Ancient Indian Empires Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Rudradaman defeated the Yaudheyas.

The Junagadh rock inscription of the Shaka Kshatrapa Rudradaman I (about 150 CE) boasts that he forcibly destroyed the Yaudheyas, who had become proud of their title of heroes among all Kshatriyas. It also records his victories over the Satavahana ruler of Dakshinapatha.

The Arjunayanas, Abhiras and Audumbaras are not the tribe named in that boast.

Answer: B

The king was Gautamiputra Satakarni.

The Nashik cave 3 inscription, set up by his mother Gautami Balashri in the reign of her grandson, praises Gautamiputra Satakarni as the one who uprooted the Kshaharata family, that is, defeated the Shaka satrap Nahapana, and restored the glory of the Satavahanas. Restruck Nahapana coins support this.

Vashishthiputra Pulumavi, his successor, issued the inscription; Yajna Sri Satakarni and Vijaya Satakarni came later.

Answer: B

The deity not mentioned is Rudra.

The Naneghat cave inscription of Queen Naganika (Nayanika), widow of Satakarni I, opens with invocations to Dharma, Indra, Sankarshana and Vasudeva, the Moon and the Sun, and the guardians of the quarters such as Yama, Varuna and Kubera, and it records the Vedic sacrifices performed by the royal family.

Vasudeva, Sankarshana and Indra are therefore all named. Rudra is not among the deities invoked.

Answer: A

Ajatasatru was the son of Bimbisara.

Bimbisara of the Haryanka dynasty built up the kingdom of Magadha in the sixth century BCE. His son Ajatasatru seized the throne, by tradition imprisoning his father, and expanded Magadha further, defeating the Licchavis. Both were contemporaries of the Buddha.

Udayin was Ajatasatru's son, who founded Pataliputra. Shishunaga founded the dynasty that succeeded the Haryankas, so he came later.

Answer: D

Gautama Buddha renounced home at the age of 29 years.

Siddhartha Gautama left his palace at Kapilavastu at 29, an event called the Great Renunciation (Mahabhinishkramana), after seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic. He attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya at 35 and died at Kushinagar at 80.

26, 27 and 28 years do not match the traditional account.

Answer: A

Chanakya's real name was Vishnugupta.

The adviser of Chandragupta Maurya is known by three names: Vishnugupta, his personal name; Chanakya, from his father Chanak or his family; and Kautilya, from his gotra (clan). The Arthashastra is attributed to him under the name Kautilya.

Kautilya is another name, not his given name, which is why the key prefers Vishnugupta. Ramtanu Mishra and Vishisht are not his names.

Answer: D

The Nasik inscription records the achievements of Gautamiputra Satkarni.

The inscription in the Pandavleni caves at Nasik was set up by his mother, Gautami Balashri. It praises Gautamiputra Satakarni, the greatest Satavahana king, as the destroyer of the Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas and the restorer of the Satavahana power, and describes his wide dominions.

Bindusara, Ashoka and Chandragupta were Maurya kings of an earlier age; Ashoka's achievements are known from his own rock and pillar edicts.

Answer: A

The First Buddhist Council was held under Ajatsatru.

Soon after the Buddha's death, the First Council met at Rajagriha under the patronage of the Magadha king Ajatashatru, presided over by Mahakassapa, to compile the Buddha's teachings into the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas.

The Second Council met at Vaishali under Kalasoka, the Third at Pataliputra under Ashoka, and the Fourth in Kashmir under Kanishka.

Answer: A

The broken relief sculpture of Ashoka was found at Kanaganahalli (near Sannati in Gulbarga district) in Karnataka, option A. The relief shows him seated with attendants and carries the inscription 'Raya Asoka', and it comes from a Buddhist stupa site excavated in the late 1980s and after.

Mahasthan is in Bangladesh and has a Mauryan Brahmi inscription, Kumrahar in Bihar has the Mauryan pillared hall at Patna, and Nittur in Karnataka has a minor rock edict of Ashoka, so none of these gave the sculpture.

The relief comes from the Buddhist stupa site at Sannati and carries a caption naming the king as 'Raya Asoka', which is why it was identified as a portrait of him.

Answer: B

The Nanda kings in chronological order, following the Buddhist tradition of the Mahabodhivamsa, are Ugrasena, Panduka, Govishanaka and Dhana, which is (c), (b), (a), (d), option B. Dhana, the last, is the Dhana Nanda whom Chandragupta Maurya overthrew.

Options A and D put Panduka before Ugrasena or Govishanaka last, and option C puts Govishanaka first. None of them ends with Dhana as the last king except A and B, and A reverses the first pair.