Achievers 1 WBCS (Main) Exam Paper – III Practice Set Answers with Explanation

1. (c) These religious establishments could have inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; it is the received royal patronage from various science of identifying graphemes, clarifying dynasties, even though inscriptional evidences their meanings, classifying their uses according are lacking for most of them. The only definite to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing inscriptional evidence is that of Rashtrakuta conclusions about the writing and the writers. Dantidurga (c. 753-57 A.D.) The majority of It serves as primary documentary evidence to the Brahmanical establishments and the establish legal, socio-cultural, literary, remaining Buddhist ones can be attributed to archaeological, and historical antiquity on the the Rashtrakuta times which indicate the basis of engravings. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å religious tolerance of the contemporary period. 5. (b) A chaitya is a Buddhist or Jain shrine including The Jaina caves definitely postdate the a stupa. In modern texts on Indian architecture, Rashtrakutas as indicated by the style of the term chaitya-griha is often used to denote execution and fragmentary inscriptions. This assembly or prayer hall that houses a stupa. region was under the control of Kalyani Chaityas were probably constructed to hold Chalukyas and Yadavas of Deogiri (Daulatabad) large numbers of devotees and to provide during this period. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å shelter for them. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 2. (a) “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth Alone Triumphs) 6. (a) The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th is a mantra from the ancient Indian scripture century monumental statues of standing Mundaka Upanishad. Upon independence of buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the , it was adopted as the national motto of Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central India. It is inscribed in Devanagari script at Afghanistan. They were dynamited and the base of the national emblem. The emblem destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban, on and words ‘Satyameva Jayate’ are inscribed orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, on one side of all Indian currency. The emblem after the Taliban government declared that they is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka were idols. On 8 September 2008 archeologists which was erected around 250 BC at Sarnath, searching for a legendary 300-metre statue at near Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar the site of the already dynamited Buddhas Pradesh. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å announced the discovery of an unknown 19- 3. (d) Kailashnath Temple is a famous temple, one metre (62-foot) reclining Buddha, a pose of the 34 monasteries and temples, extending representing Buddha’s passage into nirvana. over more than 2 km, that were dug side by 7. (a) Ajivika (“living” in Sanskrit) was a system of side in the wall of a high basalt cliff in the ancient and an ascetic complex located at Ellora, Maharashtra, India. movement of the Mahajanapada period in the Of these 34 monasteries and temples, the Indian subcontinent. Ajivika was primarily a Kailasa (cave 16) is a remarkable example of heterodox Hindu (Nastika) or atheistic system. on account of its The Ajivikas may simply have been a more striking proportion; elaborate workmanship loosely-organized group of wandering ascetics architectural content and sculptural (shramanas or sannyasins). One of their ornamentation of rock-cut architecture. It is prominent leaders was Makkhali Gosal. designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode Ajivikas are is thought to be contemporaneous of Lord Shiva. It is a megalith carved out of to other early Hindu nastika philosophical one single rock. It was built in the 8th century schools of thought, such as Charvaka, by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å and Buddhism, and may have 4. (b) Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions on preceded the latter two systems. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å rocks, pillars, temple walls, copper plates and 8. (d) The city of Mahabalipuram was largely other writing material. It is the study of developed by the Pallava king 2 î¡ìÅ éôé 8– £z¢%Ä éôé 7  xöìQyîîû– 2020 xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Narasimhavarman I in the 7th century AD. This ceremony was attended by the kings of The mandapa or pavilions and the rathas or eighteen kingdoms and about 5, 00,000 people shrines shaped as temple chariots are hewn including Sramanas. Hercetics, Nigranthas, the from the granite rock face, while the famed poor, the orphans etc, attended this assembly. Shore Temple, erected half a century later, is The Prayag Assembly is a glorious example built from dressed stone. The Pancha Rathas of the generosity of Harshavardhana as he shrines were carved during the reign of King gave all his personal wealth and belongings in Mahendravarman I and his son charity during the assembly. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Narasimhavarman I. The purpose of their 12. (b) The Kushanas were great patrons of art. It construction is not known, structures are not was under the rule of the Kushans that completed. principles were formed for making sculptural 9. (d) The was an Indian royal images, which continued to influence making dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and of sculptures ever after. During this time, central India between the 6th and the 12th Buddha was first shown in human form centuries. The earliest dynasty, known as the (earlier he was represented by symbols like “Badami Chalukyas”, ruled from Vatapi lotus and footsteps). Other Hindu and Jain (modern Badami) from the middle of the 6th deities also began to be shown in human form. century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert Mathura and were the two main their independence at the decline of the centers of art during the time of the Kushanas. Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly rose The Gandhara School of Art and the Mathura to prominence during the reign of Pulakesin School of Art developed their own distinct II. After the death of Pulakesin II, the Eastern styles. The Gandhara School was highly Chalukyas became an independent kingdom in influenced by Greco-Roman philosophies and the eastern Deccan. They ruled from mainly concentrated on depicting the image until about the 11th century. In the western of the Buddha and the legends associated with Deccan, the rise of the Rashtrakutas in the his life, while the Mathura School drew middle of the 8th century eclipsed the inspiration from local folk deities and themes Chalukyas of Badami before being revived by from day to day life. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å their descendants, the Western Chalukyas, in 13. (d) Excavations at Chanhudaro have revealed three the late 10th century. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å different cultural layers from lowest to the 10. (b) Prior to Chandragupta’s consolidation of top being Indus culture, the Jhukar culture power, small regional kingdoms dominated the and the Jhangar culture. The site is especially northwestern subcontinent, while the Nanda important for providing evidences about Dynasty dominated the middle and lower basin different Harappan factories. These factories of the . After Chandragupta’s produced seals, toys and bone implements. It conquests, the Maurya extended from was the only Harappan city without a citadel. Bengal and Assam in the east, to Afghanistan 14. (c) Meghadutam (cloud messenger) is a lyric poem and Balochistan, some part of the eastern and written by Kalidasa, considered to be one of southeast Iran in the west, to Kashmir and the greatest Sanskrit poets. In Sanskrit Nepal in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau literature, the poetic conceit used in the in the south. The vast empire extended from Meghadutam spawned the genre of sandesha the Bay of Bengal in the east, to the Indus kavya or messenger poems, most of which River in the west. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å are modeled on the Meghaduta (and are often 11. (b) After the Kannauj Assembly was concluded, written in the Meghaduta’s mandakranta metre) Hiuen-Tsang was making preparations to go 15. (d) Charaka was one of the principal contributors to his home, but invited him to attend to the ancient art and science of Ayurveda, a another Assembly at Prayag which he used to system of medicine and lifestyle developed in hold after ever five years on the confluence Ancient India. He is referred to as the Father of Ganga and Yamuna. Five such assemblies of Medicine. The life and times of Charaka had already taken place and this was the sixth are not known with certainty. Some Indian Assembly in which Hiuen-Tsang was invited. scholars have stated that Charaka of Charaka Achievers 3

Samhita existed before Panini, the grammarian, second to the ninth century CE. Kanchipuram who is said to have lived before the sixth served as the capital city of the Pallava century B. C. Another school argues that Kingdom from the 4th to the 9th century. It Patanjali wrote a commentary on the medical is also known by its former names work of Charaka. They say that if Patanjali Kanchiampathi, Conjeevaram, and the lived around 175 B.C., Charaka must have nickname “The City of Thousand Temples’. lived some time before him. Another source Kanchipuram was mentioned in the about the identity of Charaka and his times is Mahabhasya, written by Patanjali in the 2nd provided by the French orientalist Sylvan Levi. century BC. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å He discovered in the Chinese translation of 20. (a) The Vedas (“knowledge”) are a large body of the Buddhist Tripitaka, a person named texts originating in ancient India. Composed Charaka who was a court physician to the in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest Indo-Scythian king Kanishka, who in all layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest probability reigned in the second century A.D. scriptures of . The Vedas are From the above discussion, it would seem apauruveya (“not of human agency”). They that Charaka may have lived between the are supposed to have been directly revealed, second century B.C. to the second century and thus are called sruti (“what is heard”), A.D. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å distinguishing them from other religious texts, 16. (b) Most of the Chola temples were dedicated to which are called smriti (“what is Shiva. The great living Chola temples are remembered”). important Hindu kovils that were built during 21. (d) The Battle of Rajasthan is a battle (or series the 10th-12th centuries in the . In of battles) where the Hindu alliance defeated all these temples, the chief deity who has been the Arab invaders in 738 CE and removed the depicted and worshipped is Lord Shiva. Arab invaders and pillagers from the area east 17. (a) The word Buddha is a title for the first of the Indus River and protected whole India. awakened being in an era. “Buddha” is also The main Indian kings who contributed to the sometimes translated as “The Enlightened victory over the Arabs were the north Indian One”. As Gautam fully comprehended the Four ruler Nagabhata of the Pratihara Dynasty and Noble Truths and as he arose from the the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya- II of slumbers of ignorance he is called a Buddha. the Chalukya dynasty in the 8th century. Before His Enlightenment he was a bodhisattva 22. (b) In the Mauryan dynasty, Kalinga war took which means one who is aspiring to attain place in the year 261 BC. The Kalinga war Buddhahood. He was not born a Buddha, but fought between the Mourya Empire under became a Buddha by his own efforts. Every Ashoka the Great and the state of Kalinga aspirant to Buddhahood passes through the (). It was fought in 262-261 BC. The bodhisattva period — a period comprising Kalinga war is one of the major and bloodiest