INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST 1. Consider the following statements 1. Dayanand Saraswati gave a utopian explanation for chaturvarna and sought to maintain it on the basis of virtue 2. Narayan Guru gave the slogan - „no religion, no caste and no God for mankind.‟ Which of the above is/are correct? a. 1 Only b. 2 Only c. Both d. None Solution: a) Ranade, Dayanand and Vivekananda denounced the existing system of caste in no uncertain terms. While the reform movements generally stood for its abolition, Dayanand gave a utopian explanation for chaturvarna (four-fold varna division of Hindu society) and sought to maintain it on the basis of virtue. „He deserves to be a Brahman who has acquired the best knowledge and character, and an ignorant person is fit to be classed as a shudra,‟ he argued. Understandably the most virulent opposition to caste came from lower caste movements. Jyotiba Phule and Narayana Guru were two unrelenting critics of the caste system and its consequences. A conversation between Gandhiji and Narayana Guru is significant. Gandhiji, in an obvious reference to Chaturvarna and the inherent differences in quality between man and man, observed that all leaves of the same tree are not identical in shape and texture. To this Narayana Guru pointed out that the difference is only superficial, but not in essence: the juice of all leaves of a particular tree would be the same in content. It was he who gave the call — „one religion, one caste and one God for mankind‟ which one of his disciples, Sahadaran Ayyapan, changed into „no religion, no caste and no God for mankind.‟ 2. Consider the following statements 1. The foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was a sudden and historical event 2. The British were suspicious of the INC from the very beginning itself Which of the above is/are correct? a. 1 Only b. 2 Only c. Both http://insightsonindia.com INSIGHTS Page 1 INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST d. None Solution: b) The foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 was not a sudden event, or a historical accident. It was the culmination of a process of political awakening that had its beginnings in the 1860s and 1870s and took a major leap forward in the late 1870s and early 1880s. The year 1885 marked a turning point in this process, for that was the year the political Indians, the modem intellectuals interested in politics, who no longer saw themselves as spokesmen of narrow group interests, but as representatives of national interest vis-a-vis foreign rule, as a „national party,‟ saw their efforts bear fruit. The all-India nationalist body that they brought into being was to be the platform, the organizer, the headquarters, the symbol of the new national spirit and politics. British officialdom, too, was not slow in reading the new messages that were being conveyed through the nationalist political activity leading to the founding of the Congress, and watched them with suspicion, and a sense of foreboding. As this political activity gathered force, the prospect of disloyalty, sedition and Irish-type agitations began to haunt the Government. 3. The Paramahansa Mandali and the Prarthana Samaj were first established in which province? a. Bengal b. Maharashtra c. Madras d. None of the above Solution: b) The spirit of reform embraced almost the whole of India beginning with the efforts of Raja Rammohan Roy in Bengal leading to the formation of the Brahmo Samaj in 1828. Apart from the Brahmo Samaj, which has branches in several parts of the country, the Paramahansa Mandali and the Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra and the Arya Samaj in Punjab and North India were some of the prominent movements among the Hindus. 4. Anand Mohan Bose is remembered for 1. Founding the British Indian Association of Bengal 2. For founding Sadharan Brahmo Samaj http://insightsonindia.com INSIGHTS Page 2 INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST Which of the above is/are incorrect? a. 1 Only b. 2 Only c. Both d. None Solution: a) The younger nationalists of Bengal, led by Surendranath Banerjea and Anand Mohan Bose, founded the Indian Association in 1876. On May 15, 1878 he, along with Shibnath Shastri, Sib Chandra Deb, Umesh Chandra Dutta and others founded the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj . He was elected its first president. 5. Which one of the following was not an objective of the Indian National Congress in its initial years? a. To weld Indians into a nation, to create an Indian people b. To create a common political platform or programme for the countrymen for their political activities c. To create a common all-India national-political leadership d. To gain independence from the British Solution: d) In the initial years, independence from the British was not an agenda for INC. 6. Consider the following statements 1. From the beginning, the Congress was organized in the form of a Parliament. 