Which of the following statements are correct with regard to Sikhism? (a) From the 1750s onwards the Sikh dals and misals (groups) became more and more powerful, led by individual chiefs (sardars) who organized troops of increasingly, professionally mounted musketeers. (b) There was the tradition of an annual 'Sarbat Singh (1790 - 1839), who established a kingdom in Punjab in the name of the Khalsa. (c)  The process was at last checked by Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who established a kingdom in Punjab in the name of Khalsa. (d) The Gurus were all Khatris, but their principal lieutenants, the Masand were mostly Jatts in the seventeenth century. Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Which of the following statements are correct with regard to Sikhism? (a) From the 1750s onwards the Sikh dals and misals (groups) became more and more powerful, led by individual chiefs (sardars) who organized troops of increasingly, professionally mounted musketeers. (b) There was the tradition of an annual 'Sarbat Singh (1790 - 1839), who established a kingdom in Punjab in the name of the Khalsa. (c)  The process was at last checked by Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who established a kingdom in Punjab in the name of Khalsa. (d) The Gurus were all Khatris, but their principal lieutenants, the Masand were mostly Jatts in the seventeenth century. Choose the correct answer from the options given below: Correct Answer (c) and (d) only

The Khalsa started taking shape in the days of Guru Gobind Singh, who founded the Khalsa in the last quarter of the 17th century.

  • The weak control of the Mughal Empire, after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, allowed for regional kingdoms to come up. In the case of Punjab, the Sikhs organized themselves into misls, which was a military and administrative unit. Each of these misls, being 12 in total, were led by powerful Sikh families and wrestled power from their adversaries the Marathas and Afghans. These misls together were known as Dal Khalsa.
  • The annual assembly of all Sikh misls at the Harmindar Sahib was called the Sarbat Khalsa. This took place twice a year.
  • After the decline of the Durrani empire of Ahmad Shah Abdali, his weak successors could not match up to the power of the Sikh misls, Maharaja Ranjit Singh who was the son of a leader of a misl, became the ruler of this region, after successively leading Sikh misls against the weak Afghan invaders.
  • The Dabistan – e- Mahzib a 17th-century travelogue by Mohsin Fani qualified the statement that the Masands of the Gurus were Jatts, the latter was considered the lowest caste among the Vaishyas and yielded great power in the martial prowess of the misl.
  • Hence option c and d are correct when we look at the history of Sikhism in this period.

Related Questions

In each question below is given a statement numbered I, II and III. An assumption is something supposed or taken for granted. You have to consider the following assumption and decide which of the assumption is implicit in the statement. Statement: About a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told the world that the signature of a chartered accountant on financial statements was, perhaps, more powerful than even one of his own. ‘Just like doctors don’t want people to be ill to get more business, chartered accountants, too, need to safeguard the society’s economic health. Your signature is more powerful than the PM’s, and the government also believes the accounts signed by you’, Modi had said.  Assumptions: I. The CA community, however, may not have woken up to the value of the initials they put on financial statements. Last year has been more of a challenge for the community’s reputation, with banking frauds, asset quality divergences and mid-term auditor resignations dominating the headlines.  II. There cannot be a situation where there will be 100% agreement on everything. You may have rules but still judgmental factors in credit, asset recognition come in. The approach is that as soon as the asset is stretched, banks have to recognise the problem.  III. But even basic logic just went out of the window and banks together kept dishing out loans to such companies even when their annual turnover was half of the total debt.
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarros cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the worlds greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Irelands John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.
Who among the following patented the pneumatic rubber tires?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarros cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the worlds greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Irelands John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.
In which year did the fort was built by Portuguese near the river Belem?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarros cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the worlds greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Irelands John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.
From where did the Europeans explorers first arrive?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarros cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the worlds greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Irelands John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.
Where did De Orellano float down to for its confluence with the Amazon?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.
The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for at least 10, 000 years, possibly more. Its earliest inhabitants were stone-age peoples, living in hundreds of far-flung tribes, some tiny, others numbering in the tens of thousands. It was from the west that Europeans explorers first arrived. In 1541 a Spanish expedition from Quito, led by Gonzalo Pizarro, ran short of supplies while exploring east of the Andes in what is today Peru. Pizarros cousin Francisco de Orellana offered to take 60 men along with the boats from the expedition and forage for supplies. De Orellana floated down the Rio Napo to its confluence with the Amazon, near Iquitos (Peru), and then to the mouth of the Amazon. Along the way his expedition suffered numerous attacks by Indians; some of the Indian warriors, they reported, were female, like the Amazons of Greek mythology, and thus the worlds greatest river got its name. No one made a serious effort to claim this sweaty territory, however, until the Portuguese built a fort near the mouth of the river at Belém in 1616, and sent Pedro Teixeira up the river to Quito and back between 1637 and 1639. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Portuguese bandeirantes (groups of roaming adventurers) penetrated ever further into the rain forest in pursuit of gold and Indian slaves, exploring as far as present-day Rondônia, and the Guaporé and Madeira river valleys. Amazonian Indians had long used the sap from rubber trees to make waterproof bags and other items. European explorers recognized the potential value of natural latex, but were unable to market it because it tended to grow soft in the heat, or brittle in the cold, and thus had limited appeal outside the rain forest. However, in 1842 American Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization (made natural rubber durable) and in 1890 Irelands John Dunlop patented pneumatic rubber tires. Soon there was an unquenchable demand for rubber in the recently industrialized USA and Europe, and the price of rubber on international markets soared. As profits skyrocketed, so did exploitation of the seringueiros, or rubber tappers, who were lured into the Amazon, mostly from the drought-stricken northeast, by the promise of prosperity only to be locked into a cruel system of virtual slavery dominated by seringalistas (owners of rubber-bearing forests). Rigged scales, hired guns, widespread illiteracy among the rubber tappers, and monopoly of sales and purchases all combined to perpetuate the workers debt and misery. In addition, seringueiros had to contend with jungle fevers, Indian attacks and all manner of deprivation.
Seringalistas refers to