many lives over a vast period of time. battles in the . xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 18. (b) Allahabad Stone Pillar Inscription of Samudra 23. (c) Shakya was an ancient tribe () of the Gupta is writings in stone pillar during the Indian Subcontinent in the 1st millennium BCE. term of King Samudra Gupta located in In Buddhist texts the Shakyas, the inhabitants Allahabad which mentioned events during his of Shakya janapada, are mentioned as a tenure in and around his empire. It is one of clan of Gotama gotra. The most the most important epigraphic evidences of famous Shakya was Gautama Buddha, a the Imperial Guptas. Composed by Harisena, member of the ruling Gautama clan of Lumbini, it delineates the reign of the Guptas in ancient who is also known as Shakyamuni Buddha, India. Achievements of different rulers of the “sage of the Shakyas”, due to his association Gupta lineage are also mentioned in the with this ancient kingdom. The Allahabad Pillar Inscription. Harisena was the mention Shakya as a king of Ikshvaku dynasty court poet and minister of Samudragupta. 24. (a) Kadambari is a romantic novel in Sanskrit. It 19. (a) Pallavas ruled regions of northern Tamil Nadu was substantially composed by Banabhatta in and southern between the the first half of the 7th century, who did not 4 î¡ìÅ éôé 8– £z¢%Ä éôé 7  xöìQyîîû– 2020 xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å survive to see it through completion. The novel 29. (a) The Harshacharita, is the biography of Indian was completed by Banabhatta’s son Emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known Bhushanabhatta, according to the plan laid out as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of 7th by his late father. It is conventionally divided century in India. He was the ‘Asthana Kavi’, into Purvabhaga (earlier part) written by meaning ‘Court Poet’, of King Harsha. Banabhatta, and Uttarabhaga (latter part) by 30. (c) The convocation of an assembly at Kannauj Bhushanabhatta. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å was one of the most significant events of the 25. (b) St. Thomas is traditionally believed to have reign of Harsha. The purpose of this assembly sailed to India in 52AD to spread the Christian was to simplify the doctrines of Mahayanism. faith among the Jews, the Jewish diaspora This assembly was convened in 643 A.D. It present in Kerala at the time. He is supposed was attended by kings of eighteen countries, to have landed at the ancient port of Muziris 3000 Brahmanas and Jains, 3000 Buddhist near Kodungalloor. He then went to Palayoor monks of and Hinayana sects and (near present-day Guruvayoor), which was a 1000 Buddhist monks of Nalanda Vihara. The Hindu priestly community at that time. He left famous Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang was also Palayoor in AD 52 for the southern part of present and presided the assembly. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å what is now Kerala State, where he established 31. (a) The Satavahana kings mostly used lead as the the Ezharappallikal, or “Seven and Half material for their coins. Most of their coins Churches”. Thomas landed in Cranganoor are in that metal. Silver coins are very rare. (Kodungallur, Muziris) and took part in the Next to lead they used an alloy of silver and wedding of Cheraman Perumal and proceeded copper, called “potin”. Many copper coins are to the courts of Gondophorus in North India. also available. Although the Satavahana coins Gundaphorus was indeed a historical figure are devoid of any beauty or artistic merit, and he belonged to the Parthian Dynasty from they constitute a valuable source-material for Takshasila (Taxila). xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å the dynastic history of the Satavahanas. 26. (b) Nalanda was an ancient center of higher 32. (d) The Ghadar Party, initially the Pacific Coast learning in Bihar, India. It was a Buddhist Hindustan Association, was formed in 1913 in center of learning from the fifth or sixth the United States under the leadership of Har century CE to 1197 CE. Nalanda flourished Dayal, with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its between the reign of the Chakraditya (whose president. The members of the party were identity is uncertain and who might have been Indian immigrants, largely from . Many either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) of its members were students at University of and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from California at Berkeley including Dayal, Tarak the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist Nath Das, Maulavi Barkatullah, Kartar Singh emperors like Harsha and later emperors from Sarabha and V.G. Pingle. The party quickly the gained support from Indian expatriates, especially in the United States, Canada and 27. (b) Upagupta was a Buddhist monk. According to Asia. The party was built around the weekly some stories in the Sanskrit Avadana he was paper The Ghadar, which carried the caption the spiritual teacher of Asoka the great Mauryan on the masthead: Angrezi Raj Ka Dushman emperor. Upagupta’s teacher was Sanavasi (an enemy of the British rule). The first issue who was a disciple of Ananda, the Buddha’s of The Ghadar was published from San attendant. Due to the absence of his name in Francisco on November 1, 1913. Theravada literature it is assumed that xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Upagupta was a Sarvadin monk. 33. (a) Shankara (9th century)– Ramanuja (AD 1017- xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 1137) Madhavacharya (AD 1238-1317)– 28. (b) In 630 BC, Harshavardhana faced defeat at Chaitanya (AD 1486-1533) Adi Shankara was the hands of Pulakesin II, the Chalukya King a 9th century reformer of Hinduism who is of Vatapi, in Northern Karnataka. The defeat honored as Jagadguru, a title that was used resulted in a truce between the two kings, earlier only to Lord Krishna. Ramanuja with Harsha accepting River Narmada as the (traditionally 1017–1137) was a theologian, southern boundary for his kingdom. philosopher, and scriptural exegete. He is seen Achievers 5

