Cultural Change MCQ Quiz in தமிழ் - Objective Question with Answer for Cultural Change - இலவச PDF ஐப் பதிவிறக்கவும்

The correct answer is - Only I, II, and III are correct.

Key Points

• Establishment of modern social organizations
  • Organizations like the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and Aligarh Movement promoted new ideas related to religion, education, and social reforms.
  • Political groups such as the Indian National Congress played a major role in the spread of nationalist and reformist ideas.
• Rapid communication technologies like the telegraph
  • The introduction of the printing press and telegraph enabled the faster spread of political and social ideas.
  • Nationalist leaders used newspapers and pamphlets to reach a broader audience.
• Translation of writings into different Indian languages
  • Reformist and nationalist literature was translated into multiple Indian languages to make new ideas accessible.
  • Examples include Raja Rammohan Roy’s translations of religious texts and Jyotirao Phule’s writings.
• Oral traditions and folk songs (Incorrect)
  • While folk traditions existed, they were not the primary means of spreading modern ideas.
  • New ideas were mostly spread through print media, organizations, and education.

Additional Information

• Role of Newspapers and Print Culture
  • Newspapers like The Hindu, Kesari, and Amrit Bazar Patrika were crucial in spreading nationalist and social reform ideas.
  • The growth of print culture allowed a larger number of people to engage in political and intellectual debates.
• Western Education and Colonial Schools
  • British-established schools and universities introduced modern scientific and rationalist thinking.
  • Many social reformers, including Dadabhai Naoroji and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, were products of such education.
• Emergence of Political Consciousness
  • The spread of new ideas led to the formation of early political movements such as the Swadeshi Movement and the Non-Cooperation Movement.
  • These movements were instrumental in shaping India's freedom struggle.

The correct answer is - Only II and IV are correct

Key Points

• Modernity
  • Modernity refers to the shift from traditional societies to rational, industrial, and bureaucratic societies.
  • II. Decisions based on choice rather than birth:
    • In modern societies, individuals are valued for their achievements rather than ascribed status like caste or birth.
    • Education, skills, and rational decision-making are prioritized.
  • IV. Separation of work from family and community in bureaucratic organizations:
    • Workplaces in modern societies are impersonal, specialized, and structured, unlike traditional societies where work was embedded in kinship and community.
    • Max Weber described this as the rise of bureaucracy, where roles are assigned based on merit rather than familial ties.

Additional Information

• Why I and III are incorrect:
  • I. Primacy of group identity over the individual:
    • Modernity emphasizes individualism rather than collective identity.
    • Traditional societies focus on group-based affiliations like caste, religion, or kinship.
  • III. Acceptance of fatalism towards the environment:
    • Modernity is characterized by belief in human agency, science, and technology to control and modify the environment.
    • Traditional societies tend to accept fate as a key factor in human and environmental conditions.

The correct answer is - Raja Ravi Varma

Key Points

• Raja Ravi Varma
  • He was influenced by both Western artistic techniques and traditional Indian themes.
  • His paintings blended European realism with Indian mythology and culture.
  • He mastered the use of oil painting, a Western technique, while depicting Hindu deities and historical figures.
  • His works played a key role in shaping modern Indian art by making traditional themes more accessible to the public.
  • He was commissioned to create portraits of Indian nobility, showcasing a European-style realism in composition and technique.

Additional Information

• Abanindranath Tagore
  • He rejected Western artistic influences and promoted the Bengal School of Art, which focused on traditional Indian styles.
  • His paintings, like Bharat Mata, symbolized Indian nationalism.
• Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay
  • He was a novelist and not a visual artist.
  • His famous work Anandamath (1882) introduced the patriotic song Vande Mataram.
• Chandu Menon
  • He was a writer, best known for his novel Indulekha, which depicted social issues in Kerala.
  • He was not an artist and did not contribute to visual arts.