2. The proceedings of the Congress sessions were conducted democratically Which of the above is/are incorrect? a. 1 Only b. 2 Only c. Both d. None Solution: d) From the beginning, the Congress was organized in the form of a Parliament. In fact, the word Congress was borrowed from North American history to connote an assembly of the‟ people. The proceedings of the Congress sessions were conducted http://insightsonindia.com INSIGHTS Page 3 INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST democratically, issues being decided through debate and discussion and occasionally through voting. It was, in fact, the Congress, and not the bureaucratic and authoritarian colonial state, as some writers wrongly argue, which indigenized, popularized and rooted parliamentary democracy in India. 7. Who said the following words? „Let us not forget that we are at a stage of the country‟s progress when our achievements are bound to be small, and our disappointments frequent and trying. That is the place which it has pleased Providence to assign to us in this struggle, and our responsibility is ended when we have done the work which belongs to that place.‟ a. G.K. Gokhale b. M.G. Ranade c. Dadabhai Naoroji d. Surendranath Banerjea Solution: a) „Let us not forget that we are at a stage of the country‟s progress when our achievements are bound to be small, and our disappointments frequent and trying. That is the place which it has pleased Providence to assign to us in this struggle, and our responsibility is ended when we have done the work which belongs to that place. It will, no doubt, be given to our countrymen of future generations to serve India by their successes; we, of the present generation, must be content to serve her mainly by our failures. For, hard though it be, out of those failures the strength will come which in the end will accomplish great tasks.” 8. The Rehnumai Mazdeyasan Sabha was a religious reforms movement of which of the following community? a. Parsi b. Jews c. Muslims d. None of the above Solution: c) 9. With reference to social reforms movements of early nineteenth century, consider the following statements 1. The idea of otherworldliness and salvation were not a part of the leaders‟ agenda 2. Many leaders didn‟t believe in the existence of the god http://insightsonindia.com INSIGHTS Page 4 INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST 3. Their belief was that eligion was to be reformed to reform the society Which of the above is/are correct? a. 1 and 2 Only b. 2 and 3 Only c. 1 and 3 Only d. All Solution: d) Although religious reformation „was a major concern of these movements, none of them were exclusively religious in character. Strongly humanist in inspiration, the idea of otherworldliness and salvation were not a part of their agenda; instead their attention was focused on worldly existence. Raja Rammohan Roy was prepared to concede the possible existence of the other world mainly due to its utilitarian value. Akshay Kumar Dutt and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar were agnostics who refused to be drawn into any discussion on supernatural questions. Asked about the existence of God, Vidyasagar quipped that he had no time to think about God, since there was much to be done on earth. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Vivekananda emphasized the secular use of religion and used spirituality to take cognizance of the material conditions of human existence. Given the inter-connection between religious beliefs and social practices, religious reformation was a necessary pre -requisite for social reform. „The Hindu meets his religion at every turn. In eating, in drinking, moving, sitting, standing, he is to adhere to sacred rules, to depart from which is sin and impiety.‟ Similarly, the social life of the Muslims was strongly influenced by religious tenets. Religion was the dominant ideology of the times and it was not possible to undertake any social action without coming to grips with it. 10. With reference to the development of railways during the British period, consider the following statements 1. It ushered commercial revolution benefiting Britain, not industrial revolution in India 2. Expenditure on railways was seen as Indian subsidy to British industries Which of the above is/are correct? a. 1 Only b. 2 Only c. Both d. None http://insightsonindia.com INSIGHTS Page 5 INSIGHTS – HISTORY BONUS TEST Solution: c) The early nationalists pointed out that the railways had not been coordinated with India‟s industrial needs. They had therefore, ushered in a commercial and not an industrial revolution which enabled imported foreign goods to undersell domestic industrial products. Moreover, they said that the benefits of railway construction in terms of encouragement to the steel and machine industry and to capital investment — what today we would call backward and forward linkages — had been reaped by Britain and not India.