Prarthana Samaj (Prayer Society): An Indian Response to Western Rationalism

Founded in 1867 by Atmaram Pandurang, a physician and social reformer, Prarthana Samaj (Prayer Society) is a socio religious reform movement that took inspiration from the Brahmo Samaj movement spearheaded by Keshab Chandra Sen in West Bengal. Other important leaders of Prarthana Samaj were famous Indologist and Sanskritist R G Bhandarkar and Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901) who also comes lauded as the prophet of cultural renaissance in western India. N. G. Chandavarkar was another leader of Prarthana Samaj.

Theistic worship and social reform were the two main planks on which the Prarthana Samaj movement was built. The movement fostered a firm belief in the existence of one god. The society opposed the prevailing caste system, untouchability, dowry system, polygamy and advocated widow remarriage, female education, intermarriage among different castes, and abolition of child marriage.

Prarthana Samaj used to publish a magazine called Subodh Patrika. 

History Ancient India - MCQs – Set 1

1. At which of the following Indus Valley Sites, the remains of camel bones have been found?

(a) Surkotada

(b) Kalibangan

(c) Lothal

(d) Kot Diji

2. Which one of the following was not cultivated in the Indus Valley civilization?

a) Wheat

b) Barley.

c) Sugarcane

d) Sesamum

3. Which of the following birds was worshiped by the people of Harappan civilization?

(a) Pigeon

(b) Eagle

(c) Crow

(d) Peacock

4. What does the name Kalibangan mean?

(a) Black Bangles

(b) Clay Bangles

(c) Glass Bangles

(d) Yellow Bangles

 5. Which of the following events in Buddha's life did not take place on a full moon day (Purnima)?

(a) Birth

(b) Death (Mahaparinirvana)

(c) Enlightenment

(d) Renunciation (Mahabhinishkramana) 

6. To whom is the sacred text of Jainism, Kalpasutra, ascribed to ?

(a) Bhadrabahu

(b) Sthulabhadra

(c) Hemachandra

(d) Nayachandra

7. Who among the following rulers was not a patron of Jainism?

(a) Kharavela 

(b) Amoghavarsha

(c) Gaud Shashank

(d) Chandragupta Maurya

8. To whom is Sariputra-prakarana ascribed to?

(a) Asvaghosha

(b) Mahendravikramavarman

(c) Nagasena

(d) Meander

9. Which God is the famous Gayatri mantra addressed to?

(a) Savitr

(b) Indra

(c) Varuna

(d) Soma

10. Which among the rulers was called Vindhya Adhipati? 

(a) Harshvardhan 

(b) Gautamiputra Satkarni 

(c) Samudragupta 

(d) Chandragupta Maurya 

Answers

1-b

2-c

3-a

4-a

5-d

6-a

7-c: In the latter half of the first century B.C. King Kharavela of Orissa professed Jainism and became its great patron. 

8-a: Asvaghosha was a great Buddhist scholar who was a contemporary of the great Kushan ruler Knishka. He is the author of the famous Buddhist tract, Vajrasuchi (Diamond needle). Buddhacharita, the earliest surviving classical Sanskrit work written in verse, is also ascribed to him.

9-a: Gayatri mantra is contained in the Rig Veda and is dedicated to the old solar god Savitr.

10-b: The greatest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satkarni. 

History Medieval India - MCQs – Set 1

 1. Who among the following had written Tughlaq Nama?

(a) Amir Khusrau

(b) Minhaj-us-Siraj

(c) Khwaja Abd Malik Isami

(d) Ziauddin Barani

2. The court of which of the following did Abdur Razzaq, ambassador of Timur’s son Shah Rukh of Herat, visit?

(a) Zamorin of Calicut 

(b) Alauddin Khilji

(c) Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq

(d) Muhammad bin Tughluq

3. Who ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate after the death of Iltutmish?

(a) Rukn-ud-din Firuz 

(b) Aram Shah

(c) Balban

(d) Razia Sultana

4. When was Sayyid Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate founded?

(a) 1404 AD

(b) 1408 AD

(c) 1414 AD

(d) 1418 AD

5. Who among the following traced his descent to the Prophet?

(a) Khizr Khan

(b) Ghiasuddin Tughlaq

(c) Ibrahim Lodi

(d) Jalalud din Khalji

6. Who among the following was the first Muslim ruler to conquer South India? 

(a) Alauddin Khalji

(b) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

(c) Sher Shah

(d) Akbar

7. Who among the following had introduced the Dagh and Chehra system in administration?

(a) Balban 

(b) Alauddin Khalji

(c) Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq

(d) Sikander Lodi

8. Which Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate was responsible for introducing rationing system in India?

(a) Iltutmish

(b) Alauddin Khalji 

(c) Firoz Tughlaq

(d) Ghiyasuddin Balban

9. Who among the following sultans love to style himself Sikander-i-Sani? 

(a) Iltutmish

(b) Balban

(c) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

(d) Alauddin Khalji 

10. During the invasion of which kingdom, Malik Kafur, who later became Alauddin’s most important military general, was captured by army of the latter. 

