Ancient Indian History MCQs

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Gathasaptashati was written by the Satavahana king Hala. Hala was the 17th ruler of the Satavahana dynasty and ruled from 20–24 CE. The text is a collection of 700 Prakrit verses written by various poets and poetesses. Most of the poems are about love. The text is considered the most important literary work in Prakrit. It is believed that the text took its formal shape in the early centuries of the Common Era.

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Before becoming a Buddhist, Menander (an Indo-Greek king) asked Nagasena many questions relating to Buddhism.These questions and Nagasena’s answers are recorded in a form of book known as ‘Milindapanho (or The Questions of Milinda).

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In Pali Buddhist texts, most notably the Sutta Pitaka, Lord Mahavira is referred and addressed as ‘Nigantha Nataputta’. Nigantha means one without any bonds or ties. Nataputta means son of Jnatri clan to which Mahavira belonged. This name referred to Mahavira’s state as an ascetic who had renounced worldly pleasures and ties. The term contrasts Buddhism’s middle path to Jainism’s ascetic path to moksha or liberation.

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Bahubali also called Gomateshwara was an Arihant. According to Jainism, he was the second of the hundred sons of the first Tirthankara, Rishabha and king of Podanpur. A monolithic statue of Bahubali referred to as “Gommateshvara” built by the Ganga dynasty minister and commander Chamundaraya is a 60 feet (18 m) monolith and is situated above a hill in Shravanabelagola, in the Hassan district of Karnataka. It was built in the 10th century AD.

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Simuka (230-207 BC) was the founder of Satvahana dynasty, who conquered the present-day Maharashtra and parts of Madhya Pradesh. He was succeeded by his brother Kanha, who further extended his state to the present day Andhra Pradesh.

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The capital of Kanishka I was at Purushapura (modern Peshawar) and regional capitals were Taxila (Pakistan), Begram (Afghanistan) and Mathura (India).

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The Neolithic sites in Odisha include Kuchai in Mayurbhanj district, and the recently excavated site of Golbai Sasan on the banks of Mandakini River.

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The Indus Valley site at Surkotada is located in the Rapar Taluka of the Kutch district of Gujarat, about 160 km northeast of Bhuj. The ancient mound is surrounded by a rising ground with small sandstone hills.

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Atharava Veda is known as Brahma Veda because it is recited by the Brahma priest in the Yajna and also because there are deliberations about Brahman, which is the ultimate reality according to Vedanta.

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The Gopatha Brahmana is a genre of the prose texts describing the Vedic rituals, associated with the Atharvaveda. The text is associated with both the Shaunaka and the Paippalada recension of the Atharvaveda. It is considered that this Brahmana is associated with both Shaunaka and Paippalada Shakha of the Atharvaveda.