Ancient Indian History MCQs

Notes:
Manu, Yajnavalkya, Narada, and Brihaspati were law givers of ancient India. Manu is traditionally regarded as the author of the Manusmriti, a foundational text on Hindu law. Yajnavalkya is known for the Yajnavalkya Smriti, which also addresses legal and social issues. Narada is a sage often associated with legal and ethical discussions in texts like the Narada Smriti. Brihaspati, while primarily known as a deity of wisdom, is also linked to legal principles in ancient texts. These figures played crucial roles in shaping the legal framework of ancient Indian society.

Notes:
Rummindei Pillar Inscription says that The Beloved of the Gods, the king Piyadassi, when he had been consecrated twenty years, came in person find referenced the place where Buddha Sakyamuni was born. He caused a stone enclosure to be made and a stone pillar to be erected. As the Lord was born here in the village of Lumbini, he has exempted it from tax, and fixed its contribution [i.e. Of grain] at one-eigth.

Notes:
Sculptures found at Daimabad were: Copper Rhinoceros, Copper Elephant & Copper Chariot.

Notes:
Initially, the capital was Rajagriha. Later, it was shifted to Pataliputra, near the present-day Patna in India. The founder of this dynasty was Bimbisara himself. According to the Buddhist text, the Mahavamsa, Bimbisara was anointed king by his father at the age of fifteen.

Notes:
In the caverns of Ajanta, India, one can see the many cave paintings that were left on the walls of cave temples. The Buddhists who had their temples their painting mural of Buddhist stories and legends and also of scenes of Gupta India.

Notes:
Mattavilasa Prahasana is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the two great one act plays written by Pallava King Mahendravarman I in the beginning of the seventh century in Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
The inscriptions found in the central and eastern part of India were written in Magadhi Prakrit using the Brahmi script, while Prakrit using the Kharoshthi script, Greek and Aramaic were used in the northwest. These edicts were deciphered by British archaeologist and historian James Prinsep.

Notes:
Giak and Kiari are Neolithic sites located in Union Territory of Ladakh.

Notes:
Several Harappan phase small rural settlements have revealed remains of pit-dwellings, including Burzahom near Srinagar, Nageen in Baluchistan, several sites in Haryana like Farmana, and Gufkral in Kashmir among others spanning the civilization’s territory. These were structures built partially underground for insulation and represented a more basic accommodation for semi-nomadic pastoral communities on the periphery, contrasting the brick houses and planned drainage system of metropolitan Harappan cities.

Notes:
No temples or large idols have been found at major Indus sites indicating worship through fire rituals, veneration of animals, trees, spirits – but no idol worship. Male deities resembling proto-Shiva, goddess figurines provide some clues but practices seemed more diffuse, less institutionalized.