Test: Ancient History and Medieval- 1 - UPSC MCQ

• Only a few fossils relating to human evolution have been discovered in the Indian subcontinent.
• Nonetheless, some of the earliest skull fossils have been found in the Siwalik hills covering India and Pakistan.
• These skulls appear in the Potwar plateau, in Punjab province of Pakistan, which is developed on sandstone. These skulls are called Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus.

Hence, option (c) is correct.

• They seem to possess some hominid features though they represent apes.
• Ramapithecus was the female, but both belonged to the same group.
• Remains of Ramapithecus were subsequently found in other parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe as well, and were dated between 10–14 million years ago.

• During the 15th century, the Persian style of painting started influencing the Western Indian style of painting as is evident from the Persian facial types and hunting scenes appearing on the borders of some of the illustrated manuscripts of the Kalpasutra (a Jain text).
• The introduction of the use of ultramarine blue and gold color in the Western Indian manuscripts is also believed to be due to the influence of the Persian painting. These Persian paintings, which came to India, were in the form of illustrated manuscripts.
• An illustrated manuscript of the Nimat Nama (Cookery Book) which exists in the Indian Office Library, London is marked by a new trend of painting at Malwa.
  • The manuscript was started in the time of Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji of Malwa (1469-1500 A.D.)
  • It shows Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji supervising cooking being done by maids.
  • In the Nimat Nama style, the Persian influence is visible in the scroll-like clouds, flowering trees, grassy tufts and flowering plants in the background, female figures, and costumes. Indian elements are noticeable in some female types and their costumes and ornaments and colors. In this manuscript, one can notice the first attempt towards the evolution of new styles of painting by the fusion of the Persian style of Shiraz with the indigenous Indian style.
• Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
   

In the neolithic site Burzahom (in present-day Kashmir) people built pit-houses, which were dug into the ground, with steps leading into them. These may have provided shelter in cold weather.
Hence, option (d) is correct.
 

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq was born in 1309 and ascended the throne of Delhi (1351-88) after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
  • He adopted a policy of trying to appease the nobles, the army and the theologians, and of asserting his authority over only such areas that could be easily administrated from the centre.
• Statement 1 is not correct: It was during the time of Firuz that jizyah became a separate tax. Earlier, it was a part of land revenue. Firuz refused to exempt the Brahmans from the payment of jizyah since this was not provided for in the sharia. Only women, children, the disabled and the indigent who had no means of livelihood were exempt from it.
• Statement 2 is correct: Firuz Tughlaq was the first ruler who took steps to have Hindu religious works translated from Sanskrit into Persian, so that there may be a better understanding of Hindu ideas and practices. Many books on music, medicine and mathematics were also translated from Sanskrit into Persian during his reign.

• The southern end of the Indian peninsula situated south of the Krishna river was divided into three kingdoms: Chola, Pandya, and Chera or Kerala.
• The Pandyas are first mentioned by Megasthenes, who says that their kingdom was celebrated for pearls. He also speaks of it being ruled by a woman, which suggests some matriarchal influence in Pandya society. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The Pandya territory: Occupied the southernmost and the south-eastern portion of the Indian peninsula, and it roughly included the modern districts of Tirunelveli, Ramnad, and Madurai in Tamil Nadu, with its capital at Madurai. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• The literature compiled in the Tamil academies in the early centuries of the Christian era and called the Sangam literature refers to the Pandya rulers, but it does not provide any coherent account. One or two Pandya conquerors are mentioned. However, this literature shows clearly that the state was wealthy and prosperous.
• The Pandya kings profited from trade with the Roman empire and sent ambassadors to the Roman emperor Augustus. The Brahmanas enjoyed considerable influence, and the Pandya king performed Vedic sacrifices in the early centuries of the Christian era.

As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were (a) building huge forts (b) maintaining big armies, they needed more resources. And they needed officials to collect these. So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes.

• Taxes on crops were the most important. This was because most people were farmers. Usually, the tax was fixed at 1/6th of what was produced. This was known as bhaga or a share.

Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

• There were taxes on crafts persons as well. These could have been in the form of labour.
  For example, a weaver or a smith may have had to work for a day every month for the king.

Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Herders were also expected to pay taxes in the form of animals and animal produce.
• There were also taxes on goods that were bought and sold, through trade.

Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• And hunters and gatherers also had to provide forest produce to the raja.
   

• Ellora cave site is located in Aurangabad District. It is located a hundred kilometers from Ajanta and has thirty-four Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain caves. It has monasteries associated with the three religions dating from the fifth century CE onwards to the eleventh century CE.
• There are twelve Buddhist caves having many images belonging to Vajrayana Buddhism like Tara,Mahamayuri, Akshobhya, Avalokiteshwara, Maitreya, Amitabha, etc.
• Ajanta also has excavated double-storeyed caves but at Ellora, the triple storey is a unique achievement.
• Buddha images are big in size; they are generally guarded by the images of Padmapani and Vajrapani. Cave No. 12, which is a triple-storey excavation, has images of Tara, Avalokiteshwara, Manushi Buddhas, and the images Vairochana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghsiddhi, Vajrasatva, and Vajraraja.
• Many caves are dedicated to Shaivism, but the images of both Shiva and Vishnu and their various forms according to Puranic narrative are depicted. Among the Shaivite themes, Ravana shaking Mount Kailash, Andhakasurvadha, and Kalyanasundaram are profusely depicted whereas, among the Vaishnavite themes, the different avatars of Vishnu are depicted.
• Cave No. 16 is known as Kailashleni. A rock-cut temple has been carved out of a single rock.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
 

Ashoka mentions various of his contemporaries in the Hellenic world with whom he exchanged missions, diplomatic and otherwise. A passage in one of his inscriptions dated 256–255 B.C. reads:

• “.... where reigns the Greek King named Amtiyoga and beyond the realm of that Amtiyoga in the lands of the four kings Tulamaya, Antckina, Maka, and Alikyashudala...”
• These have been identified as Antiochus II Theos of Syria (260-246 B.C.), the grandson of Selecus Nikator: Ptolemy III Philadelphus of Egypt (285–247 B.C.);
• Antigonus Gonatus of Macedonia (276–239 B.C.); Magas of Cyrene, and Alexander of Epirus.

• When the sufi saint died, his tomb shrine-dargah became the center of his followers' devotion. This encouraged pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, especially on his death anniversary, as a symbol of his soul's oneness with God. People thought that when saints died, they were united with God and hence closer to Him than when they were alive. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The practice was prevalent even during the times of the Delhi sultanate. The earliest textual references to Khwaja Muinuddin’s dargah date to the fourteenth century. The Dargah was evidently popular because of the austerity and piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of its spiritual successors, and the patronage of royal visitors. Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the first sultan to visit the shrine as per the available references. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• The use of music and dance, especially mystical chanting performed by specially trained musicians or qawwals to elicit divine ecstasy, is a significant aspect of ziyarat. Sufis remember God by repeating the zikr (Divine Names) or by evoking his Presence through sama' (literally, "audition"), or the performance of mystical music, which eventually led to the development of the Qawwali style of music. Hence statement 3 is correct.
   

• Both the Mahavira and the Buddha felt that only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge. They arranged for them to stay together in the sangha, an association of those who left their homes.
• The rules made for the Buddhist sangha were written down in a book called the Vinaya Pitaka.

Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• From this we know that there were separate branches for men and women.
• All men could join the sangha. However, children had to take the permission of their parents and slaves that of their masters.

Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

• Those who worked for the king had to take his permission and debtors that of creditors. Women had to take their husbands’ permission
   

• Pushyabhutis or Vardhana dynasty of Thanesar: An important ruling family to gain prominence after the fall of the Gupta was the Pushyabhutis who had their capital at Thanesar (Thanesvara in Kurukshetra).
• The dynasty became influential with the accession of Prabhakarvardhana, who was able to defeat the Hunas and strengthen his position in the regions of Punjab and Haryana. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• After his death, his elder son Rajyavardhana came to the throne but he was treacherously killed by Shashanka, the king of Bengal and Bihar. Harshavardhana then ascended the throne in AD 606. He was only sixteen years of age at that time. Still, he proved himself to be a great warrior and an able administrator.
• We have two valuable sources that throw important light on the life and times of Harshavardhana (606–647). These are Harshacarita written by his court poet Banabhatta and Si-Yu-Ki, the travel account of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hsuan Tsang, who visited India during AD 629–644. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Fa-Hien visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II.
• After his accession, Harshavardhana united his kingdom with that of his widowed sister Rajayashri (see above) and shifted his capital to Kanauj, and is described as the lord of the north (sakalauttarapathanatha).
• He brought Punjab, Uttara Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa under his control. Harsha wanted to extend his power in the Deccan.
• But he was defeated by Pulakesin II, the Chalukya ruler, on the banks of river Narmada. The river thus became the southern boundary of his kingdom. The death of Harsha in AD 647 was followed by a political confusion that continued up to the eighth century when the Gurjara Pratiharas, the Rajput rulers, emerged as a big force in northern India. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
   

