Prelims · Art & culture · 22 questions

Literature, philosophy & religion

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Asked in 7 of 11 years · most in 2021 (3)

UPSC syllabus: “History of India and Indian National Movement.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2026 · Q7

Hard Provisional key

Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India:

1.The earliest epigraphic use of the place-value system in India is found in the Mankani plates from Gujarat (AD 595–596).
2.In the ninth century, place-values become general in inscriptions all over India.
3.The place-values have been found in Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia as early as the seventh century.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

The decimal place-value notation was invented and first used in India. In inscriptions it appears first in a late sixth-century charter from Gujarat (AD 594-596 by different reckonings), is found in many dated Indian charters of the eighth and ninth centuries, and had reached South-east Asia by the late seventh century. All three statements are correct.

✓ 1. A copper-plate charter from Gujarat dated in the Chhedi (Kalachuri) year 346, that is AD 594-596, is the oldest dated Indian document to write a number in place-value form; the Mankani plates are the grant usually cited for it. Some historians doubt the date, but MacTutor judges it likely genuine.
✓ 2. Dated charters using place-value numbers run through the eighth and ninth centuries (AD 737, 753, 793, 815, 837), and the Gwalior inscription of AD 876, which also writes a zero, is the first undisputed one.
✓ 3. A Khmer inscription from Cambodia of about AD 680 (Sambor, the number 605 in the Saka era) already writes its number in place-value form with a zero, so place-value numerals were in use in South-east Asian inscriptions in the seventh century.

Remember · Place-value epigraphy: Gujarat charter, AD 594-596 (Chhedi year 346) earliest; charters through the 8th-9th centuries, Gwalior AD 876 undisputed; South-east Asia by about AD 680 (Sambor, Cambodia).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 6 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 6 “it is now generally admitted that the decimal place value system of numeral notation was invented and first used by the Indians.”
MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews), Indian numerals ↗ · reference work “The first inscription which is dated and is not disputed is the inscription at Gwalior dated 933 in the Vikrama calendar which translates to a date in our calendar of 876 AD. … The oldest dated Indian document which contains a number written in the place-value form used today is a legal document dated 346 in the Chhedi calendar which translates to a date in our calendar of 594 AD.”
MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews), Indian Mathematics: Redressing the balance, Decimal numeration and the place-value system ↗ · reference work “The first recorded 'non-mathematical' use of zero dates even later, around 680 AD, the number 605 was found on a Khmer inscription in Cambodia.”

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2024 · Q58

Easy

Consider the following statements:

1.There are no parables in Upanishads.
2.Upanishads were composed earlier than the Puranas.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only Statement 2 is correct. The Upanishads do contain many teaching stories, such as the tale of Shvetaketu and his father, and they are much older than the Puranas, which were compiled only from about the early centuries CE.

✗ 1. NCERT points to many stories in the Upanishads, for example Shvetaketu and the seed of reality in the Chhandogya Upanishad, and Nachiketa and Yama. Stories that teach a lesson are parables.
✓ 2. The early Upanishads date from about the sixth century BCE onwards, while the Puranas were compiled by about the middle of the first millennium CE (from c. 200 CE onwards).

Remember · Upanishads (c. 6th century BCE onwards) are full of teaching stories and are far older than the Puranas (compiled from c. 200 CE onwards).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 6 Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 6 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 7 “Many stories from the Upanishads tell us the importance of asking questions, whether these questions come from men, women or children.”
NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “Many ideas found in the Upanishads (c. sixth century BCE onwards)”
NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “the Puranas, compiled by Brahmanas (by about the middle of the first millennium CE).”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2024 · Q63

Easy

Which one of the following is a work attributed to playwright Bhasa?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Madhyama-vyayoga

Bhasa is the early Sanskrit dramatist whose plays draw on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Thirteen of them survive, and Madhyamavyayoga is one. The other titles are not his plays: Natyashastra is a treatise on drama and Mahabhashya is a work on grammar.

✓ (c) NCERT lists Madhyamavyayogam among Bhasa's extant plays, along with Carudattam, Pratimanatakam and Karnabharam.
✗ (b) Natyashastra is the oldest treatise on dramaturgy, ascribed to Sage Bharata. It is a theory text, not a play.
✗ (d) Mahabhashya is Patanjali's work, grouped with Panini's Ashtadhyayi among the foundational texts of Sanskrit grammar.

Remember · Bhasa wrote Sanskrit plays on epic themes (thirteen survive), including Madhyamavyayoga. Natyashastra is Bharata's treatise on drama; Mahabhashya is Patanjali's grammar work.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 1 “Bhasa's plays largely adopted their subject from the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Thirteen of his plays are extant and some of them are: Svapanavasavadattam, Carudattam, Abhisekanatakam, Pratimanatakam, Karnabharam and Madhyamavyayogam.”
NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 3 “Bharat's Natyasastra is the most important and pioneer work of music, dance and drama.”
NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 5 “Panini's Ashtadhyayi, Pingala's Chhandashastra, Patanjali's Mahabhashya Foundational Texts for Sanskrit Grammar”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2023 · Q44

Medium

Which one of the following explains the practice of ‘Vattakirutal’ as mentioned in Sangam poems?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) A king defeated in a battle committing ritual suicide by starving himself to death

Vattakirutal (Tamil vaṭakkiruttal, literally sitting facing north) was the Sangam-age practice of fasting until death, chiefly by a king or hero who felt disgraced, for instance by defeat or a wound in the back. It is described in Puṟanāṉūṟu poems.

