Indian Culture Questions and Answers PDF Download
Indian History and Culture
1. Which commander of Nawab Sirajuddaulah's army betrayed him at the battle of Plassey in 1757 ?
(A) Shuja-ud-Daulah
(B) Mir Jaffar
(C) Neither of these
(D) Both of these
2. The first Muslim ruler to introduce the system of price control was-
(A) Balban
(B) Jalaluddin Khalji
(C) Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq
(D) Alauddin Khalji
3. The most important text of Vedic Mathema-tics is-
(A) Satapatha Brahman
(B) Atharva Veda
(C) Sulva Sutras
(D) Chhandhogya Upnishad
4. Teratali is the folkdance of-
(A) Kerala
(B) Rajasthan
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Tamil Nadu
5. 'Karagam' a religious folkdance is associated with-
(A) Tamil Nadu
(B) Kerala
(C) Andhra Pradesh
(D) Karnataka
6. Musical instrument 'Sitar' is the combination of-
(A) Bansuri and Veena
(B) Bansuri and Sarangi
(C) Veena and Tambura
(D) Veena and Piano
7. Which of the following Tombs is called the second Tajmahal ?
(A) Tomb of Anarkali
(B) Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula
(C) Tomb of Rabia-ud-Daurani
(D) None of these
8. Name the poet who was with Allauddin Khalji during his siege of Chittor-
(A) Firdausi
(B) Amir Khusro
(C) Both of them
(D) None of them
9. First Buddhist council after the death of Buddha was presided over by-
(A) Mahakashyapa
(B) Dharmasen
(C) Ajatashatru
(D) Nagasen
10. Which one of the following places was known as The 'Shiraj of the East' during the reign of the Sharki Sultans ?
(A) Agra
(B) Jaunpur
(C) Delhi
(D) Varanasi
11. For the first time the department of public works was established by-
(A) Iltutmish
(B) Balban
(C) Alauddin Khalji
(D) Firoz Shah Tughlaq
12. Losoong is a festival which is celebrated in-
(A) Tibet
(B) Arunachal Pradesh
(C) Sikkim
(D) Kerala
13. Given below is a list of traditional dresses of women alongwith states. Which one of them is not correctly matched ?
(A) Boku – Sikkim
(B) Mekhala - Assam
(C) Mundu Chhattisgarh
(D) Pheran – Kashmir
14. From the excavations of which ancient site informations are gathered regarding brisk trade relations between India and Rome during early centuries of Christian era-
