Ancient Indian History MCQs

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Gautama Buddha belongs to Sakya clan of Kshatriyas. They lived in the area near Magadha. His mother is Maya devi and father is Suddhodana.

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The Lohara dynasty of Kashmir was founded by Sangam Raj (Hindu ruler) in 1003 AD who received the crown of Kashmir from  his aunt Queen Didda.

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Vijayalaya, the founder of the Chola dynasty, conquered the kingdom of Tanjore in 850 AD, which then became the capital of the Chola Kingdom. The city of Tanjore, also known as Thanjavur, is in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is an important center of South Indian art, architecture, and religion, and was at the heart of the Chola empire, one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world’s history.

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Nigrodharama, a Buddhist Monastery close to Kapilavastu, where Buddha used to live when visiting Kapilavastu. The main evidence that Buddha was born in Lumbini,Nepal is the Ashoka Pillar which is still at Lumbini. Every year number of tourist visit the birth place of Gautam Buddha i.e. Kapilvastu District, Nepal.

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Aryabahata was the first Indian astronomer to state that the Earth is spherical and rotates on its axis. He went on to explain that the apparent daily east- west motion of the sun, moon, planets, and stars is due to the rotation of the Earth from west to east. He introduced two systems for reckoning time: (1) the audayika system, from sunrise to next sunrise, and (2) the ardharaatrika system, that is, midnight to midnight (sidereal time). The time for one sidereal rotation of the Earth is given as 23h 56m 4.1s (modern value: 23h 56m 4.091s). Responsible for the Indian mathematical renaissance, Aryabhata set the pattern and tone of modern mathematical investigations.

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The sermon, Buddha gave to the five monks, was his first sermon, called the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. It was given on the full-moon day of Asalha Puja. It was given at a place called Sarnath, near Varanasi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The real name of the place is Saranganath.

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Kathopanishad is the conversation between Nachiketa and Yamraj (God of death). Nachiketa was a seeker, and Yamraj was a Guru (knower of secrets). The Katha Upanishad is one of the mukhya Upanishads, embedded in the last short eight sections of the Kaṭha school of the Krishna Yajurveda. It is also known as Kāṭhaka Upanishad, and is listed as number 3 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.

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The site of Sutkagen Dor located in Baluchistan, Pakistan near the Iranian border has remains of a unique stone fortification around the settlement with square projections or bastions at the corners and midpoint of its long walls. The walls protected the town located near an important coastal trade route. The bastions gave additional defensive capability allowing guards to monitor multiple angles, and target attackers attempting to scale the walls. Such large defenses imply maintaining control over a strategically located outpost was important.

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There is no definitive evidence so far of sugarcane cultivation from any Harappan settlements. However, remains of wheat, barley, pulses, peas, sesame, cotton, dates, melons and Indian mainland millets have been confirmed through storage jars, grains, husks, leaves and artistic depictions. This indicates the Indus people practiced diverse agriculture with major staple cereal crops, fiber plants and fruits suited to the landscape.

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In the context of Harappan civilization, the term ‘English Bond’ refers to the brickwork bonding pattern where bricks are laid in alternating header (short side) and stretcher (long side) arrangement in successive courses. This interlocking arrangement created structural stability, detectible in granaries and walls at sites like Mohenjo-daro and Rakhigarhi. English bond provided earthquake resistant buildings reflecting the town planning Sophistication of these ancient cities.