UPSC Civil Services 2022 Prelims (General Studies) Question Paper With Answer Key

1 .

In the Government of India Act 1919, the functions of Provincial Government were divided into “Reserved” and “Transferred” subjects. Which of the following were treated as “Reserved” subjects?

1. Administration of Justice

2. Local Self-Government

3. Land Revenue

4. Police

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

A)

1, 2 and 3

B)

2, 3 and 4

C)

1, 3 and 4

D)

1, 2 and 4

Correct Answer : Option (C) - 1, 3 and 4

Note : The reserved subjects came under the heading of law and order and included justice, the police, land revenue, and irrigation. The transferred subjects (i.e., those under the control of Indian ministers) included local self-government, education, public health, public works, and agriculture, forests, and fisheries.

Source : Britannica

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

2 .

In medieval India, the term "Fanam" referred to:

A)

Clothing

B)

Coins

C)

Ornaments

D)

Weapons

Correct Answer : Option (B) - Coins

Note :

Fanam.—Anglicised form of Tamil panam (q. v.); Sanskrit pana(q. v.); a gold coin equal to (1/20) of a varaha.

Note: fanam is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.

Source : Wisdomlib

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

3 .

Consider the following freedom fighters:

1. Barindra Kumar Ghosh

2. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee

3. Rash Behari Bose

Who of the above was/were actively associated with the Ghadar Party?

A)

1 and 2

B)

2 only

C)

1 and 3

D)

3 only

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 3 only

Note :

* Barindra Kumar Ghosh- AnushilanSamiti

* Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee- AnushilanSamiti

* Rash Behari Bose- Ghadr Party

Source : Livehistoryindia

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

4 .

With reference to the proposals of Cripps Mission, consider the following statements:

1. The Constituent Assembly would have members nominated by the Provincial Assemblies as well as the Princely States.

2. Any Province, which is not prepared to accept the new Constitution would have the right to sign a separate agreement with Britain regarding its future status.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A)

1 only

B)

2 only

C)

Both 1 and 2

D)

Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 only

Note : A Constituent Assembly would consist of the members elected by the Lower House of the Indian Legislature and the representatives of the Princely States nominated by their rulers.

Source : Knowledgeboat

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

5 .

With reference to Indian history, consider the following texts:

1. Nettipakarana

2. Parishishtaparvan

3. Avadanashataka

4. Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana

Which of the above are Jaina texts?

A)

1, 2 and 3

B)

2 and 4 only

C)

1, 3 and 4

D)

2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 and 4 only

Note :

* The Avadanashataka or "Century of Noble Deeds" is an anthology in Sanskrit of one hundred Buddhist legends, approximately dating to the same time as the Ashokavadana.

* Option 3 is incorrect. So by eliminating, we get option (b) as correct.

* The Parishishtaparvan also known as the Sthaviravalicharitra is a 12th-century Sanskrit mahakavya by Hemachandra which details the histories of the earliest Jain teachers.

* Mahapurana or Trishashthilkshana Mahapurana is a major Jain text composed largely by "Acharya'' Jinasena during the rule of Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha and completed by his pupil Gunabhadra in the 9th century CE. Mahapurana consists of two parts. The first part is Adi purana written by "Acharya'' Jinasena. The second part is Uttarapurana which is the section composed by Gunabhadra.

Source : Synonymsbot, Hyperleap

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

6 .

With reference to Indian History, consider the following pairs:

Historical person Known as

1. Aryadeva — Jaina scholar

2. Dignaga — Buddhist scholar

3. Nathamuni — Vaishnava scholar

How many pairs given above are correctly matched?

A)

None of the pairs

B)

Only one pair

C)

Only two pairs

D)

All three pairs

Correct Answer : Option (C) - Only two pairs

Note :

* Aryadeva (3rd century), a disciple of Nagarjuna, is a central figure in the development of early Indian Madhyamaka philosophy. Aryadeva’s Hundred Verses Treatise (Bai lun) was one of the three basic texts of the Chinese Madhyamaka school founded by the central Asian monk Kumarajiva (b. 344–d. 413), which accordingly was called the Sanlun (Jpn. Sanron), or “three-treatise” school. According to the biography that Kumarajiva translated into Chinese, Aryadeva was born into a South Indian Brahmin family, became Nagarjuna’s disciple, was renowned for his skill in debate, and was murdered by a student of a defeated teacher

* Dignaga, (born c. 480 CE—died c. 540), Buddhist logician and author of the Pramanasamuccaya (“Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge”), a work that laid the foundations of Buddhist logic.

