UPHESC Assistant Professor Asian Culture 2025 PYQs

Concept: Ceylon became independent from Britain as a dominion on 4 February 1948; D. S. Senanayake was the first Prime Minister.

1. 4 February is celebrated as National Day.
2. It became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.

Short trick: Sri Lanka: 4-2-1948 (just after India's 15-8-1947).

Concept: The official national language is Bahasa Indonesia, adopted at the Youth Pledge of 1928 and fixed in the 1945 Constitution.

1. It is a standardised form of Malay, but as a national language it is called Bahasa Indonesia ('language of Indonesia').
2. Javanese and Sundanese are the largest regional languages, not official ones.

Short trick: Bahasa Indonesia – one nation, one language (Sumpah Pemuda 1928).

Concept: The Portuguese under Lourenço de Almeida reached Ceylon in 1505 and opened trade relations with the king of Kotte; this is the date usually given for the start of Portuguese trade settlement there.

1. They later fortified their Colombo trading post (1517–18).
2. The Dutch replaced them by 1658; the British took over in 1796.

Short trick: Ceylon: Portuguese 1505 → Dutch 1658 → British 1796.

Concept: Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashto are the two official and most widely spoken languages of Afghanistan.

1. Dari is the lingua franca; Pashto is the language of the Pashtuns.
2. Urdu, Arabic and Hindi are not majority languages there.

Short trick: Afghanistan = Dari + Pashto.

Concept: Date each event.

1. I-tsing travelled via Srivijaya to India: 671–695 AD.
2. Balaputradeva (Shailendra king of Suvarnadvipa) endowed a monastery at Nalanda, recorded in Devapala's Nalanda plate: c. 860 AD.
3. Atisha went to Suvarnadvipa to study under Dharmakirti c. 1012 AD (stayed 12 years).
4. Rajendra Chola's naval expedition against Srivijaya: 1025 AD.
5. Order: i → iii → ii → iv.

Short trick: 7th (I-tsing) → 9th (Balaputra) → 1012 (Atisha) → 1025 (Chola).

Concept: The Dutch East India Company renamed Jayakarta as Batavia in 1619 (J. P. Coen); it became Jakarta after 1942/1949.

1. Earlier names: Sunda Kelapa → Jayakarta (1527) → Batavia (1619) → Jakarta.
2. Banten is a neighbouring sultanate/province; Bangka is an island; Aceh is in north Sumatra.

Short trick: Dutch capital = Batavia = Jakarta.

Concept: Mulavarman of Kutai (East Kalimantan, Borneo) is known from seven Sanskrit Yupa inscriptions (c. 4th–5th century AD).

1. The Yupas record his Vedic sacrifices (Bahusuvarnaka) and gifts of 20,000 cows to Brahmanas.
2. Ashvavarman was his father (vamsakarta); Kaundinya is linked to Funan; Ishanavarman to Chenla (Cambodia).

Short trick: Borneo – Kutai – Yupa – Mulavarman.

Concept: Laos gained full sovereignty from France by the Franco-Lao Treaty of 22 October 1953.

1. 1945: Lao Issara declared independence briefly after the Japanese surrender (not recognised).
2. 1949: Laos became an 'associated state' within the French Union (limited autonomy).
3. 1953: full independence; confirmed at the Geneva Conference 1954.

Short trick: Cambodia & Laos: 1953; Vietnam: Geneva 1954.

Concept: Thailand was known as Siam until 1939 (and again 1945–49), when it was renamed 'Prathet Thai' / Thailand.

1. Sukhothai and Ayutthaya were Thai kingdoms/capitals, not the country's name.
2. Ceylon is the old name of Sri Lanka.

Short trick: Siam → Thailand (1939).

Concept: The Mekong, with the Tonle Sap lake system, feeds Cambodia's rice and fisheries – its lifeline.

