QUIZ – 2019: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 24 DECEMBER 2019 – History

Solution: b)

Asoka embraced Buddhism under the influence of Buddhist monk, Upagupta.

According to some scholars, his conversion to Buddhism was gradual and not immediate. About 261 B.C. Asoka became a Sakya Upasaka (lay dsicple) and two and a half years later, a Bikshu (monk). Then he gave up hunting, visited Bodh-Gaya, and organized missions. He appointed special officers called Dharma Mahamatras to speed up the progress of Dhamma.

Solution: a)

The main features of Asoka’s Dhamma as mentioned in his various Edicts may be summed as follows:

1. Service to father and mother, practice of ahimsa, love of truth, reverence to teachers and good treatment of relatives.
2. Prohibition of animal sacrifices and festive gatherings and avoiding expensive and meaningless ceremonies and rituals.
3. Efficient organization of administration in the direction of social welfare and maintenance of constant contact with people through the system of Dhammayatras.
4. Humane treatment of servants by masters and prisoners by government officials.
5. Consideration and non-violence to animals and courtesy to relations and liberality to Brahmins.
6. Tolerance among all the religious sects.
7. Conquest through Dhamma instead of through war.

Solution: d)

Contributions by Firoz Shah Tughlaq:

1. established the Diwan-i-Khairat — office for charity.
2. established the Diwan-i-Bundagan — department of slave
3. established Sarais (rest house) for the benefits of merchants and other travellers
4. adopted the Iqtadari framework.
5. Established four new towns, Firozabad, Fatehabad, Jaunpur and Hissar.
6. established hospitals known as Darul-Shifa, Bimaristan or Shifa Khana.

Solution: c)

The Charter Act of 1813 incorporated the principle of encouraging learned Indians and promoting knowledge of modern sciences in the country.

Macaulay held the view that “Indian learning was inferior to European learning”. The government soon made English as the medium of instruction in its schools and colleges and opened a few English schools and colleges instead of a large number of elementary schools, thus neglecting mass education.

In 1854, Charles Wood prepared a despatch on an educational system for India. Considered the “Magna Carta of English Education in India”, this document was the first comprehensive plan for the spread of education in India.

Solution: c)

East India Association was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1866, in collaboration with Indians and retired British officials in London. It was a moderate organisation.

The London Indian Society was superseded by East India Association.