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 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 ·

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Literature, philosophy & religion

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