by Hindus in general as the leading expounder example of Orissan architecture of Ganga of Vishishtadvaita, one of the classical dynasty. The temple is one of the most interpretations of the dominant Vedanta school renowned temples in India and is a World of Hindu philosophy. Madhavacharya (1238– Heritage Site. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 1317), also known as Purna Prajna and Ananda 37. (b) Not much is known of Kabir’s birth parents, Tirtha, was the chief proponent of Tattvavada but it is known that he was brought up in a “Philosophy of Reality”, popularly known as family of Muslim weavers. He was found by the Dvaita (dualism) school of Hindu a Muslim weaver named Niru and his wife, philosophy. It is one of the three most Nima, in Lehartara, situated in Varanasi. Kabir’s influential Vedanta philosophies. Chaitanya family is believed to have lived in the locality Mahaprabhu (AD 1486-1533) was a Vaishnava of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi. Kabir ma?ha, saint and social reformer in eastern India in located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, the 16th century, worshipped by followers of celebrates his life and times. Gaudiya Vaishnavism as the full incarnation 38. (d) Akbar and Tulsidas were contemporary. It was of Lord Krishna. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å because of the close friendship between the 34. (a) Ibn Batuta was a Berber Muslim Moroccan two that Akbar ordered a firman that followers explorer, known for his extensive travels, of Rama, Hanuman & other Hindus, should accounts of which were published in the Rihla not be harassed in his kingdom. Abdur Rahim (“Journey”). Over a period of thirty years, he Khankhana, famous Muslim poet who was visited most of the known Islamic world as one of the Navaratnas (nine-gems) in the court well as many non-Muslim lands; his journeys of the Mughal emperor Akbar, was a personal including trips to North Africa, the Horn of friend of Tulsidas. The historian Vincent Smith, Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and the author of a biography of Tulsidas’ Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle contemporary Akbar, called Tulsidas as the East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia greatest man of his age in India and greater and China in the East, a distance surpassing than even Akbar himself. threefold his near-contemporary Marco Polo. 39. (c) The Moti Masjid in Agra was built by Shah Ibn Batuta is considered one of the greatest Jahan. During the rule of Shah Jahan the travellers of all time. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Mughal emperor, numerous architectural 35. (d) The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are wonders were built. Most famous of them is located in Khajuraho, a town in the Indian the Taj Mahal. Moti Masjid earned the epithet state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Pearl Mosque for it shined like a pearl. It is Chhatarpur District. Khajuraho has the largest held that this mosque was constructed by Shah group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, Jahan for his members of royal court. The famous for their erotic sculptures. The city Moti Masjid boasts of extensive white marble was the cultural capital of Chandela Rajputs, facing, a typical stylistic feature of architecture a Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India during the reign of Shah Jahan. from the 10-12th centuries. The political capital 40. (c) The Grand Trunk Road is one of South Asia’s of the Chandelas was Kalinjar. The Khajuraho oldest and longest major roads. For several temples were built over a span of 200 years, centuries, it has linked the eastern and western from 950 to 1150. The Chandela capital was regions of the Indian subcontinent, running moved to Mahoba after this time, but from Chittagong, Bangladesh through to Khajuraho continued to flourish for some time. Howrah, in India, across north Khajuraho has no forts because the Chandel India into Peshawar (in present day Pakistan), Kings never lived in their cultural capital. up to , Afghanistan. The modern road 36. (a) is a 13th century Sun was built by Sher Shah Suri, who renovated Temple (also known as the Black Pagoda), at and extended the ancient route in the 16th Konark, in Orissa. It was constructed from century xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å oxidized and weathered ferruginous sandstone 41. (c) Zagir was a piece of land held by the by King Narasimhadeva-I (1238-1250 CE) of mansabdar which was granted by the Sultan. the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. The temple is an Mansabdars were given control over an area 6 î¡ìÅ éôé 8– £z¢%Ä éôé 7  xöìQyîîû– 2020 xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å of land, a ‘Zagir’ whose revenue was to be The Khalsa is responsible for all executive, used for maintaining troops; if not given a military and civil authority. The meaning of ‘Zagir’ they were paid in cash through a Khalsa translates to “Sovereign/Free”. Another complicated accounting system, with interpretation is that of being ‘Pure’. Guru deductions for various things including ‘the Gobind Singh has declared the Khalsa as his rising of the moon’; it was a normal practice true Guru and therefore as following described to pay for only eight or ten months in the in the Sarbloh Granth the attributes of the year. The Mansabdars were allowed to keep Khalsa. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å five percent of the income of the ‘Zagir’ or 46. (a) Kannauj: Kannuaj remained a focal point for five per cent of the salaries received. In Mughal the three powerful dynasties, namely the period, zagir was the practice giving officer a Gurjara Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas, right to revenue. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å between the 8th and 10th centuries; Khaujraho: 42. (c) Ajmer is famous for the Dargah Sharif of was the cultural capital of Chandel Rajputs, a Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti which is situated Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India at the foot of the Taragarh hill, and consists from the 10-12th centuries; : seat of rule of several white marble buildings arranged of the Parmar Rajputs; and Ahilwara: around two courtyards, including a massive Chalukyas. gate donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad and 47. (c) Akbar encouraged widow re-marriage, the Akbari Mosque, built by the Mughal discouraged child marriage, outlawed the emperor Shah Jahan. It contains the domed practice of sati, and persuaded Delhi tomb of the saint. Akbar and his queen used merchants to set up special market days for to come here by foot on pilgrimage from Agra women, who otherwise were secluded at every year in observance of a vow when he home. His attempt to ban voluntary sati also prayed for a son. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å met with opposition by some prominent Hindus 43. (c) A khanqah also known as a ribat is a building of his kingdom, including some of his designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi ministers, and he agreed not to pursue the brotherhood, or tariqa, and is a place for matter further. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å spiritual retreat and character reformation. In 48. (c) Sher Shah is regarded as one of the greatest the past, and to a lesser extent nowadays, figures in Indian history, chiefly on account they often served as hospices for Sufi travelers of his administrative reforms. He was the first (salik) and Islamic students (talib). Khanqahs Muslim ruler of India who displayed a real are very often found adjoined to dargahs aptitude for civil government. His short rule (shrines of Sufi saints), mosques and madrasas was marked by many beneficent reforms in (Islamic schools). xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å every branch of administration. For 44. (d) The is a 17th century fort complex administrative convenience Sher Shah divided constructed by the Mughal emperor, Shah his whole empire into 47 divisions called Jahan in the walled city of Old Delhi (in sarkars. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å present day Delhi, India) that served as the 49. (d) The language of the Mughals was Chagatai residence of the Mughal Emperors. It served and later Farsi. The language of the court as the capital of the Mughals until 1857, when was Persian which is known as Farsi. The Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was language advanced into the language Urdu. It exiled by the British Indian government. is characteristic of the Mughals that, next to 45. (a) Khalsa is the collective body of Singhs and Persian, the language which received the Kaurs represented by the five beloved-ones greatest patronage at court was Hindi. The and is the final temporal Guru/leader of the practice started in Akbar’s days. Sikhs. The Khalsa was inaugurated on March 50. (c) Known as the Letter of Victory, Zafarnama 30, 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth was written in Persian by Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Guru. The leadership was passed on by as a letter of defiance and delivered to the Guru Gobind Singh to the Khalsa and Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. It was bestowed the title “Guru Panth” or “Guru”. composed by Guru Gobind Singh in one of The Khalsa is also the nation of the Sikhs. the darkest times for the Sikhs. Guru Gobind Achievers 7

Singh had lost his four sons, while most of states on the Coromandal Coast in South India; the Sikhs had either been scattered or killed Chilka Lake: a brackish water lagoon, spread on the battlefield.. The letter praises God and over the , Khurda and districts of then outlines the bloody battle of Chamkaur Odisha; Wular Lake: India’s largest fresh water and the treachery of Aurangzeb and the lake and one of the largest in Asia, located in Mughals who broke their oath not to attack Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir; and the Sikhs. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Sambhar Lake: India’s largest inland salt lake, 51. (d) Gurushikhar holds the honor of being not only south west of Jaipur and north east of Ajmer the highest peak of Mount Abu but the whole along National Highway 8 in Rajasthan. of Aravali mountain range. This peak is the 58. (a) Kullu valley is sandwiched between the Pir home to the temple of Dattatreya, an Panjal, Lower Himalayan and Great Himalayan incarnation of Lord . range. It connects with the Lahul and Spiti 52. (c) Kullu is a broad open valley formed by the valleys via Rohtang Pass. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Beas river between Manali and Largi. This 59. (b) For most part of India, topographic maps are valley is famous for its beauty and its majestic available which are prepared by the Survey of hills covered with Pine and Deodar Forest India. To identify a map of a particular area, and sprawling Apple Orchards. The economy a map numbering system has been adopted of Kullu largely depends on tourism, by Survey of India. horticulture (apples, plums, pears, and 60. (c) Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in almonds) and handicrafts (shawls, caps, etc.). India and the highest entirely within the 53. (c) The Lakshadweep islands are formed of coral country (Kanchenjunga being on the border deposits called atolls. Atolls are circular or of India and Nepal). horseshoe shaped coral reefs. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 61. (d) The southernmost point of India is Indira 54. (d) Tora Bora is a cave complex situated in the Point. