1. Match List – I (Archaeological Site) with List – II (Identification) and select the correct answer with the help of the code given below:
List – I List – II
(Archaeological Site) (Identification)
(a) Bagore (i) Chalcolithic site of Madhya Pradesh
(b) Brahmagiri (ii) Megalithic site of Karnataka
(c) Maheshwara (iii) Mesolithic site of Rajasthan
(d) . Tekkalakota (iv) Neolithic site of Karnataka
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
(B) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
(C) (iv) (ii) (iii) (i)
(D) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
Answer: (B)
2. Which proto-historic site has yielded the evidence of threads of raw silk?
(A) Ahar
(B) Inamgaon
(C) Navadatoli
(D) Nevasa
Answer: (D)
3. Arrange the following Indologists in the chronological order and select the correct answer with the help of the code given below:
(i) William Jones
(ii) Alexander Cunningham
(iii) James Burgess
(iv) James Fergusson
Codes:
(A) (i) (ii) (iv) (iii)
(B) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii)
(C) (i) (iv) (iii) (ii)
(D) (ii) (iv) (i) (iii)www.netugc.com
Answer: (C)
4. Match List – I (Initiator/Writer) with List – II (Journal/Book) and select the correct answer with the help of the code given below:
List – I List – II
(Initiator/Writer) (Journal/Book)
(a) William Jones (i) Indian Antiquary
(b) James Fergusson (ii) The Stupa of Bharhut
(c) Alexander Cunningham (iii) Asiatic Researches
(d) James Burgess (iv) Archaeology in India
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (iv) (ii) (i)
(B) (ii) (i) (iii) (iv)
(C) (iv) (ii) (i) (iii)
(D) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
Answer: (A)
5. Match List – I (Vedic rivers) with List – II (Present counterparts) and select the correct answer with the help of the code given below:
List – I List – II
(Vedic Rivers) (Present Counterparts)
(a) Vipas (i) Jhelum
(b) Paru.s. ni (ii) Ravi
(c) Vitasta (iii) Beas
(d) Sutudri (iv) Sutlej
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
(B) (ii) (iv) (iii) (i)
(C) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
(D) (iii) (iv) (ii) (i)
Answer: (A)
6. The BoghazKeui inscription from Asia Minor refers to the following Vedic deities:
(A) Indra, Varu. na, Agni and Surya
(B) Indra, Varu. na, Mitra and Agni
(C) Indra, Mitra, Varu. na and Nasatyas
(D) Indra, Mitra, Dyuas and Nasatyas
Answer: (C)
7. To which of the following tribes did King Sudasa, described in the. Rig-Veda as having defeated ten Kings, belong?
(A) Anu
(B) Druhyu
(C) Tritsu
(D) Yadu
Answer: (C)
8. Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and the other labelled as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Greek historian Herodotus tells us that ‘India was the twentieth and most prosperous satrapy (province) of the Persian empire’.
Reason (R): By the time of Alexander’s invasion (327-326 B.C.) all the Persian impact on India had become non-existent.
In the context of the above statements, which one of the following is correct?
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true, and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(B) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(C) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
(D) (A) is false, but (R) is true.
Answer: (C)
9. Who had made the following statement?
‘Bhagavapi Khatrioahampikhatrio’ (Bhagawan [Buddha] was a Kshatriya I too am a kshatriya).
(A) Bimbisara
(B) Prasenjit
(C) Ajatasatru
(D) Sisunaga
Answer: (C)