Both the statements given above are correct.

• Most Asokan inscriptions were in the Prakrit language while those in the northwest of the subcontinent were in Aramaic and Greek.
• Most Prakrit inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script; however, some, in the northwest, were written in Kharosthi.
• The Aramaic and Greek scripts were used for inscriptions in Afghanistan.

• The Kalpa Sutra and the Kalakacharya-Katha, the two very popular Jain texts were repeatedlywritten and illustrated with paintings.
  • Kalakacharya Katha tells the story of a great Jain muni of the Shwetambar school called Kalak. Hissister and he joined the Jain monastic order at an early age. He was extremely knowledgeable and shewas extremely beautiful. Even though she was a nun, she was abducted by the king of Ujjaini.
  • The story of Kalak Acharya Katha was added as an appendix to the Kalpasutra, which tells the storyof the three types of special beings of the Jain universe: the heroic Vasudeva, the regal Chakravarthy,and the wise Tirthankaras. Kalpasutra describes the cosmogony of the Jain world.
  • Hence option (b) is the correct answer.
     

• Sudraka’s Mricchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) Love affair of young brahmin Charudatta with a wealthy courtesan.
• Bhasa’s Urubhanga (story of Duryodhana during and after his fight with Bhima.
• Kalidasa‘s Vikramorvasiya (Love story of Vikram and Urvasi)
• Vishakhdutta’s Mudra Rakshasa (is a political drama that narrates the ascent of king Chandragupta Maurya to power in India)

• Akbar introduced a new land measurement system (knows as the zabti system) covering from Lahore toAllahabad, including Malwa and Gujarat. It was based on Sher Shah's land revenue system with certain modifications.
  • Under the zabti system, the sown area was measured by means of the bamboos attached with iron rings. The zabti system, originally associated with Raja Todar Mal, therefore sometimes, it is called as Todar Mal's Bandobast. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• The Dahsala system as instituted by Akbar, the average produce of different crops as well as the average prices prevailing over the last ten years was calculated and one-third share of the average produce was apportioned to the state. The system was adopted only in the major provinces of the Empire covering Multan, Delhi, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, and Lahore. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Zabti system was further improved by Raja Todar Mal and was named as Dahsala system. Hence Dahsala system was a further development of the Zabti system. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• A set of Ashokan rock edicts were found at Sopara suggests that it was an important port in Maurya times; however, it has not been properly explored.
• Puhar was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which for a while served as the capital of the Early Chola kings in Tamilakam. Puhar is located near the mouth of the Kaveri river, on the sea coast.
• The premier Chola port was Puhar (also known as Kaveripumpattinam), the major
• Pandya port was Korkai, while Tondi and Muchiri were the important ports in the Chera kingdom.
• Betel leaf and areca nut were among the important commodities involved in the trade networks of western India. An 1145 CE inscription from Mangrol, a port on the
• Saurashtra coast, refers to a levy imposed on the camel loads, cartloads, and bundles of betel leaf arriving at this port, probably from South India.

• The corpus of Sangam literature includes Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and the two epics – Silappathigaram and Manimegalai.
• Tolkappiyam authored by Tolkappiyar is the earliest of the Tamil literature. It is a work on Tamil grammar but it provides information on the political and socioeconomic conditions of the Sangam period.
• The Ettutogai or Eight Anthologies consist of eight works – Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal and Padirruppattu.
• The Pattuppattu or Ten Idylls consist of ten works – Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunararruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Maduraikkanji, Kurinjippatttu, Pattinappalai and Malaipadukadam.
• Both Ettutogai and Pattuppattu were divided into two main groups – Aham (love) and Puram (valour).
• Pathinenkilkanakku contains eighteen works mostly dealing with ethics and morals.
• The most important among them is Tirukkural authored by Thiruvalluvar.
• Silappathigaram written by Elango Adigal and Manimegalai by Sittalai Sattanar also provides valuable information on the Sangam polity and society.

