Question

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The old Turkish and the other races, who inhabited Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia before the advent of Islam, were largely Buddhists and earlier still, during the period of the Epics, Hindus. The frontier area was one of the principal centres of old Indian culture and it abounds still with ruins of monuments and monasteries and, specially, of the great University of Taxila, which was at the height of its fame two thousand years ago, attracting students from all over India as well as different parts of Asia. Changes of religion made a difference but could not change entirely the mental backgrounds which the people of those areas had developed.

(d) What has been common to the people of Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia despite their different religions?

Answer 1

Step 1: Focus on continuity, not the religions themselves:
The passage's point is about cultural continuity surviving religious change.

Step 2: Final Answer:
What remained common was their underlying cultural and mental outlook, shaped by centuries of old Indian civilisation, which persisted even as the dominant religion of the region changed.