The correct answer is - A matrilineal society is represented using patrilocal, bourgeois family aesthetics

Key Points

• Ravi Varma’s 1870 portrait
  • Painted for Kizhakke Palat Krishna Menon’s family, belonging to the Nayar caste in Kerala.
  • Depicts a family in a spatial arrangement influenced by European bourgeois portraiture.
  • This includes hierarchical positioning and techniques like perspective and illusionism.
• Matrilineal contradiction
  • The Nayar community traditionally follows a matrilineal system with joint matrilineal households.
  • However, the portrait organizes family members in a patrilocal, nuclear, hierarchical style.
  • This creates a contradiction between the social reality of the community and the Western-style representation in art.

Additional Information

• Matrilineality in Kerala
  • Practiced by communities like the Nayars, where inheritance and lineage pass through the mother’s line.
  • Houses are often taravads (ancestral matrilineal homes) with uncles playing a key paternal role.
  • Patrilocal nuclear families were rare and largely influenced by colonial modernity and legal reforms.
• Colonial modernity in portraiture
  • Introduced oil painting, realistic depth, and individualized likenesses influenced by European standards.
  • Artists like Ravi Varma were at the forefront of blending Indian subjects with European visual techniques.
  • This shift marked the beginning of new cultural imaginaries shaped by colonial ideals of family and identity.

The correct answer is - De-Sanskritisation

Key Points

• De-Sanskritisation
  • Refers to the decline or reversal of Sanskritic influence in a region’s cultural life.
  • Occurs when non-Sanskritic castes (tribal, pastoral, or peasant communities) are culturally dominant in a specific area.
  • The process leads to weakened influence of Sanskritic rituals, language, and lifestyle.
  • It is the opposite of Sanskritisation, where lower castes adopt upper-caste Hindu practices.

Additional Information

• Sanskritisation
  • A social process where lower castes adopt rituals, customs, and beliefs of twice-born castes to elevate their social status.
  • Often involves adoption of vegetarianism, teetotalism, and use of Sanskritic terms.
  • Linked to improved economic status, political power, or exposure to Hindu pilgrimage centres or reform movements.
• Regional Variation
  • In some regions like Punjab, Persian cultural elements were more dominant than Sanskritic ones.
  • Such regions exhibit stronger tendencies of De-Sanskritisation due to the historical presence of Islamic or other non-Hindu traditions.

The correct answer is - Economic

Key Points

• Economic
  • Srinivas noted that Sanskritisation is usually possible when there is either political or economic improvement in the concerned group.
  • Economic advancement provides the necessary resources and opportunities for a group to adopt practices associated with higher castes, thereby facilitating Sanskritisation.
  • Political power also plays a critical role in enabling social mobility through Sanskritisation.

Additional Information

• Sanskritisation
  • It is a process by which a low or middle caste or tribe or other group changes its customs, rituals, ideology, and way of life in the direction of a high and frequently, twice-born caste.
  • The term was popularized by sociologist M.N. Srinivas in his study of the Coorgs in South India.
  • It involves the adoption of Brahminical or upper-caste practices and rituals to elevate one's social status.
• Social Mobility
  • Refers to the ability of individuals or groups to move within a social hierarchy, which can be either upward or downward.
  • Factors such as education, economic status, and access to resources significantly influence social mobility.

The correct answers are - A, B and C only

Key Points

• Modes of communication
  • Sociologist Satish Saberwal identified modes of communication as a key element in colonial India's transition to modernity.
  • Technologies such as the printing press, telegraph, microphone, and railways enabled faster movement of people, goods, and ideas.
  • This fostered national-level reform movements and exchange of ideas across regions like Bengal, Punjab, Madras, and Maharashtra.
• Forms of organisation
  • Modern social organisations like the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and the All-India Muslim Ladies Conference were crucial.
  • They provided a structured platform for public debate and reform regarding social issues, including women's rights and education.
• Nature of ideas
  • Colonial India witnessed the spread of new ideologies such as liberalism, nationalism, and modern education.
  • Reformers like Jotiba Phule and Pandita Ramabai debated the roles of women and the reinterpretation of tradition vs. modernity.

