APPSC Group-1 2019 History and Culture Previous Year Questions

Ans: (1) A commentary on the law book of Yajnavalkya (as per APPSC official final key)

Vijnaneshvara lived at the court of the Western (Kalyani) Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI (1076–1126). His Mitakshara is a commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti, one of the main Hindu law books.

The Mitakshara is best known for its rules on inheritance: a son gets a right in ancestral property by birth. It became the main school of Hindu law in most of India, while the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana was followed in Bengal and Assam, where rights arise only on the father’s death. So inheritance is a topic inside the Mitakshara, but the work itself is a commentary.

Note:

• Bilhana wrote Vikramankadeva Charita, a biography of Vikramaditya VI.
• Vikramaditya VI started the Chalukya-Vikrama era (1076 CE).

Ans: (4) I-Tsing (Yijing) | Ashoka (as per APPSC official final key)

Foreign travellers and the kings in whose time they came:

• Megasthenes – Greek ambassador of Seleucus Nicator to Chandragupta Maurya; wrote Indica.
• Fa-Hien – Chinese pilgrim during Chandragupta II (399–414 CE); wrote Fo-kwo-ki.
• Hiuen Tsang – Chinese pilgrim during Harsha (629–645 CE); wrote Si-yu-ki.
• I-Tsing – Chinese pilgrim who came in the 7th century (671–695 CE), after Harsha, and studied at Nalanda. Ashoka ruled in the 3rd century BCE, so this pair is wrong.

Note:

• Al-Biruni came with Mahmud of Ghazni (11th century).
• Ibn Battuta: Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

Ans: (1) Virupaksha temple | Thiruvananthapuram (as per APPSC official final key)

Temples and their locations:

• Virupaksha temple is at Hampi (Vijayanagara) and also at Pattadakal (built by Queen Lokamahadevi of the Chalukyas of Badami). It is not at Thiruvananthapuram, which has the Padmanabhaswamy temple.
• Kandariya Mahadeva – Khajuraho, built by the Chandelas (Nagara style).
• Lingaraja – Bhubaneswar, Odisha (Kalinga style).
• Mahabodhi – Bodh Gaya, Bihar, where the Buddha attained enlightenment.

Note:

• Khajuraho, Pattadakal, Hampi and Mahabodhi are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
• Nagara (north), Dravida (south) and Vesara (Deccan) are the three temple styles.

Ans: (3) Sultan Alauddin Khalji (as per APPSC official final key)

Alauddin Khalji (1296–1316) brought in strict measures to control the nobles and maintain a large army. He banned drinking of liquor and social gatherings of nobles, set up a spy system, and introduced market control: fixed prices for grain, cloth, horses and slaves in Delhi, enforced by the shahna-i-mandi (market superintendent). He also gave severe punishments for crimes.

He measured land and fixed revenue at half of the produce. Ziauddin Barani is the main source for these reforms.

Note:

• Alauddin introduced dagh (branding of horses) and huliya (descriptive roll of soldiers).
• Malik Kafur led his campaigns to the south (Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra, Madurai).

Ans: (1) Shaikh Gesudaraz (as per APPSC official final key)

The Chishti silsila was brought to India by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (Ajmer). Its later saints included Bakhtiyar Kaki, Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar, Nizamuddin Auliya and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi. Shaikh Gesudaraz (Syed Muhammad Bandanawaz) was a disciple of Chiragh-i-Delhi and carried the Chishti order to the Deccan at Gulbarga (Bahmani kingdom).

Bahauddin Zakariya (Multan) and Sadruddin Arif belonged to the Suhrawardi order. Nuruddin Rishi (Nund Rishi) founded the Rishi order of Kashmir.

Note:

• Chishtis kept away from the court and used sama (music).
• Suhrawardis accepted state patronage.

Ans: (1) Future Constitution in India and (2) Dominion status of India (as per APPSC official final key; both options are treated as correct)

The First Round Table Conference (November 1930 – January 1931, London) was called after the Simon Commission report to discuss the future constitution of India. Indians wanted Dominion status, promised in the Irwin Declaration (1929), and the conference discussed a federal structure. The Congress boycotted it because of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

APPSC’s final key accepts both options (1) and (2). The INA trials (1945) and transfer of power (1947) came much later.

Note:

• Second RTC (1931): Gandhi attended after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact; third RTC (1932): Congress absent.
• Communal Award: August 1932, leading to the Poona Pact.