* Sri Ranganathamuni, popularly known as Sriman Nathamuni, was a Vaishnava theologian who collected and compiled the Nalayira Divya Prabandham.

Source : Thehindu

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

7 .

With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The first Mongol invasion of India happened during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Khalji.

2. During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji, one Mongol assault marched up to Delhi and besieged the city.

3. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq temporarily lost portions of north-west of his kingdom to Mongols.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A)

1 and 2

B)

2 only

C)

1 and 3

D)

3 only

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 only

Note :

Statement 1 is incorrect: Chengez Khan invaded India during the reign of Iltumish for the first time. He was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

Statement 2 is correct: During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji, one of the Mongol invasion reached till the outskirts of Delhi city and besieged it.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq defeated the Mongols and he had not lost any of the portions of his kingdom to them.

Source: The Mongols and Delhi Sultanate- Cambridge

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

8 .

With reference to Indian history, who of the following were known as "Kulah-Daran"?

A)

Arab merchants

B)

Qalandars

C)

Persian calligraphists

D)

Sayyids

Correct Answer : Option (D) - Sayyids

Note :

* The Sayyids were claimed to descent from the Prophet through his daughter Fatima. They Commanded special respect in Muslim society.

* Even the Timur protected the life of Sayyids during his invasion in India. Although his policy was one of general slaughter.

* The sayyids put on a pointed cap (kulah) and they were known as ‘Kulah Daran’ during Delhi sultanate.

Source : History of Medieval India by V.D Mahajan

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

9 .

With reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:

1. The Dutch established their factories/werehouses on the east coast on lands granted to them by Gajapati rulers.

2. Alfonso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate.

3. The English East India Company established a factory at Madras on a plot of land leased from a representative of the Vijayanagara empire.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A)

1 and 2 only

B)

2 and 3 only

C)

1 and 3 only

D)

1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 and 3 only

Note :

Statement 1 is incorrect: Next to the Portuguese, the Dutch set their feet in India.

In 1602, the United East India Company of the Netherlands was formed and given permission by the Dutch government to trade in the East Indies including India.

Gajapati Rule has declined in 1541. The last ruler was Kakharua Deva.

Statement 2 is correct: Alfanso de Albuquerque captured Goa from the Bijapur sultanate king Adil Shahis with the help of Vijaynagara Empire.

Statement 3 is correct : the English East India Company established a factory in Madras in 1639 on land leased from representatives of Vijayanagara Empire called the Nayakas.

Source : The Hindu newspaper- founders of Madras city, EAST INDIA COMPANY FACTORY RECORDS from British Library, London.

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies

10 .

According to Kautiyla’s Arthahastra, which of the following are correct?

1. A person could be a slave as a result of a judicial punishment.

2. If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free.

3. If a son born to a female slave was fathered by her master, the son was entitled to the legal status of the master’s son.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A)

1 and 2 only

B)

2 and 3 only

C)

1 and 3 only

D)

1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 1, 2 and 3

Note :

Rules for slavery as per the Arthshastra

* A person enslaved because of the judicial punishment has been mentioned as dandpraneet u). This kind of slavery was of a fixed period because a Dandapraneet could be freed by serving his sentence. They were the criminals in the prison. They had to serve like slaves but at the same time Kautilya provides that they could be released after their period of punishment was completed.

* THE selling or mortgaging by kinsmen of the life of a Súdra who is not a born slave, and has not attained majority, but is an Arya in birth shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas; of a Vaisya, 24 panas; of a Kshatriya, 36 panas; and of a Bráhman, 48 panas. If persons other than kinsmen do the same, they shall be liable to the three amercements and capital punishment respectively: purchasers and abettors shall likewise be punished. It is no crime for Mlechchhas to sell or mortgage the life of their own offspring. But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery.

* If a slave who is less than eight years old and has no relatives, no matter whether he is born a slave in his master’s house, or fallen to his master’s share of inheritance, or has been purchased or obtained by his master in any other way, is employed in mean avocations against his will or is sold or mortgaged in a foreign land;[9] or if a pregnant female slave is sold or pledged without any provision for her confinement, her master shall be punished with the first amercement. The purchaser and abettors shall likewise be punished.

* When a child is begotten on a female slave by her master, both the child and its mother shall at once be recognised as free.[10] If, for the sake of subsistence, the mother has to remain in her bondage, her brother and sister shall be liberated.

* Slaves had been treated as Chattels and they could be inherited from a father to his son, and slaves received in such a manner are described as Dayah-agatah in the Arthasastra of Kautilya. Dayad means given and this would suggest that slaves were given from father.

Source : archive, Wisdomlib

Year : 2022

Category : General Studies