✓ (d) The Tamil Virtual Academy notes that the Chera king Perum Cheralathan, hurt in the back in his battle with Karikala, thought it a disgrace and starved himself to death, and calls this act vatakkiruttal. It also records that the poet Pisiranthaiyar died with his friend King Kopperuncholan when Kopperuncholan died this way.
✗ (a) Women bodyguards have nothing to do with the term; it names a form of voluntary death.
✗ (c) Girls guarding fields is a scene from love poetry, not the meaning of this word.
✗ (b) Scholars debating in a royal court is not what the term means; vatakkiruttal is a fast unto death.

Remember · Vatakkiruttal: Sangam-age ritual fast unto death facing north, by a king or hero who felt disgraced; Perum Cheralathan and Kopperuncholan are the famous cases.

Sources

Purananuru, Tamil Virtual Academy (Government of Tamil Nadu), Perum Cheralathan and Venni battle ↗ · reference work “இது இழிவு என்று கருதிய அந்த வீரன் உண்ணா நோன்பிருந்து ( வடக்கிருத்தல் என்று பெயர்) உயிர் விட்டான்.”
Special divisions of Sangam literature, Tamil Virtual Academy (Government of Tamil Nadu) ↗ · reference work “அரசன் கோப்பெருஞ்சோழன் மேல் நட்புக் கொண்டிருந்த காரணத்தால், அவன் வடக்கிருந்து உயிர் துறக்கும் நேரத்தில் புலவர் பிசிராந்தையாரும் அவனுடன் உயிர் துறந்தார் எனவும் செய்தி உண்டு.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2023 · Q46

Hard

With reference to ancient Indian History, consider the following pairs:

	Literary work	Author
1.	Devichandragupta	Bilhana
2.	Hammira-Mahakavya	Nayachandra Suri
3.	Milinda-panha	Nagarjuna
4.	Nitivakyamrita	Somadeva Suri

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Only two

Only pairs 2 and 4 are correct: the Hammira-Mahakavya is by Nayachandra Suri and the Nitivakyamrita is by Somadeva (Suri). Devichandragupta is the play of Vishakhadatta, not Bilhana, and the Milinda-panha is a Buddhist dialogue tied to the monk Nagasena, not Nagarjuna.

✗ 1. Devichandragupta (Devi-Chandraguptam) is the play of Vishakhadatta, who is better known for the Mudrarakshasa (NCERT names him as that play's author); it is not by Bilhana.
✓ 2. The Hammira-Mahakavya, a poem on King Hammira, is by Nayachandra Suri.
✗ 3. The Milinda-panha records questions of King Milinda (Menander) answered by the monk Nagasena. NCERT calls it a Buddhist text traditionally attributed to Nagasena, and it is not by Nagarjuna.
✓ 4. The Nitivakyamrita is by Somadeva Suri, who also wrote the Yashastilaka.

Remember · Devichandragupta: Vishakhadatta. Hammira-Mahakavya: Nayachandra Suri. Milinda-panha: Nagasena's dialogue with Menander. Nitivakyamrita: Somadeva Suri.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 5 “The Milindapanho, a Buddhist text traditionally attributed to Nagasena, describes eight stages of agricultural operations”
NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 3 “Vishakhadatta's Mudraraksasam was written two hundred years later in the A.D. ninth century.”
Milinda-panha, Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗ · reference work “Composed in northern India in perhaps the 1st or 2nd century ce (and possibly originally in Sanskrit) by an unknown author”
Tamil Nadu Open University, M.A. History: History of Ancient India (university study material), Gupta Empire ↗ · reference work “Influenced by Visakhadatta’s Devi-Chandraguptam, it has been suggested that Samudragupta was succeeded by his brother, Ramagupta. … Among the other works, Kumarapalacharita (12 A.D.) by Jayasimha, Hammirakavya of Nayachandra”
IGNOU eGyankosh: History of India from c. 300 CE to 1206, Unit 10 (Rashtrakutas), via Internet Archive copy ↗ · reference work “Later, Somadeva composed the Yashastilaka and Nitivakyamrita.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q55

Hard

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?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only

Parishishtaparvan and the Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana are Jaina works. Avadanashataka (a collection of avadanas) is Buddhist. UPSC's key gives only 2 and 4 as Jaina.

✗ 1. UPSC's official key treats this statement as incorrect; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✓ 2. Parishishtaparvan is a Jaina work: IGNOU's study material lists it among the Jain scriptures known as the Parvas.
✗ 3. Avadanashataka means 'a hundred avadanas'. Avadanas are Buddhist stories, centred on the Buddha's explanations of a person's worthy deeds in a previous life, so this is a Buddhist work.
✓ 4. The Mahapurana is a Jaina work; NCERT names it among the manuscript works portraying Jain subjects.

