Ancient Indian History MCQs

Notes:
Bhavbhuti was the court poet of famous Maukhari king Yashovarma ( of Kannauj) who ruled around 730 AD. The works  attributed to poet Bhavbhuti viz Mahaviracharita(depicting the early life of Rama), Malatimadhava a play based on the romance  of Malati and Madhava and Uttararamacharita (depicts Rama’s coronation, the abandonment of Sita and their reunion).

Notes:
The image of Buddha with a circular head halo and flying Gandharvas on either side with garlands in hands appeared for the first time during the Gandhara School of Arts.

Notes:
The Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai, has recently accorded the Geographical Indications certificate to Tamil Nadu Government for “Mahabalipuram Stone Sculpture”. The Pallava dynasty, which ruled the area between 6th and 9th centuries A.D., is responsible for the creation of several such wonderful edifices. Mahendravarman (AD 580-630), his son Narasimhavarman-I Mamalla (AD 630-668), Paramesvaravarman (A.D. 672-‘700) and Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha (A.D. 700-728) had contributed the most of sculptures in Mahabalipuram and developed the port town as a centre of art and architecture.

Notes:
The Indo-Greeks were the first rulers in India to issue coins which can definitely be attributed to the kings. They were the first to issue gold coins in India.

Notes:
Pali was developed after the parinirvana as an artificial hybrid vernacular synthesized from similar dialects as Buddhism spread, so that different Buddhists could communicate with each other.

Notes:
Narasimhavarman ruled from AD 630-668 and was considered the greatest of the Pallava Kings. He sent two naval expeditions to Ceylon. His greatest achievement however was the three successive triumphs over the Chalukya King Pulakesin II and annexed Vatapi to his kingdom.

Notes:
Gautamiputra Sri Satakarni adopted the title Tri-samudra-toya-pita-vahana. Tri-samudra-toya-pita-vahana meant the ruler whose subjects drank the water of the three seas of the east, west and south viz. today’s Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

Notes:
Fa-hien wrote this book when he came to India during the reign of Gupta dynasty most probably between A.D 399-414. He was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from Ancient China to Ancient India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites in Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia between 399-412 to acquire Buddhist texts.

Notes:
Excavations at Mohenjo-daro city of the Indus Valley civilization, have uncovered a small fragment made of potstone belonging to a cylindrical hut-shaped vessel featuring carved decoration reminiscent of Mesopotamian style. This signifies the Harappan trade networks and contact with contemporary Near Eastern urban cultures in the 3rd millennium BCE. Such imports affirm inter-civilizational exchanges between the early world cities of the Bronze Age.

Notes:
Daya Ram Sahni of ASI first scientifically excavated and brought to light the full significance of Harappa site in early 1920s, superseding earlier reports by archaeologists like Coussens, Fuhrer and others who recorded presence of an extensive brick ruins site in colonial India period but preliminary deductions failed to establish its identity.