2022 GS Paper I, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2022 · GS Paper I

Question 58: History and Culture

With reference to Indian history, who of the following were known as “Kulah-Daran” ?

aArab merchants
bQalandars
cPersian calligraphists
dSayyids

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).

Kulah-daran, literally cap-wearers (kulah is a cap), is the term for the Sayyids, the descendants of the Prophet, who were accorded high status in the Sultanate period. Qalandars were wandering Sufi mendicants, and neither Arab merchants nor Persian calligraphers were known by this name. Remember the word for the Sayyids as the cap-wearers.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Arab merchants were not called kulah-daran.
  • (b) Qalandars were wandering Sufi mendicants, known by their own name.
  • (c) Persian calligraphists were not called kulah-daran.
  • (d) Correct. Kulah-daran refers to the Sayyids.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2022, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.