10. Which one of the following Sangam poets has mentioned about the hoarded wealth of the rulers of the Nanda dynasty?
(A) Avvaiyar
(B) Mamulanar
(C) Parnar
(D) Ilango Adigal
Answer: (B)
11. Match List – I (Officer) with List – II (Department) and select the correct answer with the help of the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(Officer) (Department)
(a) Sannidhata (i) Incharge of revenue collection
(b) Samaharta (ii)Incharge of commerce department
(c) Pa .nyadhaksa (iii) Incharge of the harem guards
(d) Antarava.msika (iv) Incharge of the treasury
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
(B) (iv) (i) (iii) (ii)
(C) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii)
(D) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
Answer: (C)
12. Match List – I (Ruler) with List – II (Associated person) and select the correct answer with the help of the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(Ruler) (Associated person)
(a) Bimbisara (i) Deimachus
(b) Bindusara (ii) St. Thomas
(c) Ajatasatru (iii) Jivaka
(d) Gondopharnes (iv) Vassakara
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (i) (iv) (ii)
(B) (ii) (iii) (i) (iv)
(C) (iv) (ii) (iii) (i)
(D) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
Answer: (A)
13. It is generally accepted that a special feature of the period between 200 B.C. and 300 A.D. is the increase in external trade. Which of the following factors did not assist in the increase?
(A) From a political point of view India had become one.
(B) The Mauryas had constructed various roads and introduced uniform system of administration and this helped in increase in trade.
(C) Indo-Greek rulers helped by establishing close relations with countries of the Mediterranean and West Asia.
(D) The Saka, Parthian and Kuana rulers helped by establishing close ties with Central Asian rulers.
Answer: (A)
14. Match List – I (Ancient Monument) with List – II (Characteristic feature) and select the correct answer with the help of the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(Ancient Monument) (Characteristic feature)
(a) Sa~nchi Stupa (i) Tallest Buddhist structure
(b) Nalanda (ii) Represents Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina religions
(c) Junnar (iii) Contained the relics of Sariputra and Maudgalyayana
(d) Ellora (iv) Rock-cut Chaityahall with circular plan
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (i) (iv) (ii)
(B) (ii) (iii) (i) (iv)
(C) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
(D) (i) (iv) (iii) (ii)
Answer: (A)
15. Which one of the following is not correctly matched?
(Ruler) (Figure shown on his coin)
(A) Kumaragupta I – Chakrapuru.sa
(B) Kani. ska – Ardokso
(C) Agathocles – Balaramawww.netugc.com
(D) K. satrapaRajuvula– Pallas
Answer: (A)
16. Match List – I (Ancient City) with List – II (Modern Representative) and select the correct answer with the help of the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(Ancient City) (Modern Representative)
(a) Dasapura (i) Halebid
(b) Dvarasamudra (ii) Mandsor
(c) Madhyamika (iii) Nagari
(d) Samapa (iv) Jauga. da
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (ii) (i) (iii) (iv)
(B) (i) (iv) (ii) (iii)
(C) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
(D) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i)
Answer: (A)
17. Who among the following assumed the title of ‘Dharmamaharaja’ which was justified by the performance of numerous Vedic sacrifices including the Asvamedha?
(A) Pu. syamitra
(B) Sarvatata
(C) Samudragupta
(D) Pravarasena I
Answer: (D)
18. The seat of third Sangam of Tamil poets was located at
(A) Uraiy–ur
(B) Madura
(C) Tanjoreü
(D) Ka~nchi
Answer: (B)
19. Which one of the following Indian rulers had donated five villages to a Vihara built at Nalanda by Sailendra King Sri Balaputra?
(A) Kumaragupta I
(B) Harsa
(C) Devapala
(D) Bha. S karavarman
Answer: (C)
20. The rulers of which dynasty of the Deccan have been described by the Arab writers as the four great sovereigns of the world?
(A) Chalukyas of Vatapi
(B) Chalukyas of Kalya. ni
(C) Mauryas of Ko .nka .n
(D) Ra. s. trakutas of Manyakhe. ta
Answer: (D)
21. Which one of the following is not correctly matched?
(A) Rajasekhara – Viddhasalabhanjika
(B) Sri Har. sa – Nai. SadhiyaCharita
(C) Mahendravarman– Kavirajamarga
(D) Sudraka – Mrichchaka.tikam
Answer: (C)
22. Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and the other labelled as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The growth of regional politics in early medieval India was accompanied by the composition of royal biographies by court poets.
Reason (R): Sandhyakaranandin’s Ramacharita is written in slesa style and simultaneously tells the story of the epic hero Rama and the Pala King Ramapala.
In the context of the above statements, which one of the following is correct?
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(B) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(C) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
(D) (A) is false, but (R) is true.
Answer: (A)
23. Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Sultans of Delhi managed to consolidate an empire comprising a large part of India with their military power.
Reason (R): The main feature of the Delhi Sultanate was that the sultans based their military power with military elite bound together by Islam and certain tribal affinities.
Read the above statements and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
Codes:
(A) Both (A) and (R) are correct.
(B) Both (A) and (R) are false.
(C) (A) is incorrect, but (R) is true.
(D) (A) is correct, but (R) is false.
Answer: (C)
24. The first reference of ‘Turkan-i-Chihalgani’ has been made in
(A) Tabqat-i-Nasiri
(B) Futuh-us-Salatin
(C) KitaburRehla
(D) Khazain-ul-Futuh
Answer: (B)
25. Which Mongol general defeated Alauddin Khalji?
(A) Qadar
(B) Qutlugh Khwaja
(C) Targi
(D) Iqbalmand
Answer: (C)
26. Diwan-i-Khalsa was responsible to look after the
(A) Land under continuous cultivation
(B) Revenue free land granted as rewards
(C) Land under the direct control of the State
(D) Fallow land
Answer: (C)
27. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(a) Malgujar (i) Hereditary Muslim aristocrats
(b) Mufti (ii) Local Muslim Association
(c) Anjuman (iii) Muslim learned person expert in religious law
(d) Khanazad (iv) Landholding primary zamindar
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iv) (iii) (ii) (i)
(B) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii)
(C) (ii) (iv) (iii) (i)
(D) (i) (iii) (ii) (iv)
Answer: (A)
28. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(a) Hundi (i) Mughal Imperial Order
(b) Dastak (ii) bill of exchange
(c) Sanad (iii) Advance paid to the primary producers
(d) Dadani (iv) Permit issued to the European traders for the purpose of tax exemption
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (ii) (iii) (i) (iv)
(B) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
(C) (ii) (iv) (i) (iii)
(D) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii)
Answer: (C)
29. When did the nine cusped arches was for the first time used in Muslim architecture in India?
(A) Buildings of Sikandar Lodi
(B) Buildings of Sher Shah
(C) Buildings of NurJahan
(D) Buildings of Shah Jahan
Answer: (D)
30. Who amongst the following commented on the rule of the First Afghan Empire in India that ‘there was an opportunity to establish in India the constitutional monarchy but the dissensions amongst the Afghan nobles let the opportunity pass away’?
(A) K.A. Nizami
(B) Peter Jackson
(C) R.P. Tripathi
(D) John F. Richards
Answer: (C)
31. Which one of the following statements is not correct about Alauddin Khalji?
(A) He established the department called ‘Diwan-i-Kohi’
(B) ZiyauddinBarni criticizes Alauddin’s taxation policy
(C) Malik Fakhruddin, the Kotwalwas loyal to him
(D) His son Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji declared himself the ‘Caliph’
Answer: (A)
32. The title of ‘Mujaddid’ was conferred to which Mughal Emperor by the contemporary historians?
(A) Humayun
(B) Jahangir
(C) Shah Jahan
(D) Aurangzeb
Answer: (C)
33. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(a) Ramanuja (i) Pushti Marg
(b) Chaitanya (ii) Nirguna Bhakti
(c) Vallabhacharya (iii) Vishitadvaita Philosophy
(d) Nanak (iv) Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
(B) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
(C) (iv) (ii) (i) (iii)
(D) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii)
Answer: (D)
34. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(a) Qadiriya Order (i) Shaikh Badruddin Samarkhandi
(b) Naqsbandiah Order (ii) Shah Abdullah
(c) Firdausi Order (iii) Khwaja Baqi Billah
(d) Shuttari Order (iv) Shah Nayamatullah
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
(B) (iv) (iii) (i) (ii)
(C) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
(D) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii)
Answer: (B)
35. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below:
List – I List – II
(a) Masand (i) A deputy of the Sikh Guru
(b) Sahajdari (ii) Non-Khalsa Sikhs
(c) Sardeshmukhi (iii) A term for Maratha revenue demand
(d) Dal Khalsa (iv) Sikh religious organization
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
(B) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
(C) (ii) (iv) (i) (iii)
(D) (i) (iii) (ii) (iv)
Answer: (A)