Remember · Jaina: Parishishtaparvan and the Mahapurana. Buddhist: Avadanashataka (a collection of avadanas).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 1 “A large group of works of the same period, portraying Hindu and Jain subjects, such as the Mahapurana, Chaurpanchashika, Aranyaka Parvan of the Mahabharata, Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda”
NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 4 “The themes of the paintings are the events from the life of the Buddha, the Jatakas and the Avadanas.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Unit 6: Jain, Buddhist and Other Sects ↗ · reference work “Jain scriptures are collectively referred to as the Parvas. These texts have a religious perspective and include notable works such as Parishishtaparvan, Bhadra Bahucharita, Avasyakasutra, Acharanga Sutra, Bhagwati Sutra, and Kalika Purana”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: avadana ↗ · reference work “legendary material centring on the Buddha’s explanations of events by a person’s worthy deeds in a previous life”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q56

Medium

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?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Only two pairs

Two pairs are correct: Dignaga was a Buddhist logician and Nathamuni a Vaishnava (Shrivaishnava) teacher. Aryadeva was a Buddhist, a disciple of Nagarjuna, not a Jaina.

✗ 1. Aryadeva was a Mahayana Buddhist philosopher, the disciple of Nagarjuna, who with him is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school; he was not a Jaina.
✓ 2. Dignaga (c. 480-540 CE) was a Buddhist logician whose Pramanasamuccaya laid the foundations of Buddhist logic.
✓ 3. Nathamuni (10th century), the first acharya of the Shrivaishnava sect, gathered the hymns of the Alvars and had them sung in Vaishnava temples.

Remember · Aryadeva: Buddhist (Madhyamaka, Nagarjuna's disciple). Dignaga: Buddhist logic. Nathamuni: Shrivaishnava, collected the Alvars' hymns.

Sources

India Science Heritage (Government of India): Nagarjuna ↗ “Along with his disciple Aryadeva, he is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Dignaga ↗ · reference work “Dignāga (born c. 480 ce —died c. 540) was a Buddhist logician and author of the Pramāṇasamuccaya (“Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge”), a work that laid the foundations of Buddhist logic.”
Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh: Dialectical System ↗ · reference work “introduced Buddhist Logics or Dialectical System for analytical study of Buddhism in his book named”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Alvar ↗ · reference work “The hymns of the Alvars were gathered in the 10th century by Nathamuni, a leader of the Shrivaishnava sect, who introduced the regular singing of the hymns in Vaishnava temples of South India.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Unit 22: Socio-Religious Movements ↗ · reference work “Nathamuni introduced the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, i.e. the hymns of the Alvars as a part of the ritual singing in the temples.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q60

Hard

According to Kautilya's Arthashastra, 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?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

UPSC's official answer: (b) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam

Also defensible: (d)

Statements 2 and 3 are undisputed: 'if a female slave bore her master a son, not only was she legally free but the child was entitled to the legal status of the master's son' (NIOS, following Romila Thapar).
Statement 1 has textual support. Shamasastry's translation of Book III, chapter 13 reads 'any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work', and the NIOS textbook says a man could become a slave 'as a result of a judicial punishment'. On that reading all three are correct, option (d).
UPSC's key leaves 1 out, and the text supports that too: Kautilya lays down that 'never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery', lists slaves as born, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold or captured in war, and Kangle's critical edition reads 3.13.18 as a man sentenced to a fine working it off, not as enslavement.
So the answer turns on whether working off a court fine counts as slavery: the historians' summary says yes (d); the text's own categories say no (b).

UPSC's key counts only statements 2 and 3; historians' accounts and Shamasastry's translation support statement 1 too, giving (d). In the exam, go with (b), and treat 'slavery by judicial punishment' as a historian's gloss rather than Kautilya's own rule.

NIOS (Ministry of Education), Indian Culture and Heritage, Ch 19 Indian Social Structure ↗“The 'Arthashastra' states that a man could be a slave by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of a judicial punishment.”
Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII, R. Shamasastry's translation (Internet Archive text) ↗“Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work.”
Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII, R. Shamasastry's translation: no slavery for an Arya ↗“But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery.”

This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.

Statements 2 and 3 are correct: a female slave who bore her master a son was legally free, and the child took the legal status of the master's son. UPSC's key does not count statement 1: Kautilya lays down that an Arya cannot be reduced to slavery, lists slaves as those born in the house, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold or captured in war, and treats a man sentenced to a fine as one who works the fine off, not as a slave.

✗ 1. The Arthashastra (Book III, ch. 13) says 'never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery'; a man pledged to raise money for a fine or decree must be redeemed, and one sentenced to a fine works it off (3.13.18). Judicial punishment is not among the text's own categories of slaves: born in the house, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold, captured in war.
✓ 2. If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free.
✓ 3. Such a child was entitled to the legal status of the master's son.

Remember · Arthashastra on slaves (dasa): no slavery for an Arya; a slave-mother who bore her master a son became free, and her son took the legal status of the master's son.

