Social Science Questions & Answers

The Ramayana, originally written by Valmiki, consists of 24,000 verses in seven cantos (some say six i.e. excluding the Uttara Ramayana). The Ramayana tells the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rakshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. The Valmiki’s Ramayana is dated variously from 500 BC to 100 BC, or about co-eval …

Buddhism is not a religion so much as a way of life, as it has no god and no prayer. Buddha, which means ‘the enlightened one’, was Gautama Siddhartha who founded the religion about 528 BC. He came from an aristocratic family in northern India. Having decided that worldly success meant nothing, he had a vision one night, as he …

“He stole from the rich and gave to the poor” is a favorite saying about this notorious outlaw. According to legend, Robin is supposed to have lived in Sherwood Forest with his band of Merry Men, robbing wealthy travelers and giving their gold and jewels to the poor people of Nottingham shire and Yorkshire. The first written account of him …

Emmeline Goulden was born in 1858 in Manchester, England, and later married Richard Pankhurst. With his help, and that of her two daughters, Sylvia and Christabel, she formed the Women’s Franchise League in 1889, an organization which campaigned for the right of women to vote. In 1903 she formed the National Women’s Social and Political Union, with slogan “Votes for …

The identity of the famed muse of Leonardo da Vinci was a mystery until recently. German researchers claim they have solved the mystery of the woman who was Mona Lisa. They believe it was Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy merchant in Florence named Francesco del Giocondo. The discovery is based on notes by a Florentine official who …

In 1260, two Venetian brothers, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, set off on an amazing journey. They had traveled as far as Russia and were on their way home by way of the Caspian Sea when they met some envoys from the court of Kublai Khan, the emperor of China. Instead of returning to Italy, the two brothers decided to accompany …

Long ago, in Anglo-Saxon times, the people of the town of Coventry, in England, were saved from paying very heavy taxes by the action of their countess Godiva, who rode naked round the town to prove to her husband, Earl Leofric, that she was ready to do almost anything to make her people’s life easier. This is legend, and in …

Frederic II (1712-1786) was the king of Prussia during 1740-1786. During his reign, Prussia prospered greatly and doubled in area. His countrymen called him Frederic the Great. He was the son of Frederic William-I and Sophie Dorothia von Hannover. He won many wars against neighbouring countries like Austria, Russia and France. Declaring himself to be the first servant of his …

Hermann Kallenbach (1871–1945) was a South African architect who is best known for being a very close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, starting from the latter’s early days in South Africa. Kallenbach was born in 1871 in East Prussia to a German-Jewish family. He went to study architecture in Stuttgart and Munich. In 1896, he went to South Africa, where he …

Geronimo (June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, “Geronimo” was the name given to him during a Mexican incident. His Chiricahua name is often rendered as Goyathlay …