Ans: (2) Superior war technology of the Turks (as per APPSC official final key)

Muhammad of Ghor lost the first battle of Tarain (1191) but defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in the second battle of Tarain (1192). The Turks won mainly because of superior military organisation and technique: fast mounted archers, better horses, and tactics like feigned retreat, against Rajput armies that relied on elephants and heavy infantry.

Gunpowder was not used in India until Babur (1526).

Note:

• After Tarain, Qutbuddin Aibak was left in charge of Indian conquests.
• Battle of Chandawar (1194): Ghori defeated Jaichand of Kannauj.

Ans: (4) Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas (as per APPSC official final key)

The Third Battle of Panipat was fought on 14 January 1761 between Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani) of Afghanistan and the Marathas led by Sadashiv Rao Bhau, during Peshwa Balaji Bajirao. The Marathas were badly defeated; Vishwasrao and Bhau were killed.

The first battle (1526) was between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi; the second (1556) between Akbar (Bairam Khan) and Hemu.

Note:

• Humayun lost to Sher Shah at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540).
• After 1761 the Marathas recovered under Madhav Rao I and Mahadji Scindia.

Ans: (1) The Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccani Sultanates (as per APPSC official final key)

The Battle of Talikota (also Rakshasa-Tangadi or Bannihatti), January 1565, was fought between Vijayanagara, led by Aliya Rama Raya, and the combined Deccan Sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Bidar. Rama Raya was killed and the city of Vijayanagara was plundered.

The empire continued under the Aravidu dynasty from Penukonda and Chandragiri.

Note:

• Berar did not join the alliance.
• Caesar Frederick described the ruined city in 1567.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

This question was deleted by APPSC in the official final key, so no option is scored as correct.

The Baksariya (from Baksar in Bihar/UP) were Muslim musketeers hired as soldiers in Rajput and Mughal-era armies. Rajput rulers of Mewar employed Afghan and Muslim soldiers; for example, Hakim Khan Sur led Rana Pratap’s vanguard at Haldighati (1576). Since the sources do not clearly link Baksariyas to one Rana, the question was withdrawn.

Note:

• Rana Kumbha built the Vijay Stambha at Chittor and Kumbhalgarh fort.
• Rana Raj Singh opposed Aurangzeb’s jizya.

Ans: (1) Collect land revenue from the peasants and to deposit it in the State treasury (as per APPSC official final key)

In the medieval Deccan (Bahmani, Deccani Sultanates and Maratha periods) the Deshmukh was a hereditary revenue officer of a pargana, a group of villages. His main job was to collect land revenue from the peasants and deposit it in the state treasury, keeping a share (watan) for himself. The Deshpande was the accountant at the same level.

At village level the Patil (headman) and Kulkarni (accountant) did similar work.

Note:

• Chauth (one-fourth) and Sardeshmukhi (one-tenth) were Maratha levies on neighbouring areas.
• In Telangana, Deshmukhs later became powerful landlords (Telangana armed struggle).

Ans: (2) 1853 (as per APPSC official final key)

India’s first passenger train ran from Bombay (Bori Bunder) to Thane, about 34 km, on 16 April 1853, during the time of Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. It was run by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway with 14 carriages pulled by three locomotives (Sahib, Sultan, Sindh).

Note:

• Dalhousie’s minute of 1853 is called the ‘charter of Indian railways’.
• First train in south India: Royapuram–Wallajah Road (1856).

Ans: (1) (iii), (iv), (i), (ii) (as per APPSC official final key)

The order of these Governors-General is:

• Warren Hastings (1773–85) – first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act, 1773.
• Lord Cornwallis (1786–93) – Permanent Settlement (1793).
• Lord Wellesley (1798–1805) – Subsidiary Alliance.
• Lord William Bentinck (1828–35) – abolition of sati (1829); first Governor-General of India (Charter Act, 1833).

So (iii), (iv), (i), (ii).

Note:

• Lord Canning was the first Viceroy (1858).
• Lord Dalhousie: Doctrine of Lapse.

Ans: (1) (iii), (i), (iv), (ii) (as per APPSC official final key)

The Gupta rulers, in order:

• Samudragupta (c. 335–375) – conquests recorded in the Allahabad Pillar inscription by Harisena; called the “Napoleon of India”.
• Chandragupta II (c. 375–415) – Vikramaditya; defeated the Shakas; Fa-Hien came in his time.
• Kumaragupta I (c. 415–455) – founded Nalanda.
• Skandagupta (c. 455–467) – repelled the Hunas; repaired the Sudarshana lake (Junagadh inscription).