36. What new stylistic feature is found in the Tomb of Khan-i-Jahan Telangani built at Delhi under the Sultans of Delhi?
(A) Use of white marble against red sand stone
(B) True Arch
(C) Double Dome
(D) Octagonal in planning
Answer: (D)
37. Which styles of the Sultanate painting paved the way in the foundation of the Mughal style of painting?
(A) Chaurapanchasika, Laur Chanda and Indo-Persian
(B) Pala, Kashmiri and Laur Chanda
(C) Chaurpanchasika, Kashmiri and Indo-Persian
(D) Indo-Persian, Pala and Kashmiri
Answer: (A)
38. Consider the following statements and point out the incorrect one:
(A) Babur’s Memoirs provide a flood of light on contemporary affairs.
(B) It exhibits Babur’s interest in nature.
(C) It provides no information about Farghana, Samarqand and Kabul where he spent time.
(D) He throws light on his contemporaries, their good and bad points, including himself.
Answer: (C)
39. Tulsidas was the author of which book?
(A) Kavitawali
(B) Ramacharitamanas
(C) Gitawali
(D) All of the above
Answer: (D)
40. Who among the following is considered as the founder of ‘Varkari’ sect?
(A) Eknath
(B) Tukaram
(C) Namdeva
(D) Jnanesvara
Answer: (C)
41. Consider the following statements in the context of organization of Mughal ruling class during the 17thcentury and select the correct answer from the options given below:
(A) An aspect of the composite ruling class was the steady promotion of a small number of members belonging to the administrative services.
(B) These members were generally drawn from Khatri and Kayastha castes.
(C) A few Brahmins could also be found amongst this ruling class.
(D) All of the above.
Answer: (D)
42. Which one of the following Mughal painters was a caricaturist?
(A) Basawan
(B) Manohar
(C) Miskin
(D) Abul Hasan
Answer: (C)
43. Shah Jahan fought the Battle of Kartarpur against
(A) Guru Hargovind Singh
(B) Guru HarKishan
(C) Guru Har Rai
(D) Guru Tegh Bahadur
Answer: (A)
44. Given below are two statements labelled as Assertion (A) and the other labelled as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): Recurring peasant revolts in the late 17th and early 18th centuries are believed to have been a major cause of the decline of Mughal Empire.
Reason (R): Regional sentiments against a centralized Mughal State had not been there.
In the context of the above statements, which one of the following is correct?
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(B) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(C) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
(D) (A) is false, but (R) is true.
Answer: (B)
45. Which one of the following centre was not a Dutch commercial establishment in India?
(A) Masulipatam
(B) Karikal
(C) Hugli
(D) Balasore
Answer: (C)
46. Name the English Officer who obtained Madras on lease in 1639 from the ruler of Chandragiri.
(A) Sir Thomas Roe
(B) Francis Day
(C) Sir George Oxenden
(D) Sir John Child
Answer: (B)
47. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below the lists:
List – I List – II
(a) Second Carnatic War (i) Treaty of Paris
(b) Third Anglo- Mysore War (ii) Treaty of Aixha Chapelle
(c) Second Anglo- Maratha War (iii) Treaty of Srirangapatnam
(d) Third Carnatic War (iv) Treaty of Bassein
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (iii) (ii) (iv) (i)
(B) (ii) (i) (iii) (iv)
(C) (i) (iv) (ii) (iii)
(D) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i)
Answer: (D)
48. Which one of the following provisions was not part of the Subsidiary Alliance?
(A) The State has to keep British force under the command of English General.
(B) The State should take prior permission from the Company for waging of war or making peace with another State.
(C) The State should not have relation with any European power except English East India Company.
(D) The State can go for adoption in the case of not having natural heir.
Answer: (D)
49. Name the Governor General who adopted a policy of the Europeanization of bureaucracy and an exclusion of Indians from higher posts.
(A) Warren Hastings
(B) Cornwallis
(C) Wellesley
(D) Dalhousie
Answer: (B)
50. Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and other labelled as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The British introduced different land revenue tenures in different parts of India.
