Ancient Indian Empires Questions and Answers

Q: Arrange the following in chronological order :a. Satvahanasb. Vakatakasc. ChalukyasSelect the correct code from the following :

The chronological order is a-b-c: Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Chalukyas.The Satavahanas ruled the Deccan from about the first century BCE to the early third century CE. The Vakatakas rose in the Deccan after them, from the mid-third to the late fifth century CE. The Chalukyas of Badami established themselves in the mid-sixth century CE under Pulakeshin I.Each of the other codes puts the Chalukyas or the Vakatakas before the Satavahanas, which reverses the sequence of dynasties that succeeded one another in the Deccan.

Q: The Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) was composed by

The Prayaga Prashasti was composed by Harishena in Sanskrit.The Allahabad Pillar Inscription is a eulogy (prashasti) of Samudragupta engraved on an Ashokan pillar. It was written by Harishena, Samudragupta's court poet and minister, in ornate Sanskrit verse and prose, and it lists the king's conquests in the north, the south and the frontier kingdoms.Kalidasa was the poet of Chandragupta II's time, Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita for Harsha, and Ravikirti composed the Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II.

Q: Which script was introduced in South India by Ashoka?

Ashoka introduced the Brahmi script in South India.Ashoka's edicts in the south, such as those at Maski, Brahmagiri and Yerragudi, are written in Brahmi, and it is through them that writing spread across the peninsula. Brahmi is the ancestor of almost every later Indian script, including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.Prakrit and Pali are languages, not scripts: most of the edicts are in Prakrit written in Brahmi. Kharosthi is a script, but Ashoka used it only in the north-west, at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, where it suited the Aramaic-influenced region.

Q: The Third Buddhist Council convened by Ashoka at Pataliputra was presided over by Buddhist saint

The Third Buddhist Council was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa (written 'Mogali Putta Tissa' in the paper).Held at Pataliputra in about 250 BCE under Ashoka's patronage, the council purged the Sangha of dissenting monks, and Moggaliputta Tissa compiled the Kathavatthu. It also sent missionaries abroad, including Ashoka's son Mahendra to Sri Lanka.Upagupta is linked with Ashoka in the northern tradition but did not preside over this council. Ashvaghosha, Kanishka's court poet, and Nagarjuna, the Madhyamika philosopher, belong to later centuries; Vasumitra and Ashvaghosha are linked with the Fourth Council in Kashmir.

Q: Which of the following about Rudradaman is/are correct ?i. He is known for Junagadh inscription.ii. He undertook the restoration of a reservoir called Sudarshana lake.iii. He defeated the Satkarni ruler Gautamiputra.iv. He married his daughter to Gautamiputra's son, Vashishthiputra Pulumavi.

All four statements are accepted, so the answer is All the above (i, ii, iii and iv).Rudradaman I, the Western Kshatrapa ruler of the second century CE, is best known from the Junagadh rock inscription of about 150 CE, the earliest long inscription in classical Sanskrit (i). That inscription records the repair of the Sudarshana lake, a reservoir first built under Chandragupta Maurya, after a storm breached its embankment (ii). It also says he twice defeated Satakarni, lord of Dakshinapatha, whom the textbook account identifies as Gautamiputra Satakarni (iii), and a Kanheri inscription records his daughter's marriage into the Satavahana house, to Vashishthiputra, Gautamiputra's son (iv).Historians differ over exactly which Satavahana kings these two references mean, but the paper follows the standard textbook identifications, so every narrower option leaves out a statement it treats as true.

Q: Which of the following factors are common to the coins issued by Indo-Greek and Kushana rulers ?A. Effigies of Greek and Indian deitiesB. Bilingual coinsC. Use of Gold and CopperD. Portraits of KingsChoose the correct answer from the options given below :

The common features are A, B and D, so the answer is A, B and D only.Both Indo-Greek and Kushana coins carry portraits of kings on the obverse (D), images of Greek and Indian deities (A), and bilingual legends: Greek with Kharoshthi on Indo-Greek coins, and Greek or Bactrian with Kharoshthi or Brahmi on Kushana issues (B).Gold is the difference. The Indo-Greeks struck mostly silver and copper coins, while the Kushanas were the first in India to issue gold coins on a large scale, so 'use of gold and copper' is not common to both.