• The teachings of Budhha form the core of Buddhism. Buddhism did not recognize the existence of God. Buddhism accepts the idea of transmigration (samsara) but rejects the idea of the eternal atman (soul).
• Buddhism does believe in the theory of rebirth. According to Buddhism rebirth is governed by the cumulative results of the karma of a particular life. Karma means intentions that lead to actions of body, speech, or mind.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Both the statements given above are correct.

• The founder of the Satavahana dynasty was Simuka. He was succeeded by Krishna, who extended the kingdom up to Nasik in the west.
• The third king was Sri Satakarni. He conquered western Malwa and Berar. He also performed asvamedha sacrifices.
• The seventeenth king of the Satavahana dynasty was Hala. He reigned for a period of five years. Hala became famous for his book Gathasaptasati, also called Sattasai. It contains 700 verses in Prakrit language.

• In the Vijayanagara kingdom, the king was advised by a council of ministers which consisted of the great nobles of the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into rajyas or mandalam (provinces) below which were nadu (district), sthala (sub-district) and grama (village). Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
• The Chola traditions of village self-government were considerably weakened under Vijayanagara rule.
• The growth of hereditary nayakships tended to curb their freedom and initiative. The governors of the provinces were royal princes at first. Later, persons belonging to vassal ruling families and nobles were also appointed as governors.

In the Tamil region, large landowners were known as vellalar, ordinary ploughmen were known as uzhavar, and landless labourers, including slaves, were known as kadaisiyar and adimai.
Hence, option (a) is correct.
 

• Chaityas were the places of worship and congregation while viharas were the places of residents of Buddhist monks. Hence both statements 1 and 2 are not correct.
• In western India, many Buddhist caves dating back to the second century BCE onwards have been excavated. The front of the chaitya hall is dominated by the motif of a semi-circular chaitya arch with an open front that has a wooden facade and, in some cases, there is no dominating chaitya arch window such as found at Kondivite. In all the chaitya caves a stupa at the back is common. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Both the statements given above are correct.

• In the first century BC Kharavela of Kalinga records a large number of events in his life year by year in the Hathigumpha inscription.
• Jainism spread to Kalinga in Orissa in the fourth century BC, and in the first century BC it enjoyed the patronage of the Kalinga king Kharavela who had defeated the princes of Andhra and Magadha.

• Sufis were a group of religious persons who turned to asceticism and mysticism in the early centuries of Islam to protest the Caliphate's growing materialism as a religious and political entity.
• They were critical of the Caliph’s use of assertive terminology and instructive ways of understanding the Qur'an and sunna (the Prophet's traditions). Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Sufis began to form communities around a hospice, or khanqah (Persian), which was overseen by a teaching master known as a shaikh (Arabic), pir, or murshid (in Persian). They enrolled murids (disciples) and nominated successors (khalifa). Within the khanqah, they also created norms for spiritual conduct and interaction between inmates as well as laymen and the masters. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Some mystics started movements based on Sufi ideas that became radicalized. Many people rejected the khanqah and chose mendicancy and celibacy instead. They shunned rites and practiced extreme asceticism. Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris, are some of such sufis. They were sometimes known as be-shari'a Sufis because of their purposeful disobedience of the shari'a, as opposed to the ba-shari'a Sufis who followed it.  Hence statement 3 is not correct.

• Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan He ruled from 997 to 1030, and extended control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and the north-western part of the subcontinent.
• He raided the subcontinent almost every year – his targets were wealthy temples, including that of Somnath, Gujarat.
• Sultan Mahmud was also interested in finding out more about the people he conquered, and entrusted a scholar named Al-Biruni to write an account of the subcontinent.
• Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a contemporary of Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent he attacked the temples of defeated kings and looted their wealth and idols.
• The best-known Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan ruler named Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year, in 1192. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.