(A) Madurai
(B) Tamralipti
(C) Tondi
(D) Arikamedu
15. Which one of the following is a famous place of pilgrimage for Jains ?
(A) Parasnath
(B) Sarnath
(C) Sanchi
(D) Nalanda
16. The festival of 'Onam' is associated with the legend of-
(A) Ram's victory over Ravana
(B) Durga's killing of Mahishasur
(C) Shiva Shakti
(D) Maha Bali
17. The author of 'Arthashastra' was a contempo- rary of-
(A) Ashoka
(B) Chandragupta Maurya
(C) Chandragupta Vikramaditya
(D) Samudra Gupta
18. The world famous rock cut Kailasa Temple at Ellora was built by the-
(A) Mauryas
(B) Pallavas
(C) Chalukyas
(D) Rashtrakutas
19. In which of the following were two gummads used for the first time ?
(A) Sikandar Lodhi's Tomb
(B) Khijra Khan's Tomb
(C) Allauddin Khalji's Tomb
(D) Balban's Tomb
20. Dr. M. S. Subbulakshmi distinguished herself in the field of-
(A) Kathak
(B) Bharatnatyam
(C) Playing violin
(D) Vocal music
21. 'Din-i-Ilahi' was founded by-
(A) Guru Nanak Dev
(B) Kabir
(C) Akbar
(D) Shahjahan
22. Which of the following performing arts is associated with Sumyukta Panigrahi ?
(A) Painting
(B) Violin
(C) Dance
(D) Sports
23. Who was the most distinguished Hindi poet of Akbar's Court ?
(A) Birbal
(B) Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana
(C) Raja Bhagwan Dass
(D) Raja Man Singh
24. Amir Khusrau was the famous poet in the Court of-
(A) Akbar
(B) Shahjahan
(C) Ibrahim Lodhi
(D) Alauddin Khalji
25. Which one of the Chola Kings conquered Ceylon ?
(A) Aditya-I
(B) Rajaraja-I
(C) Rajendra-I
(D) Vijayalaya
26. Who among the following presided over the Buddhist Council held during the reign of Kanishka at Kashmir ?
(A) Parsva
(B) Nagarjuna
(D) Vasumitra
(C) Sudraka
27. Which one of the following animals was not represented on the seals and terracotta art of the Harappan culture ?
(A) Coco
(B) Elephant
(C) Rhinoceros
(D) Tiger
28. Hoysala monuments are found in-
(A) Hampi and Hospet
(B) Halebid and Belur
(C) Mysore and Bengalore
(D) Sringeri and Dharwar
29. Who among the following Indian rulers esta- blished embassies in foreign countries on modern lines ?
(A) Haider Ali
(B) Mir Qasim
(C) Shah Alam II
(D) Tipu Sultan
30. Who put up the most stiff resistance against the British in India ?
(A) The Sikhs
(B) The Rajputs
(C) The Mughals
(D) The Marathas
31. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq's experiment of introducing token currency failed on account of the-
(A) Rejection of token coins for purchases by foreign merchants
(B) Melting of token coins
(C) Large scale minting of spurious coins
(D) Poor quality of token currency
32. Who issued a firman on 12 August, 1765 granting to the English the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa ?
