The 2019 Codex
Questions 1 to 10 (Set A)
With reference to Mughal India, what is/are the difference/differences between Jagirdar and Zamindar?
1. Jagirdars were holders of land assignments in lieu of judicial and police duties, whereas Zamindars were holders of revenue rights without obligation to perform any duty other than revenue collection.
2. Land assignments to Jagirdars were hereditary and revenue rights of Zamindars were not hereditary.
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
The UPSC swapped the definitions to trick you! Think of a Jagirdar as a transferred government employee. They were assigned the revenue of a land (Jagir) purely as their salary. They did not own the land, and it was not hereditary (they got transferred often to prevent them from becoming too powerful). Police/judicial duties belonged to Faujdars, not Jagirdars.
A Zamindar, on the other hand, was the local rooted landlord. They actually owned the land, their rights were hereditary, and they were legally obliged to maintain local law and order (police duties) and collect revenue for the state.
Route: [REALM 54: Revenue & Mansabdari]The Dual Scrolls
The Family Umbrella
With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a)
Why the "family" unit? Imagine a rich Zamindar with 500 acres. If the limit was 10 acres *per individual*, he would just officially transfer 10 acres to his wife, 10 to his son, 10 to his infant daughter, 10 to his unborn child, and keep the whole estate within the bloodline (Benami transfers). By making the family the legal unit of measurement, the government closed this massive loophole.
Note: B is wrong because it was practically impossible to give land to *all* landless. C is wrong (it didn't mandate cash crops). D is wrong (exemptions were given for plantations, religious trusts, etc., which became another huge loophole).
Route: [REALM 32: Land Reforms]The Global Competitiveness Report is published by the
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF), famous for its annual billionaire/politician summit in Davos, Switzerland, focuses heavily on how economies perform against each other in the modern market. Hence, they publish the Global Competitiveness Report.
Cheat Code: IMF mostly publishes about Financial Stability/Economic Outlook. World Bank publishes about Development, Poverty, and (formerly) Ease of Doing Business.
Route: [REALM 236: Contemporary Economy Reports & Indices]The Davos Peak
The Tea & The Crown
Consider the following statements about 'the Charter Act of 1813':
1. It ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company in India except for trade in tea and trade with China.
2. It asserted the sovereignty of the British Crown over the Indian territories held by the Company.
3. The revenues of India were now controlled by the British Parliament.
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a) 1 and 2 only
By 1813, British businessmen back home were jealous of the East India Company (EIC) making all the money. Napoleon's blockade in Europe meant they needed new markets. So, Parliament ended the EIC's monopoly in India (Statement 1 is correct). However, they let the EIC keep the super-lucrative tea trade and the trade with China.
Statement 2 is also true: The Act explicitly declared that the British Crown was the ultimate sovereign over the Company's Indian territories.
Statement 3 is false. The revenues of India were not directly controlled by the British Parliament until the complete takeover after the 1857 revolt (Government of India Act 1858).
Route: [REALM 11: Administration Before 1857]With reference to Swadeshi Movement, consider the following statements:
1. It contributed to the revival of the indigenous artisan crafts and industries.
2. The National Council of Education was established as a part of Swadeshi Movement.
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) Both 1 and 2
"Swadeshi" literally translates to "of one's own country." Born out of the anger against the 1905 Partition of Bengal, it wasn't just about boycotting British Manchester cloth; it was about building our own parallel ecosystem.
Because people stopped buying British goods, local Indian handlooms, match factories, and soap making boomed (Statement 1 is true). Furthermore, students boycotted British schools and colleges, leading to the creation of the National Council of Education in 1906 (by leaders like Satish Chandra Mukherjee) to promote a national, scientific education system (Statement 2 is true).
Route: [REALM 26: Swadeshi & Anti-Partition]The Loom & The Book
The Three Pillars
Consider the following pairs:
| Movement/Organization | Leader |
|---|---|
| 1. All India Anti-Untouchability League | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 2. All India Kisan Sabha | Swami Sahajanand Saraswati |
| 3. Self-Respect Movement | E.V. Ramaswami Naicker |
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Pair 1 is Correct: While in Yervada Jail (after the Poona Pact), Gandhi set up the All India Anti-Untouchability League in 1932, which was later famously renamed as the Harijan Sevak Sangh.
Pair 2 is Correct: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was a massive force for peasant rights in Bihar and became the first President of the All India Kisan Sabha when it was formed in 1936 in Lucknow.
Pair 3 is Correct: E.V. Ramaswami Naicker (Periyar) started the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 in Tamil Nadu to fight against Brahminical dominance and promote rationalism.
Route: [REALM 48: Peasant Mvmts] & [REALM 54: Dalit Politics]Which one of the following is not a Harappan site?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (c) Sohgaura
Chanhudaro (famous for bead making without a citadel), Kot Diji (early Harappan site destroyed by fire), and Desalpur (in Gujarat) are all well-known Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization sites.
Sohgaura, however, is a village in Gorakhpur, UP, famous for a copper-plate inscription written in Prakrit using the Brahmi script. It dates to the Mauryan period (around the 3rd century BCE) and talks about famine relief measures (granaries). It belongs to a much later era than Harappa.
Route: [REALM 07: Harappan Origins] & [REALM 18: Ashoka]The Anomaly
The King Revealed
In which of the following relief sculpture inscriptions is 'Ranyo Ashoka' (King Ashoka) mentioned along with the stone portrait of Ashoka?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a) Kanganahalli
For centuries, historians only knew Ashoka through his philosophical edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars; we had no idea what he actually looked like. That changed with a spectacular excavation at Kanganahalli (near Sannati, Karnataka).
Archaeologists found a limestone relief sculpture showing a king flanked by his queens and attendants. Right below it, in ancient Brahmi script, it explicitly said "Ranyo Ashoka" (King Ashoka). It remains the first and only known sculptural portrait of the Mauryan emperor.
Route: [REALM 18: Ashoka] & [REALM 19: Mauryan Art]Consider the following:
1. Deification of the Buddha
2. Treading the path of Bodhisattvas
3. Image worship and rituals
Which of the above is/are the feature/features of Mahayana Buddhism?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Buddhism split into two major branches around the 1st Century CE. The older, orthodox branch (Hinayana/Theravada) saw Buddha as a great mortal teacher and believed in strict personal discipline to achieve Nirvana (no statues, no gods).
Mahayana (The Great Vehicle) revolutionized the religion to make it more accessible. They turned Buddha into a God (Deification = 1), started carving massive statues of him to pray to (Image worship & rituals = 3), and introduced the concept of the Bodhisattva—a supremely compassionate being who delays their own salvation to help all other humans achieve it (Path of Bodhisattvas = 2).
Route: [REALM 16: Jainism & Buddhism]The Great Vehicle
Tax Paid in Sweat
With reference to forced labour (Vishti) in India during the Gupta period, which one of the following statements is correct?
The Secret Whisper
Official Key: (a)
In the Gupta Empire, the concept of 'Vishti' referred to forced labour. However, it wasn't lawless kidnapping. It was an institutionalized mechanism: if a peasant could not pay their taxes in grain or gold, the state extracted the tax through their physical sweat. It was officially recorded as a source of state income (a sort of tax).
B is false (it was heavily prevalent in central/western India, proven by inscriptions). C is false (if they were paid wages, it wouldn't be 'forced labour / tax'). D is false (there was no such strict rule about only the eldest son).
Route: [REALM 24: Gupta Empire] & [REALM 34: Economy]