Q. With reference to ancient Indian History, consider the following pairs:
- Literary work Devichandragupta : Author Bilhana
- Hammira-Mahakavya : Nayachandra Suri
- Milinda-panha : Nagarjuna
- Nitivakyamrita : Somadeva Suri
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched? (UPSC Prelims 2023)
Answer:
Only two
Notes: The correct answer is
[B] Only two. Pairs 2 and 4 are correctly matched, while Pairs 1 and 3 are incorrect.
- Devichandragupta : Vishakhadatta (Pair 1 – Incorrect): This Sanskrit play was written by Vishakhadatta, the same author of Mudrarakshasa. It narrates the story of the Gupta King Ramagupta and his brother Chandragupta II. Bilhana, on the other hand, was an 11th-century Kashmiri poet who wrote the Vikramankadevacharita.
- Hammira-Mahakavya : Nayachandra Suri (Pair 2 – Correct): This is a 15th-century Sanskrit epic by the Jain scholar Nayachandra Suri. It details the history of the Chauhan dynasty, specifically the life and heroic struggle of King Hammira of Ranthambore against Alauddin Khalji.
- Milinda-panha : Nagasena (Pair 3 – Incorrect): The Milinda-panha (Questions of Milinda) records the philosophical dialogue between the Indo-Greek King Menander I and the Buddhist sage Nagasena. While Nagarjuna was a famous Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka school, he is not the author of this specific text.
- Nitivakyamrita : Somadeva Suri (Pair 4 – Correct): Written in the 10th century by the Jain monk Somadeva Suri, this work is a treatise on statecraft and political ethics, heavily influenced by Kautilya’s Arthashastra but written from a Jain perspective.
The literature of ancient and early medieval India is a core area for UPSC. Distinguishing between authors like Vishakhadatta (Gupta era) and Bilhana (Later Chalukya era) is crucial for chronological accuracy.