Prelims 1999 · archive
MediumMatch List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists:
| List-I | List-II | |
|---|---|---|
| A. | Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar | 1. Introduced the scheme of Raga classification of Indian music | |
| B. | Venkatamahi | 2. Proponent of Carnatic music | |
| C. | Shyama Shastri | 3. Proponent of the Khayal form of Hindustani music | |
| D. | Amir Khusrau | 4. Wrote the music for the song 'Vande Mataram'. |
Codes:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) A-4; B-1; C-2; D-3
Shyama Shastri was one of the Carnatic 'trinity', so C matches 2. That leaves Amir Khusrau for the Khayal form (D-3), which only option (b) allows. Paluskar is linked to the music of Vande Mataram (A-4), and Venkatamakhi to the 72-mela raga classification (B-1).
- ✓ A Vishnu Digambar Paluskar is tied to a celebrated musical setting of Vande Mataram. He sang his rendition, set to raga Kafi, at the Congress session in 1923. He did not devise a raga-classification scheme. In Carnatic music that work belongs to Venkatamakhi, and in Hindustani music to Bhatkhande.
- ✓ B Venkatamakhi (17th century) wrote the Chaturdandi Prakashika. It sets out the scheme of 72 melas (parent scales), the basis of the melakarta system for classifying ragas. He had nothing to do with Vande Mataram.
- ✓ C Syama Sastri was a composer of Carnatic music. With Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar he forms the Carnatic 'trinity'. He has no link to Khayal, which is a Hindustani form.
- ✓ D Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) is believed to have evolved many musical forms. Tradition names him as the originator of Khayal, a Hindustani vocal form that is not part of Carnatic music.
- ✗ c/d Both options give B-4. That would make Venkatamakhi, a Carnatic theorist of the 17th century, the composer of the music for Vande Mataram, a song written centuries later. That is impossible. Option (a) pairs Shyama Shastri (C) with Khayal and Amir Khusrau (D) with Carnatic music, which reverses their traditions.
- • Since then Vande Mataram was also set to music by Rabindranath Tagore, and several tunes for it exist. Paluskar's Kafi rendition is the one this question has in mind.
Remember · Venkatamakhi: 72-mela scheme (Carnatic). Syama Sastri: Carnatic trinity. Amir Khusrau: Qawwali, Khayal and Tarana, by tradition. Paluskar: Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and Vande Mataram in raga Kafi.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 3 “Amir Khusro, a very famous musician, is believed to have evolved many musical forms”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Syama Sastri ↗ · reference work “Syama Sastri was an Indian composer of Carnatic music, a genre of southern Indian classical music.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Vande Mataram ↗ · reference work “Classical vocalist V.D. Paluskar (1872–1931) sang a rendition, set to raga Kafi , at the Congress Party session in 1923.”
- PIB: 150 Years of Vande Mataram ↗ “It was set to music by Rabindranath Tagore.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 1999, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
