Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – March 16, 2020

The Indian Association of Calcutta (also known as the Indian National Association) superseded the Indian League and was founded in 1876 by younger nationalists of Bengal led by Surendranath Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose, who were getting discontented with the conservative and pro-landlord policies of the British Indian Association. The Indian Association was the most important of pre- Congress associations and aimed to “promote by every legitimate means the political, intellectual and material advancement of the people.” It set out to—

(i) create a strong public opinion on political questions, and

(ii) unify Indian people in a common political programme.

It protested against the reduction of age limit in 1877 for candidates of the Indian Civil Service examination. The association demanded simultaneous holding of civil service examination in England and India and Indianisation of higher administrative posts. It led a campaign against the repressive arms act and the vernacular press act.

There is a theory that Hume formed the Congress with the idea that it would prove to be a ‘safety valve’ for releasing the growing discontent of the Indians. To this end, he convinced Lord Dufferin not to obstruct the formation of the Congress. The extremist leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai believed in the ‘safety valve’ theory. Even the Marxist historian’s ‘conspiracy theory’ was an offspring of the ‘safety valve’ notion. For example, R.P. Dutt opined that the Indian National Congress was born out of a conspiracy to abort a popular uprising in India and the bourgeois leaders were a party to it.

The adoption by the Congress of the non-cooperation movement initiated earlier by the Khilafat Committee gave it a new energy, and the years 1921 and 1922 saw an unprecedented popular upsurge. At this stage, some leaders like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, G.S. Kharpade and B.C. Pal left the Congress as they believed in a constitutional and lawful struggle while some others like Surendranath Banerjea founded the Indian National Liberal Federation and played a minor role in national politics henceforward.

The ancient port city of Mamallapuram under Pallava dynasty in Tamil Nadu, flourished with a number of marvelous architecture. These seventh century Pallava sites have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 by the name “Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. They include:

• Ratha temples or Pancha Ratha: Also known as Pandava Rathas, they are the earliest rock cut temples in India, comprising of Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Nakula and Sahadeva Ratha, and Draupadi Ratha, dated around 7th century AD. Dharmaraja Ratha is the largest structure among the five.
• Rock-cut caves: which include Varaha Cave Temple, Krishna Cave Temple, Panchapandava Cave Temple, and the Mahishasuramardini Mandapa (Bas-relief of Goddess Durga killing Mahishasura).

The administrative system during the Gupta dynasty reign was similar to that of the Mauryan Empire. The King was that highest authority and possessed wide powers to enable the smooth functioning of the empire. At the time of the Gupta rule, there was political harmony in ancient India. During the Gupta period, the empire was classified into separate administrative divisions like Rajya, Rashtra, Desha, Mandala, etc. Thus importance was given to decentralization of power. The administrative division helped the rulers to systematically control their territories. Salaries in the Gupta period were paid in form of land grants in lieu of cash. By virtue of such land grants, it gave the beneficiary hereditary rights over the land. However, the King had the power to take away the land. The government levied land taxes and excise duties were collected from the subjects. The lands given to the Brahmins had no chargeable tax on them.