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Sultan Jahan Begum, the ruler of Bhopal, provided funds for the preservation of the stupas and the setting up of a museum at which ancient Buddhist site?
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Answer: Option D — Sanchi
Detailed Solution
Sultan Jahan Begum, the ruler of Bhopal (1901-1926), provided funds for the preservation of the ancient Buddhist monuments at Sanchi, in present-day Madhya Pradesh, and for the museum there.
Rediscovery and damage:
- The Sanchi stupas were rediscovered by a British officer, General Henry Taylor, in 1818.
- Over the following decades, amateur archaeologists and treasure hunters damaged the site, and some stupas were dug into in search of relics.
NCERT on Sanchi:
- NCERT notes that the rulers of Bhopal, Shah Jahan Begum and her successor Sultan Jahan Begum, provided money for the preservation of the ancient site.
- NCERT notes that Sultan Jahan Begum funded the museum built there, as well as the guest house where John Marshall lived and wrote the volumes on Sanchi.
- NCERT notes that Sanchi survived because the site was not destroyed, unlike Amaravati, where the remains were taken away.
Restoration:
- Sir John Marshall, the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, carried out major restoration work at Sanchi between 1912 and 1919.
- He published the important volumes on Sanchi, which he dedicated to Sultan Jahan Begum.
About the Sanchi stupa:
- The Great Stupa (Stupa No. 1) was originally built in brick by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.
- It was enlarged and encased in stone during the Shunga period (2nd century BCE).
- The four elaborately carved gateways (toranas) were added in the 1st century BCE, during the Satavahana period.
- The carvings show scenes from the life of the Buddha and the Jataka tales; the Buddha is shown through symbols, such as the wheel, the empty seat, the footprints and the tree.
Recognition:
Sanchi was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sarnath, Bharhut and Amaravati are other Buddhist sites, but they were not the site preserved with funds from the Begum of Bhopal.
Quick tip
Remember: Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh) = preserved with funds from the Begums of Bhopal (Shah Jahan Begum and Sultan Jahan Begum); restored by John Marshall (1912-19); UNESCO site (1989).
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.