History Test - 2

The correct answer is option 1.

Key Points

Mauryan Period (400BC – 200BC) -

• The Mauryan Empire was a pan Indian empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya.
• Ashoka is considered the most significant ruler of the empire.

Languages and Scripts -

• Most Asokan inscriptions were in the Prakrit language while those in the northwest of the subcontinent were in Aramaic and Greek.
• Most Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script, however, some in the northwest were written in Kharoshti.
• The Greek and Aramaic scripts were used for inscription in Afghanistan.
• Hence the correct answer is option 1.

 Additional InformationAshoka's Edicts : 

• The inscriptions of Asoka were first deciphered by James Princep in 1837. 
• Only three languages were used in the Ashoka edicts - Prakrit, Aramaic and Greek.
• Most of the Ashoka inscriptions were in the Prakrit language.
• The Ashoka edicts in the Northwest of the subcontinent were in Greek and Aramaic. 
• Most of the Prakrit inscriptions were in Brahmi script and some of those in the northwest were in Kharosthi script.
• There are fourteen Major Rock Edicts.
• The two Kalinga Edicts are found in the newly conquered territory.
• The major pillar Edicts were erected in important cities. There are minor Rock Edicts and minor pillar Edicts.
• These Edicts of Asoka deal with Asoka’s Dhamma and also instructions were given to his officials. 
• The XIII Rock Edict gives details about his war with Kalinga.
• The Pillar Edict VII gives a summary of his efforts to promote the Dhamma within his kingdom.
• Thus the Asokan inscriptions remain valuable sources for the study of Asoka and the Mauryan Empire.

The correct answer is option 1.​Key Points

Agrahara:

• ​Contribution of land or taxes from a village by the king to the Brahmins.

Ajivika:

• A heterodox sect is closer to Jainism.
• It prospered at the time of the Buddha.

• Gupta period administrative unit of a kingdom.

• A Buddhist place of worship

​Digambara: 

• A Jain sect.
• This sect believes that to attain Moksha, one must give up the luxury of clothes also.

Prabhavati Gupta was the daughter of Chandragupta II. Hence, option 3rd is correct.

Key Points

• Prabhavatigupta was the chief queen of the Vakataka king Rudrasena II. 
• She took over as queen after the sudden death of her husband.
• She ruled for about 10 years until her son Pravarasena II succeeded.
• She was a Vaishnavite and played a central role in the propagation of Vaishnava practices in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
• She had donated land which is a rare example of donation by any woman.

Ashoka's Dhamma:

• It did not involve worship of a god, or performance of a sacrifice.
• He felt that just as a father tries to teach his children, he had a duty to instruct his subjects.
• He was also inspired by the teachings of the Buddha.
• People in the empire followed different religions, and this sometimes led to conflict.
• Animals were sacrificed. Slaves and servants were ill-treated.
• Besides, there were quarrels in families and amongst neighbours.
• Ashoka felt it was his duty to solve these problems.
• So, he appointed officials, known as the Dhamma Mahamatta who went from place to place teaching people about dhamma.
• Ashoka also sent messengers to spread ideas about dhamma to other lands, such as Syria, Egypt, Greece and Sri Lanka.

• From the above, we can conclude that all the options are correct.

The correct answer is Provincial Administrator.

Key Points

Mauryan Administrator -

• The Mauryan Empire had an efficient and centralised administrative system.
• The chief source of information regarding administration under the Mauryan Empire is Chanakya’s work, Arthashastra.
• Mauryan administration was highly centralized.
• Rajukas were the provincial officials during the Mauryan administration.
• Hence the correct answer is option 1.
• the 'Rajukas' looked after the administration of justice.
• They were basically the provincial officials who were mostly engaged in clerical and accounting works.
• They had full power and freedom in controlling the rural administration and also can give capital punishment.
• During the reign of Ashoka, the officials called Rajukas had held a significant place.
• Ashoka in his administrative policy implemented the Rajukas as the sole agency to execute his plans of reforms.
• Sthaanik were the District Administrator in Mauryan Empire.
• Provinces were subdivided into districts for purposes of administration, and a group of officials worked in each district.

The correct answer is ​Pillar Edict VI.

Key PointsPillar Edicts -

• There are seven pillar edicts.
• All the pillars are monoliths (carved out of stone) and the surface is well polished.
• They have been found in different places like Kandahar (Afghanistan), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), Delhi, Vaishali and Champaran (Bihar), Sarnath and Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), and Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh).

