Early Medieval Regional Kingdoms Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The Yapaniya sect belongs to the Jaina religion.

The Yapaniyas were a Jain sect, strong in Karnataka in the early medieval period, that stood between the two main branches: like the Digambaras, their monks went naked, but like the Shvetambaras they accepted that women could attain liberation and that kevalins take food.

The term has no place in Buddhist, Sikh or Hindu sectarian history.

Answer: B

The chronological order is I, IV, III, II.

1. Alauddin Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu) founded the Bahmani kingdom in 1347.
2. Firuz Shah ruled from 1397 to 1422.
3. Ahmad Shah, his brother, succeeded him in 1422 and moved the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar.
4. Muhammad Shah III ruled from 1463 to 1482, the reign of the minister Mahmud Gawan.

Options starting with IV put Firuz Shah before the founder, and I, III, IV, II reverses the two brothers.

Answer: A

The answer is Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

The Assertion is true: the medieval Tamil temple was far more than a place of worship. It was a landowner, a bank, a centre of learning, music and dance, and the focus of festivals and village assemblies.

The Reason is also true, and the Commission's key treats it as the explanation: building and maintaining a great temple gave continuous work to architects, sculptors, masons and other craftsmen, and its upkeep supported many more, which is how the temple came to fill such a large place in the economic and cultural life of the people. The options that make either statement false are therefore wrong.

Answer: A

Raksas and Tagdi relate to the Battle of Talikota.

In 1565 the combined Deccan sultanates of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda and Bidar defeated the Vijayanagara army under Aliya Rama Raya. The battle was fought near the villages of Rakkasagi and Tangadigi on the Krishna, which is why it is also called the battle of Rakshasa-Tangadi; Talikota was the nearby town where the allies camped. The defeat led to the sack of the Vijayanagara capital.

Takkolam (949) was a Rashtrakuta victory over the Cholas, the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali, and the Battle of Adyar (1746) was fought near Madras between the French and the Nawab of the Carnatic.

Answer: A

Madurai was the most important learning centre of the Jain scholars, where the Jain Sangam flourished, so option A is the key.

Trichy, Tanjore and Thiruvalangadu were centres of other traditions and are not named as the main Jain centre.

The Jain monks of the Tamil country built their schools in the caves around Madurai, as the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions on the hills nearby show, and the Madurai Sangam is also associated with Jain scholars. Trichy, Tanjore and Thiruvalangadu have no comparable tradition of Jain learning in the key.

Answer: B

The titles match as Pandiyar with Chezhiyan (3), Cherar with Aadhavan (1), Chola with Sembian (4) and Aai with Thithiyan (2), the code 3 1 4 2.

The other codes give Aadhavan or Sembian to the wrong dynasty, so they are incorrect.

Pandya kings carried the title Chezhiyan, Chera kings were called Aadhavan (the sun), Chola kings were called Sembian, and the chieftains of the Aai line had the title Thithiyan. This is the pattern in which the Sangam poets address the three crowned kings and the minor chiefs, so the codes that give Sembian to the Pandyas are rejected.

Answer: A

Dakhni literature was patronised by the Qutb Shahi sultans of Golkonda, option A.

The Adil Shahis of Bijapur also patronised it, but the question names the Qutb Shahi dynasty, whose capital was Golkonda.

Dakhni (Deccani Urdu) literature flourished under the Bahmani successors, and the Qutb Shahi rulers of Golkonda, among them the poet-king Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, were its great patrons. Bijapur's Adil Shahis also patronised it, but they are a different dynasty, and Ahmednagar and Bidar had the Nizam Shahis and Barid Shahis.

Answer: D

The key takes [A] as correct and [R] as the correct explanation: Bahman Shah attempted to exact an annual tribute from Warrangal and the Reddi kingdoms, and this led to frequent wars.

Option A, which denies the explanation, and options B and C, which call a statement wrong, are not the key.

Bahman Shah (Alauddin Hasan Bahman Shah) founded the Bahmani kingdom in 1347, and it was in constant conflict with Warangal and the Reddi kingdoms of Rajamundry and Kondaveedu over tribute and territory. The wars follow naturally from the demand for tribute, which is why the key accepts the reason as the explanation.

Answer: D

The Uttiramerur inscriptions of Parantaka Chola describe the village administration, a written constitution of the village assembly, the electoral system by lot and Parantaka's administration, so all the above, option D.

The other options leave out one or more of these.

The Uttiramerur inscriptions of Parantaka I (919 and 921 AD) set out the rules for the village assembly, the qualifications of members, their selection by lot with pot tickets (kudavolai) and the committees. They are a written constitution and show a developed electoral system, and they also belong to Parantaka's time.

Answer: D

Krishna Devaraya belonged to the Tuluva dynasty of the Vijayanagar Empire, option D.

The Sangama, Saluva and Aravidu dynasties were the earlier and later dynasties of the empire.

Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529) was the greatest ruler of Vijayanagara and the most famous king of the Tuluva dynasty, which was founded by Narasa Nayaka and succeeded the Saluva dynasty. The Sangama dynasty came first and the Aravidu dynasty came last, after the battle of Talikota.