Question Discussion & Solution

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 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 Abdul Gaffar Khan.

Key Points

• George Yule became the president of INC in 1888 (Allahabad).
• He was the founder of George Yule and Co.
• Alfred Webb became the president of INC in 1894 at the Madras session.
• Nawab Syed Mohammed became the president of INC in 1913 (Karachi).

Additional Information

• In 1885, WC Bannerjee became the first president of INC at the Bombay session.
• In 1886, Dadabhai Naroji became the second president of INC at the Calcutta session.
• In 1887, Badruddin Taiyabji became the third president of INC and also became the first Muslim president of INC at Madras Session.

​The correct answer is 1739.

• In 1739 Nadir Shah invaded India and sacked Delhi.
  • The Battle of Karnal, was a decisive victory for Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, during his invasion of India.
  • Nadir Shah advanced towards India in 1738. He captured the western frontiers of the Mughal Empire such as Kabul, Ghazni, Lahore in 1739.
  • The two forces of Nadir Shah and Muhammad Shah met at Karnal. At the battle of Karnal on 13 February 1739, Nadir Shah easily outnumbered the Mughal forces.
  • The battle lasted for less than three hours and the Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah surrendered. Both the rulers now entered Delhi on 12 March 1739 and Delhi was handed over to Nadir Shah, along with all its treasures.
  • In 1739, Nadir Shah, the emperor of Iran, conquered and enslaved the city of Delhi and took away immense quantities of money.
  • Shah's army had easily defeated the Mughals in the battle of Karnal and in the aftermath of the battle, would eventually capture the Mughal Capital.

Key Points

• The whole city of Delhi was destroyed, looted, plundered, and ruined by the army of Nadir Shah.
• Nadir Shah took with him the Peacock throne built by Shah Jahan. He also took the legendary Koh-i-Noor diamond.
• Besides this, he plundered gold worth 10 million rupees, 600 million rupees worth of jewellery, and coins worth 6 million rupees.
• Historians said that his overall collection after invading India, was 700 million rupees worth, including 7000 craftsmen, 200 carpenters, 100 stone-cutters, and thousands of elephants, horses, and camels, which he took with him to Persia.

Additional Information

• Nader Shah Afshar was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful Iranian rulers in Iranian history.
• He was born on  22 November 1688 in Dargaz, Safavid Iran.
• In the spring of 1730, Nader attacked Iran's archrival the Ottomans and regained most of the territory lost during the recent chaos. At the same time, the Abdali Afghans rebelled and besieged Mashhad, forcing Nader to suspend his campaign and save his brother, Ebrahim.

The Correct Answer is Option 1.

• Harappan culture planned its towns with their chessboard system, streets, drainage pipes, and chess pits.
• Rectangular houses with brick-line bathrooms and wells together with their stairways are found in all Harappan sites.
• Harappans have well connected central drainage system.
• Harappa is known as the city of granaries.
• The extraordinary uniformity of Harappa Civilization of artecrafts is evident in pottery, seals, bricks and weights. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.

• The late Harappa sites did not maintain the same construction techniques as were used in mature Harappa sites. Hence, Statement 2 is NOT correct.