan Dunancan

4. Babu Jagat Singh

Who among the above given names are associated with the history of Sarnath?

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 1, 2 and 4

(c) 2, 3 and 4

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Explanation

— Ahead of a UNESCO team’s proposed visit to Sarnath, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will install what it is calling a “corrected” plaque that will credit a local ruler, and not the British, for preserving the holy Buddhist site.

— “The proposal is for the new plaque to credit [Babu Jagat Singh] for bringing to light Sarnath’s archaeological importance for the first time in 1787-88, and not in 1798,” sources told The Indian Express. The change, sources said, was made based on a proposal submitted by Singh’s family to the ASI.

— Sarnath was among the earliest sites explored by amateur British archaeologists and indologists, possibly due to its proximity to Varanasi, which had a strong Company presence.

— The credit for its “rediscovery”, however, goes to workers of Jagat Singh, the diwan of Raja Chait Singh of Benares, who were digging at the site to retrieve brick and stone for a new marketplace being built in his name. (The locality at the heart of modern Varanasi still goes by the name ‘Jagatganj’). The workers discovered the inscribed pedestal of an image of the Buddha and two stone reliquaries, the contents of which, according to historian B C Bhattacharya, “were thrown into the river Ganges” (The History of Sarnath or the Cradle of Buddhism, 1923).

— In 1799, these findings were reported by Jonathan Dunancan, a prominent indologist who had founded the Sanskrit College at Varanasi in 1791. Duncan’s descriptions were what spurred subsequent British excavations at the site, most notably by Cunningham in 1835-36.

— During these excavations, Cunningham discovered and removed many statues from the site, as well as the sandstone box reported by Duncan from the Dharmarajika Stupa (formerly known as the ‘Jagat Singh Stupa’). By 1836, Cunningham had conclusively identified Sarnath as the location of the Buddha’s first sermon.

— The most significant work on Sarnath, however, was carried out by archaeologist Friedrich Oertel in 1904-05. “He was the first scholar to carry out the work of excavation systematically and on a scientific basis. As a result of his work, 476 architectural and sculptural relics and 41 inscriptions were discovered in one season,” Bhattacharya wrote.

Therefore, d is the correct answer.

(For more, refer — Tracing history of Sarnath: from Buddha’s first sermon to emblem of Indian republic by Arjun Sengupta, Explained, The Indian Express.)

QUESTION 3

Consider the following statements:

1. Ashoka oversaw the establishment of several monastic structures at Sarnath, including the Dhamek Stupa, which is said to mark the exact location from where the Buddha delivered his first sermon and he famously constructed a lion pillar at Sarnath that today acts as the emblem of the Republic of India.

2. Ancient Buddhist texts refer to Kushinagara as Mrigadava or Rishipatana, where the Buddha left his mortal body.

Which of the above given statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

— Sarnath, roughly 10 km to the northeast of Varanasi, is where the Buddha is said to have delivered his first sermon in c. 528 BCE, and the place at which the Buddhist sangha (community) is said to have formed.

— Ashoka famously constructed a lion pillar at Sarnath that today acts as the emblem of the Republic of India. “…the very act of erecting the lion pillar probably was intended to mark the place as the location of the Buddha’s first sermon,” historian Frederick Asher wrote in his book Sarnath: A Critical History of the Place Where Buddhism Began (2020).

— Recent excavations have unearthed evidence of pre-Ashokan activity and habitation at the site, but Ashoka remains singularly associated with Sarnath as its original patron. He oversaw the establishment of several monastic structures at the site, including the Dhamek Stupa, which is said to mark the exact location from where the Buddha delivered his first sermon. It is during his reign that Sarnath became a Buddhist pilgrimage site.

Therefore, a is the correct answer.

(For more, refer: Tracing history of Sarnath: from Buddha’s first sermon to emblem of Indian republic by Arjun Sengupta, Explained, The Indian Express.)

QUESTION 4

Which hill station was chosen by British officials based in Calcutta and was gifted to the East India Company by the king of Sikkim in 1835?

(a) Shimla

(b) Gangtok

(c) Mussoorie

(d) Darjeeling

Explanation

— The search for a hill station in the east, for officials based in Calcutta, concluded with the founding of Darjeeling. In 1835, the king of Sikkim gifted Darjeeling to the East India Company.

— The deed, as cited by academic Amiya K Samanta in Gorkhaland Movement: A Study in Ethnic Separatism (2000), notes, “The Governor-General having expressed his desire for the possession of the hill of Darjeeling on account of its cool climate for the purpose of enabling the servants of his government suffering from sickness to avail themselves of its advantages, I, the Sikkim-Patti Raja, out of friendship…hereby present Darjeeling to the East India Company.”

Therefore, d is the correct answer.

(For more, refer: How Darjeeling, Queen of the Hills, caught the attention of the British and became their summer getaway, Research, The Indian Express.)

QUESTION 5

Who is the author of ‘The India Struggle’?

(a) Rabindranath Tagore

(b) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

(c) Subhas Chandra Bose

(d) Mahatma Gandhi 

Explanation

— The Indian Struggle, 1920–1942 is a two-part book by the Indian nationalist leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that covers the 1920–1942 history of the Indian independence movement to end British imperial rule over India.

— It was banned in India by the British colonial government. It was published in the country only in 1948.

Therefore, c is the correct answer.

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