So (iii), (i), (iv), (ii).

Note:

• Chandragupta I (c. 319–335) began the Gupta era in 319–20 CE.
• Kalidasa is linked with Chandragupta II’s court.

Ans: (2) Harsha (as per APPSC official final key)

Banabhatta was the court poet of Harshavardhana (606–647 CE) of Thanesar and Kanauj. He wrote the Harshacharita, a biography of Harsha, and the romance Kadambari, both in ornate Sanskrit prose.

Harsha himself wrote three plays: Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarshika.

Note:

• Harsha held assemblies at Kanauj and Prayag (every five years).
• Pulakeshin II defeated Harsha on the Narmada (Aihole inscription, by Ravikirti).

Ans: (3) 1498 (as per APPSC official final key)

Vasco da Gama reached Calicut (Kozhikode) on 20 May 1498, after sailing round the Cape of Good Hope with the help of a Gujarati pilot. He was received by the ruler, the Zamorin. This opened the sea route from Europe to India.

Note:

• Francisco de Almeida was the first Portuguese viceroy (Blue Water Policy).
• Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from Bijapur in 1510.

Ans: (4) Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms | 1929 (as per APPSC official final key)

Dates of British-era acts and events:

• Pitt’s India Act – 1784 (Board of Control set up).
• Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act) – 1909; separate electorates for Muslims.
• Partition of Bengal annulled – 1911 (Delhi Durbar of George V).
• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (Government of India Act) – 1919, not 1929; introduced dyarchy in the provinces.

Note:

• Bengal was partitioned in 1905 by Lord Curzon.
• Simon Commission: 1927–28.

Ans: (2) 1697 (as per APPSC official final key)

The French East India Company was founded in 1664 under Colbert. François Martin founded Pondicherry in 1674. The Dutch captured it in 1693, but it was returned to the French by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), after which it remained the French capital in India.

Note:

• First French factory: Surat (1668).
• Dupleix was Governor of Pondicherry during the Carnatic Wars.

Ans: (1) Iltutmish (as per APPSC official final key)

Iltutmish (1210–1236) is credited with introducing the two basic coins of the Delhi Sultanate: the silver tanka (about 175 grains) and the copper jital. He also got the investiture (recognition) from the Abbasid Caliph in 1229.

He organised the iqta system and the Turkan-i-Chahalgani (group of forty nobles), and completed the Qutub Minar.

Note:

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced token currency (bronze/copper).
• Balban introduced sijda and paibos.

Ans: (4) Vallabhacharya (as per APPSC official final key)

Vallabhacharya (1479–1531), a Telugu Brahmin, founded the Pushtimarga (“path of grace”), devotion to Krishna as Shrinathji. Pushti means nourishment, the grace of God. His philosophy is Shuddhadvaita (pure non-dualism).

Chaitanya founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism in Bengal; Vyasaraja was a Madhva saint at the Vijayanagara court; Ravidas was a nirguna saint.

Note:

• Surdas was a disciple of Vallabhacharya.
• Nathdwara (Rajasthan) is the main seat of Pushtimarga.

Ans: (3) a-III, b-IV, c-I, d-II (as per APPSC official final key)

Monuments and places:

• Charminar – Hyderabad, built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1591).
• Akbar’s Tomb – Sikandra near Agra, completed by Jahangir.
• Humayun’s Tomb – Delhi, built by his widow Haji Begum; first garden tomb in India.
• Taj Mahal – Agra, built by Shah Jahan.

So a-III, b-IV, c-I, d-II.

Note:

• Golconda Fort and Qutb Shahi tombs are also in Hyderabad.
• Itimad-ud-Daula’s tomb (Agra) first used pietra dura on a large scale.

Ans: (2) Rangoon (as per APPSC official final key)

After the Revolt of 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, who had been proclaimed leader by the rebels at Delhi, was captured by Major Hodson, tried and exiled to Rangoon (Burma) in 1858. He died there in 1862. He was also an Urdu poet.

Note:

• Rebel leaders: Nana Saheb (Kanpur), Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi), Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow), Kunwar Singh (Bihar).
• Queen Victoria’s Proclamation: 1 November 1858.