• Satavahanas became prominent in the Indian political scene sometime in the middle of the first century BC. Gautamiputra Satakarni (first century AD) is considered to be the greatest of the Satavahana rulers.
• He is credited with the extension of Satavahana dominions by defeating Nahapana, the Shaka ruler of
• Western India. Simuka was the founder of the Satavahana Dynasty. Hence, statement 3 is not correct
• His kingdom is said to have extended from river Krishna in the south to river the Godavari in the north. The Satavahanas had their capital at Pratishthana (modern Paithan) near Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The Satavahana kingdom was wiped out in the first quarter of the third century AD and the Satavahanas kings were succeeded by the Kings of the lkshvaku dynasty.
• Satavahana Society:
  • The Satavahanas originally seems to have been a Deccan tribe. They however were so brahmanized that they claimed to be Brahmanas. Their most famous king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, described himself as a brahmana and claimed to have established the fourfold varna system which had fallen into disorder. He boasted that he had put an end to the intermixture between the people of different social orders. He considered it their primary duty to uphold the varna system i.e. the fourfold division of social structure. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Indigenous tribal people were increasingly acculturated by the Buddhist monks who were induced by land grants to settle in western Deccan. It is suggested that traders too supported the Buddhist monks, for the earliest caves seem to have been located on the trade routes.
  • Satavahanas kings were the first in Indian history to make tax-free land grants to Buddhists and Brahmanas to gain religious merit. This practice became more prominent in succeeding periods. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• Delhi first became the capital of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the Chauhans (also referred to as Chahamanas) of Ajmer.
• It was under the Tomaras and Chauhans that Delhi became an important commercial centre.
• Coins minted here, called dehliwal, had a wide circulation.
• The transformation of Delhi into a capital that controlled vast areas of the subcontinent started with the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate in the beginning of the thirteenth century.

Hence, option (b) is correct.
 

• The political developments after Harshavardhan, can be best understood if we divide the period from AD 750 to AD 1200 into two parts (a) AD 750–AD 1000; (b) AD 1000–AD 1200. The first phase was marked by the growth of three important political powers in India. These were Gurjara Pratiharas in north India, Palas in eastern India, and Rashtrakutas in South India. In the second phase, we notice the break-up of these powers. It resulted in the rise of many smaller kingdoms all over the country. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• These powers were constantly fighting with each other to set up their control of Kannauj of the Gangetic region in northern India. The struggle for control over Kannauj among these three dynasties is known as the tripartite struggle in Indian history. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
  • Control of Kanauj also implied control of the upper Gangetic valley and its rich resources in trade and agriculture.
• The Pratiharas who first had their capital at Bhinmal gained prominence under Nagabhatta I who offered stout resistance to the Arab rulers of Sind who were trying to encroach on Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, etc.
• However, the real founder of the Pratihara empire and the greatest ruler of the dynasty was Bhoja. He rebuilt the empire, and by about 836 he had recovered Kanauj which remained the capital of the Pratiharaempire for almost a century
• In the south, Dantidurga was the founder of the dynasty called, the Rashtrakuta dynasty (8th AD).
• The capital of the Rashtrakutas was Manyakheta or Malkhed near Sholapur. It was under the king Dhruva that the Rashtrakutas turned towards north India in a bid to control Kannauj, then the imperial city.
  • Soon, the Rashtrakuta king Dhruva from south India jumped into the fight. And thus began what is known as ‘Tripartite Struggle’ i.e struggle among three powers.
• The Pala empire was founded by Gopala, probably in AD 750 when he was elected king by the notable men of the area to end the anarchy prevailing there. Gopala was succeeded in AD 770by his son, Dharmapala, who ruled till AD 810. His reign was marked by a tripartite struggle between the Palas, the Pratiharas and the Rashtrakutas for the control of Kanauj and north India.

All the above statements are correct.

• Khalji and Tughluq monarchs appointed military commanders as governors of territories of varying sizes.
• These lands were called iqta and their holder was called iqtadar or muqti.
• The duty of the muqtis was to lead military campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas.
• In exchange for their military services, the muqtis collected the revenues of their assignments as salary.
• They also paid their soldiers from these revenues.
• Control over muqtis was most effective if their office was not inheritable and if they were assigned iqtas for a short period of time before being shifted.
• These harsh conditions of service were rigorously imposed during the reigns of Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq.