Genesis of Sociology in India – 50 MCQs with Answers

Genesis of Sociology in India – 50 MCQs with Answers

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1. Genesis of Sociology in India (Foundations)

1. Who is regarded as the “Father of Indian Sociology”?
   a) A.R. Desai
   b) G.S. Ghurye ✅
   c) M.N. Srinivas
   d) Yogendra Singh

2. The institutionalization of sociology in India began in—
   a) 1920s ✅
   b) 1850s
   c) 1947
   d) 1970s

3. The first Department of Sociology in India was set up at—
   a) Banaras Hindu University
   b) University of Bombay ✅
   c) Delhi University
   d) Calcutta University

4. The Indian Sociological Society was founded in—
   a) 1951 ✅
   b) 1930
   c) 1947
   d) 1965

5. Which journal is published by the Indian Sociological Society?
   a) Social Action
   b) Sociological Bulletin ✅
   c) Contributions to Indian Sociology
   d) Seminar

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2. Indological Perspective

6. Indological approach in Indian sociology emphasizes—
   a) Fieldwork
   b) Study of ancient texts ✅
   c) Marxist analysis
   d) Modernization

7. The Indological method studies Indian society through—
   a) Literature, scriptures, epics ✅
   b) Economic surveys
   c) Censuses only
   d) Migration records

8. Who wrote Caste and Race in India?
   a) A.R. Desai
   b) G.S. Ghurye ✅
   c) Louis Dumont
   d) M.N. Srinivas

9. Who among the following is associated with the Indological tradition?
   a) Ghurye ✅
   b) Desai
   c) D.P. Mukerji
   d) Ranajit Guha

10. Indological approach is often criticized for—
    a) Overemphasis on texts ✅
    b) Ignoring colonialism
    c) Being atheistic
    d) Being Marxist

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3. Historical-Dialectical (Marxist) Perspective

11. Who is regarded as the pioneer of Marxist sociology in India?
    a) M.N. Srinivas
    b) A.R. Desai ✅
    c) Ghurye
    d) Louis Dumont

12. Historical-dialectical approach focuses on—
    a) Cultural traditions
    b) Class struggle & material conditions ✅
    c) Sanskrit texts
    d) Colonial officials

13. Who wrote Social Background of Indian Nationalism?
    a) Desai ✅
    b) Srinivas
    c) Mukerji
    d) Ghurye

14. Marxist sociology in India explains society mainly through—
    a) Economy & modes of production ✅
    b) Rituals
    c) Kinship
    d) Texts

15. Which perspective emphasized colonialism as a factor in social change?
    a) Indological
    b) Historical-dialectical ✅
    c) Subaltern
    d) Structural-functional

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4. Subaltern Perspective

16. Subaltern Studies collective was initiated by—
    a) M.N. Srinivas
    b) Ranajit Guha ✅
    c) Ghurye
    d) Yogendra Singh

17. Subaltern studies focus on—
    a) Elites
    b) Marginalized voices ✅
    c) Sanskritization
    d) Urban elites

18. Which book is considered foundational for Subaltern Studies?
    a) Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency ✅
    b) Homo Hierarchicus
    c) Caste in Modern India
    d) Indian Village

19. Subaltern perspective challenges—
    a) Eurocentric elitist historiography ✅
    b) Oral traditions
    c) Kinship studies
    d) Economic theory

20. Who emphasized writing history “from below”?
    a) Desai
    b) Ranajit Guha ✅
    c) Srinivas
    d) Ghurye

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5. Indian Thinkers & Contributions

21. M.N. Srinivas is known for—
    a) Marxist sociology
    b) Fieldwork & concepts like Sanskritization ✅
    c) Indological tradition
    d) Subaltern studies

22. The concept of “Dominant Caste” was coined by—
    a) A.R. Desai
    b) Srinivas ✅
    c) Dumont
    d) Ambedkar

23. Who introduced “contextual sociology” in India?
    a) D.P. Mukerji ✅
    b) Desai
    c) Ghurye
    d) Yogendra Singh

24. “Modernization of Indian Tradition” was authored by—
    a) Yogendra Singh ✅
    b) Srinivas
    c) Ghurye
    d) Desai

25. Louis Dumont’s Homo Hierarchicus analyzed Indian society through—
    a) Caste hierarchy ✅
    b) Class conflict
    c) Industrialization
    d) Urbanization