Reason (R): It led to the impoverishment of Indian peasantry.
In the context of above two statements, which one of the following is correct?
Codes:
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(B) (A) is correct, but (R) is false.
(C) Both (A) and (R) are false.
(D) Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Answer: (D)
51. Curzon-Kitchner Controversy of 1904-05 is related to
(A) Partition of Bengal
(B) Abolition of military member in the Viceroy’s Council
(C) Direct recruitment of police force
(D) Autonomy of the Calcutta University
Answer: (B)
52. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below the lists:
List – I List – II
(a) Punjab Land Alienation Act (i) 1900
(b) Central Provinces Land Alienation Act (ii) 1879
(c) North West Provinces Land Alienation Act (iii) 1904
(d) Deccan Agricultural Relief Act (iv) 1916
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
(B) (ii) (i) (iii) (iv)
(C) (iii) (iv) (ii) (i)
(D) (iv) (ii) (i) (iii)
Answer: (A)
53. Name the ruler who was deposed in 1875 on charges of ‘gross misrule’.
(A) Gangasingh of Bikaner
(B) Bupendranath Singh of Patiala
(C) Krishna Raja Wadiar of Mysore
(D) Malhar Rao Gaikwad of Baroda
Answer: (D)
54. The first English Evening Daily Newspaper from Madras was
(A) The Madras Mail
(B) The Madras Chronicle
(C) The Madras Herald
(D) The Madras Standard
Answer: (A)
55. “Forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers” – These words are related to
(A) Jyotiba Phule
(B) Mahatma Gandhi
(C) B.R. Ambedkar
(D) Swami Vivekananda
Answer: (D)
56. “The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was not one movement …. it was many” – The above statement has been made by
(A) S.N. Sen
(B) R.C. Majumdar
(C) C.A. Bayly
(D) Eric Stokes
Answer: (C)
57. Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below the lists:
List – I List – II
(a) Narayan Guru (i) Rising Sun
(b) Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Choudary (ii) Jati Mimamsa
(c) Venkataraylu Naidu (iii) Shambuka Vadha
(d) Sridharula Naidu (iv) Veda Samaj
Codes:
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(A) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
(B) (ii) (iii) (i) (iv)
(C) (i) (iv) (iii) (ii)
(D) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
Answer: (B)
58. Select the correct answer from the codes given below about the chronological sequence of the movements:
(i) Kuka Movement
(ii) Wahabi Movement
(iii) Mundas Revolt
(iv) Moplah Peasant Revolt
Codes:
(A) (ii) (i) (iii) (iv)
(B) (i) (iii) (ii) (iv)
(C) (ii) (i) (iv) (iii)
(D) (iii) (ii) (i) (iv)
Answer: (A)
59. Select the correct answer from the codes given below about the chronological sequence of the Act passed:
(i) Brahmo Marriage Actwww.netugc.com
(ii) Sarada Act
(iii) Hindu Widow’s Re-marriage Act
(iv) Age of Consent Bill
Codes:
(A) (i) (iii) (iv) (ii)
(B) (iii) (i) (ii) (iv)
(C) (iv) (i) (iii) (ii)
(D) (iii) (i) (iv) (ii)
Answer: (D)
60. One of the following Congress leaders did not preside any Session of the Indian National Congress:
(A) Surendranath Bannerjee
(B) Gopala Krishna Gokhale
(C) Bala Gangadhar Tilak
(D) Mahatma Gandhi
Answer: (C)
61. The first Swadeshidacoity or robbery was organised in the year 1906 in
(A) Maniktala
(B) Rangapur
(C) Muzaffarpur
(D) Midnapur
Answer: (B)
62. Who was called ‘Morning Star’ of Reformation?
(A) Martin Luther
(B) John Calvin
(C) Zwingli
(D) John Wycliffe
Answer: (D)
63. Who used the word ‘Cold War’ first?
(A) Winston Churchill
(B) Bernard Baruch
(C) Marshal
(D) Stressman
Answer: (A)
64. ‘Pure Blood Aryan theory’ is related to
(A) Fascism
(B) Nihalism
(C) Syndicalism
(D) Nazism
Answer: (D)
65. What position Nelson Mandela occupied in the African National Congress at the time of his release from jail after 26 years in 1990?