(a) Bengal

(b) Gujarat

(c) Devagiri

(d) Gujarat

Answers

1-a: Tughlaq Nama (Book of the Tughlaqs) was written by Amir Khusrau. Tughlaq Nama describes the reign of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. 

2-a: Abdur Razzaq was a Persian who was sent by Shah Rukh (reign 1405 – 1447) as ambassador to the Zamorin of Calicut. In April 1443, Abdur Razzaq also visited Vijayanagar during the reign of Devaraya II. 

3-a: Rukn-ud-din Firuz was placed on the throne of Delhi Sultanate by the nobles of the court in deference to the wishes of the Slave Sultan Iltutmish who had nominated his daughter Razia as his successor before his death in April, 1236.

4-c: Khizr Khan was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth and penultimate dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. 

5-a: According to some historians, Khizr Khan traced his descent to the Prophet. That Khizr Khan traced his descent to the Prophet has been mentioned in Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi written by Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi. 

6-a: After annexation of North India, Alauddin embarked on a military expedition under the command of Malik Kafur for the subjugation of South India. 

7-b: Dagh (branding of horse) and Chehra (full description of each soldier) were introduced by Alauddin Khalji.

8-b: Rationing system was one of the many administrative reforms by Alauddin Khilji. 

9-d: Alauddin Khalji loved to style himself “the Second Alexander” (Sikander-i-Sani) 

10-b: The prized capture during the Gujarat conquest by Alauddin Khilji was slave Malik Kafur (also known as hazardinari). The kingdom of Gujarat was then ruled by king Karna Dev of the Vaghela dynasty. 

History MCQs – Set 1 - Modern India

1.Who among the following was elected permanent president of Muslim League in 1908?

(a) Muhammad Ali Jinnah

(b) Nawab Moshin-ul-Mulk

(c) Nawab Salimullah

(d) Aga Khan

2.Who among the following had accompanied Gandhi to the Second Round Table Conference in 1931?

(a) Jawaharlal Nehru

(b) Sarojini Naidu

(c) Madan Mohan Malviya

(d) Sarojini Naidu and Madan Mohan Malviya

3.Who among the following was responsible for killing Curzon Wyllie in London?

(a) V. D. Savarkar

(b) Bhagat Singh

(c) Shyamaji Krishnavarma

(d) Madan Lal Dhingra  

4.Who among the following as not associated with Swaraj Party? 

(a) Motilal Nehru

(b) Chakravarti Rajagopalachari 

(c) Chittaranjan Das

(d) N C Kelkar

5.Who among the following had founded the Asiatic Society?

(a) David Hare 

(b) William Jones

(c) William Carey

(d) Ram Mohan Roy 

6.Who was the founder of Naujawan Bharat Sabha?

(a) Bhagat Singh 

(b) Jayaprakash Narayan 

(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale

(d) Rukmani Lakshmipth.

7.Which among of the following was popularly known as Black Act?

(a) Rowlatt Act

(b) Ilbert Bill

(c) Indian Councils Act 1909

(d) None

8.On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi delivered his famous "do or die" speech at Gawalia Tank Maidan.  Gawalia Tank Maidan is situated in which city?

(a) Bombay

(b) Amritsar

(c) Surat

(d) Delhi

9.During the course of which movement is Mahatma Gandhi said to have exclaimed: "On bended knees I asked for bread and I have received stone instead." 

(a) Khilafat movement

(b) Non cooperation movement

(c) Dandi March

(d) Quit India Movement

10.Who among the following had convinced Gandhi to take meat in order to be muscular and strong?

(a) Sheikh Mahtab

(b) Muhammad Ali Jinnah

(c) Karsandas

(d) Laxmidas

Answers: 

1-d: 

2-d: 

3-d: 

4-b: The Swaraj Party or the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by C R Das and Motilal Nehru. 

5-b: 

• Asiatic Society was founded on 1st January, 1784. William Jones was the first president of the Asiatic Society. The journal called Asiatic Researches was published by the society. 
• William Jones (1746-94) came to Calcutta as a judge of the Supreme Court under the governor generalship of Waren Hastings. 

6-a:Naujawan Bharat Sabha was founded by Bhagat Singh in 1926

7-a:

8-a:

• On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi delivered his famous "do or die" speech at Mumbai's Gawalia Tank Maidan, This famous speech marked the beginning of Quit India Movement.
• Gawalia Tank Maidan is also called August Kranti Maidan.

9-c:

10-a:

Palas of Bengal and Bihar

                                                      Pala empire with neighbours / Wikimedia Commons

We know little of events in Bengal from the death of Harsha in 647 AD up to the rise of the Palas in Eastern India. What is known to us that during this period, Bengal was subjected to a condition known as Matsya nyaya (the rule of strong devouring the week). Against this backdrop Gopala was chosen (Grahita) as king by the people. He founded the Pala dynasty which ruled regions of Bengal and Bihar for about four centuries from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 12th century.