Q: Samudra Gupta is known for his political conquests from his Allahabad Pillar Inscription. In this context, which of the following statements are correct ?A. He made the frontier rulers of Kamarupa, Samatata, etc., pay obeisance and tributes to him.B. He expelled the Shakas and Murundas through war.C. He defeated, captured and later released the kings of Palakka, Kottura and Avamukta.D. He exterminated Yaudheyas, Madrakas and Malavas.Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

The correct statements are A and C, so the answer is A and C only.Harishena's praise of Samudragupta on the Allahabad pillar says that the frontier rulers of Samatata, Kamarupa, Davaka, Nepala and Kartripura paid him tribute and obeisance (A), and that in his southern campaign he captured the kings of Dakshinapatha, including those of Palakka, Kottura and Avamukta, and then released them and restored their kingdoms (C).The Shakas and Murundas are described as offering service, gifts and homage, not as expelled in war, and the Yaudheyas, Madrakas and Malavas were tribal republics that paid tribute and obeyed his orders rather than being exterminated. So statements B and D are wrong.

Q: The ancestors of Shungas originated from

The ancestors of the Shungas came from Ujjain.The Shunga dynasty was founded in about 185 BCE by Pushyamitra Shunga, the commander-in-chief of the last Maurya king, Brihadratha, whom he killed. The family was Brahmin, and the account followed in Indian textbooks traces its origin to Ujjain in western Malwa. The dynasty's interest in that region shows in its history: Pushyamitra's son Agnimitra governed at Vidisha, also in Malwa.Magadha was the seat of the Mauryan empire that the Shungas took over, not their original home. Prayag and Saurashtra are not given as the place of their ancestors.

Q: Ashoka won the Avanti Mahajanpad and merged in the Mauryan empire during Bindusara ruled. What text does it refer to ?

The account is from the Samant Pasadika of Buddha Ghosh (Samantapasadika of Buddhaghosa).The Samantapasadika, Buddhaghosa's fifth-century Pali commentary on the Vinaya Pitaka, preserves Buddhist traditions about Ashoka's early life, including that during the reign of his father Bindusara he was posted to Avanti, with its capital at Ujjain, which was governed as part of the Mauryan empire.Kautilya's Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft, Panini's Ashtadhyayi a grammar, and Patanjali's Mahabhashya a commentary on that grammar; none records Ashoka's career.

11.

Arrange the following in chronological order :

a. Satvahanas
b. Vakatakas
c. Chalukyas

Select the correct code from the following :

A.a-b-c
B.b-c-a
C.c-b-a
D.c-a-b

Exam Year(s)

JPSC Civil Services - 2021,

Answer: A

The chronological order is a-b-c: Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Chalukyas.

The Satavahanas ruled the Deccan from about the first century BCE to the early third century CE. The Vakatakas rose in the Deccan after them, from the mid-third to the late fifth century CE. The Chalukyas of Badami established themselves in the mid-sixth century CE under Pulakeshin I.

Each of the other codes puts the Chalukyas or the Vakatakas before the Satavahanas, which reverses the sequence of dynasties that succeeded one another in the Deccan.

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12.

The foremost Indo-Roman trading station in Eastern India was :

A.Tamluk
B.Rajgir
C.Arikamedu
D.Bhagrapir

Exam Year(s)

JPSC Civil Services - 2021,

Answer: A

The foremost Indo-Roman trading station in eastern India was Tamluk.

Tamluk, ancient Tamralipti in present-day West Bengal, was the main port of the Ganga delta. Roman pottery and coins have been found there, and it traded with Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and the West.