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, in 62. (c) The Peninsular region is divided into the two the Pachir Wa Agam District of Nangarhar parts by westward flowing Narmada river : province, west of the Khyber Pass and 10 km (a) the Central Highlands and (b) the Deccan (north of the border of the Federally Plateau. The Central Highlands make the Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan. northern part of the peninsular block. These It is close to Jalalabad. It was known to be highlands are made up of hard igneous and an important area for the Taliban and metamorphic rocks. insurgency against the Soviet Union in the 63. (d) Saddle Peak is located on North Andaman 1980s. Island in India’s Andaman and Nicobar 55. (d) Jog Falls is the second-highest plunge waterfall Islands. it is the highest point of the archipelago in India, Located near Sagara, Karnataka, in the Gulf of Bengal. these segmented falls are a major tourist 64. (b) India’s area of 3,287,263 square kilometers is attraction. They are also called Gerusoppe 4.12 times larger than Pakistan’s 796,095 Falls. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å square kilometres. India is 6.5 times bigger 56. (c) is a term used in India and Pakistan for than Pakistan by population a “tongue” or tract of land lying between two 65. (d) An isthmus is a narrow strip of land confluent rivers. Unqualified by the names of connecting two larger land areas, usually with any rivers, it designates the flat alluvial tract water on either side. A strait is the sea between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in counterpart of isthmus. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å western and southwestern Uttar Pradesh and 66. (c) Coral reefs are underwater structures made Uttarakhand state in India, extending from the from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Sivalik Hills to the two rivers’ confluence at Coral reefs are colonies of tiny animals found Allahabad. in marine waters that contain few nutrients. 57. (a) Pulicat Lake: the second largest brackish – Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, water lake or lagoon in India which straddles which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu groups. 8 î¡ìÅ éôé 8– £z¢%Ä éôé 7  xöìQyîîû– 2020 xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 67. (a) The Himalayas is divided into three major in the Indian Ocean. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å geographical entities, the Himadri (greater 74. (b) The Survey of India is headquartered at Dehra Himalaya), Himanchal (lesser Himalaya) and Dun, Uttarakhand. It is India’s central the Siwaliks (outer Himalaya). These divisions engineering agency in charge of mapping and extend almost uninterrupted throughout its surveying. Set up in 1767 to help consolidate length and are separated by major geological the territories of the British fault lines. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Company, it is one of the oldest Engineering 68. (a) Namcha Barwa, a mountain in the Tibetan Departments of the Government of India. Himalaya, is the eastern anchor of the entire 75. (a) The Deccan Plateau is made up of lava flows Himalayan mountain chain. It is the highest or igneous rocks known as the Deccan Traps. peak of its own section as well as Earth’s The rocks are spread over the whole of easternmost peak over 7,600 metres. It stands Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat and Madhya inside the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo Pradesh, thereby making it one of the largest River as the river enters its notable gorge volcanic provinces in the world. The Deccan across the Himalaya, emerging as the Dihang traps formed between 60 and 68 million years and becoming the Brahmaputra. ago at the end of the Cretaceous period. 69. (c) Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 76. (a) The Malwa Plateau roughly forms a triangle 36 islands with an area of 32 sq km. an Union based on the Vindhyan Hills, bounded by the Territory, it is comprised of 12 atolls, three Aravalli Range in the west and Madhya Bharat reefs, five submerged banks and ten inhabited Pathar to the north and Bundelkhand to the islands The name Lakshadweep in Malayalam east. It has two systems of drainage; one and Sanskrit means ‘a hundred thousand towards the Arabian sea (The Narmada, the islands’. Tapi and the Mahi), and the other towards the 70. (a) The Mahadeo Hills are a range of hills in Bay of Bengal (Chambal and Betwa, joining Madhya Pradesh which form the central part the Yamuna). of the Satpura Range. As evident from the 77. (c) The Tropic of Cancer passes through the map given below, they are situated to the west following eight states in India: Gujarat, of Maikal Hills. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, , 71. (a) The Niyamgiri is a hill range situated in the Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, and districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in Odisha. Mizoram. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å These hills are home to Dongria Kondh 78. (c) Teak, Sal, Sandalwood, Shisham and Mahua indigenous people. In recent times these hills are some of the tropical deciduous trees that are in media discussions due to the conflict extend from the Shiwalik ranges in the north of inhabitant tribals and Bauxite Mining Project to the eastern flanks of the Western Ghats in by Vedanta Aluminium Company. the peninsular India. Among them, sandalwood 72. (d) The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan is native to the Deccan plateau. The total word ‘dorje,’ meaning the thunderbolt scepter extent of its distribution is approximately 9000 of the Hindu deity Indra, and ling, a place or km2 of which 8200 km2 is located in the land. So it means ‘place of the thunderbolt.’ states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It grows Located in the Range or Lesser particularly in Mysore and Coimbatore where Himalaya, Darjeeling is situated in West Bengal. it prefers hard rock, ferruginous soil—the 73. (b) The government of India, in 1982, declared a conditions that produce a richer scent in the core area of 110 km2 in the Gulf of Kutch as tree. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Marine National Park for the conservation of 79. (d) Guhar Moti is the western-most inhabited coral reefs. It is situated on the southern shore village in India, in Kutch district in Gujarat. of the Gulf of Kachchh in the Jamnagar Siachen Glacier, located in the eastern District of Gujarat. There are 42 islands on Karakoram range in the Himalaya Mountains, the Jamnagar coast in the Marine National marks the northern extremity of India. Park, most of them surrounded by reefs. The Similarly, Indira Point located in the Nicobar coral formations of the Gulf of Kutch represent district of Andaman and Nicobar Island, marks one of the extreme northern limits of corals the southernmost point of India’s territory. Achievers 9

