Ancient Indian Empires Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The first Indian epigraphic evidence of zero comes from the Gwalior inscription of Bhojadeva, option (B), dated 876 AD, which records a gift of land and a garden of 270 hastas, with the zero written as a small circle. The Apsad inscription of Adityasena is a seventh century Later Gupta record with no zero numeral, the Nasik inscription of Gautamiputra Satakarni is a Satavahana record of the second century with numerals of the older style, and the Hathigumpha inscription is of Kharavela. So (A), (C) and (D) are wrong.

Answer: C

The Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman I refers to Chandragupta Maurya, saying that his governor Pushyagupta had built the Sudarshana lake.

The Kandahar, Brahmagiri and Maski inscriptions are of Ashoka and are about his own rule and message; they do not mention his grandfather Chandragupta Maurya in this way.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: B

The fifth pillar edict was ordered in the 26th year after Ashoka's consecration. It lists the animals and birds that were not to be killed, and gives the fish, tortoises and other creatures that were made inviolable.

The 15th, 20th and 30th years are not the year given in the edict, so they are wrong.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: D

All the listed scenes are themes of Gandhara sculpture: the presentation of the bride to Siddhartha, the gift of the Jetavana garden to the Buddha, and the scene of the Buddha's parinirvana. Gandhara art took its themes from the life of the Buddha and the Jataka stories.

Since each of the three is a Gandhara theme, 'All the above' is correct, and any single option is incomplete.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: B

Following the official key, the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta mentions Krishna and Devaki, in a verse comparing the king and his mother to them.

The Allahabad pillar inscription praises Samudragupta's conquests, the Eran pillar inscription of Budhagupta records a Vishnu pillar, and the Mehrauli iron pillar inscription concerns a king named Chandra. They are not the ones that name Krishna and Devaki.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: B

Harsha donated almost all his belongings at the sixth quinquennial assembly at Prayaga, according to the account of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang, who attended it.

The 5th, 7th and 8th are not the assembly in which Xuanzang says he gave away nearly everything, so they are wrong.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: D

All three statements are true about the Kushanas. Their traces have been found in Central Asia, from where they came, they perhaps began the practice of appointing two governors at once in a province, and Gandhara art under them showed the Buddha in human form and mixed Indian and foreign styles.

So 'All the above' is correct, and each option naming only one of these leaves out true statements.

This is a factual recall item, so the keyed option is identified by matching the person, text, date or term in the stem, and each remaining option fails that match for the reason given above.

Answer: D

Following the official key, the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta records the gift of a village in favour of a Vishnu temple, along with the setting up of an image of Vishnu.

The Allahabad pillar inscription is a eulogy of Samudragupta and does not record such a gift. The Udayagiri cave inscription of Chandragupta II and the Bilsad pillar inscription of Kumaragupta I are about other religious works and are not the record of a village gift to a Vishnu temple.

Answer: B

Both statements are true but the reason does not explain the assertion. The Junagadh inscription says Rudradaman repaired the Sudarshana lake embankment after the damage, and it adds that he did so without levying taxes or forced labour.

The absence of the emergency tax and free service is an additional fact about how he did the work, not the cause of the repair, so (R) is not the explanation of (A). That makes option B correct.

Answer: A

The statement that Ashoka granted land to the ministers and the highest bureaucracy in lieu of salary is not true. The Mauryan officials were paid in cash salaries, and land grants to officers in place of pay became common in the later centuries.

His Dhamma was an ethic of good social conduct and cohesion, he advocated tolerance of all sects, and he criticised useless rituals in his edicts. These three statements are true, so option A is the one which is not true. The Arthashastra, by contrast, describes payment of salaries to the officials in cash, which shows the usual practice of the Mauryan state.