Ancient Indian History MCQs

Notes:
James Princep (1799-1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India. He was the first to decipher the inscriptions of Ashoka and the Brahmi script.

Notes:
The Major rock edict I of Ashoka prohibits animal slaughter and holidays of festive gathering. Only two peacocks and one deer were killed in Asoka’s kitchen. He wished to discontinue this practice of killing two peacocks and one deer as well. On the other hand, Major Rock Edict II mentions medical treatment for men and animals, construction of roads, wells and tree planting.

Notes:
The history of ancient Tamil kingdoms i.e. Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas came to be known from Sangam Literature.

Notes:
Hotri For Vedic priests viz. Hotri, adhvaryu, udgatri and brahman (brahmin) participated in the shrauta rites and each of them had special attributes. Hotri was the priest chanting the hymns of Rig Veda; adhvaryu chanting the hymns of Yajur Veda; Udgatri chanting the Sama Veda hymns. Brahman priest was the most and supervisor of the entire ceremony and the one chanting the hymns of Atharva Veda.

Notes:
The IX mandala of the Rigveda samhita is dedicated to Soma.

Notes:
The Buddha belonged to a small gana known as the Sakya gana, and was a kshatriya. When he was a young man, he left the comforts of his home in search of knowledge. He wandered for several years, meeting and holding discussions with other thinkers. He finally decided to find his own path to realisation, and meditated for days on end under a peepal tree at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where he attained enlightenment. After that, he was known as the Buddha or the Wise One. He then went to Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he taught for the first time.
Buddha attained Nirvana at Kusinara a village some 180km from Varanasi and it was in the state of Mallas.

Notes:
Etti, Kavidi and Eradi are the Titles followed in sangam age. The Sangam Age was the period of history of ancient Tamil Nadu and Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka.

Notes:
The Junagarh Rock Inscription mentions that the Saka ruler Rudradaman (150-151 BC) had taken up the task of restoration of lake Sudarsana.

Notes:
The Sun Temple at Konarak was built in about 1250 AD by the East Ganga king Narasimhadeva in order to commemorate military successes against Muslim invaders.It is also known as the Black Pagoda.

Notes:
Manusmriti, a book on Indian law is attributed to the legendary first man and lawgiver, Manu. Manu-smriti, traditionally the most authoritative of the books of the Hindu code (Dharmashastra) in India.