(A) President
(B) Vice-President
(C) Secretary
(D) Advisor
Answer: (B)
66. What was Marshal Plan?
(A) Control of European powers by military power.
(B) To spread of American Dictatorship in Europe.
(C) Economic package of USA to control Communism.
(D) American Continent is meant for Americans only.
Answer: (C)
67. A concrete outcome of the Wavell Plan was the
(A) Constitution of the Constituent Assembly
(B) Complete independence for India gradually
(C) Hold a Referendum in the North-West Province
(D) Summoning of the Shimla Conference
Answer: (D)
68. Which one of the following Committees was appointed by the UPSC in 1974 to go into the issue of recruitment and selection methods?
(A) Bhagwati Committee
(B) D.S. Kothari Committee
(C) A.D. Gorwala Committee
(D) Santhanam Committee
Answer: (B)
69. Who among the following explicitly states that “History bases all its conclusions on rational evidence”?
(A) Herodotus
(B) Thucydides
(C) Polybious
(D) Tacitus
Answer: (B)
70. Which one of the following work was not authored by Leopol von Ranke?
(A) History of Rome
(B) History of France
(C) History of the Popes
(D) German History at the time of Reformation
Answer: (A)
Read the following passage carefully and choose the correct answer of the questions that follow (Q. No. 71 to 75):
Causation is a concept of such fundamental importance to historical understanding that E.H. Carr in his G.M. Trevelyan lectures (1961) declared the study of history to be the study of causes. But postmodernist thinking on the issue of historical causation is different. John Vincent would abandon the search for causes as futile and rather look for explanations. Writing in 1976, Theodore Zeldin thought of causation and chronology as the two tyrants to historians. Hayden White attacked the concept of causation as depriving people of both their freedom of action in the present and of control over the future by trapping them in an inescapable network of causation. Postmodernist theory installs interpretation in the place of empirical research into the causes of specific events.
Since the notion of cause depends on sequential time, some postmodernists attack the latter too. The cause of an occurrence must obviously come before it in time. But the postmodernist historian and philosopher, Ankersmit, says “Historical time is a recent and highly artificial invention of Western civilization,” and the writing of historical narrative based on the concept of time, he has declared, is “building on quicksand.” The postmodernists would prefer that the idea of sequential time be abandoned in the writing of history.
Richard Evans shows how the very idea of postmodern is paradoxical in that it is contrary to the assertion that there are no time periods in history. And the postmodernist statement that historical time is a thing of the past; itself uses the historical concept of time which the statement is intended to dismiss. The linear and sequential concept of time is far too powerful a principle to be dispensed with, for it is not an intellectual construct but a matter of everyday experience for people the world over. Time itself may be without boundaries, but in terms of human life it passes, and has limits.
71. What is the concept of causation by E.H. Carr?
(A) History cannot be understood devoid of cause-effect relationship.
(B) History depends on time and space.
(C) It is a matter of every day personal experience to inquire about the basis of an event.
(D) Causes should be undertaken in totality.
Answer: (A)
72. What does postmodernist think about the Historical causation?
(A) It is useless to search for it.
(B) It puts limitation on the Historian.
(C) Interpretation is necessary rather than the cause-effect relation.
(D) There are different opinions.
Answer: (D)
73. Which is not the concept of Time amongst the postmodernists?
(A) It should not be studied in the interpretation of History.
(B) It puts forth the theory that the interpretation of events be emphasized.
(C) Time deals with past.
(D) The factor of Time has not been thought of by the intellectuals.
Answer: (D)
74. Who amongst the following wrote that the cause-effect relationship is an obstacle for History?
(A) Richard Evans
(B) Ankersmit
(C) E.H. Carr
(D) Theodore Zeldin
Answer: (D)
75. Which one of the following said that the narrative History writing considering the Time is like constructing a building on a weak foundation?
(A) Ankersmit
(B) Theodore Zeldin
(C) Richard Evans
(D) E.H. Carr
Answer: (A)