Question Discussion & Solution

Mahajanapadas refers to ancient Indian Kingdoms that existed between the 3rd and 6th centuries BCE.

• These kingdoms and republics had evolved and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the North West to Anga in the Eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.
• It included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region, prior to the rise of Buddhism in India.

Important Points

Some of the Mahajanapadas are as follows:

From the above, we can conclude that Chedi Janapad is not from Rajasthan.

The correct answer is option 2 i.e. Prabhakara Vardhana

Key Points

• Prabhakara Vardhana defeated the Gurjaras and extended his control over neighbouring states.
• He belonged to the Pushyabhuti family.
• Around 606 CE Harshvardhan ascended the Throne and ruled till 647 CE.

The correct answer is The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon.

Key Points

• The immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi Movement was the partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon.
• Swadeshi Movement
  • This was a comprehensive movement that lasted 6 years.
  • Although this was regarded as a cultural movement celebrating the rich harvest of history, the rich traditions like folk music, paintings, the culture of Bengal were highlighted.
  • But very soon, it got integrated with the political upheavals that followed after the partition of Bengal. Krishna Kumar Mitra, in his newspaper, ‘Sanjivani’ highlighted the prospects of national education and ‘Economic Swadeshi’.
  • Very soon, this movement started gaining momentum with the help of the entire Bengali middle-class intelligentsia.
  • After the partition of Bengal, the Swadeshi movement got a big boost, because of the integration of the boycott movement with the Swadeshi movement.
  • Tilak called this movement “Bahishkar Yoga“ and most of the Bengali intelligentsia that was initially not in favor of the boycott movement got integrated with the Swadeshi movement.
  • This was primary learning for the national movement.
  • According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Lala Lajpat Rai, it was training in ‘self-determination’, ‘self-help’, and ‘self-reliance’.

Additional Information

• Lord Curzon
  • Curzon came up with the idea to suppress the rising tide of nationalism.
  • With the publication of the book, ‘Indian Musalman’, by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, and with his active alliance, the attitude of the British towards Muslims changed significantly.
  • Thus Curzon wanted to ensure that the minority consciousness should be used against the majority and that this would then break the solidarity of Indian society, and in turn, break the solidarity of the Indian National Movement as well.
  • Thus, his active agenda was to create a feeling of minority consciousness.
  • The ‘Partition of Bengal’ was at the core of his policies.
  • The population of Bengal was balanced - where Hindus and Muslims were numerically almost equal.
  • Their consciousness was that of a Bengali consciousness and not at all a religious contradiction between Hindus and Muslims, and the Bengali intelligentsia was primarily responsible for the spread of nationalism in different parts of India.

The correct answer is the Luni River.

Important Points

• Tilwara civilization is in the Barmer district at the riverbank of Luni.
• The Mesolithic culture has been excavated from the Tilwara archeological site.

Additional Information

• Evidence was collected and preserved in the government museum of Barmer, Rajasthan.
• Evidence of animal husbandry is also found here.

• Ravi River - Harappan civilization
• kantli River - Sunari civilization
• Kothari River - Bagore civilization

The correct answer is Kota.

• At the time of the formation of Rajasthan, in the second phase, Kota was the capital of the Union.

• Formation of Rajasthan​

• Formation of Rajasthan
  • The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region was merged into the Dominion of India.
  • Its capital and largest city is Jaipur.