The correct answer is - Arrival of railways, telegraph, and printing press

Key Points

• Arrival of railways, telegraph, and printing press
  • The introduction of railways and steamships greatly improved the movement of people and goods across the country.
  • The telegraph enabled faster long-distance communication, crucial for sharing ideas and coordinating reformist activities.
  • The printing press allowed for mass production of newspapers, journals, and books, enabling the wide dissemination of reformist ideas in multiple languages.
  • These technologies collectively fostered a nationwide exchange of reformist thoughts across regions like Bengal, Madras, Maharashtra, and Punjab.

Additional Information

• Social Reform Movements
  • Reformers like Keshav Chandra Sen and Pandita Ramabai traveled across India to spread reformist ideas—enabled by modern transport.
  • Organizations like Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj used print media to publicize their ideologies and influence public opinion.
• Regional and Cross-Regional Interactions
  • Reformist works were translated into different regional languages, e.g., Vishnu Shastri’s Marathi translation of Vidyasagar’s book.
  • This cross-lingual exchange allowed regional movements to influence each other, strengthening the reformist wave nationally.
• Nature of Ideas
  • Reformers debated tradition vs. modernity and advocated for reforms in education, marriage, and women's rights.
  • There was a push to blend modern liberal ideas with India’s ancient heritage to define national progress.

The correct answer is - A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3

Key Points

• Raja Ram Mohun Roy – Sati Abolition
  • He was a pioneer in the movement to abolish the practice of sati, advocating both humanitarian and shastric arguments against it.
  • His efforts were crucial in the enactment of the Sati Regulation Act, 1829 under Lord William Bentinck.
• M.G. Ranade – Widow Remarriage
  • Ranade strongly supported widow remarriage through scriptural justification.
  • He authored the work titled "The Texts of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows".
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan – Ijtihad
  • He promoted the concept of ijtihad, meaning independent reasoning in Islamic jurisprudence.
  • He tried to harmonize Islam with modern science and rational thinking.
• Kandukuri Viresalingam – Navya-Nyaya Logic
  • Viresalingam was influenced by Navya-nyaya (new logic) tradition and applied it to social reform.
  • He also translated modern scientific works like those of Julius Huxley.

Additional Information

• Brahmo Samaj
  • Founded by Raja Ram Mohun Roy in 1828 to promote monotheism and oppose social evils.
  • It became a key institution for religious and social reform in Bengal.
• Prarthana Samaj
  • M.G. Ranade was one of its key leaders, focusing on social reforms like widow remarriage and education of women.
• Aligarh Movement
  • Led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, it aimed to modernize Muslim education by founding the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later Aligarh Muslim University).
  • Emphasized scientific temper and rationality in Islamic thought.
• Social Reform in Andhra
  • Kandukuri Viresalingam is considered the father of social reform in Andhra Pradesh.
  • He fought against child marriage and encouraged widow remarriage.

The correct answer is - Dharma Sabha

Key Points

• Dharma Sabha
  • The Dharma Sabha was formed in 1830 by Radhakanta Deb.
  • It was established to counter Raja Rammohun Roy's efforts to abolish the practice of sati.
  • The organization aimed to preserve traditional Hindu customs and opposed the British colonial government's intervention in religious practices.

Additional Information

• Raja Rammohun Roy
  • He was a prominent social reformer in India who advocated for the abolition of the sati practice, which involved the immolation of widows on their husband's funeral pyres.
  • Raja Rammohun Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 to promote social and religious reforms.
• Other Organizations
  • The Brahmo Samaj aimed at reforming Hindu society and promoting monotheism.
  • The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1875 to promote values based on the Vedas and opposed practices like idol worship.
  • The Indian National Congress was established in 1885 to seek Indian self-rule and independence from British rule.