Ancient Indian Empires Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Pravarasena I of the Vakataka dynasty is the ruler known to have performed the largest number of Asvamedha sacrifices, claiming four of them along with other great sacrifices, which is why the key gives him.

Samudragupta and Kumaragupta I each performed one Asvamedha, as their coins show, and Pushyamitra Sunga is credited with two. None of them performed as many sacrifices as the Vakataka ruler. The Vakatakas ruled in the Deccan in the third to fifth centuries and they were rivals and relatives of the Guptas.

Answer: D

A drama called Kauntaleshwar Dautya (the embassy to the Lord of Kuntala) is attributed to Kalidasa by Kshemendra, the Kashmiri writer of the eleventh century, in his work on poetic propriety. The drama is now lost.

Bharavi is a poet in his own right and Rajasekhara is a dramatist of the Pratihara period, so neither of them is the person who ascribes the drama to Kalidasa, and Kuntalesha is the name of the ruler in the title.

Answer: B

The order of the Shunga rulers is Pushyamitra, Agnimitra, Sujyeshtha and Sumitra.

Pushyamitra Shunga founded the dynasty and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra, after whom came Vasujyeshtha (Sujyeshtha) and then Vasumitra (Sumitra), according to the Puranic list. That gives (II), (I), (IV), (III), which is option B. The dating of the rulers is not exact, but the list in the Puranas gives the order of the first rulers of the dynasty as Pushyamitra, Agnimitra, Vasujyeshtha, Vasumitra, and so on, which gives the key.

Answer: B

The Romaka Siddhanta shows signs of Greek influence.

Among the five Siddhantas summarised by Varahamihira, the Romaka Siddhanta and the Paulisa Siddhanta show the effects of Greek astronomy, which reached India through Alexandria and the western trade. The Romaka name points to the Roman world, but the content is Hellenistic and so is called Greek, and there is no Iranian or Arabian influence in it.

Answer: A

Vikramashila is in Bihar, Valabhi in Gujarat, Besnagar in Madhya Pradesh and Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh.

The Vikramashila monastery was founded by Dharmapala near Bhagalpur, Valabhi was a centre of learning in Saurashtra, Besnagar near Vidisha is known for the Heliodorus pillar, and Nagarjunakonda is on the Krishna in Andhra. This is (iv) (i) (ii) (iii), option A.

Answer: C

The earliest epigraphical evidence of Sati is the Eran pillar inscription of Bhanugupta.

The Eran inscription of the Gupta general Bhanugupta, dated about 510 A.D., records the death of Goparaja in battle and the immolation of his wife on his funeral pyre. The Mathura inscription of Huvishka and the Junagarh inscription of Rudradaman do not mention the practice, and the Banskhera inscription of Harsha, of the seventh century, is later than Eran.

Answer: A

Kumaragupta I goes with the Bilsad inscription, Kumaragupta II with Sarnath, Budhagupta with Eran and Parantaka II with Uttaramerur.

The Bilsad pillar inscription dates from the time of Kumaragupta I, the Sarnath inscription belongs to Kumaragupta II, Budhagupta's Eran pillar inscription is of the year 484, and the Uttaramerur inscriptions are of the Chola king Parantaka. This is (ii) (iii) (iv) (i), option A.

Answer: A

The correct matching is Romaka Siddhanta with Greek influence (ii), Rouletted Ware with Roman influence (iii), Surkhi with Kushan influence (iv) and Algebra with Arabian influence (i), which is code (A). The Romaka Siddhanta is one of the five astronomical siddhantas summarised by Varahamihira and shows Greek learning. Rouletted ware is a fine pottery of the early centuries AD found at sites such as Arikamedu and linked to Indo-Roman trade. Surkhi is attached here to the Kushan period, and algebra came to India from the Arabs. Codes (B), (C) and (D) swap two or more of these.

Answer: B

The Junagarh inscription of Rudradaman, option (B), mentions both Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka. It records that the Sudarshana lake was built in the time of Chandragupta by his governor Pushyagupta and improved under Ashoka by Tushaspa, and then repaired by Rudradaman in the second century AD. The Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta is a eulogy of the Gupta king and carries the Ashokan edicts on the same pillar but does not name Chandragupta Maurya in its own text. The Shahbazgarhi inscription is an Ashokan edict, and the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela is a Kalinga record, so (A), (C) and (D) are not right.

Answer: B

The statement that is not correct is (B), that the Satavahanas issued gold coins. The Satavahana coinage was mainly of lead, potin, copper, bronze and some silver, and the dynasty is known for not issuing gold coins of its own, though Roman gold coins flowed into the Deccan in the trade of that age. So (A), that they did not issue gold coins, is correct and not the answer asked for, and (C) lead coins and (D) potin coins are both correct statements about their money. The question asks for the incorrect one, which is the statement that they issued gold coins.