History (Part-2) (CDS-Solved Paper)

James Prinsep was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the  Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal  and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi  and  Brahmi  scripts of ancient India. These scripts were used significantly at the time of Ashoka for spreading his Dhamma.

Brahmadeya (given to Brahmin) was tax free land gift either in form of single plot or whole villages donated to Brahmans in the early Medieval (600-1200 AD) India. As per many inscriptions like Uttarmerur during Chola large scale land was expanded under agriculture and irrigation. This can be attributed to the Brahmadeya land grants. Hence, all three statements are right.

Manimekalai  was written by the poet  Chithalai Sathanar. It is one of  the five great epics of Tamil literature. According to later Tamil literary tradition, its story is a  sequel  to another of the five great epics, Silappadikaram, and tells the story of the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi, who became a  Buddhist Bikkuni.

The historic Elephanta Island is inspired from the Pashupata Shaivism literature corpus of Hinduism composed by the 5th-century. Hence, option (d) is correct. The Elephanta island and its resident caves received the name 'Elephanta' from Portuguese invaders after the discovery of a black stone sculpture of an elephant on the island. The island has two groups of rock-cut caves. The larger group of caves, which consists of five caves on the Western hill of the island, is well known for its Hindu sculptures. The collections of cave temples are predominantly dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a renowned Muslim reformer of the 19th century. He thought that Congress was mainly a Hindu body which worked for the protection of the rights of the Hindus. His views were different from Congress.

He once propounded the theory of common descent of Hindus and Muslims in the land of Ganga. However, in the later half of his life, he said that the interests of both Muslims and Hindus are different.

In his works, he enlightened how the Islamic faith could go with advanced scientific and political ideas of his time. It was reflected in the curriculum at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College which was a blend of Muslim teachings and Western education.

According to Gandhiji, ‘‘a sound body means one which bends itself to the spirit. This body is always ready to work at the commands given by the spirit.’’ A sound body is made in the cornfields or farms where one performs physical work.

Phoenix  is an  Indian  suburb, North-West of central Durban in South Africa. It was established as a township by the  apartheid  government in 1976, but it has a long history of Indian occupation. It is associated with the  Phoenix Settlement, built by Mahatma Gandhi in Natal Province South Africa. Phoenix Settlement was mainly a cooperative community established in 1904.

The Mahanavami Dibba, is the platform used for ritual purposes by the rings of the Vijayanagara Empire.

Abul Fazl placed Mughal kingship as the highest position in the hierarchy of objects receiving light emanating from God (Farr-i-Izadi). He was inspired by a famous Iranian Sufi, Shihabuddin Suhrawardi (1191) who first developed this idea. According to this idea, there was a hierarchy in which the Divine Light was transmitted to the king, who then became the source of spiritual guidance for his subject.

Mahavamsa contains an account of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. The contents of the Mahavamsa can be broadly divided into four categories
(i) The Buddha’s Visits to Ceylon
(ii) Chronicles of Kings of Ceylon
(iii) History of the Buddhist Sangha
(iv)Chronicles of Ceylon