Sources

NIOS (Ministry of Education), Indian Culture and Heritage, Ch 19 Indian Social Structure ↗ · reference work “if a female slave bore her master a son, not only was she legally free but the child was entitled to the … The 'Arthashastra' states that a man could be a slave by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of a judicial punishment.”
Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII (R. Shamasastry's translation, Internet Archive text): no slavery for an Arya; pledging for fines must be redeemed ↗ · reference work “But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery. But if in order to tide over family troubles, to find money for fines or court decrees, or to recover the (confiscated) household implements, the life of an Arya is mortgaged, they (his kinsmen) shall as soon as possible redeem him (from bondage) … Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work. An Arya, made captive in war shall for his freedom pay a certain amount proportional to the dangerous work done at the time of his capture, or half the amount.”
Kautilya, Arthashastra 3.13.18-19 in R.P. Kangle's critical edition (GRETIL e-text): a man sentenced to a fine works it off; a war captive is freed by work or half his price ↗ · reference work “kaz03.13.18/ daṇḍa.praṇītaḥ karmaṇā daṇḍam upanayet // kaz03.13.19/ ārya.prāṇo dhvaja.āhṛtaḥ karma.kāla.anurūpeṇa mūlya.ardhena vā vimucyeta //”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q94

Medium

"Yogavāsistha" was translated into Persian by Nizamuddin Panipati during the reign of:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Akbar

UPSC's key is Akbar (1556-1605). Akbar ran a translation bureau at Fatehpur Sikri that turned major Sanskrit works into Persian; we could not confirm the date of the Yogavasistha translation from an official source.

✓ (a) Akbar had Sanskrit classics rendered into Persian, including the Mahabharata (Razmnama) and the Ramayana. UPSC's official key gives Akbar for this question; we could not confirm the date of the Yogavasistha translation from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✗ (b) Humayun's rule was short and unsettled (he lost the throne and regained it), and it is not associated with a Sanskrit-to-Persian translation programme.
✗ (c) Shah Jahan is remembered for architecture such as the Taj Mahal; the large state-backed translation bureau is an Akbar-era feature.

Remember · Akbar's translation bureau put Sanskrit works into Persian: Mahabharata as Razmnama, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita and Panchatantra.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 2 “He established a 'house of translation' at Fatehpur Sikri where he had major Sanskrit texts translated into Persian, including the Mahabharata (Razmnama in Persian, or the 'Book of War'), the Ramayana”
IGNCA Kalanidhi Reference Library — Bibliography on Yoga (lists Nizam Panipati as translator of the Yoga Vasistha) ↗ “Panipati, Nizam, tr. Yoga Vasistha. 181.45 YOG. G2020 6 Valmiki Yoga-vasishtha. 181.45 VAL. G1941”
UGC e-PG Pathshala (ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in): Yogavasistha ↗ · reference work “This was one of the earliest works of Hindu philosophy translated into Persian as Muntakhab-i Jug-basasht”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q95

Easy

The world's second tallest statue in sitting pose of Ramanuja was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India at Hyderabad recently. Which one of the following statements correctly represents the teachings of Ramanuja?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) The best means of salvation was devotion.

Ramanuja taught that devotion (bhakti) to Vishnu, with surrender to Him, is the best way to reach salvation. His school, vishishtadvaita, is a devotional form of Vedanta.

✓ (a) NCERT: according to Ramanuja the best means of attaining salvation was intense devotion to Vishnu, whose grace lets the devotee reach the bliss of union with Him.
✗ (c) The route of knowledge and reasoning about Brahman is Shankara's advaita, which Ramanuja challenged; his own path stressed bhakti and surrender.
✗ (d) Ramanuja's texts as summarised in NCERT stress bhakti and surrender to the divine, not meditation, as the path to liberation.

Remember · Ramanuja (11th century, Tamil Nadu): vishishtadvaita, Vishnu-bhakti and surrender as the way to salvation, in contrast to Shankara's advaita and path of knowledge.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 4 “Ramanuja developed the school of vishishtadvaita vedanta, which sees the world and individual souls as real, and emphasises bhakti and surrender to the divine as the path to liberation.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q36

Medium

With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here.

In 1919 Tagore spent a few days at Madanapalle with the Irish poet James H. Cousins, principal of the Besant Theosophical College, and his wife Margaret Cousins. There he rendered 'Jana Gana Mana' into English ('The Morning Song of India'), and Margaret Cousins wrote down its musical notation.

✓ (c) A Ministry of Education page records that Tagore sang the song at the Besant Theosophical College, Madanapalle, in February 1919, and that the college adopted its English version as its prayer song; so the translation was made there.
✗ (d) The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875; after Blavatsky and Olcott settled in India in 1879, its permanent headquarters was set up at Adyar, Madras, in 1882.

Remember · Madanapalle (1919): Tagore's English translation of Jana Gana Mana, 'The Morning Song of India', at the Besant Theosophical College. Theosophical Society headquarters: Adyar, Madras (1882).

