UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz on History and Culture : Can you pass this Prelims challenge? (week 146)

Explanation

— Mahitosh Mandal in his research paper Dalit resistance during the Bengal renaissance: Five anti-caste thinkers from colonial Bengal, India (2022), writes, “Whereas there are hundreds of pages written by the Dalits in the vernacular Bengali language that document Dalit history, hardly any professional historian has referred to these.” One example he cites is the Poundra Mahasangha, produced by the Poundra community containing autobiographies, literary writings, and political pamphlets, which can give a fair idea of the anti-caste struggle of this group.

— Mandal cites five other Dalit leaders: Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur of the Namasudra community, Mahendranath Karan and Rajendranath Sarkar of the Pundra community, and Mahendranath Mallabarman of the Malos, whose intellectual output was committed to the anti-caste and self-respect movements.

Therefore, b is the correct answer.

QUESTION 2

“It is believed that the 16th-century monument was built in parts by the Mughal emperor Humayun and the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri. The first excavation at the site was carried out by archaeologist B. B. Lal in 1954.”

Which is the monument that the above lines mention?

(a) Rohtas fort

(b) Shergarh fort

(c) Adilabad fort

(d) None of the above

Explanation

— Over the last seven decades, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has carried out seven rounds of excavations at Purana Qila for evidence that would establish a link between the area and the events described in the Mahabharata.

— It is believed that the 16th century fort, built in parts by the Mughal emperor Humayun and the Afghan Sher Shah Suri, stands at the site of the city of Indraprastha, the capital of the Pandavas.

— The first excavation at the site was carried out by archaeologist B B Lal in 1954, but it was not until 2014 that the ASI discovered fragments of pottery known as Painted Grey Ware or PGW that is typical of the Iron Age Indo-Aryan culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra valley, and is usually dated between c. 1100 BCE and c. 500-400 BCE.

Therefore, d is the correct answer.

QUESTION 3

‘Sadir attam’ refers to:

(a) the name of a plant found in ancient Tamil texts

(b) classical instruments played along with Mohiniyattam

(c) ancient Indian dance book

(d) none of the above

Explanation

According to indianculture.gov.in:

— “Most classical dance forms of India which are strictly based on Natya Shastra, originated from within temple complexes. One such example is the Sadir Attam of Tamil Nadu, today known as Bharatanatyam.”

Therefore, d is the correct answer.

QUESTION 4

With reference to books and their translations in the colonial period, consider the following statements:

1. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s English translation of his Bengali work, Marriage of Hindu Widows, influenced the passage of the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act in 1856.

2. Orientalist Charles Wilkins, influenced by his judicial engagement with legal texts like the Manusmriti, published his translation titled Institutes of Hindu Law.

3. In Balidaan (Sacrifice), his Hindi translation of Victor Hugo’s Quatre-vingt-treize, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi enriched the text with contextual details about the French Revolution to emphasize its message of self-sacrifice for Indian readers.

Which of the above given statements is/are true?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Explanation

— Orientalist William Jones, influenced by his judicial engagement with legal texts like the Manusmriti, published his 1794 translation titled Institutes of Hindu Law. As Tejaswini Niranjana observes in her article Translation, Colonialism and the Rise of English (1990), Jones’s work embodied a broader colonial impulse—the belief that translation should be carried out by Europeans rather than Indians, in order to codify local laws and “purify” Indian culture. Siddiqi concurs, “For the British, translation was a project of control.”

— Another turning point in colonial translation came with English Orientalist Charles Wilkins’ 1785 translation of the Bhagavad Gita. This, according to Jones, as cited by Kothari in her book Translating India (2014), was the “event that made it possible for the first time to have a reliable impression of Indian literature.”

— Indian social reformers played a pivotal role in legal reform. Gargi Bhattacharya highlights how Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s English translation of his Bengali work, Marriage of Hindu Widows, directly influenced the passage of the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act in 1856.

— Translation also served as a mode of resistance. A powerful example is Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi’s Hindi translation of Victor Hugo’s Quatre-vingt-treize, retitled Balidaan (sacrifice), which he enriched with contextual details about the French Revolution to underscore its message of self-sacrifice for Indian readers.

Hence, statement 1 and 3 are correct.

Therefore, (c) is the correct answer.

QUESTION 5

What is true about Amar Jiban (My life) published in 1876 ?

1. It was the first-ever full-scale autobiography written by an Indian indentured labour.

2. It is a  text inspired by Vaishnavite traditions.

Which of the above given statements is/are true?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

Rashsundari Devi frequently refers to herself as a ”caged bird”. Her words critiquing her life in an affluent, upper caste family in Bengal were of great significance as it was for the first time that a woman in India was writing about herself. Amar Jiban (My life) published in 1876 was the first-ever full-scale autobiography written by an Indian woman.

A text inspired by Vaishnavite traditions

One has to read Rashsundari’s account of her life also in the context of the religious churning going on in Bengal in the 19th century and how that impacted the lives of women. Bengal in the late 19th century was experiencing a revival of ardent Vaishnavism. In her book, Rashsundar explains that it was her irrepressible urge to read a particular sacred text, the Chaitanya Bhagabat, that made her go through the struggle to read. This was the first Bengali biography of Chaitanya, the Vaishnava saint of medieval Bengal, well-known for his maddening love for Krishna.

Therefore, b is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 145)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 150)

Daily subject-wise quiz —  Science and Technology (Week 150)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 150)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment and Geography (Week 149)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 149)

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