There are instances when rulers were chosen by the people, ministers and nobles in ancient India. Harsha was invited by the nobles of Kannauj to assume the throne when Grahavarman died childless. The appointment of the boy Nandivarman (735-797) as the Pallava ruler of Kanchi by an assembly of nobles and ministers is another case in point.  

Though details of Gopala’s reign is not known it can be said with absolute certainty that he must have laid a strong foundation on which his successors— Dharmapala and Devapala —could embark upon a policy of conquest and annexation.

According to Lama Taranatha, the 17th century Tibetan historian of Buddhism in India, Gopala built the famous monastery of Odantapura (located in Bihar Sharif in Bihar) and ruled for forty five years. The Odantapura or Odantapuri, also spelled Uddandapura, was destroyed by the Afghan military chief Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1197AD.  

Gopala was succeeded after nearly twenty five years by his son Dharmapala whose long reign marks the zenith of Pala power. Since former had already undertaken the internal consolidation of the Pala dynasty, time was ripe for the energetic Dharmapala to embark upon a career of aggrandizement by undertaking foreign expeditions.   He involved himself in the famed tripartite struggle for the supremacy of Kannauj in north India and succeeded in raising his protégé Chakrayudha to the throne of Kanauj. However, his expeditions against his contemporaries came to naught as he was defeated both by Pratihara ruler Vatsaraja and Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva Dharavarsha (ruled from c. 779 to 793-94).  

Dhruva’s son Govinda III also fought a successful battle against Dharampala and his protégé Chakrayudha. Finally the tripartite struggle for Kanauj ended in favour of the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Nagabhata II who dealt a crushing defeat to Dharampala at Mudgagiri (now Munger in Bihar).  

                                    Vikramshila University/Rakesh Ranjan via Wikimedia Commons

A devout Buddhist, Dharampala had built the famous monasteries of Vikramshila (in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar) and Somapura Mahavihara (now in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh).

Dharampala was succeeded by his son Devapala, the most powerful Pala ruler. Devapala is credited by the Badal pillar inscription to have “eradicated the race of the Utkalas, humbled the pride of Hunas and scattered the conceit of the rulers of the Dravida and Gurjara”. The Bhagalpur inscription says that his cousin, Jayapala, was responsible for effecting the submission of Utkala (Orissa) and Pragjyotisha (Assam). 

Devapala was in diplomatic contact with the Sailendra kings of Sumatra. He is said to have granted 5 villages, as requested by Balaputradeva, the king of Sumatra and Java, for the upkeep of a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the latter at Nalanda. Devapala ruled for about 40 years. His reign may be dated from 815 to 855 AD.

Mahipala I was last important ruler of the Pala dynasty. The most important event of his reign was Rajendra I Chola’s northern expedition which resulted in the defeat of Mahipala I. After Mahipala I, the Pala power declined under his successors due to internal feud and external invasions. 

The rulers of Pala dynasty were great patrons of art and literature. According to eminent historian Vincent Smith, the Pala dynasty boasted two artists, whom he names Bhiman and his son Vitapala, who “acquired the highest fame for their skill as painters, sculptors and bronze-founders”.

The Palas did not regularly mint coins. They relied on those of the other kingdoms. 

Rebellion of Khusrau

    Tomb of Khusrau in Khusro Bagh, Allahabad|Wikimedia Commons

Khusrau was the eldest son of the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir. He was born in 1587 to Man Bai, sister of Raja Man Singh, trusted general of Emperor Akbar. With the support of the powerful nobles Khusrau eyed the Mughal throne and unfurled a banner of rebellion against his father. After the death of his grandfather, Akbar, in 1605, he was imprisoned in Agra Fort by Jahangir who had succeeded Akbar as the Mughal emperor.

However, though he managed to escape, he was defeated by the Mughal forces in 1606.  

In 1606, the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev was sentenced to death by Jahangir since he had blessed Khusrau during his rebellion against the emperor. However, famous Sufi saint Shaikh Nizam Thaneswari was banished by the emperor to Mecca for the same offence. 

Khusrau was later blinded and was forced into the custody of his brother Khurram (future Shah Jahan) who eventually strangled him at Burhanpur in 1621. (The official cause of his death was colic.)

On the orders of Jahangir, Khusrau was buried in a tomb adjoining his mother's in a garden in Allahabad, now called Khusrau Bagh.

Somapura Mahavihara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

                    First level plinth at Somapura Mahavihara/Image source

One of the famous Buddhist monasteries in ancient India, Somapura Mahavihara, the remains of which are located at the Paharpur archaeological site in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh, was built by the second Pala ruler Dharmapala (r. 770- c.810). The Pala rulers were great patrons of Buddhism and built several monasteries. 

Somapura Mahavira is one of the best few preserved Buddhist monasteries to survive the Muslim invasions under Afghan military chief Ikhtiyar- al-Din Muḥammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, popularly known as Bakhtiyar Khilji.

The other famous Buddhist monastery of Vikramshila (in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar), built by Dharampala, was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji. Missions sent from Vikramshila monastery resulted in the establishment of Vajrayana form of Buddhism in Tibet in 11th century AD.