Sources

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (Ministry of Education): History of the Indian National Anthem ↗ “the song was first sung by the bard himself at a session in Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh on February 28, 1919. The song enthralled the college authorities and they adopted the English version of the song as their prayer song”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jana Gana Mana ↗ · reference work “In 1919, during a short stay at Madanapelle (now in Andhra Pradesh state) with the Irish poet James H. Cousins and his wife Margaret Cousins, Tagore shared the melody with Margaret Cousins, who transcribed its formal notation. … At her request Tagore translated the poem to English, and this version became the prayer song of the Besant Theosophical College”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Theosophical Society ↗ · reference work “The two settled there in 1879 and in 1882 established the permanent headquarters of the Theosophical Society of Adyar, Madras.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q40

Hard

With reference to the history of ancient India, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1.Mitakshara was the civil law for upper castes and Dayabhaga was the civil law for lower castes.
2.In the Mitakshara system, the sons can claim right to the property during the lifetime of the father, whereas in the Dayabhaga system, it is only after the death of the father that the sons can claim right to the property.
3.The Mitakshara system deals with the matters related to the property held by male members only of a family, whereas the Dayabhaga system deals with the matters related to the property held by both male and female members of a family.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct. Under Mitakshara a son gets a share in joint family property by birth, so he can claim it in his father's lifetime; under Dayabhaga he gets no right by birth and inherits only after his father's death. The two schools differ by region and by this rule, not by caste or by the sex of the property-holders.

✗ 1. The schools are regional, not caste-based: Dayabhaga applies in Assam, Bengal and Tripura, and Mitakshara in the rest of India.
✓ 2. In Mitakshara, sons, grandsons and great-grandsons acquire an interest in the joint property by birth. In Dayabhaga, there is no right by birth; the son inherits only on his father's death.
✗ 3. Both schools govern the property of a Hindu family. What separates them is when a son's right begins and where each applies, not a split between male-only and male-and-female property.

Remember · Mitakshara: son's right by birth (most of India). Dayabhaga: no birthright, son inherits after father's death (Bengal, Assam, Tripura).

Sources

Sikkim Judicial Academy (Justice Arindam Mukherjee, Calcutta High Court) — Session 2: Hindu succession ↗ “The existing of Dayabhaga coparcenary comes only after the death of the father, by that the son will inherit the property of him and constitute a coparcenary. … in this school there is no right by birth given to son. Son can inherit the property on his father’s death.”
Partition Suits (judicial training material, s3waas.gov.in) ↗ “Only in Assam, Bengal and Tripura Dayabhaga Law is applicable and remaining states of India Mithakshara Law is applicable. … It includes only those persons who acquire by birth an interest in the joint or coparcenery property.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q41

Hard

With reference to the history of ancient India, Bhavabhuti, Hastimalla and Kshemeshvara were famous

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) playwrights

The three names share one category, and the best known of them, Bhavabhuti, was a Sanskrit playwright: he wrote three surviving plays, Malatimadhava, Mahaviracharita and Uttararamacharita, in the early 8th century at Kanyakubja (Kannauj). So the answer is playwrights.

✓ (b) NCERT lists Bhavabhuti among the significant Sanskrit playwrights of the period, with Bhasa, Kalidasa and Sudraka, and IGNOU records his three surviving plays. As the three names are grouped together, playwrights is the only option that fits.
✗ (d) NCERT calls Bhavabhuti a scholar proficient in rhetoric and logic, but what he left are plays, and that is what he is remembered for; he is not a philosopher-founder of a school.
✗ (c) None of the three is known for building temples; they wrote for the stage.

Remember · Sanskrit dramatists: Bhasa, Kalidasa, Shudraka, Vishakhadatta, Bhavabhuti (Kanyakubja, early 8th century; Malatimadhava, Mahaviracharita, Uttararamacharita).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 1 “Significant playwrights of the period were Bhasa, Kalidasa, Sudraka and Bhavabhuti.”
IGNOU (eGyanKosh) — Unit 14: Languages and Literature ↗ · reference work “Bhavabhuti who lived at Kanyakubja in the early 8th century has three surviving plays”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q44

Easy

Who among the following is associated with 'Songs from Prison', a translation of ancient Indian religious lyrics in English?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi is the person linked to 'Songs from Prison'. He translated hymns from the Ashram Bhajanvali into English while in Yervada jail in 1930, and John S. Hoyland published an adaptation in 1934 under this title.

✓ (c) The Bhajanvali was a collection of about 250 devotional songs from several languages, compiled for prayers at Gandhi's ashrams. Gandhi's jail translations of them became 'Songs from Prison'.
✗ (a) Tilak is known for his Gita commentary (Gita Rahasya) and for his newspapers, not for a translation of devotional lyrics called 'Songs from Prison'.
✗ (b) Nehru wrote from prison too (an autobiography and letters), but his prison writings are not a translation of ancient religious lyrics.

Remember · 'Songs from Prison' (1934): Gandhi's English translation of ashram hymns from the Bhajanvali, made in Yervada jail in 1930; adapted by John S. Hoyland.

