7th October 2020, Static Quiz on Indian Geography

Solution: C
Justification: Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation, lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. The term ‘badlands’ was first given to an arid area in South Dakota, U.S.A., where the hills were badly eroded by occasional rain-storms into gullies and ravines. The extent of water action on hill slopes and rock surfaces was so great that the entire region was abandoned by the inhabitants. Deserts with similar features are now referred to as badlands, e.g. the Painted Desert of Arizona, which lies south-east of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

Solution: A
Justification: Northern region of India can be characterized by:
-Presence of Himalayas with young and unconsolidated rock systems that makes S1 possible. Wular lake (Jammu & Kashmir) is the largest freshwater lake in India. It was formed by tectonic activity.
-Lack of volcanoes, which rules out option S4.
-High gradient of river flow, which rules out sediment deposition and the formation of ox-bow lakes, so S3 can’t be correct.
-Cold weather and presence of glaciers (and their movement), which makes S2 possible. A lake formed by melting of glacier is called a glacial lake. Most of the lakes in the Himalayan region are glacial lakes.

Solution: A
Justification: The pre-dominant vegetation of this Siberian “sub-Arctic” type of climate is evergreen coniferous forest. It stretches in a great, continuous belt across North America, Europe and Asia. The greatest single band of coniferous forest is the Taiga in Siberia. There are small patches of coniferous forests in European countries like Germany due to the high altitude.

Solution: B
Justification: The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka.
Option A: Chambal forms part of the Gangetic drainage system, so it can’t cut Eastern Ghats which are not spread till the Ganges drainage system. They are eroded and cut through by the four major rivers of peninsular India, known as the Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri.
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India’s eastern coast. The mountain ranges run parallel to the Bay of Bengal. The Deccan Plateau lies to the west of the range, between the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. The coastal plains, including the Coromandel Coast region, lie between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The Eastern Ghats are not as high as the Western Ghats.

Solution: (c)
Justification: They are important because: The titles and descriptions of kings in inscriptions reflect prevailing power hierarchies and ideals of kingship. Royal land grant inscriptions represent important socio-economic processes of their time and provide information
on administrative structures and agrarian relations.
Donative inscriptions of private individuals provide information on social history and the sources of patronage of religious establishments.
Statement 1: There is a popular saying that history is written by the victorious. If this is so, many kingdoms did not
reveal a candid war account to often protect and enhance their image. This does not portray correct history.
Statement 2: This renders a correct historical estimation really difficult.

Solution: (b)
Justification: Statement 1: The Gupta empire was divided into provinces called bhuktis, administered by governors called uparikas, directly appointed by the king. The fact that the uparika had the title maharaja in three of the Damodarpur plates of the Gupta era indicates his
high administrative status and rank. Goptri was another title for the governor. Saurashtra was an important province of the Gupta empire. The Junagarh inscription of Parnadatta and Chakrapalita provides details of the repair to the Sudarshana lake that had flooded its banks by Chakrapalita, the son of Skandagupta’s minister and governor of Saurashtra, Parnadatta. This inscription highlights the provincial government’s role in initiating the repair of waterworks, as also the practice of the delegation of official responsibilities from father to son.
Statement 2 and 3: Officials connected with the royal establishment included the mahapratihara (chief of the palace guards) and the mahabaladhikrita (army commander-in-chief). The standard term senapati does not occur in Gupta inscriptions but is mentioned in some Vakataka records. The top layer of the administrative structure also included amatyas and sachivas who were executive officers in charge of various departments.

Learning: The provinces of the Gupta empire were divided into districts called vishayas under officers called vishayapatis. The Damodarpur copper plates of the reign of Kumaragupta I show that the vishayapati was helped in his administrative duties by prominent town members.
Administrative units below district level included settlement clusters called pithi, patta, bhumika, pathaka or petha. Village elders played an important role in village matters as indicated by the Damodarpur copper plate of Budhagupta’s reign. A Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II’s time mentions a pancha-mandali, which may have been a corporate village body

Solution: (c)
Justification: Statement 1: Dinaras bore the names and epithets of kings. The obverse generally had a representation of the king and the reverse an image of a deity. A notable feature is the names of the rulers written vertically on the obverse. Rulers like Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I, Skandagupta and Budhagupta also issued silver coins. The obverse had the king’s portrait, often accompanied by a date; the reverse had a motif (like a garuda or peacock) surrounded by a circular legend. Copper coins of the Guptas are rare.
Statement 2: Samudragupta’s coins represent him in poses that indicate his military skills—for instance, as an archer wielding a bow and arrow, with a battleaxe and a dwarf looking up at him, or trampling and killing a tiger. The ‘ashvamedha type’ shows a sacrificial horse standing before a decorated yupa or sacrificial post. The ‘queen’, in this type, is supposedly holding a ‘needle’, which was used to pierce the horse. The ‘standard type’, which is the most frequent, shows Samudragupta with a long staff in his left hand and making
offerings to the fire with his right. A coin showing Chandragupta I and his queen standing face-to-face is attributed either to Chandragupta I or to Samudragupta. The obverse of Samudragupta’s coins sometimes depicts the goddess Ardoksho or a goddess sitting on an
elephant-headed fish. In other cases, there is a standing female figure, perhaps a queen, holding a flywhisk. It should be noted that the ‘standard type’ and the ‘Ardoksho type’ show continuing Kushana influence. Later issues, though, are more Indianized.

Solution: (b)
Learning: It provides very specific details of Samudragupta’s military achievements and conquests from which it is possible to delineate the extent of his empire. It also presents the Gupta Empire as the centre of a complex network of political relationships. Samudragupta’s initial military campaigns were directed towards areas that lay immediately beyond his control. For e.g. Line 14 of the inscription refers to Samudragupta capturing a king of the Kota family, while Line 21 talks of him violently destroying several kings of Aryavarta and subordinating all the forest kings. The territories of the kings mentioned in these two lines seem to have been annexed, leading to an extension of the Gupta empire over the Ganga-Yamuna valley up to Mathura and Padmavati (Pawaya) in the west.

Solution: (c)
Justification: Statement 1: This ensured the domination of men over women.
Statement 2: Swaymvara was the practice of women choosing their own partners by way of a
competition/selection. When this was given up, women lost an important right. Manusmriti (law book) further
entrenched patriarchal rules to worsen the position of women.
Learning: During the Gupta dynasty period the male members of a family were entitled to inherit property left
behind by their fathers. However, such right of inheritance was not given to women or girls. The power of
inheritance enabled the male members of a family to exercise dominance over the women.

Solution: (b)
Learning: In the field of medicine, Vagbhata lived during this period. He was the last of the great medical trio of ancient India. The other two scholars Charaka and Susruta lived before the Gupta age. Vagbhata was the author Ashtangasamgraha (Summary of the eight branches of medicine). The Sushruta and Charaka texts differ in one major aspect, with Sushruta Samhita providing the foundation of surgery, while Charaka Samhita being primarily a foundation of medicine.