Question Discussion & Solution

🔑 Key Points

• Dayaram Sahni carried out the first extensive excavations at Harappa in 1921, leading to its identification as a major site of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• R.D. Banerji is credited with the discovery of Mohenjo-Daro in 1922.
• John Marshall was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the time and officially announced the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization to the world.
• Alexander Cunningham was the first Director-General of the ASI, and while he investigated Harappa in the 19th century, he did not recognize its significance as part of a lost civilization.

The answer is Dadabhai Naoroji.

• On 6th July 1892, Dadabhai Naoroji (candidate for the Liberal Party) won a hard-fought election to become the first non-white to be elected to the British Parliament.
  • He also became the first Asian member of the House of Commons.
• One of the most prominent of Naoroji’s supporters was the famous Florence Nightingale.

Important Points

•  Dadabhai Naoroji:
  • Title: ‘Grand Old Man of India’
  • 1867, he propounded Economic Drain Theory where he pointed out that a quarter of India’s economic revenues were being seized by Britain.
  • In London, he established the London Indian Society and then the East Indian Association (1866) which spoke out for the rights of Indians in the British Empire.
  • In 1885, he was one of the founder members of the Indian National Congress.
    • Became the president of the Indian National Congress Sessions three times:
      • 1886, Calcutta
      • 1893, Lahore
      • 1906, Calcutta: declared that the goal of the Congress was to attain swaraj.
  • Newspaper/Journal/Book under Dadabhai Naoroji:
    • Voice of India newspaper
    • The message of reform among the Parsi community was spread by the newspaper Rast Goftar (Truth-Teller).
    • Poverty and un-British Rule in India

Additional Information

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale:
  • In 1899, Gokhale joined the Indian National Congress, emerging as one of the main leaders of its ‘moderate’ wing.
  • Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council followed by a stint at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death.
    • Gokhale played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 and advocated for the expansion of legislative councils at both the Centre and the provinces.
  • Gokhale became Congress president at its Banaras session in 1905.
  • Gandhi regarded Gokhale as his political mentor and wrote a book in Gujarati dedicated to the leader titled ‘Dharmatma Gokhale’.
• C Rajagopalachari:
  • Rajaji’s personal interaction with Gandhi in 1919 led him to give up his legal profession to be fully involved in the nation’s independence struggle.
    • The relationship between them only grew stronger and Mahatma called Rajaji the ‘keeper of my conscience’.
  • C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast in Tamil Nadu, in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  • C. Rajagopalachari prepared a formula for Congress-League cooperation in 1944. Gandhi supported the formula.
  • He was the 1st Indian Governor-General of India.
  • In 1954 he was conferred with the Bharat Ratna for his contribution to Indian politics and literature.
  • Conflicts grew between Rajaji and Nehru, this led to Rajaji forming the Swatantra Party.
• Acharya J B Kriplani:
  • Kripalani was well-known as a Gandhian and a socialist.
  • He became the Congress president in 1946.
  • In 1972-73, he and other socialist leaders led movements across the country urging people to lead nonviolent protests against Indira’s government.
  • In his autobiography My Times, he criticized the entire Congress leadership, except Mahatma Gandhi, for Partition.

The correct answer is Iqbal.

Key Points

• “Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara” is informally rated as the 'National Song' of India.
  • The song was written by the famous poet Muhammad Iqbal in 1905 and was first read in Government College, Lahore.
  • It is included in Iqbal's work 'Bang-e-Dara'.​

Additional Information

• Rabindranath Tagore-
  • He was a poet, novelist, playwright, painter, and philosopher.
  • Rabindranath Tagore was the first person from Asia to receive the Nobel Prize.
  • Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913, a year after the publication of 'Gitanjali'.
• ​Muhammad Ali Jinnah-
  • He was a prominent leader of British India and also president of the Muslim league.
  • Muhammad Ali Jinnah became known as 'Qaiday Azam' (great leader).
• Sarojini Naidu -
  • She was a well-known Bengali poetess.
  • Sarojini Naidu was called 'Bharat Nightingale'.
  • Sarojini Naidu was one of the best national leaders of India.
  • She was always ahead in the Indian freedom struggle and appeared with Gandhiji.

The correct answer is 1526.

Key Points

• First Battle of Panipat( 1526)
  • The First Battle of Panipat was fought between the invading forces of Babur and the Lodi Empire, which took place on 21 April 1526 in North India.
  • Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in this battle.
  • It marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire.
  • This was one of the earliest battles involving gunpowders firearms and field artillery.
• Second Battle of Panipat (1556)
  • The Second Battle of Panipat was fought between the forces of Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, popularly called Hemu, the Hindu king who was ruling North India from Delhi, and the army of Akbar, on November 5, 1556.
  • It was a decisive victory for Akbar’s generals Khan Zaman I and Bairam Khan.
• Third Battle of Panipat( 1761)
  • The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761, at Panipat, about 60 miles (95.5 km) north of Delhi.
  • It was fought between a northern expeditionary force of the Maratha Empire and a coalition of the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani with two Indian Muslim allies—the Rohilla Afghans of the Doab, and Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh.
  • The Durrani Afghan forces and their allies finally won and defeated the Marathas.

The correct answer Jodhpura.

Key Points

• The Sahibi river/ the Sabi River is an ephemeral, rain-fed river flowing through Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi state in India.
• It drains into the Yamuna in Delhi, where its channelled course is also called the Najafgarh drain, which also serves as Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary.
• Sahibi is a seasonal river that is 300 km long and flows from Aravalli hills in Rajasthan to Haryana, of which 100 km is in Haryana.
• It is identified that the late Harappan phase of Indus valley civilization culture was found along the Sabi Riverbank.
• Jodhpura was the site located on the banks of river Sabi in Jaipur district, where ancient civilization in Rajasthan was settled.

Additional Information

• Gilund is an archaeological site in the Rajsamand district. It is situated on the right bank of the Banas river.
• Baror is situated on the right bank of dried up river Sarasvati (modern Ghaggar) in Anupgarh Tehsil of Ganganagar district of Rajasthan.
• Nagari is situated on the right bank of the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas.