Social Science · History

Indian Social Structure

1,850 Questions

Prepare for competitive exams by answering questions on the diverse Indian social structure. Topics include the historical caste system, Vedic political units, and various social reform movements. This hub offers valuable insights into the sociological framework of India.

Caste system dynamicsVedic societySocial reform movementsIndian family structure

Indian Social Structure Questions

Multiple choice

Hindu social structure was based on

  1. Verna and Jati

  2. Religion vyavstha

  3. Both

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The social structure is based on the varna and jati systems. Varna system categorises society into four sections based on personality characteristics and activities:

  1. Brahmin
  2. Kshatriya
  3. Vaishya
  4. Sudra
Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is not correct?

  1. The Rig Vedic people worshipped nature.

  2. The Rig Vedic Aryans were by and large urban people.

  3. The Rig Vedic family comprised parents and other kith and kin, apart from the husband and wife.

  4. The Rig Vedic women were highly respected and most of the religious ceremonies were considered incomplete unless wives joined their husbands.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Rig Vedic Aryans were primarily pastoral and semi-nomadic, not urban. Urbanization in the Indian subcontinent is associated with the earlier Indus Valley Civilization.

Multiple choice

Under the Nayankara system of Vijayanagar, lands were assigned to

  1. persons against annual tributes and military service

  2. women without any source of income

  3. brahmins for charitable trusts

  4. mathas for the maintenance of temples

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Nayankara system was a key administrative feature of the Vijayanagar Empire, where military commanders (Nayakas) were granted land in exchange for maintaining troops and providing military service to the king.

Multiple choice

The conservative Indian culture had a negative impact on society because

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Men and women are the two wheels of society. If one of the two falls defective, the society cannot make progress. Hence, we need education for females, same as we need it for the males. Female education is highly necessary for the society. Females are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. If the mothers are ignorant, they cannot take proper care of the children. They cannot infuse good qualities in them. Hence, the very foundation of our people will remain weak. If the females are ignorant, we will lose the services of a powerful part of our society.

Indians are conservative by nature. Their blind faith and age old superstition stood against female education. Now, people have felt the virtue of female education. They do not hesitate to send their daughters to schools. Now, in India, we find women professors, lady doctors, lady scientists, lady politicians and lady ministers. But, a large number of women are still in dark. They should be educated in the interest of our national progress.

  1. it promoted superstitions and myths

  2. it discriminated against girls and denied them education

  3. it was against modernisation and scientific development

  4. the society could not prosper just on culture
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

“Their blind faith and age old superstition stood against female education.”

Multiple choice

We hear it said that, for all the social advancement that India has made over the past fifty years - for all of the cultural and social barriers that we have removed, this remains an inherently socially prejudiced society, in which the higher class has never fully accepted the equal humanity of the lower class. Those who repeat this slander against India neglect the fact that, as I write, some of the most popular TV programmes focus on the lives of proud lower class families, whose members have become some of the best-recognized-and most widely admired-people in India.

The argument above assumes that

  1. TV program production is a challenging and financially rewarding profession

  2. fifty years ago a TV program on lower class family would not have been popular

  3. those who label India a racist society seek to start unrest and disrupt the fabric of Indian society

  4. a person's attitude towards a character on TV program is like his attitude toward real people with similar characteristics

  5. the cultural and social barriers do not stand in the way of upwardly mobile people from lower class families
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

 This signifies the author's point, and based on this he assumes that India is no longer a racist society as people supposed it to be earlier.

Multiple choice

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.

A. The caste and the linguistic groups may help the individual from time to time but his most staunch, trustworthy and loyal supports could only be his nearest kins. B. Cousin marriages, preferential mating, exchange rules and the marriage norms which circumvent the field of mate selection need to be changed so that kinship relations through marriage may be extended and a person is able to get their help in seeking power and the status-lift that power can bring. C. The kinship organization in India is influenced by caste and language. D. It is, therefore, necessary that a person must not only strengthen his bonds with kin but should also try to enlarge his circle of kins. E. In this age of sharp competition for status and livelihood, a man and his family must have kin as allies.

  1. CEADB

  2. ECDAB

  3. BDAEC

  4. BCEAD
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The passage is about “kinship organization” in India. Statement C introduces the subject. Hence, it forms the beginning of the sequence. Therefore D states the view in relation to previous sentences, which is illustrated by B.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not true?

  1. People in Rig Vedic period didn't believe in erecting temples

  2. They didn't believe in idol worship

  3. Aryans did not personify the natural forces

  4. Use of iron tools became common in later Vedic period
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The statement that Aryans did not personify natural forces is false. The Vedic religion was fundamentally based on the personification and worship of natural forces like fire (Agni), wind (Vayu), and rain (Indra).

Multiple choice

The conservative Indian culture had a negative impact on society because

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
Men and women are the two wheels of society. If one of the two falls defective, the society cannot make progress. Hence, we need education for the females same as we need it for the males. Female education is highly necessary for the society. Females are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. If the mothers be ignorant, they cannot take proper care of the children. They cannot infuse good qualities in them. Hence, the very foundation of our people will remain weak. If the females are ignorant, we will lose the services of a powerful part of our society.

Indians are conservative by nature. Their blind faith and age old superstition stood against the female education. Now, people have felt the virtue of female education. They do not hesitate to send their daughters to schools. Now in India we find women professors, lady doctors, lady scientists, lady politicians and lady ministers. But a large number of women are still in dark. They should be educated in the interest of our national progress.

  1. it promoted superstitions and myths

  2. it discriminated against girls and denied them education

  3. it was against modernisation and scientific development

  4. the society could not prosper just on culture
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

It is said so about the Indians. “Their blind faith and age old superstition stood against the female education.”

Multiple choice

The social system of the Harappans was

  1. egalitarian

  2. colour based

  3. slave-labour based

  4. caste based
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The social system of the Harappans was egalitarian. It seems that the Indus Valley civilisation was fairly egalitarian, with fewer differences in lifestyle among the different classes of city dwellers than in other contemporary cultures such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. For example, all houses had access to water and drainage facilities. One gets the impression of a vast middle-class society. 

Multiple choice

Who owns most of the land in villages?

  1. Upper caste families

  2. Lower caste families

  3. Labour class families

  4. Business class families

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Upper caste families own most of the land in villages. 

Multiple choice

Women in India are discriminated against in

  1. political life

  2. social life

  3. economic life

  4. all of these

  5. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Women in India are discriminated against in political life, social life and economic life. 

Multiple choice

Caste hierarchy means

  1. shift from one occupation to another

  2. a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the 'highest' to the ‘lowest caste’

  3. religious equality

  4. communal harmony and peace on the basis of caste

  5. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Caste hierarchy means a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the 'highest' to the ‘lowest caste'