Ancient Indian History MCQs

Notes:
The Guptas gave the largest grant of villages to temples and Brahmins. The practice of donating land to Brahmins was common during the Gupta period, which was a time of great cultural and intellectual flourishing in India.  The three types of land grants in the Gupta period were:

• Brahmadeya: Land given to a group of Brahmins.
• Devadana: Land given to the gods.
• Agrahara: A settlement of priests.

The land was typically used for farming or other agricultural purposes. The income generated from the land was used to support the Brahmins and their families. The taxes from the villages were assigned to the Brahmana donees, who were also given the right to get the donated land cultivated.

Notes:
Shatapatha Brahmana is a commentary on the Sukla Yajurveda.It is described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas. It contains detailed explanations of Vedic sacrificial rituals, symbolism, and mythology.

Notes:
The 13th rock edict talks about the conquest of Kalinga at the eastern coast of India by Ashoka (268-233) in the year 261 BC. It was an event of greatest historical importance for India and world history.

Notes:
Ettuthokai is a collection of eight books of classical Tamil poetry. It is part of the Pathinen Melkanakku series, which is a collection of 11 anthologies of songs with more lines. The eight books in Ettuthokai are: Ainkurnuru, Akananuru, Purananuru, Kaliththokai, Kuruntokai, Natrinai, Paripaatal, Pathirruppaththu.
Ettuthokai is part of the Sangam Literature, which is some of the oldest available Tamil literature. It is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE.

Notes:
Priyadarsika is a Sanskrit play attributed to king Harshavardhan. It was first translated into English by G. K. Nariman, A. V. Williams Jackson, and Charles J. Ogden in 1923. Ratnavali and Nagananda are other works of Harshavardhan. Harshavardhan was also a great lover of education and learning. Emperor Harshvardhana wrote all the three plays in the Sanskrit Language.

Notes:
Kumārasaṃbhavam is a poem by Kālidāsa. It is regarded as one of Kālidāsa’s finest works. Sati system has been mentioned in this.

Notes:
Kurram (a group of villages) was the lowest unit of Chola administration.

Notes:
The Mousterian refers to a techno-complex (archaeological industry) of flint lithic tools associated primarily with Neanderthals. Acheulean refers to the ancient industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by distinctive oval and pear-shaped “hand-axes” associated with Homo erectus and related species. Oldowan is the oldest-known stone tool industry and dates back as far as 2.5 million years ago. The term Grotian is related to international law and does not related to ancient stone tool industries.

Notes:
The Yogācāra is a Buddhist school’s philosophical tradition that stressed on metaphysical idealism. Nagarjuna, unlike the other philosophers Vasubandhu, Dinnaga, and Dharmakirti, was not a significant contributor to this tradition. Nagarjuna is renowned for his doctrine of “śūnyatā” (emptiness), a cornerstone of the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition, rather than the Yogācāra tradition.

Notes:
There are six Angas or explanatory limbs, to the Vedas: the Siksha and Vyakarana of Panini, the Chhandas of Pingalacharya, the Nirukta of Yaska, the Jyotisha of Garga, and the Kalpas (Srauta, Grihya, Dharma and Sulba) belonging to the authorship of various Rishis. Siksha is a knowledge of phonetics. Siksha deals with pronunciation and accent. The text of the Vedas is arranged in various forms or Pathas. The Pada-patha gives each word its separate form. The Krama-patha connects the word in pairs. Vyakarana is Sanskrit grammar. Panini’s books are most famous. Without knowledge of Vyakarana, you cannot understand the Vedas. Chhandas is metre dealing with prosody. Nirukta is philology or etymology. Jyotisha is astronomy and astrology. It deals with the movements of the heavenly bodies, planets, etc., and their influence in human affairs. Kalpa is the method of ritual. The Srauta Sutras which explain the ritual of sacrifices belong to Kalpa. The sulba Sutras, which treat of the measurements which are necessary for laying out the sacrificial areas, also belong to Kalpa. The Grihya Sutras which concern domestic life, and the Dharma Sutras which deal with ethics, customs and laws, also belong to Kalpa