Ancient Indian History

1.Who among the following was propounder of the Madhyamika Philosophy?

Bhadrabahu Parshwanath Sheelbhadra Nagarjuna

2.Which of the following Rigvedic deities represented Storm?

Indra Maruts Varun Apas

3.The place Dharanikota in South India is related to which ancient dynasty?

Chola Satavahana Pandya Chera

4.Pushkalavati was capital of which of the following acient Kingdoms?

Gandhara Kosal Magadha Kashi

5._____________is believed to mark the main site of Hastinapur, which was capital of Kauravas and Pandava The imperial gazetteer of India quotes about which of the following places?

Delhi Ghaziabad Meerut Faridabad

Agriculture - Indus Valley Civilization

The Harappans cultivated wheat and barley the two main food crops. Peas and dates were also grown. In addition sesame and mustard were grown and used for oil. However the people cultivated rice as early as 1800 BC in Lothal. The Harappans were the earliest people to grow cotton. Irrigation depended on the irregular flooding of the rivers of Punjab and Sind.

Domestication of animals

Stock breeding was important in Indus culture. Besides sheep and goats, dogs, humped cattle buffalo and elephant was certainly domesticated. The camel was rare and horse was not known.

Harappan Trade

The Harappan people traded with the people of Sumer and with the towns lying along the Persian Gulf. Harappan seals and other small objects used by the merchants and traders for stamping their goods have been found in Mesopotamia. The merchandise was shipped from Lothal and incoming goods were received here. Weights and measures which were very accurately graded point to a very high degree of exchange

Major Cities And Their Features - Indus Valley Civilization

Mohenjodaro

Mohenjodaro (Sind) is situated on the right bank of the Indus.

Harappa

Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan) is located on the left bank of the Ravi.

Chanhudaro

Chanhudaro lies on the left bank of the Indus about 130 km south of Mohenjodaro.

Kalibangan

Kalibangan (Rajasthan) was on the banks of the river Ghaggar which dried up centuries ago.

Lothal

Lothal is at the head of the Gulf of Cambay.

Banawali

Banawali (Haryana) was situated on the banks of the now extinct Sarasvati River.

Surkotada

Surkotada (Gujarat) is at the head of the Rann of Kutch.

Dholavira

Dholavira (Gujarat) excavated is in the Kutch district

Indus Valley Civilization

The sensational discoveries made at Harappa in West Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Sind have revolutionised our idea of ancient Indian history. From the meagre evidence it may be concluded that the civilization represented by these two cities commonly known as the Indus Valley Civilization belonged to the first half of the third millennium B.C. Further evidence indicates that they continued well into the second millennium B.C. Sir John Marshall the eminent Indologist opines that the civilization revealed at these two places leads one to the inference that it is not an incipient one but had begun ages earlier with many millennia of human endeavour behind it. The same high authority goes farther and declares that the civilization of India is even superior to that of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The Indus-Valley people were well-acquainted with the use both of cotton and wool. The numerous specimens of pottery, seals, bracelets etc reveal that arts and crafts florished. The people lived a very comfortable life in well built houses and baths. The streets were all well planned and drains regularly drained out. It was essentially urban civilization. The merchant class contributed to the general prosperity and trade contacts seem to have been

established with the Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilization of those times.

There are many unsolved problems relating to the Indus Valley Civilization. For instance numerous seals have been discovered with inscriptions of the figures of animals and names in a script which is undecipherable. Sir John Marshall says that nothing that we know of in other countries bears any resemblance in point of style to the models of rams, dogs or the intaglio engravings on the seals-the best of which are distinguished by a breadth of treatment and a feeling for line and plastic form that have hardly been surpassed in glyptic art. It was not the Aryans who brought civilization to India which is rather untenable stand taken by Indo-Germanic scholars who seem to think that anything good in the world could have come from Aryan Race. 

Ancient Indian History

1.“The king was the ruler of all except Brahamanas”. This was the view of __?
[A] Manu
[B] Yajnavalkya
[C] Apasthamba
[D] Gautama

2.For which among the following offenses, Manu recommended higher punishment to Brahamans than the persons of other varnas?

[A] Profanity
[B] Murder
[C] Theft
[D] Treason

3.Metronymics were borne by the later rulers of which among the following dynasties?

[A] Maurya
[B] Sunga
[C] Kanva
[D] Satavahana

4.One of the writers of the Dharmashashtra disapproved the practice of Sati declaring it as an act of suicide. Identify him from the given options:

[A] Angiras
[B] Medhatithi
[C] Usana
[D] Visnu

5.Vallabhi era is identical with which of the following era?

[A] The Vikrama era
[B] The Gupta era
[C] The Harsha era
[D] None of the above

Ancient Indian History

1.Which among the following Kushana king adopted the epithet Dharma-thida?
[A] Vima Kadaphises
[B] Kuzul Kadaphises
[C] Kanishka the Great
[D] Huvishka

2.Which among the following Gupta emperors called himself “Lichchhavi-dauhitra”?
[A] Shrigupta
[B] Chandragupta I
[C] Chandragupta II
[D] Samudragupta

3.In Pali texts, who among the following is referred to as Nigantha Nātaputta?

[A] Gautam Buddha
[B] Mahavira
[C] Parshvanatha
[D] Rishabha

4.At which among the following sites of Indus Valley Civilization, the rows of distinctive fire altars with provision of ritual bathing have been found ?

[A] Mohen-jo-daro
[B] Harappa
[C] Kalibangan
[D] Lothal

5.The earliest evidence of rice cultivation comes from which among the following valleys?

[A] Central Ganga Valley
[B] Belan Valley
[C] Gomal Valley
[D] Bolan Valley

Ancient Indian History

1.

Who among the following invented Zero?
[A] Aryabhatta
[B] Varahamihira
[C] Bhaskara I
[D] An unknown Indian

2.Which of the following musical instruments is / are composite or Indo-Islamic in origin ?
1. Sitar
2. Shehnai
3. Tabla
4. Sarangi
Choose the correct option from the codes given below:
[A] 1 & 2 Only
[B] 1, 3 & 4 Only
[C] 1, 2 & 3 Only
[D] 1, 2, 3 & 4

3.Which among the following is known as the earliest example of Panchayatana style of temple?

[A] Dashavatara temple at Deogarh
[B] Temple at Pathari
[C] Shatrughneshwara temple at Bhubaneshwar
[D] Lakshmana temple at Sirpur

4.Which among the following is the hallmark feature of the Dravida style of temple architecture?

[A] Shikhara
[B] Gopuram
[C] Vimana
[D] Mandapa

5.Which among the following is / are works of Kalidasa?

1. Ritusamhara
2. Meghaduta
3. Dasakumarcharita
4. Kumarashambhava
Choose the correct option from the codes given below:
[A] Only 1 & 2
[B] Only 2, 3 &4
[C] Only 1, 2 & 4
[D] 1, 2, 3 & 4