Sources

Songs from Prison: Translations of Indian Lyrics, M. K. Gandhi, adapted by John S. Hoyland (1934), Internet Archive copy of the book, Preface ↗ · reference work “The translation was made by Mr. Gandhi during his imprisonment in Yeravda Jail, Poona, in 1930, the original matter being taken partly from the Upanishads and other Sanskrit scriptures, and partly from the poets of the Bhakti school of thought and devotion.”
mkgandhi.org — Mahatma Gandhi and the Harmony of Music ↗ · reference work “He translated these into English during his imprisonment in Yervada jail in 1930, and an adaptation of this work by John S. Hoyland was published in 1934 as Songs from Prison by George Allen and Unwin. … Narayan Maheshwar Khare - the resident musician in Sabarmathi Ashram, who was a disciple of Paluskar, together with Gandhi compiled about 250 devotional songs in different languages into the Ashram Bhajanvali”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2021 · Q95

Easy

With reference to India, the terms 'Halbi, Ho and Kui' pertain to

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) tribal languages

Halbi, Ho and Kui are tribal languages. In the Census of India's classification Halbi (spelt 'Halabi') is an Indo-Aryan language, Ho belongs to the Austro-Asiatic family and Kui to the Dravidian family.

✗ (a) None of the three is a dance form; the Census lists all three among India's languages and mother tongues.
✗ (b) They are not musical instruments; Census C-16 lists them as languages.
✗ (c) They are not cave-painting traditions; they are living languages spoken by communities.
✓ (d) Halbi, Ho and Kui are languages spoken chiefly by tribal communities, and state education programmes have used Halbi and Kui (with Gondi, Saora and Santali) for early schooling.

Remember · Halbi (Indo-Aryan), Ho (Austro-Asiatic) and Kui (Dravidian) are tribal languages, not dances, instruments or paintings.

Sources

Census of India 2011, Paper 1 of 2018, Language: India, States and Union Territories (Table C-16), Statement 9: Indo-Aryan family listing ↗ “1. Assamese (S), 2. Bengali(S), 3. Bhili/Bhilodi, 4. Bishnupuriya, 5. Dogri(S) 6. Gujarati(S), 7. Halabi, 8. Hindi(S), 9. Kashmiri(S), 10. Khandeshi,11. Konkani(S) … 10. Kui, 11. Kurukh/Oraon, 12. Malayalam(S), 13. Malto, 14. Parji, 15. Tamil(S), 16. Telugu(S), 17.Tulu. 3. AUSTRO-ASIATIC 1. Bhumij, 2. Gadaba, 3. Ho,”
NCERT, Journal of Indian Education (ejournals.ncert.gov.in): tribal languages in primary education ↗ “Odisha has implemented MTB-MLE programmes in over 1,500 schools using languages such as Kui, Saora, and Santali (Mohanty, 2019, p. 108). Chhattisgarh has piloted primers in Gondi and Halbi”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q14

Medium

One common agreement between Gandhism and Marxism is

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) the final goal of a stateless society

Both thinkers saw the State as something the ideal society would do without. Marx expected a classless communist society with no government, while Gandhi described an 'enlightened anarchy' in which each person rules himself; they differed sharply on the means.

✓ (a) Gandhi wrote (Young India, 1931) that in the ideal state there is no political power because there is no State; IGNOU notes that socialism and communism likewise aim at a classless and stateless society.
✗ (b) Class struggle is central to Marxist and communist ideology, but Gandhi rejected class conflict and violence, seeking change through non-violence and a change of heart (IGNOU).
✗ (c) Marx held that private ownership of important economic resources is the root cause of entrenched inequality, so Marxism seeks public control of them (NCERT); Gandhi instead proposed trusteeship, in which the wealthy hold their wealth in trust for the community.
✗ (d) Economic determinism, the idea that the economic base shapes society, is Marxist; Gandhi held that material considerations had only a limited role in human life and gave primacy to moral and spiritual forces (IGNOU).

Remember · Gandhism and Marxism share only the end-goal of a stateless society. Means differ: non-violence and trusteeship (Gandhi) versus class struggle and revolution (Marx).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Political Theory, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · Political Theory, Chapter 3 “Marx was an important nineteenth century thinker who argued that the root cause of entrenched inequality was private ownership of important economic resources such as oil, or land, or forests, as well as other forms of property.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Gandhi's Political Thought, Unit 12: Gandhi's Views on Socialism and Communism (Internet Archive copy) ↗ · reference work “As a political philosophy, socialism and communism earned the critique of Gandhi right from their conceptualisation of the nature of men to their ideal of establishing a classless and stateless society. … class-struggle emerged as the focal point of communist ideology which argued for a violent revolution as the plausible methodology of bringing about communist revolution in the capitalist societies. … material considerations had only limited role to play in determining the course of the human life.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Unit 6: Gandhian Perspective (Gandhi's Young India, 2 July 1931, quoted; Internet Archive copy) ↗ · reference work “There is then a State of enlightened anarchy. In such a State everyone is his own ruler. He rules himself in such a manner that he is never a hindrance to his neighbour. In the ideal State, therefore, there is no political power because there is no State. … The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q25

Easy

Which of the following phrases defines the nature of the 'Hundi' generally referred to in the sources of the post-Harsha period?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) A bill of exchange

A hundi was a written instrument of credit and exchange — a bill of exchange — that let merchants transfer money and trade over long distances without carrying cash. References to hundika appear in post-Harsha texts such as the Lekhapaddhati.