Arikamedu, near Puducherry, was the best-known Indo-Roman site, but it lies on the south-eastern (Coromandel) coast, not in eastern India. Rajgir was an inland capital of Magadha, not a trading port, and Bhagrapir is not a known Indo-Roman station.

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13.

The Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) was composed by

A.Kalidasa in Sanskrit
B.Banabhatta in Sanskrit
C.Harishena in Sanskrit
D.Ravikriti in Sanskrit

Exam Year(s)

JPSC Civil Services - 2026,

Answer: C

The Prayaga Prashasti was composed by Harishena in Sanskrit.

The Allahabad Pillar Inscription is a eulogy (prashasti) of Samudragupta engraved on an Ashokan pillar. It was written by Harishena, Samudragupta's court poet and minister, in ornate Sanskrit verse and prose, and it lists the king's conquests in the north, the south and the frontier kingdoms.

Kalidasa was the poet of Chandragupta II's time, Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita for Harsha, and Ravikirti composed the Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II.

Discuss in Forum

14.

Which script was introduced in South India by Ashoka?

A.Prakrit
B.Pali
C.Brahmi
D.Kharosthi

Exam Year(s)

Kerala PSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: C

Ashoka introduced the Brahmi script in South India.

Ashoka's edicts in the south, such as those at Maski, Brahmagiri and Yerragudi, are written in Brahmi, and it is through them that writing spread across the peninsula. Brahmi is the ancestor of almost every later Indian script, including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.

Prakrit and Pali are languages, not scripts: most of the edicts are in Prakrit written in Brahmi. Kharosthi is a script, but Ashoka used it only in the north-west, at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, where it suited the Aramaic-influenced region.

Discuss in Forum

15.

The Third Buddhist Council convened by Ashoka at Pataliputra was presided over by Buddhist saint

A.Upagupta
B.Aswagosha
C.Mogali Putta Tissa
D.Nagarjuna

Exam Year(s)

Kerala PSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: C

The Third Buddhist Council was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa (written 'Mogali Putta Tissa' in the paper).

Held at Pataliputra in about 250 BCE under Ashoka's patronage, the council purged the Sangha of dissenting monks, and Moggaliputta Tissa compiled the Kathavatthu. It also sent missionaries abroad, including Ashoka's son Mahendra to Sri Lanka.

Upagupta is linked with Ashoka in the northern tradition but did not preside over this council. Ashvaghosha, Kanishka's court poet, and Nagarjuna, the Madhyamika philosopher, belong to later centuries; Vasumitra and Ashvaghosha are linked with the Fourth Council in Kashmir.

Discuss in Forum

16.

Which of the following about Rudradaman is/are correct ?

i. He is known for Junagadh inscription.
ii. He undertook the restoration of a reservoir called Sudarshana lake.
iii. He defeated the Satkarni ruler Gautamiputra.
iv. He married his daughter to Gautamiputra's son, Vashishthiputra Pulumavi.

A.Only (ii)
B.Only (ii and iii)
C.Only (i, ii and iv)
D.All the above (i, ii, iii and iv)

Exam Year(s)

Kerala PSC KAS - 2025,

Answer: D

All four statements are accepted, so the answer is All the above (i, ii, iii and iv).

Rudradaman I, the Western Kshatrapa ruler of the second century CE, is best known from the Junagadh rock inscription of about 150 CE, the earliest long inscription in classical Sanskrit (i). That inscription records the repair of the Sudarshana lake, a reservoir first built under Chandragupta Maurya, after a storm breached its embankment (ii). It also says he twice defeated Satakarni, lord of Dakshinapatha, whom the textbook account identifies as Gautamiputra Satakarni (iii), and a Kanheri inscription records his daughter's marriage into the Satavahana house, to Vashishthiputra, Gautamiputra's son (iv).

Historians differ over exactly which Satavahana kings these two references mean, but the paper follows the standard textbook identifications, so every narrower option leaves out a statement it treats as true.

