Daily Quiz #15 UPSC Prelims Marathon – August 19, 2019

Explanation: Haidar Ali accused the English of breach of faith and nonobservance of the Treaty of Madras when in 1771 he was attacked by the Marathas, and the English failed to come to his aid. Also, he found that the French were much more helpful than the English in meeting his army’s requirement of guns, saltpetre and lead. Consequently, through Mahe, a French possession on the Malabar coast, some French war material was brought to Mysore. Meanwhile, the American war of independence had broken out in which the French were on the side of the rebels against the English. Under the circumstances, Haidar Ali’s friendship with the French causedeven more concern to the English. They therefore tried to capture Mahe, which Haidar regarded to be under his protection. Haidar considered the English attempt to capture Mahe a direct challenge to his authority. Treaty of Mangalore Haidar Ali died of cancer on December 7, 1782. Now his son, Tipu Sultan, carried on the war for one year without any positive outcome. Fed up with an inconclusive war, both sides opted for peace, negotiating the Treaty of Mangalore (March, 1784) under which each party gave back the territories it had taken from the other.

Explanation: Warren Hastings took charge as the governor-general at a critical period of British rule when the British were to encounter the powerful combination of the Marathas, Mysore and Hyderabad. He followed a policy of ring-fence which aimed at creating buffer zones to defend the Company’s frontiers. Broadly speaking, it was the policy of defence of their neighbours’ frontiers for safeguarding their own territories. This policy of Warren Hastings was reflected in his war against the Marathas and Mysore. The chief danger to the Company’s territories was from the Afghan invaders and the Marathas. To safeguard against these dangers, the Company undertook to organise the defence of the frontiers of Awadh on the condition that the Nawab would defray the expenses of the defending army. The defence of Awadh constituted the defence of Bengal during that time. Thus the states brought under the ring-fence system were assured of military assistance against external aggression-but at their own expense. In other words, these allies were required to maintain subsidiary forces which were to be organised, equipped and commanded by the officers of the Company who, in turn, were to be paid by the rulers of these states.

Explanation: In simple terms, the doctrine stated that the adopted son could be the heir to his foster father’s private property, but not the state; it was for the paramount power (the British) to decide whether to bestow the state on the adopted son or to annex it. The doctrine was stated to be based on Hindu law and Indian customs, but Hindu law seemed to be somewhat inconclusive on this point, and the instances of an Indian sovereign annexing the state of his vassal on account of ‘lapse’ (i.e., leaving no issue as heir) were rather rare. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had annexed a few of his feudatory principalities on account of ‘lapse’. Likewise, the Company in 1820 acquired a few petty Cis-Sutlej states on the absence of heirs. Nonetheless, there was no clear-cut instance of an adopted son being deprived of an entire state or of such a state being regarded as a ‘lapse’. Though this policy is attributed to Lord Dalhousie (1848-56), he was not its originator. It was a coincidence that during his governor-generalship several important cases arose in which the ‘Doctrine’ could be applied. Dalhousie showed too much zeal in enforcing this policy which had been theoretically enunciated on some previous occasions. His predecessors had acted on the general principle of avoiding annexation if it could be avoided; Dalhousie in turn acted on the general principle of annexing if he could do so legitimately. It was a matter of chance that during Lord Dalhousie’s term many rulers of states died without a male issue and seven states were annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse. The most important of these were Satara (1848), Jhansi and Nagpur (1854). The other small states included Jaitpur (Bundelkhand), Sambhalpur (Orissa), and Baghat (Madhya Pradesh).

Explanation: Located in a picturesque environment of Nallamalai Hills, ‘Srisailam’ the abode of Siva and Sakthi is on the right side of the river Krishna in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. It is at an altitude of 476 meters above the sea level, at Latitude of 16 12” North and Longitude of 78 5” East.
The presiding Deities of this Kshetram God Mallikarjuna Swamy is one of the twelve Jyothirlingas and Goddess Bhramaramba Devi is one of the eighteen Mahasakthis and both are believed to be self-manifested. The unique feature of this Kshetram is the co-existing of Jyothirlingam and Mahasakthi in one Temple complex, which is the rare and only of its kind.
At this place the river Krishna flows through a deep narrow valley, approximately 100 meters wide and nearly at a depth of 1000 meters from the hill top. The river flows at a distance of 70 Km to the up of Srisailam and continues to flow in the same valley for a further distance of 80 Km to the down till it reaches Nagarjunasagar. The narrow flow of the river at such deep valley is fine looking and more pleasant near Srisailam where it is called as Pathalaganaga. Actually the river takes two repeated bends at Pathalaganga within a short distance and makes a large stretch of high Plateau in each bend. The right part of it we have Srisailam and whereas on the left there is ruined Chandraguptanagara which is mentioned in the Skandapurana and also some of the celebrated Literary works of 12th to 16th centuries.

Explanation: Considered as the greatest musician in India, Tansen is credited with the creation of the classical music that dominates the north of India (Hindustani classical music). Tansen was a vocalist and instrumentalist who created many ragas. He was initially the court singer of King Ram Chand of Rewa State. It is said that Emperor Akbar made him into his own musician after learning about his extraordinary musical skills. He went on to become one of the Navaratnas (Nine Gems) in the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar. The life of Tansen is associated with many legends. Some of the most common ones are his ability to create rain and fire by just using his musical skills. Whatever the legends may be, there is no denying the fact that he was the greatest among all musicians this country has ever produced.