✓ (c) The hundi was a written order to pay a named person, used by merchants as a bill of exchange and credit note across regions.
✗ (a) Royal orders to officials were issued as edicts or grants recorded in inscriptions and copper plates, not as hundis.
✗ (d) The hundi was a commercial instrument used by traders and bankers, not a command in the feudal chain of authority.

Remember · Hundi = indigenous bill of exchange/credit note used by merchants for long-distance trade and remittance without moving cash.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Indian Society, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · Indian Society, Chapter 4 “an important instrument of exchange and credit was the hundi, or bill of exchange (like a credit note), which allowed merchants to engage in long-distance trade.”
NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 2 “A hundi was a written instruction to make payment to an individual.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q26

Hard

With reference to the book "Desher Katha" written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements:

1.It warned against the Colonial State's hypnotic conquest of the mind.
2.It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.
3.The use of 'desh' by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct and statement 3 is not. Desher Katha (1904) was a hugely popular Bengali book that spread the economic critique of colonial rule during the swadeshi movement, and its 'desh' was the country as a whole, not Bengal alone.

✓ 1. UPSC's key counts this as correct. The book was an exposition in Bengali of the Naoroji-Digby-Dutt critique of colonial economic rule (the drain of wealth and the devastation of Indian industry), which it spread widely.
✓ 2. UPSC's key counts this as correct. The book ran to four editions and 10,000 copies between 1904 and 1907, and the themes of economic drain, swadeshi and boycott it carried were then being heard in songs, plays and jatras.
✗ 3. 'Desh' in the title means 'the country' (Story of the Country), and its subject was the economic condition of India as a whole. Deuskar was himself a Maharashtrian settled in Bengal who also promoted Shivaji and Tilak's ideas among Bengalis, so 'desh' was not limited to Bengal.

Remember · Desher Katha (1904), by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, popularised the drain-of-wealth critique in Bengali during the swadeshi movement; its 'desh' meant India, not just Bengal.

Sources

Sumit Sarkar, The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908 (People's Publishing House, 1973), Ch. 3 (Swadeshi Enterprise and Boycott) ↗ · reference work “Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar’s Desher Katha (Story of the Country)—an exposition in Bengali of the doctrines of Naoroji, Digby and Dutt—became … The themes of industrial devastation, economic drain, and the need for swadeshi and boycott were now heard every- where—not only in formal treatises and newspaper articles, but also in songs and plays and ‘jatras’ and hosts of verna- cular pamphlets. … A son of Maharashtra domiciled in Bengal, Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, organised the first Shivaji Utsava in Calcutta”
Sukumar Sen, History of Bengali Literature (Sahitya Akademi, 1960), on Deuskar's 1904 pamphlets ↗ · reference work “interested in some of the burning problems of the country as is shewn by his pamphlets Krsaker Saruanas (Ruination of the Cultivator, 1904), Deser Katha (Talks on the Country, 1904), etc.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2020 · Q36

Medium

With reference to the scholars/litterateurs of ancient India, consider the following statements:

1.Panini is associated with Pushyamitra Shunga.
2.Amarasimha is associated with Harshavardhana.
3.Kalidasa is associated with Chandra Gupta – II.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 3 only

UPSC's key counts only statement 3 as correct. NCERT places Kalidasa in the Gupta age, Panini lived several centuries before the Shungas, and Harsha's seventh-century court is known for Banabhatta.

✗ 1. Panini, author of the Sanskrit grammar Ashtadhyayi, is dated to about 500 BCE. Pushyamitra Shunga founded the Shunga dynasty around 185 BCE, more than three centuries later.
✗ 2. Harshavardhana ruled Kanauj from about 606 to 647 CE, and NCERT names Banabhatta as his court poet. UPSC's official key treats this statement as incorrect; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✓ 3. NCERT places Kalidasa's works in the Gupta age and describes Chandragupta II as surrounding himself with learned men, poets and artists. UPSC's key counts this statement correct.

Remember · Panini c. 500 BCE (grammar); Kalidasa in the Gupta age; Harsha's court poet was Banabhatta.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 3 “c. 500 BCE Ashtadhyayi of Panini, a work on Sanskrit grammar”
NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 5 “185 BCE: Foundation of Shunga empire by Pushyamitra Shunga”
NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “c. 606-647 CE Harshavardhana king of Kanauj; Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang comes in search of Buddhist texts”
NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj (see Map 3), composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (c. seventh century CE).”
NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 7 “Chandragupta II kept himself surrounded by many learned men, poets and artists, and his patronage of such diverse talent enriched his court greatly.”
NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 7 “He is renowned for his contributions to Sanskrit literature and exquisitely refined poetry.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q10

Easy

Which one of the following books of ancient India has the love story of the son of the founder of Sunga dynasty?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Malavikagnimitra

The Sunga (Shunga) dynasty was founded by Pushyamitra about 185 BCE, and his son and successor was Agnimitra. Kalidasa's Sanskrit play Malavikagnimitra ('Malavika and Agnimitra') is built around Agnimitra and his love for Malavika.