80. (d) The Eastern Ghats are made up of It is the northern most range of the Trans charnockites, granite gneiss, khondalites, Himalayan ranges in India. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å metamorphic gneisses and quartzite rock 86. (c) The is considered as the formations. The structure of the Eastern Ghats traditional boundary between North India and includes thrusts and strike-slip faults all along South India. It is a complex, discontinuous its range. Limestone, bauxite and iron ore are chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, and found in the Eastern Ghats hill ranges. plateau escarpments in westcentral India. It 81. (b) The Sivalik Hills is the outermost range of the runs north of and roughly parallel to the Himalayas. Also known as Manak Parbat, it Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh and extends located in between the Great Plains and Lesser up to Gujarat in the west, and Uttar Pradesh or Middle Himalayas. This range is about 2,400 and Bihar in the east. km long enclosing an area that starts almost 87. (c) The Indira Gandhi Canal is the largest canal from the Indus and ends close to the project in India. It starts from the Harike Brahmaputra, with a gap of about 90 Barrage at Sultanpur, a few kilometers below kilometres between the Teesta and Raidak the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers in rivers in Assam. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å Punjab state. it provides irrigation facilities to 82. (d) Western Ghats (also known as Sahyadri) is a the north-western region of Rajasthan, a part continuous mountain range that runs parallel of the Thar Desert. It consists of the Rajasthan to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. feeder canal (with the first 167 km in Punjab It abruptly rises as a sheer wall to an average and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in elevation of 1,000 m from the Western Coastal Rajasthan) and 445 km of the Rajasthan main Plain. But, they slope gently on their eastern canal which is entirely within Rajasthan. This flank and hardly appear to be a mountain canal enters into Haryana from Punjab near when viewed from the Deccan tableland. They Lohgarh village of Haryana, then running in are steep-sided, terraced, hills presenting a western part of district Sirsa it enters into stepped topography facing the Arabian Sea Rajasthan near Kharakhera village. coast. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å 88. (b) The 1,500-MW Nathpa-Jhakri hydel project, 83. (a) The Himalayas is an example of Fold mountains one of Asia’s first mega project having an that are created where two or more of Earth’s underground power station commissioned in tectonic plates are pushed together. At these 2003, is an hydel project in Himachal Pradesh. colliding, compressing boundaries, rocks and It supplies power to nine states, including debris are warped and folded into rocky Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and outcrops, hills, mountains, and entire mountain Kashmir, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh ranges. Besides, Andes, and Alps are all active and Chandigarh. Bulit on Sutlej River, the fold mountains. project is being executed by Sutlej Jal Nigam 84. (b) The Ganga-Brahmaputra basin is a high (formerly Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation). earthquake risk zone. It comes under Zone 5 The 1500 MW hydro electric power project covers the areas with the highest risks zone is situated in Kinnaur district, Himachal that suffers earthquakes of intensity MSK IX Pradesh. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å or greater. Experts warn that as many as a 89. (b) Nandgaon is a city and a municipal council in million deaths could be expected on the Nashik district in the Indian state of Ganges and Brahmaputra plain, as the southern Maharashtra.There are two important dams in flank of the Himalayas has not been active Nandgaon taluka. One is Girana Dam under enough over past centuries to release the major project and another is Nagyasakya under energy accumulated by the upward movement medium project. of the Indian plate. 90. (d) In the Deccan region, most of the major river 85. (c) The Great Karakoram range, also known as systems flowing generally in east direction fall Krishnagiri, forms India’s frontiers with into Bay of Bengal. The major east flowing Afghanistan and China and acts as watershed rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, between India and Turkestan. It extends Mahanadi, etc. Narmada and Tapti are major eastwards from the Pamir for about 800 km. West flowing rivers. The Godavari in the 10 î¡ìÅ éôé 8– £z¢%Ä éôé 7  xöìQyîîû– 2020 xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å southern Peninsula has the second largest river 94. (a) is built across the Mahanadi basin covering 10 per cent of the area of River, about 15 km from in the India. Next to it is the Krishna basin in the state of Orissa in India. Built in 1957, the region, while the Mahanadi has the third largest dam is one of the world’s longest earthen basin. The basin of the Narmada in the uplands dam. Behind the dam extends a lake, Hirakud of the Deccan, flowing to the Arabian Sea, Reservoir, 55 km long. Hirakud Dam is the and of the Kaveri in the south, falling into the longest man-made dam in the world, about 26 Bay of Bengal are about the same size, though km in length. It is one of the first major with different character and shape. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å multipurpose river valley project started after 91. (a) The Gandhi Sagar Dam is one of the four India’s independence. The name of the dam is dams built on India’s Chambal River. The dam mostly mis-pronounced in North India as is located in the Mandsaur district of the state Hirakund which is actually Hirakud. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å of Madhya Pradesh. The Jaikawadi project is 95. (c) The Tungabhadra dam is constructed across one of the largest irrigation projects in the the Tungabhadra River, a tributary of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a Krishna River. The dam is located near the multipurpose project. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam town of Hospet in Karnataka. The is the world’s largest masonry dam at the Bhavanisagar Dam and Reservoir, also called time of its construction, which is built across Lower Bhavani Dam, is located on the Bhavani Krishna River at Nagarjuna Sagar in Guntur River between Mettupalayam and district & Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. Sathyamangalam in Erode District, Tamil Nadu. The Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose rock and The Idukki Dam, located in Kerala, India, is earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi a 168.91 m tall arch dam. The dam stands River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India. It is between the two mountains - Kuravanmala the primary dam of the THDC India Ltd. and and Kurathimala. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is the the Tehri hydroelectric complex. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å world’s largest masonry dam at the time of 92. (c) Farakka Barrage is a barrage across the Ganges its construction, which is built across Krishna River, located in the Indian state of West River at Nagarjuna Sagar in Guntur district & Bengal,roughly 16.5 kilometres from the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å border with Bangladesh near Chapai 96. (b) Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi Nawabganj District. The Tehri Dam is a multi- River, about 15 km from Sambalpur in the purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam state of Orissa in India. Built in 1957, the on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in dam is one of the world’s longest earthen Uttarakhand. The Ranjit Sagar Dam, also dam. The Mettur Dam is one of the largest known as the Thein Dam, is part of a dams in India built in 1934. It was constructed hydroelectric project constructed by the in a gorge, where the Kaveri River enters the Government of Punjab on the Ravi River in plains. The dam is one of the oldest in India. the state of Punjab. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam It provides irrigation facilities to parts of is the world’s largest masonry dam at the Salem, the length of Erode, Namakkal, Karur, time of its construction, which is built Tiruchirappali and Thanjavur district. Hirakud across Krishna River at Nagarjuna Sagar in Dam is built across the Mahanadi River, about Guntur district & Nalgonda district of Andhra 15 km from Sambalpur in the state of Orissa Pradesh. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å in India. The Almatti Dam is a dam project on 93. (a) Damodar River is a river flowing across the the Krishna River in North Karnataka, India Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. which was completed in July 2005. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home 97. (a) Ukai Dam, constructed across the Tapti River, to large scale mining and industrial activity. is the largest reservoir in Gujarat. It is also Earlier known as the “River of Sorrows” known as Vallabh Sagar. The Rana Pratap because of its ravaging floods in the plains of Sagar Dam is a gravity masonry dam of 53.8 West Bengal, the Damodar and its tributaries metres height built on the Chambal River at have somewhat been tamed with the Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. The Ranjit Sagar construction of several dams. Dam, also known as the Thein Dam, is part Achievers 11

of a hydroelectric project constructed by the 99. (b) Tala Hydroelectricity project is the biggest Government of Punjab on the Ravi River in hydroelectric joint project between India and the state of Punjab. Hirakud Dam is built Bhutan so far, generating 4865 GWh/yr. Tala is across the Mahanadi River, about 15 km from located in Chukha Dzongkhag in western Sambalpur in the state of Orissa in India. Built Bhutan, a small constitutional monarchy in the in 1957, the dam is one of the world’s longest Himalayas. It is located on the Wangchhu River earthen dam. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å and, and is at a height of 860 metres. Tala is 98. (c) Durgapur Barrage is across the Damodar River located in Chukha Dzongkhag in western at Durgapur in Bardhaman district in the Indian Bhutan, a small kingdom in the Himalayas. The state of West Bengal. The Damodar River Valley run-of-the-river project is being managed by Project on the Damodar River and its principal Tala Hydroelectric Project Authority (THPA). It tributary, the Barakar River, is located in is located on the Wangchu River and, at 860m, eastern India. The four main multipurpose is the region’s largest high-head project. dams located at Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Commissioning of the plant was planned for Panchet were commissioned during 1953- June 2005, but because of geological problems 1959. In addition, a single purpose reservoir this was delayed until March 2007. xÄy!‰þ¦þy¢Å on the main stream, the Damodar, at Tenughat 100. (d) The Sabaraigiri project is located in 48 kms was constructed later in 1974. In 1932, the from Pathanamthitta district, through tea Anderson weir was constructed at Randiha. estates and thick forest is the famous Hydro As a result, irrigation facility has been available Electric Project called Sabaraigiri. This is in the lower Damodar basin before the advent constructed across the many mountains rivers of dams by means of the diversion weir on and the water collected in reservoir passed the Damodar River and Eden canal. It is about through huge tunnels to a main reservoir at 19 kilometres downstream of Durgapur place Anamudi and from through large pipes Barrage. to the Muziyoor power house.

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