(A) Shah Alam II
(B) Bahadur Shah
(C) Furrukhsiyar
(D) Muhammad Shah
33. The Mangols under Gengis Khan invaded India during the reign of-
(A) Balban
(B) Feroz Tughlaq
(C) Iltutmish
(D) Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq
34. Which among the following parts was called Babul Makka (Gate of Makka) during the Mughal Period ?
(A) Calicut
(B) Broach
(C) Cambay
(D) Surat
35. Which of the following pairs is correctly matched ?
(A) Dewan-i-Bandagani-Tughlaq
(B) Dewan-i-Mustakhraj-Balban
(C) Dewan-i-Kohi-Alauddin Khalji
(D) Dewan-i-Arz-Muhammad Tughlaq
36. In which one of the following cities is the Lingaraja Temple located ?
(A) Bhubaneswar
(B) Bijapur
(C) Kolkata
(D) Shreavanabelagola
37. Which one of the following pairs (of dynas- ties and their founders) is not correctly matched ?
(A) Slave dynasty Balban
(B) Tughlaq dynasty – Ghiyasuddin
(C) Khalji dynasty Jalaluddin
(D) Second Afghan Empire-Shershah Suri
38. Babar came to India originally from-
(A) Farghana
(C) Khorasan
(B) Khiva
(D) Seistan
39. Which one of the following sources of Islam is associated with the practices of Prophet Mohammad ?
(A) Quran
(B) Hidaya
(C) Fiqah
(D) Sunah
40. The French East India Company was formed in-
(A) 1600
(B) 1660
(C) 1664
(D) 1668
41. The Indus Valley people traded with the-
(A) Chinese
(B) Mesopotamians
(C) Parthians
(D) Romans
42. The Indian National Song was composed by-
(A) Rabindranath Tagore
(B) Bankim Chandra Chatterji
(C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(D) Sarojini Naidu
43. Which of the following is incorrect regarding the Brahmin religion ?
(A) It preaches complete non-violence
(B) It believes in devotion
(C) It believes in the authority of the Puranas
(D) It believes in the varied forms of gods and goddesses
44. Harihara and Bukka founded which Indian Kingdom/dynasty ?
(A) Vijayanagar
(B) Bahamani
(C) The Marathas
(D) The Tughlaq
45. Which of the following was the first Acharya to give a philosophical basis to Bhakti ?
(A) Ramanuj
(B) Shankaracharya
(C) Madhavacharya
(D) Vallabhacharya
46. The Torah is the holy book of which Commu-nity ?
(A) Rastafarians
(C) Jews
(B) Buddhists
(D) Jesuits
47. Ashoka's Dhamma can be best described as-
(A) Modified form of Brahmanism
(B) A socio ethical code of conduct
(C) Propagation of Bhakti
(D) Modified form of Dharmasastra
48. Who was the founder of the city of Agra ?
(A) Mohammad Tughlaq
(B) Alauddin Khalji
(C) Sikandar Lodhi
(D) Ibrahim Lodhi
49. Which one among the following is least like the others ?
(A) Kathakali
(B) Bhangra
(C) Kuchipudi
(D) Bharat Natyam
50. Who is called of the 'Nightingale of India' ?
(A) Vijay Lakshmi Pandit
(B) Sarojini Naidu
(C) Aruna Asaf Ali
(D) Sucheta Kriplani
51. The Harappans were the earliest people to produce-
(A) Seals
(B) Bronze implements
(C) Cotton
(D) Barley
52. Guru Nanak preached-
(A) The unity of the Sikhs
(B) Sikh religion
(C) Human brotherhood
(D) Making Sikhs a militant organization
53. Chinese pilgrim who visited India during Harsha Vardhan's period was-
(A) Fa-hien
(B) I'tsing
(C) Nishka
(D) Hiuen-T-Sang
54. Chalukya King Pulakesin II was defeated by-
(A) Mahendra Varman I
(B) Narsimha Varman I
(C) Parameshwara Verman I
(D) Jatila Parantaka
55. Who among the following sultans of Delhi has been described by the historians as the mixture of opposites' ?
(A) Balban
(B) Alauddin Khalji
(C) Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq
(D) Ibrahim Lodi
56. Who was the last ruler of Lodi Dynasty ?
(A) Bahlol Lodi
(B) Ibrahim Lodi
(C) Daulat Khan Lodi
(D) Sikandar Lodi
57. Which of the following Mughal monarchs has vividly described Indian flora and fauna, seasons, fruits etc, in his diary ?
(A) Akbar
(B) Jahangir
(C) Babur
(D) Aurangzeb
58. The greatness of Shershah lies in his-
(A) Victories against Humayun
(B) Superior generalship
(C) Administrative reforms
(D) Religous tolerance
59. Greek-Roman Art has found a place in-
(A) Ellora
(B) Gandhara
(C) Kalinga
(D) Buddhist Art
60. The Ajanta paintings belong to the-
(A) Harappan period
(B) Mauryan period
(C) Buddhist period
(D) Gupta period
61. The ruins of the glory of Vijayanagar and a place of historical importance for its archi- tecture style is now found at-
(A) Belur
(B) Hampi
(C) Srirangapatnam
(D) Tanjore
62. The temple built in A.D. 1100 and dominating all other temples in Bhubaneshwar is-
(A) Raja Rani temple
(B) Kandariya Mahadev
(C) Thribhuvaneswara Lingaraja
(D) Mukhteswara
63. The Bahmani Kingdom was founded by-
(A) Ahmad Shah I
(B) Alauddin Hasan
(C) Mahmud Gawan
(D) Firoz Shah Bahmani
64. The Dilwara temples at Mount Abu in Rajas- than were built by the followers of-
(A) Buddhism
(B) Jainism
(C) Hinduism
(D) Sikhism
65. In the third Battle of Panipat, the Marathas were defeated by-
(A) The Afghans
(B) The Mughals
(C) The English
(D) The French
66. Alberuni came to India with-
(A) Mahmud of Ghazni
(B) Alexander
(C) Babur
(D) Timur
67. Where did Aurangzeb die ?
(A) Ahmed Nagar
(B) Aurangabad
(C) Allahabad
(D) Lahore
68. What inspired the paintings of Ajanta ?
(A) Compassionate Buddha
(B) Radha Krishna leela
(C) Jain Tirthankaras
(D) Mahabharat encounters
69. The rulers of which dynasty started the practice of granting tax free villages to Brahamanas and Buddhist Monks ?
(A) Sata-Vahanas
(B) Mauryas
(C) Guptas
(D) Cholas
70. Consider the following statements:
1. The Islamic calendar is twelve days shorter than the Gregorian calendar.
2. The Islamic calendar began in AD 632.
3. The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(A) 1 only
(B) 1 and 2
(C) 1 and 3
(D) 3 only
71. Who started the Saka Era still used by the Government of India ?
(A) Kanishka
(B) Vikramaditya
(C) Samundragupta
(D) Asoka
72. Zafarnama was a letter written to a Mughal emperor by which of the following Sikh Gurus ?
(A) Hari Rai
(B) Arjun Dev
(C) Tegh Bahadur
(D) Govind Singh
73. Buddha's preachings were concerned most with-
(A) Devotionalism
(B) Ritualism
(C) Belief in the same God
(D) Purity of thought and conduct
Answers
1. (B) 6. (C) 11. (D) 16. (D) 21. (C) 26. (D) 31. (C) 2. (D) 3. (C) 4. (B) 9. (A) 14. (D) 19. (A) 24. (D) 29. (D) 34. (D) 39. (D) 44. (A) 49. (B) 54. (B) 5. (A) 10. (B) 15. (A) 20. (D) 25. (C) 30. (D) 35. (A) 40. (C) 45. (A) 50. (B) 55. (C) 60. (D) 7. (C) 8. (B) 12. (B) 13. (C) 17. (B) 18. (D) 23. (B) 22. (C) 27. (A) 28. (B) 33. (C) 32. (A) 37. (D) 38. (A) 42. (B) 43. (A) 48. (C) 36. (A) 41. (B) 46. (C) 51. (C) 47. (B) 52. (C) 53. (D) 57. (C) 56. (B) 58. (C) 59. (B) 61. (B) 62. (C) 67. (A) 65. (A) 63. (B) 68. (A) 64. (B) 66. (A) 69. (A) 70. (C) 71. (A) 72. (D) 73. (D)
