Ancient Indian History MCQs

Notes:
Lord Parshvanath was the 23rd Jain Tirthankara who lived around 872-772 BCE. He was born to King Ashvasena and Queen Vama of Kashi/Varanasi as a royal prince. He gave up worldly comforts and became an ascetic at age 30 in search of spiritual awakening. He attained Kevala Jnana under a Dhaataki tree near Varanasi after 83 days of deep penance. His main teachings were non-violence, not stealing, not lying and non-attachment to possessions. His iconic symbol is a snake or serpent sheltering him.

Notes:
The period of Kushana King Kanishka, Huviska and Vasudeva is considered to be golden age for Mathura school of art. The theme of Mathura school of art may vary from Buddhist to Brahmanical to sometimes secular. The more stress is given to the inner beauty and facial emotions rather than bodily gesture. The sculptures were made on White-spotted red stones.

Notes:
Dashkumarcharitam was composed by Dandin, who was a Sanskrit author of prose romances and expounder on poetics in the 6th-7th century. The book, Dashkumarcharitam is a prose romance in Sanskrit that describes the adventures of ten young men, the Kumaras, all of whom are either princes or sons of royal ministers, as narrated by the men themselves.

Notes:
The Major Rock Edict XIII of Ashokan inscription mentions Asoka’s victory over Kalinga and names of Greek Kings such as Antiochus, Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas and southern Indian rulers such as Cholas, Pandyas. It has also mentioned names of Kamboj, Nabhaks, Bhoja, Andhra, etc.

Notes:
The achievements of Gutamiputra Satkarni were mentioned in Nasik Inscription that were composed by his mother Gautami Balasri. The Nasik Prasasti describes Gautamiputra as the ruler of the Aparanta, Anupa, Saurashtra, Kukura, Akara and Avanti and defeated the Saka King Nahapana and restored the prestige of his dynasty by reconquering a large part of the former dominions of the Satavahanas.

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Chandragupta II Vikramaditya made Ujjain as second capital of his empire.

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LATER VEDIC AGE – The Kekaya kingdom was situated on the bank of River Beas, east of Gandhar kingdom. King Aswapati ruled Kekaya when Janak was the king of Videha.

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Jyotisar is situated at 5 kms from the town of Kurukshetra in Haryana. It was in this very spot that Krishna preached the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, and it is aptly called “Gitopadesha.”

Notes:
Tripitaka or Three Baskets is a traditional term used for various Buddhist scriptures. It is known as pali Canon in English. The three pitakas are Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Sutta Pitaka: It contains over 10 thousand suttas or sutras related to Buddha and his close companions. This also deals with the first Buddhist council which was held shortly after Buddha’s death, dated by the majority of recent scholars around 400 BC, under the patronage of king Ajatasatru with the monk Mahakasyapa presiding, at Rajgir. It is divided into various sections as shown in following graphics:
Vinaya Pitaka: The subject matter of Vinay Pitaka is the monastic rules for monks and nuns. It can also be called as Book of Discipline. Its three books are Suttavibhanga, Khandaka and Parivara.
Abhidhammapitaka deals with the philosophy and doctrine of Buddhism appearing in the suttas. However, it does not contain the systematic philosophical treatises. There are 7 works of Abhidhamma Pitaka which most scholars agree that don’t represent the words of Buddha himself.

Notes:
Niyoga practice in the Vedic Age has provided for a marriage of a childless widow with the brother of blood relation of her deceased husband for the sake of progeny.