• Edicts	Ashoka's inscriptions details
  Pillar Edict I	Ashoka’s principle of protecting his people
  Pillar Edict II	Defines Dhamma as a minimum of sins, many virtues, compassion, liberty, truthfulness and purity
  Pillar Edict III	Avoiding practices of cruelty, sin, harshness, pride and anger among his subjects
  Pillar Edict IV	Responsibilities of the Rajukas
  Pillar Edict V	List of animals and birds that should not be killed on certain days
  Pillar Edict VI	Dhamma policy of the State
  Pillar Edict VII	Ashoka’s work for fulfilling Dhamma. Tolerance for all sects. Also, about Dhamma Mahamattas

The correct answer is Indo-Greeks.

Key Points

Coins and kings

• The Indo-Greeks were the first rulers in India to issue coins which can definitely be attributed to the kings. Hence the correct answer is option 1.
• They were the first to issue gold coins in India.
• Coinage of the Indo-Greek kingdom began to increasingly influence coins from other regions of India by the 1st century BCE.
• The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks.
• Who established control over the north-western part of the subcontinent in the 2nd century BC.
• The first gold coins were issued in the first century CE by the Kushanas.
• These were virtually identical in weight to those issued by contemporary Roman emperors and the Parthian rulers of Iran, and have been found from several sites in north India and Central Asia.
• The Lydian Lion is widely considered the oldest coin in the world.
• These coins predate ancient Greek coinage and were created in the ancient Kingdom of Lydia, which was located in modern-day western Turkey.
• Coins were also issued by tribal republics such as the Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana.

The correct answer is option 3.

Key Points

Gahapati -Head of Household 

• A gahapati was the owner, master or head of a household, who exercised control over the women, children, slaves and workers who shared a common residence.
• The large landholders, as well as the village headman, emerged as powerful figures and often exercised control over other cultivators.
• He was also the owner of the resources land, animals and other things that belonged to the household.
• Sometimes the term was used as a marker of status for men belonging to the urban elite, including wealthy merchants.

Vellalar - landowners

• Vellalar was a word used for large landowners in Tamil.
• The gramabhojaka often got his land cultivated by the Dasa Karmakar.

Uzhavar - Ploughman

• Ploughmen were known as Ujhavar in Tamil.
• Most grihapatis were small landowners.
• Tamil literature also mentions different categories of people living in the villages ploughmen or uzhavar and slaves or adimai.

Adimai - Slaves

• Landless labourers, including slaves, were known as kadaisiyar and adimai.
• Hence the correct answer is option 3.

Important Points

• Three main kinds of people lived in the northern and the southern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
• In the Tamil-speaking regions, they were called Vellalar (large landowners), uzahavar (ordinary ploughmen), and kadaisiyar or adimai (landless labourers).
• In the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, the village headman was called the Grama Bhojaka.
• He owned most of the land, hired slaves to cultivate it, collected taxes from villagers, and was the judge and chief policeman for the village.
• Small landowners were called 'Grihapatis', and slaves who worked on their masters' lands were called Dasa karmakaras.
• There were also craftspeople such as weavers, blacksmiths, potters, and carpenters living in those villages.

The correct answer is the Nashik inscription.

Key Points

Gautamiputra Satakarni 

• Gautamiputra Satakarni (A.D. 106 -130) is said to have destroyed the power of the Shakas and the pride of the Khastriyas promoted the interests of the twice-born and stopped the mixing of the four varnas.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni was a famous emperor of the Andhra dynasty Sattavahanas.
• The Sattavahanas is mentioned in the Puranas as the Andhra king.
• The Satavahanas became powerful again during the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni.
• His achievements are recorded in glowing terms in the Nasik inscription of Queen-mother, Gautami Balasri. Hence the correct answer is option 1.
• The Inscription talks about his victory over Nagapana.
• The seventeenth King of the Satavahana Dynasty, Hala was famous for his book Gathasaptasati.
• The founder of the Satavahana Dynasty was Simuka.

The correct answer is seafarers.

Key Points

Trade in the subcontinent and beyond -

• From the 6 century BCE, land and river routes crisscrossed the subcontinent and extended in various directions overland into Central Asia and beyond.
• Overseas, from ports that dotted the coastline extending across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa and West Asia, and through the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia and China.
• Rulers often attempted to control these routes, possibly by offering protection for a price.
• Those who traversed these routes included peddlers who probably travelled on foot and merchants who travelled with caravans of bullock carts and pack animals.
• There were seafarers, whose ventures were risky but highly profitable.
• Hence the correct answer is option 1.
• Successful merchants, designated as masattuvan in Tamil and set this and satthavahas in Prakrit, could become enormously rich.
• A wide range of goods was carried from one place to another salt, grain, cloth, metal ores and finished products, stone, timber, medicinal plants, to name a few.
• Spices, especially pepper, were in high demand in the Roman Empire, as were textiles and medicinal plants, and these were all transported across the Arabian Sea to the Mediterranean.