Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is 2, 4, 1, 3.

Key Points

Additional Information

• Most of the peasant movements were the outcome of social reform movements and were initially spontaneous.
• The caste panchayats played an important role in these movements. 

The correct answer is Sarojini Naidu.

Key Points

• Sarojini Naidu:
  • Sarojini Naidu was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad to Bengali parents. 
  • Her father administered the Nizam College in Hyderabad while her mother was a prolific writer.
  • She was the eldest of eight siblings.
  • Sarojini Naidu graduated from the University of Madras and the Nizam Charitable Trust founded by Mahbub Ali Khan gave her a chance to study at Girton College at Cambridge.
  • Sarojini married Pradipati Govindarajulu Naidu after completing her education.
  • The couple would have five children, one of them, Paidipati Padmaja would join the independence struggle and become a part of the Quit India Movement.

The correct answer is 2 and 3 only.

Key Points

• Battle of Haldighati was fought in 1576 between Maharana Pratap and nd the Mughal emperor Akbar's forces, led by Man Singh I of Amber. Hence 2 is correct.
  • In this war, Maharana Pratap mainly got the support of the Bhil tribe.
  • This battle was one of the shortest in Indian history, lasting only four hours.
  • It is said that after the Battle of Haldighat, Rana Pratap continued to attack the Mughals with guerrilla warfare techniques.
  • He stayed in the hills and from there harassed the large Mughal army in the camps.
  • He ensured that the Mughal soldiers would never live in peace in Mewar.
• The Battle of Dewair 1582 was fought between Maharana Pratap and Mughal officer Sultan Khan. Hence 3 is correct.
  • Maharana Pratap attacked the Mughal fortification of Dewair which was led by the Mughal officer Sultan Khan.
  • Maharana Pratap's son Amar Singh killed Sultan Khan and the Mughal army was forced to give up Dewair and retreat.
  • 32000 Mughal army surrendered to Maharana Pratap.
  • After the Battle of Dewair, Maharana Pratap continued his campaign and by 1586 AD had regained most of Mewar other than Chittor, Ajmer, and Mandalgarh. 
• The Battle of Khanwa was a decisive engagement between the Mughal forces under Babur and the Rajput alliance under Rana Sanga of Mewar. Hence 1 is incorrect
  • The battle was fought on 16 March 1527.
  • It ended in a decisive victory for the Mughal forces and would consolidate Babur and his descendants’ rule for centuries to come.

The correct answer is Mauryan Empire.

Key Points

• In the Mauryan empire Kautilya refers to two types of courts :
  • Dharmasthiyas (dealt with civil matters).
  • Kantakasodhana(dealt with criminal matters).

Additional Information

• Mauryan Empire (321 BCE - 185 BCE):
  • Chandragupta Maurya (321 BCE - 297 BCE):
    • Founder of the Maurya Dynasty and credited with the setting up of the first (nearly) pan-Indian empire.
    • Known as Sandrakottos to the Greeks and Androkottus by Aerian and Plutark. 
    • William Jones was the 1st scholar who recognized Sandrokottos as Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Kautilya mentored Chandragupta and prepared him for a takeover of Magadha.
    • Set up a vast centralized empire (details of whose functioning, society, military, and economy are well preserved in Kautilya's Arthashastra).
    • Defeated the invading army of the Eastern part of Alexander's empire Seleucus (305 BCE).​
    • Megasthenese was a Greek ambassador sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Chandragupta in his later years accepted Jainism.
      • Accompanied Bhadrabahu to Karnataka and later died by following the ritual of sallekhana, i.e., fasting till death. 
  • Bindusara (297 BCE - 273 BCE):
    • 2nd Mauryan Emperor of India and he was the son of Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Known as Amitrochates to the Greeks. In Jain texts, he was known as Simhasena.
    • Antiochus sent Deimachus as an ambassador to Bindusara's court.
    • Chanakya also remained the chief advisor of Bindusara.
    • Bindusara was an able monarch who was successful in consolidating the empire established by his father.
    • Bindusara patronized the Ajivikas.
  •  Ashoka the Great (268 BCE - 232 BCE):
    • 3rd king of the Mauryan Empire.
    • He was known for:
      • Renunciation of war after the Kalinga war.
      • Development of the concept of Dhamma (pious social conduct, welfare of humanity).
      • Promotion of Buddhism. 
      • Effective reign of a nearly pan-Indian political entity.
    • Under Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire stretched from modern-day Iran through almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.
    • Ashoka initially rules this vast empire through the political treatise's precepts known as the Arthashastra.
    • In his inscriptions, he was called Devanampriya or Devanapiyadasi.​
    • Most of the inscriptions were written in Prakrit language in Brahmi script except only two which were in Kharoshti script.
    • In 1837, James Prinsep become the 1st scholar who deciphered Ashoka's inscription.
  • Brihadratha:
    • Last Mauryan ruler.
    • Assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga and established his own Sunga dynasty.

The correct answer is W.C. Bannerjee.

Key Points

•  W.C. Bonnerjee
  • W.C. Banerjee was born on 29th December 1844 at Calcutta. He finished his schooling at Oriental Seminary and Hindu School.
  • In 1862, he joined a law firm in Calcutta as a clerk from where he got acquainted with the law.
  • In 1882, he became the first Indian to be appointed as a Standing Counsel.
  • He famously defended Surendranath Banerjee in contempt of court case in the High Court of Calcutta.
  • In the first session of the INC in December 1885 at Bombay, Bonnerjee was the President. This session was attended by 72 members.
  • Although he was defeated, he became the first Indian to stand for election for the British Parliament.
  • He passed away at Calcutta in 1906 aged 61.

Additional Information

•  Motilal Nehru 
  • Motilal Nehru was a leader of the Indian independence movement, cofounder of the Swaraj Party, and the father of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • The massacre of hundreds of Indians by the British at Amritsar in 1919 prompted Motilal to join Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement, giving up his career in law and changing to a simpler, non-Anglicized style of life.
  • In 1923 Motilal helped found the Swaraj Party (1923–27), the policy of which was to win election to the Central Legislative Assembly and obstruct its proceedings from within.
• Jawaharlal Nehru
  • On 14 November 1889, Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad to parents with Kashmiri Pandit lineage.
  • He played a prominent role in the freedom struggle and became the first prime minister of independent India.
  • He became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923. He was the party president in the Lahore session in 1929 when the declaration of complete independence as the goal of the freedom movement was passed.
  • He became the president of the All India States Peoples Conference in 1935. He threw open its membership to people across the political spectrum. This organisation would play an important part in the integration of the princely states into India.
• Mahatma Gandhi
  • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist.
  • He was known as the Father of the Nation and commonly called Bapu.
  • His birthday on 2 October is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday.
  • He was a prolific writer. One of Gandhi's publications Hind Swaraj published in Gujrati in 1909.
  • He was the leader of various movements (Satyagraha, Champaran Movement, Kheda Movement, Quit India Movement).