1. Irrawaddy and its tributary Chindwin flow in Myanmar.
2. Kalu Ganga is a river of Sri Lanka.

Short trick: Mekong + Tonle Sap = Cambodia.

Concept: Bhadravarman I of Champa (late 4th century, Chinese Fan Hu-ta) is described as a scholar versed in the four Vedas.

1. He founded the Shiva temple of Bhadreshvara at My Son – the first sacred centre of Champa.
2. His Sanskrit inscriptions are among the earliest in Vietnam.
3. Suryavarman and Jayavarman are mainly Khmer (Cambodian) kings.

Short trick: Bhadravarman – Bhadreshvara – four Vedas.

Concept: Angkor Wat was built by the Khmer king Suryavarman II (12th century) as a Vishnu temple.

1. Funan (1st–6th c.) and Chenla (6th–8th c.) preceded the Khmer empire of Angkor.
2. The Sena dynasty ruled Bengal, not Cambodia.

Short trick: Angkor Wat – Khmer – Suryavarman II – Vishnu.

Concept: The Ananda Temple at Pagan was built by King Kyanzittha (r. 1084–1112/13), completed c. 1105.

1. Its plan is said to be inspired by the Nandamula cave temple described by Indian monks.
2. Anawrahta (Aniruddha) founded the Pagan empire and Theravada there; Alaungsithu built Thatbyinnyu; Narathu built Dhammayangyi.

Short trick: Ananda – Kyanzittha; Pagan founder – Anawrahta.

Concept: Kukai (posthumously Kobo Daishi) founded Shingon ('True Word', esoteric/Vajrayana Buddhism) in 806 AD, centred on Mount Koya.

1. Saicho founded Tendai (Mt. Hiei).
2. Genku (Honen) founded Jodo (Pure Land).
3. Dogen founded Soto Zen.

Short trick: Heian pair: Saicho–Tendai, Kukai–Shingon.

Concept: Pashupatinath, the great Shiva temple, stands on the Bagmati river in Kathmandu, Nepal (UNESCO Kathmandu Valley site).

1. Pashupati ('lord of animals') is the national deity of Nepal.

Short trick: Kathmandu + Bagmati = Pashupatinath.

Concept: Lhasa ('place of the gods') is the capital of Tibet, home of the Potala Palace and Jokhang temple.

1. Arimardanapura = Pagan (Myanmar).
2. Hariharalaya = early Khmer capital (Roluos).
3. Phnom Penh = capital of Cambodia.

Short trick: Lhasa – Potala – Tibet.

Concept: Dr. Sun Yat-sen, leader of the 1911 Revolution and founder of the Kuomintang, is called the 'Father of the Nation' of modern China.

1. He gave the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, people's livelihood.
2. Hu Shih led the literary (New Culture) movement; Duan Qirui was a warlord premier.

Short trick: 1911 + Three Principles = Sun Yat-sen.

Concept: Fa-Hien (Faxian) came to India (399–414 AD, reign of Chandragupta II) specifically to obtain complete copies of the Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules).

1. He found Vinaya texts at Pataliputra and copied them.
2. The other options are later Mahayana/Tantric texts.

Short trick: Fa-Hien's mission = Vinaya (discipline).

Concept: Taoism, based on Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching (c. 6th–4th century BC), is an indigenous Chinese religion-philosophy.

1. Buddhism originated in India.
2. Zen (Chan) is only a school of Buddhism (a sect, not a separate religion); 'Zen' is its Japanese name.
3. Catholic Christianity arose in West Asia/Rome.

Short trick: Native Chinese: Taoism and Confucianism.

Concept: Samye, the first Buddhist monastery of Tibet, was built c. 779 AD under King Trisong Detsen with Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava.

1. It was modelled on Odantapuri vihara of Bihar.
2. Jagdal (Jagdala) was a Pala vihara in Bengal; Salban vihara is at Mainamati (Bangladesh).

Short trick: Samye – Trisong Detsen – Shantarakshita.