Q40. Who wrote Anandamath, the novel containing Vande Mataram?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 27 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
A) Abanindranath Tagore
B) Rabindranath Tagore
C) Muhammad Iqbal
D) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Answer: D) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Explanation: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay published Anandamath in 1882. The novel depicts a fictionalized ascetic uprising and contains Vande Mataram, which later became India’s national song and an important anthem of the freedom movement.
Q39. Who wrote the Persian treatise A Gift to Monotheists?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 26 Jul 2023, Shift 3]
A) Swami Shraddhanand
B) Swami Dayanand Saraswati
C) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
D) Swami Vivekananda
Answer: C) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Explanation: Raja Ram Mohan Roy wrote Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin in the early nineteenth century. The treatise argued for monotheism and questioned ritual practices, anticipating his later involvement in religious and social reform.
Q38. Krishnadevaraya’s Telugu work Amuktamalyada includes discussion of which subject?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 20 Jul 2023, Shift 4]
A) Statecraft
B) Dance
C) Medicine
D) Music
Answer: A) Statecraft
Explanation: Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya composed Amuktamalyada, a celebrated Telugu poem centering on the devotional story of Andal. It also discusses ideals of kingship and statecraft, which was the aspect specifically tested in this question.
Q37. Who composed Arthashastra, a treatise on government associated with the Mauryan period?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 20 Jul 2023, Shift 3]
A) Bindusara
B) Vishnugupta
C) Chandragupta Maurya
D) Bhanugupta
Answer: B) Vishnugupta
Explanation: The Arthashastra is traditionally attributed to Kautilya, also called Vishnugupta or Chanakya. Its chapters discuss administration, taxation, military affairs, diplomacy and security, forming a major source for the study of ancient political thought.
Q36. Which freedom fighter wrote Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule)?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 19 Jul 2023, Shift 3]
A) Dadabhai Naoroji
B) Mahatma Gandhi
C) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
D) Annie Besant
Answer: B) Mahatma Gandhi
Explanation: Mahatma Gandhi composed Hind Swaraj in 1909 aboard a ship travelling toward South Africa. The book outlines his conception of self-rule and offers a critique of unrestrained modern industrial civilization.
Q35. Who wrote Indica, an account of Mauryan India?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 19 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
A) Strabo
B) Pliny
C) Diodorus Siculus
D) Megasthenes
Answer: D) Megasthenes
Explanation: Megasthenes served as a Greek envoy at the court of Chandragupta Maurya. His book Indica does not survive intact, but later classical authors preserved fragments describing geography, society and state institutions.
Q34. Panini’s Ashtadhyayi is a landmark work on which subject?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 18 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
A) Mauryan polity
B) Gupta administration
C) Medicine
D) Sanskrit grammar
Answer: D) Sanskrit grammar
Explanation: Panini’s Ashtadhyayi systematizes Sanskrit grammar through thousands of concise rules. Its analytical treatment of linguistic forms influenced later grammatical scholarship and remains one of the best-known intellectual achievements of ancient India.
Q33. Who authored the historical chronicle Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 17 Jul 2023, Shift 3]
A) Ziauddin Barani
B) Amir Khusrau
C) Al-Biruni
D) Minhaj-us-Siraj
Answer: A) Ziauddin Barani
Explanation: Ziauddin Barani, a historian of the Delhi Sultanate, wrote Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi. His account covers rulers and politics from the Khalji to Tughlaq periods and incorporates his interpretation of governance and social hierarchy.
Q32. Who wrote The Buddha and His Dhamma, published after his death in 1957?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 14 Jul 2023, Shift 4]
A) Subhas Chandra Bose
B) B. R. Ambedkar
C) Mahatma Gandhi
D) Motilal Nehru
Answer: B) B. R. Ambedkar
Explanation: B. R. Ambedkar’s The Buddha and His Dhamma was published posthumously in 1957. The work presents Buddhist teaching in a framework emphasizing ethical conduct, social equality and rational understanding, reflecting his intellectual and political commitments.
Q31. Who is credited with writing the Sanskrit play Mrichchhakatika?
[SSC CGL Tier I • 14 Jul 2023, Shift 2]
A) Kalidasa
B) Amarasimha
C) Shudraka
D) Bhasa
Answer: C) Shudraka
Explanation: Mrichchhakatika, or The Little Clay Cart, is attributed to Shudraka. The play combines romance with political intrigue and characters from multiple social classes, making it a distinctive work of classical Sanskrit drama.