Ans: (2) Tipu Sultan (as per APPSC official final key)

Tipu Sultan (1782–1799) of Mysore tried to modernise his state. He sent embassies to France (and Turkey) for help against the British, planted a Tree of Liberty at Srirangapatna and joined the Jacobin club. He tried to build a navy, introduced new coins and calendar, and used rockets in war.

He died in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799).

Note:

• Treaty of Srirangapatna (1792) after the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
• Hyder Ali won the First Anglo-Mysore War (Treaty of Madras, 1769).

Ans: (3) B.R. Ambedkar (as per APPSC official final key)

B.R. Ambedkar believed that untouchability could not end without ending the caste system itself. In Annihilation of Caste (1936) he wrote that “nothing can emancipate the outcaste except the destruction of the caste system”. He differed with Gandhi, who wanted to reform caste and remove untouchability.

Note:

• Ambedkar founded the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (1924) and led the Mahad Satyagraha (1927).
• Poona Pact (1932) between Gandhi and Ambedkar.

Ans: (1) Bhagat Singh (as per APPSC official final key)

Bhagat Singh wrote the essay “Why I am an Atheist” in 1930 in Lahore jail, defending rationalism and rejecting religion. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

He threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly with Batukeshwar Dutt (1929) and was hanged on 23 March 1931 with Rajguru and Sukhdev in the Lahore Conspiracy case.

Note:

• HSRA (1928) succeeded Sachindranath Sanyal’s HRA (1924).
• Chandrashekhar Azad died in Alfred Park, Allahabad (1931).

Ans: (2) For trying to defend a poor washer-woman’s mite of land. (as per APPSC official final key)

Doddi Komaraiah was killed on 4 July 1946 at Kadavendi village (Jangaon) by the goons of the Visnur Deshmukh. He was protecting a poor washer-woman, Chakali Ailamma, whose small plot of land the Deshmukh was trying to grab. His death sparked the Telangana armed struggle (1946–51) against the Nizam and the Deshmukhs, led by the Andhra Mahasabha and communists.

Note:

• Chakali Ailamma is remembered as a symbol of Telangana’s resistance.
• The struggle ended after Operation Polo (September 1948) and was called off in 1951.

Ans: (4) British (as per APPSC official final key)

The Drain of Wealth theory was put forward by Dadabhai Naoroji in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901). He argued that the British took away India’s wealth through home charges, salaries and pensions of officials, interest on loans and profits of British companies, without any return. R.C. Dutt (Economic History of India) and M.G. Ranade supported it.

Note:

• Naoroji is called the ‘Grand Old Man of India’.
• He was the first Indian member of the British House of Commons (1892).

Ans: (2) (a), (b) and (c) only (as per APPSC official final key)

The INA trials were held at the Red Fort, Delhi, in November 1945. The accused were Prem Kumar Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon and Shah Nawaz Khan – a Hindu, a Sikh and a Muslim – which united public opinion across communities.

Bhulabhai Desai was their defence lawyer, along with Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Asaf Ali; he was not an accused. So (a), (b) and (c).

Note:

• The slogan was ‘Jai Hind’; the RIN mutiny followed in February 1946.
• Rani of Jhansi regiment was led by Lakshmi Swaminathan (Sahgal).

Ans: (1) John Ruskin (as per APPSC official final key)

John Ruskin’s Unto This Last (1860) deeply influenced Gandhiji when he read it in South Africa (1904). He translated it into Gujarati as “Sarvodaya”. Its ideas – the good of the individual lies in the good of all, and the dignity of labour – led him to found the Phoenix Settlement near Durban.

Note:

• Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You also influenced him; he set up Tolstoy Farm (1910).
• Gandhi called Gokhale his political guru.

Ans: (1) (a) and (b) only (as per APPSC official final key)

In the early 20th century many movements built on caste consciousness appeared:

• Satyashodhak Samaj (1873), founded by Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra, against Brahminical dominance.
• Self-Respect Movement (1925), led by E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar) in Tamil Nadu.

The Ghadar movement (1913) was a revolutionary anti-British movement of Punjabi emigrants, and the Bijolia movement (1897 onwards) was a peasant movement in Mewar against high taxes. So (a) and (b).

Note:

• Phule wrote Gulamgiri (1873).
• Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25) was for temple road entry in Travancore.