Discuss in Forum

17.

Which of the following factors are common to the coins issued by Indo-Greek and Kushana rulers ?

A. Effigies of Greek and Indian deities
B. Bilingual coins
C. Use of Gold and Copper
D. Portraits of Kings

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

A.D only
B.B and D only
C.A, B and D only
D.A, C and D only

Exam Year(s)

KPSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: C

The common features are A, B and D, so the answer is A, B and D only.

Both Indo-Greek and Kushana coins carry portraits of kings on the obverse (D), images of Greek and Indian deities (A), and bilingual legends: Greek with Kharoshthi on Indo-Greek coins, and Greek or Bactrian with Kharoshthi or Brahmi on Kushana issues (B).

Gold is the difference. The Indo-Greeks struck mostly silver and copper coins, while the Kushanas were the first in India to issue gold coins on a large scale, so 'use of gold and copper' is not common to both.

Discuss in Forum

18.

Samudra Gupta is known for his political conquests from his Allahabad Pillar Inscription. In this context, which of the following statements are correct ?

A. He made the frontier rulers of Kamarupa, Samatata, etc., pay obeisance and tributes to him.
B. He expelled the Shakas and Murundas through war.
C. He defeated, captured and later released the kings of Palakka, Kottura and Avamukta.
D. He exterminated Yaudheyas, Madrakas and Malavas.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

A.A and C only
B.B and D only
C.A, B and D only
D.B, C and D only

Exam Year(s)

KPSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: A

The correct statements are A and C, so the answer is A and C only.

Harishena's praise of Samudragupta on the Allahabad pillar says that the frontier rulers of Samatata, Kamarupa, Davaka, Nepala and Kartripura paid him tribute and obeisance (A), and that in his southern campaign he captured the kings of Dakshinapatha, including those of Palakka, Kottura and Avamukta, and then released them and restored their kingdoms (C).

The Shakas and Murundas are described as offering service, gifts and homage, not as expelled in war, and the Yaudheyas, Madrakas and Malavas were tribal republics that paid tribute and obeyed his orders rather than being exterminated. So statements B and D are wrong.

Discuss in Forum

19.

The ancestors of Shungas originated from

A.Magadha
B.Prayag
C.Ujjain
D.Saurashtra

Exam Year(s)

MPPSC State Service - 2018,

Answer: C

The ancestors of the Shungas came from Ujjain.

The Shunga dynasty was founded in about 185 BCE by Pushyamitra Shunga, the commander-in-chief of the last Maurya king, Brihadratha, whom he killed. The family was Brahmin, and the account followed in Indian textbooks traces its origin to Ujjain in western Malwa. The dynasty's interest in that region shows in its history: Pushyamitra's son Agnimitra governed at Vidisha, also in Malwa.

Magadha was the seat of the Mauryan empire that the Shungas took over, not their original home. Prayag and Saurashtra are not given as the place of their ancestors.

Discuss in Forum

20.

Ashoka won the Avanti Mahajanpad and merged in the Mauryan empire during Bindusara ruled. What text does it refer to ?

A.Samant Pasadika of Buddha Ghosh
B.Arthashastra of Kautilya
C.Ashtadhyayi of Panini
D.Mahabhashya of Patanjali

Exam Year(s)

MPPSC State Service - 2021, MPPSC Forest Service - 2021,

Answer: A

The account is from the Samant Pasadika of Buddha Ghosh (Samantapasadika of Buddhaghosa).

The Samantapasadika, Buddhaghosa's fifth-century Pali commentary on the Vinaya Pitaka, preserves Buddhist traditions about Ashoka's early life, including that during the reign of his father Bindusara he was posted to Avanti, with its capital at Ujjain, which was governed as part of the Mauryan empire.

Kautilya's Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft, Panini's Ashtadhyayi a grammar, and Patanjali's Mahabhashya a commentary on that grammar; none records Ashoka's career.

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