UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 31 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Manganiyar Folk Musicians
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectArt and Culture
- TopicIndian Culture
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
A community of people called Manganiyars is well-known for their
Show answer
Answer: B. musical tradition in North-West India.
Verdict
The answer is musical tradition in North-West India. The Manganiyars are a hereditary community of professional musicians from the Thar desert region of Rajasthan.
Analysis
The Manganiyars, along with the Langas, perform at the courts and households of traditional patrons, using instruments such as the kamaicha and the khartal, and their repertoire moves between Hindu and Muslim devotional and ceremonial material. The North-East martial arts option and the South Indian classical vocal option place the community in the wrong regions entirely. The fourth option refers to pietra dura, the inlay technique of Mughal architecture, which is a craft and not a community identity.
Source
Indian Express feature on the community.
How to crack it
Two of the four options can be discarded before you know anything about the community, because pietra dura is a stone inlay technique and not something a community is well known for in the sense the stem uses. That takes a four way choice to a three way one. Then remember that Rajasthan is the state UPSC most often draws hereditary musician communities from, with Manganiyar and Langa as the two names that recur.