Who was the author of The Secret Doctrine?

Question

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Correct — B, H. P. Blavatsky. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891), the Russian-born occultist who co-founded the Theosophical Society with Colonel Henry Steel Olcott in New York in 1875, published The Secret Doctrine in 1888. It is the central text of Theosophy, setting out her account of cosmic and human evolution and drawing heavily on Hindu and Buddhist ideas. Her earlier book, Isis Unveiled (1877), had already made her name in the movement.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The founder of the Brahmo Sabha (1828) wrote Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin and The Precepts of Jesus, and he died in 1833 — more than fifty years before The Secret Doctrine appeared.  (c) A leader of the Brahmo Samaj who broke away to form the Brahmo Samaj of India and later the Nava Vidhan; he died in 1884 and had no connection with the Theosophical movement.  (d) Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve worked for widow remarriage and women's education and founded the Indian Women's University; he was a social reformer and educationist, not a writer on Theosophy.

Concept: The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, moved to India in 1879 and settled its headquarters at Adyar near Madras in 1882. Its motto — 'There is no religion higher than Truth' — captured its claim to seek a wisdom common to all faiths, and it drew on Indian philosophy at a time when educated Indians were being told their traditions were backward. Annie Besant joined in 1889 and became president in 1907; through her the movement fed directly into Indian public life, from the Central Hindu School at Banaras to the Home Rule League.

State PCS 2026 Q60 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q60 — History PYQ with Answer