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6. Colonial Impact on Sociology

26. Census under the British played a major role in—
    a) Class mobility
    b) Institutionalizing caste categories ✅
    c) Abolishing kinship
    d) Promoting subaltern voices

27. The British administrative knowledge of India influenced early sociology through—
    a) Ethnographic surveys ✅
    b) Marxist theory
    c) Subaltern studies
    d) Structuralism

28. Ethnographic accounts of tribes in India were compiled by—
    a) Verrier Elwin ✅
    b) Ghurye
    c) Srinivas
    d) Dumont

29. The concept of “Little Communities” in Indian villages was used by—
    a) Robert Redfield ✅
    b) Srinivas
    c) Desai
    d) Mukerji

30. Colonial anthropology often reinforced—
    a) Social stratification & stereotypes ✅
    b) Equality
    c) Nationalism
    d) Marxist analysis

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7. Indological vs. Marxist vs. Subaltern

31. Indological = study of society through—
    a) Religious texts ✅
    b) Class conflict
    c) Subaltern voices
    d) Urbanization

32. Historical-dialectical = society explained through—
    a) Class struggle & colonial exploitation ✅
    b) Sacred texts
    c) Kinship rituals
    d) Sanskritization

33. Subaltern perspective = emphasizes—
    a) Peasant voices & marginalized groups ✅
    b) Urban elites
    c) Caste rigidity only
    d) British policies only

34. Indological sociology is often labeled—
    a) Textual & cultural ✅
    b) Economic
    c) Feminist
    d) Subaltern

35. A.R. Desai’s works are linked to—
    a) Marxist analysis of Indian society ✅
    b) Indological textual studies
    c) Postmodernism
    d) Feminism

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8. Contributions of Subaltern Studies

36. Subaltern historians argued Indian nationalism was—
    a) Elitist-led ✅
    b) Peasant-led
    c) British-led
    d) Universalist

37. Subaltern studies gave importance to—
    a) Peasant insurgencies ✅
    b) Colonial administration
    c) Sanskrit scriptures
    d) Middle-class reform

38. Which thinker studied tribal and peasant insurgencies in colonial India?
    a) Ranajit Guha ✅
    b) Desai
    c) Srinivas
    d) Dumont

39. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is associated with—
    a) Postcolonial & Subaltern Studies ✅
    b) Indological approach
    c) Dialectical materialism
    d) Functionalism

40. Dipesh Chakrabarty’s Provincializing Europe belongs to—
    a) Subaltern perspective ✅
    b) Indological tradition
    c) Marxist sociology
    d) Feminist theory

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9. Contemporary Relevance

41. Indological studies are still relevant for—
    a) Understanding cultural traditions ✅
    b) Ignoring texts
    c) Economic globalization
    d) Political science

42. Marxist sociology is significant for studying—
    a) Agrarian class struggles ✅
    b) Bhakti movement
    c) Sanskrit texts
    d) Kinship

43. Subaltern studies are important for—
    a) Marginalized voices like Dalits, tribals, peasants ✅
    b) British officers
    c) Urban elites
    d) Brahmins only

44. Sociology in India initially developed under—
    a) Colonial influence ✅
    b) Nehruvian socialism
    c) Subaltern historiography
    d) Sanskritization

45. Which approach focuses on the interplay of tradition and modernity?
    a) Yogendra Singh’s modernization theory ✅
    b) Ghurye’s caste studies
    c) Desai’s Marxism
    d) Subaltern theory

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10. Miscellaneous

46. The first president of the Indian Sociological Society was—
    a) G.S. Ghurye ✅
    b) Srinivas
    c) Desai
    d) Dumont

47. The journal Contributions to Indian Sociology was first published in—
    a) 1957 ✅
    b) 1947
    c) 1962
    d) 1970

48. Which perspective critiques “elite-centric” history?
    a) Subaltern ✅
    b) Indological
    c) Marxist
    d) Structural

49. “Contextual sociology” emphasizes—
    a) Indian society must be understood within its own cultural context ✅
    b) Universal theories only
    c) Western frameworks
    d) Census data only

50. Sociology in India developed uniquely because—
    a) Colonial experience + Indigenous traditions + Social reform ✅
    b) Marxism alone
    c) Indology alone
    d) Subaltern studies alone