✓ (b) Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra describes Agnimitra, the son of Pushyamitra (a viceroy at Vidisha in the play), and its plot is his love for Malavika.
✗ (a) Swapnavasavadatta, attributed to Bhasa, is about King Udayana of Vatsa and his queen Vasavadatta, not a Shunga prince.
✗ (c) Meghadoota is also by Kalidasa, but it is a lyric poem in which an exiled yaksha sends a message to his wife through a cloud.

Remember · Pushyamitra Shunga (c. 185 BCE) → son Agnimitra, hero of Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra. Ratnavali is Harsha's play; Swapnavasavadatta is Bhasa's.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 6 “Pushyamitra Shunga founded the Shunga dynasty, which ruled over parts of north and central India.”
NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 3 “Kalidasa, the most recognised poet-playwright who lived sometime in the fifth century in the glorious Gupta period of Indian history penned such classics as Malavikagnimitram, and Abhijnana-Sakuntalam”
IGNOU eGyanKosh (Govt of India central university), History of India 200 BCE to 300 CE, Unit 1: The Sungas and Kushanas ↗ · reference work “His son and successor was Agnimitra and he was succeeded by his son Vasumitra. … Kalidasa’s Malavikagnimitra describes Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra, as belonging to the Baimbika kula”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q17

Medium

With reference to the cultural history of medieval India, consider the following statements:

1.Siddhas (Sittars) of Tamil region were monotheistic and condemned idolatry.
2.Lingayats of Kannada region questioned the theory of rebirth and rejected the caste hierarchy.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Both groups stood outside the Brahmanical ritual order. The Tamil Siddhas (Sittars) were a monotheistic, mystical movement within Tamil Shaivism that criticised conventional ritual; the Lingayats (Virashaivas) of Karnataka rejected caste hierarchy and, as NCERT records, questioned rebirth.

✓ 1. The Sittars or Siddhas of the Tamil region were a monotheistic, mystical movement within Shaivism. Like other Siddha and Nath groups, they criticised conventional ritual and the social order and looked to a formless Ultimate Reality, which is why UPSC's key treats the statement as correct.
✓ 2. NCERT records that the Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the 'pollution' attributed to some groups, and also questioned the theory of rebirth, which won them followers among the marginalised.

Remember · Lingayats/Virashaivas: Basavanna (1106-68), Karnataka; worship Shiva as linga, reject caste and rebirth, bury the dead. Tamil Siddhas (Sittars): monotheistic, mystical, critics of ritual.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part II, Chapter 2 “The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the "pollution" attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of rebirth.”
IGNOU eGyanKosh (Govt of India central university), Medieval Society-2, Unit 22: Socio-Religious Movements (Shaivism in the Tamil region) ↗ · reference work “a monotheistic movement, mystical in nature, developed within Shaivism in the Tamil region. This was known as the Sittars or Siddhas. … They developed a strong anti-caste, anti- brahmanical rhetoric and subsequently emerged as a cohesive community in the Vijayanagar period.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q89

Medium

With reference to the cultural history of India, the memorizing of chronicles, dynastic histories and epic tales was the profession of who of the following?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Maagadha

The Maagadha (Magadha) belonged, along with the sutas, to the bardic tradition of ancient India, whose members sang the deeds of kings and heroes and kept dynastic memories alive by recitation. The other three options are not bardic professions: a shramana and a parivrajaka are wandering renouncers, and an agraharika is linked to an agrahara land grant.

✓ (d) Bards kept ancient tradition alive by memory and recitation. NCERT notes that the original Mahabharata story was probably composed by charioteer-bards called sutas, and that such compositions circulated orally. University study material adds that the bardic tradition emerged from the Sutas and Magadhas, the earliest authors of the Itihasas and Puranas, and that Kautilya lists the pauranika, the suta and the Magadha among the king's salaried officials for the Itihasa and Purana.
✗ (a) A shramana ("one who strives") is a renouncer who left household life for an ascetic path, as in the Buddhist and Jain traditions; it is not the name of a bard.
✗ (b) A parivrajaka is a wanderer who has given up settled life, not a keeper of dynastic histories.
✗ (c) An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, usually free of land revenue; an agraharika is linked to such a grant, not to reciting chronicles.

Remember · Sutas and Maagadhas were the bards of ancient India who remembered and recited royal deeds, genealogies and epic tales; shramanas and parivrajakas were renouncers.

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 3 “The original story was probably composed by charioteer-bards known as sutas who generally accompanied Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating their victories and other achievements.”
NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 5 “Contemporary sources refer to them by different terms, such as parivrajaka (wanderer), bhikshu (one who lives by begging alms), or shramana (one who strives).”
NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king”
University of Calicut (School of Distance Education): Selected Themes in Indian Historiography, Historical Consciousness in India ↗ · reference work “The bards used to sing the stories of the heroes who always moved from one place to another. The bardic tradition emerged from the Sutas and Magadhas who were actually the earliest authors of Ithihasas and Puranas.”
Utkal University (Directorate of Distance & Continuing Education): Indian Historiography, M.A. History Paper VII ↗ · reference work “We are also informed by Kautilya that “the pauranika, the suta and the Magadha” were three officials of salaried class retained by a king or prince for listening to the Itihasa and Purana.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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