Question Discussion & Solution

The correct option is 4 i.e. Mesopotamian.

• The seals were invented around 3500 BC in southern Mesopotamia.
• The cylindrical seals were impression stamps, which were quite intricate in design. The images depicted on these seals were mostly theme-driven, often sociological or religious.
• The stamps were known as kinship in Sumerian and murukku in Akkadian.
• Mesopotamia is located in southwest Asia in the Tigris and Euphrates river system.
• It is also known as the cradle of civilisation.
• The major rule was of Sumerians and Akkadian.

The correct answer is Five.

Key Points

• The first sermon was delivered to his 5 disciples at Sarnath in a deer park.
• The first sermon delivered by Buddha was on deliverance from suffering.
• The event of the first sermon is known as "Dharmachakra Pravartana" which means turning the wheel of dharma.
• In the first sermon, Buddha gave two elements of the Holy Trinity of Buddhism.
  • Dhamma: Teachings
  • Sangha: Order of Buddhist monks and nuns
• His five disciples became Arhats.
• Buddha obtained Mahaparinirvana at the age of 80 in Kushinagar.

Additional Information

• After attaining Enlightenment Buddha discovered four noble truths:
  • The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
  • The truth of the cause of suffering (Samudaya)
  • The truth of the end of suffering (Nirodha), and
  • The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering (Astangika-Marga).
• Buddha attained Enlightenment at the age of 35 at Gaya under a Peepal tree at Uruvela.
• The Peepal tree under which Buddha attained Enlightenment is the famous Bodhi tree.

The correct answer is Western India and Pakistan.

• The history of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization, known more specifically as the Harappan Civilization.
  • It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of South Asia, that is Pakistan and Western India.
  • The Indus Valley was home to the majority of the four ancient urban civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China.
  • Nothing had been known about this civilization until the 1920s, when the Indian Archeological Department carried out excavations in the Indus Valley, in the ruins of the two old cities, viz. Mohenjodaro and Harappa were discovered.
  • The ruins of buildings and other items, such as household goods, weapons of war, gold and silver ornaments, seals, toys, pottery, etc., show that some four to five thousand years ago a highly developed civilization flourished in this area.

Additional Information

• The Indus Valley Civilization was primarily an urban civilization, and people lived in well-planned and well-built cities, which were also centres of commerce.
• The highly civilised Harappans learned the art of grain production, and their staple food was wheat and barley.
• They also consumed vegetables and fruit and ate mutton, pork and eggs. Proof also indicates that they wore cotton and woollen clothing.
• By 1500 BC, the Harappan culture had come to an end. Recurrent floods and other natural causes, such as earthquakes, etc., are among the numerous causes due to the decay of Indus Valley Civilization.

The correct answer is Sabarmati Ashram.

Key Points

• On 12 March 1930, Dandi March was undertaken from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi by Gandhiji.
• To achieve the goal of Complete independence, Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was started by Gandhiji with the Dandi March.
• He started his march along with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to the small village Dandi to break the Salt Law.
• The march lasted from 12th March 1930 to 6th April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.

Additional Information

• Gandhian Era:
  • Mahatma Gandhi was in South Africa when he was summoned by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, after which he returned to India in 1915.
  • The period from 1915-1948 can be construed as the ‘Gandhian era’ in Indian National Movement.
  • The period between 1919 to independence is marked by three important struggles –
    • Non-cooperation movement of 1919
    • Civil Disobedience movement of 1930, with its call for complete independence
    • The famous Quit Indian Movement of 1942. 

The correct answer is 3, 4, 2, 1.

Key Points

• The correct chronological order of the above events is 3, 4, 2, 1.
• Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic movement in India that happened from 1919 to 1924 also known as the Indian Muslim movement.
• The leaders of the Khilafat movement were Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Abul Kalam Azad.
• The Lahore Resolution, also known as the Pakistan Resolution, was passed on 22–24 March 1940.

Additional Information

• Cripps Mission was sent by the British Government in March 1942 to India with the key objective to secure Indian cooperation and support for British War Efforts.
• The Cripps mission was headed by Sir Stafford Cripps.
•  A three-member Cabinet Mission visited India in March 1946 headed by Lord Pethick Lawrence.
• The Cripps Mission was sent by the British government to India in March 1942 to obtain Indian cooperation for the British war efforts in the 2nd World War.
• It was headed by Sir Richard Stafford Cripps, a labour minister in Winston Churchill’s coalition government in Britain.
• Gandhi Ji described Cripps’ offer of dominion status as, “a post-dated cheque drawn on a crashing bank”.
• The Cripps Mission was a failure as it failed to give confidence to Congress about Britain’s intentions (which were not sincere in any case). Neither did the Indian leadership offer support to Britain’s war effort.
• In the same year, Congress started the Quit India Movement in the wake of the mission’s failure.
• Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Maidan also known as August Kranti Maidan is the place where the quit India movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi. He along with other leaders gathered here on August 8 and 9, 1942.

• The Khilafat Movement (1919):
• It brought the Muslims & the Hindus on a common platform against the British administration.
• It was one of the most important causes of the Non - Cooperation Movement. 
• The Indian Muslims regarded the Sultan of Turkey as the Caliph.
• Causes that agitated Indian Muslims & forced them to launch the movement are the following:
  • The defeat of Ottoman Turkey (German Ally) & its dissection by Britishers in World War I.
  • Harsh terms of the Treaty of Sevres (1920) on Turkey.
  • Revolts instigated by Britishers in Arab.
• M.A Ansari demanded the restoration of the Arab lands to Calipha in the Muslim League's Annual Session of 1918.
  • It got support from Congress.
• In May 1919, the All India Khilafat Conference was formed in Bombay.
• All Indi Khilafat Committee was set up in September 1919 at Lucknow.
  • President: Seth Chhotani.
  • Secretary: Shaukat Ali.
• Mohammed Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan & Hasrat Mohani were the leaders of the Khilafat Movement.
• The All - India Khilafat Conference held in November 1919 in Delhi decided to withdraw all government cooperation if the government did not meet its demands.
• Mahatma Gandhi strongly advocated the Khilafat cause.
  • He was elected as the President of the All India Khilafat Conference in November 1919.
• The Central Khilafat Committee meeting at Allahabad in June 1920 declared the programme of Non-Cooperation.

Lahore Resolution:

• The resolution for the establishment of a separate homeland for the Muslims of British India passed in the annual session of the All India Muslim League held in Lahore on 22–24 March 1940 is a landmark document of Pakistan's history.
•  It is a landmark document in the history of Pakistan.

Cabinet Mission Plan:

• This desire for Indian unity was symbolized by the Cabinet Mission, which arrived in New Delhi on 24 March 1946, sent by the British government, in which the subject was the form of a post-independent India.