Ancient History- Solved Questions (2022- 2024) | UPSC Topic Wise Previous Year Questions PDF Download

Ans: (a)
Dhanyakataka is a small town in Andhra Pradesh in southeastern India near present day Amaravati where Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Heart Essence form of the Kalachakra Dharma to the Shambala kings.
Amaravati Dharanikota became the capital of the Kota chiefs, for the 3rd time in history (12th century). According to an inscription found in a temple at Velpuru in Guntur, Amaravati was described as follows:

• “There is a city, named Sri Dhanyakataka, which is superior to the City of the Gods, and where the temple of Sambhu, named Amaresvara, is worshipped by the Lord of the Gods (Indra), where the God Buddha, worshipped by the creator, is quite close by and where there is a very lofty chaitya, well decorated with various sculptures.”, which also reveals that the stupa was in a good state of its existence.

Hence, option (a) is correct.

Ans: (b)

• The word Stupa is mentioned in the Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Vajasaneyi Samhita, Taittriya Samhita, in the Panchavimsata Brahmana. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Rigveda refers to a Stupa raised by the King Varuna above the forest in a place having no foundation .The word ‘estuka’ is also used in the same sense in Rigveda, probably by then anything raised on the ground like a heap/pile might have been known as Stupa.
• The practice of preserving the remains of an important personality below accumulated earth was long in existence. Buddhist art adopted this practice and the structure built over such a site was known as Stupa Hence, Statement 2 is correct.
• The Buddhist texts like the Avadana Satakam, Mahavadana and Stupavadanam mentions about the commemorative aspects of the Stupa even the Jaina literature like Raya Pasenaiya Sutta refers to it. Probably in the later period, due to the deep desire of the common mass to worship the lord for the sake of salvation, Stupa acquired its votive character as well. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Hence, option B is correct.

Ans: (b)
Korkai:

• Korkai was the port city of early Pandyas situated on the banks of the Thamirabarani near Bay of Bengal.
• Trade with Ganges Valley as well as ancient Roman civilizations flourished in the port city. “Periplus of the Erythrean Sea”, the maritime guide book written in the first century AD mentions Korkai along with other port towns of Tamil Nadu.

Poompuhar:

• Poompuhar is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• It 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.

Muziris/Muchiri Port

• Kodungallur is a town and a municipality in the Thrissur district (Kerala) and was known in ancient times as Mahodayapuram, Shinkli, Muchiri, Muziris and Muyirikkodu.
• The traders mention Kodungallur port in a lot of names. Muchiri, Makotai, Mahodayapuram, Mahodayapattanam, Muyirikkode etc are some, but the most popular name is the one called by Roman and Greek Traders, Muziris.

Hence, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (d)

• Vatakkiruttal was a Tamil ritual of fasting till death. It was especially widespread during the Sangam age. The Tamil kings, in order to save their honour, and prestige, were prepared to meet their death facing North ('Vatakkiruttal') and never would they turn their back in battle.
• This was either done alone, or as a group with the supporters of the captured king.

Hence, option (d) is correct.

Ans: (d)
Hoysalas:

• The Hoysala Empire was one of the powerful forces that ruled parts of southern India
• between the 10th and 14th centuries.
• The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu.
• The reign of the Hoysala Empire led to the development of South Indian art, architecture, and religion, and its legacy lies mainly in the Hoysala architecture.

Gahadavala:

• Gahadavala dynasty, one of the many ruling families of north India on the eve of the Muslim conquests in the 12th–13th century.
• Its history, ranging between the second half of the 11th century and the mid-13th century, illustrates all the features of early medieval north Indian polity—dynastic hostilities and alliances, feudal state structure, absolute dependence on Brahmanical social ideology, and vulnerability in the face of external aggressions.

Yadavas and Kakatiyas

• The history of South India from the 13th to the 15th centuries presents two distinct phases: The beginning of the 13th century is marked by the disintegration of the Chola and the Chalukya empires. On their ruins emerged four independent kingdoms in this region. 
• There were the Pandyas and the Hoysalas in the south (on the debris of the Chola power), the Kakatiyas and the Yadavas in the north of this region (in the Deccan as a result of the decline of the Chalukya power). These kingdoms lasted for more than a century.

Hence, option (d) is correct.

Ans: (c)

Hence, option (c) is correct.

Ans: (b)

• As Jains see it, all beings are animated by jiva, the soul. A modern-day Jain teacher, Gurudev Chitrabhanu, writes, “The universe is not for humanity alone; it is a field of evolution for all living beings. Life is sacred, irrespective of not only caste, color, creed, or nationality, but also species at all levels right down to the tiny ant or the humble worm.”
• There are souls in nonmobile bodies, such as earth, water, fire, air, and plants—all of which have but one sense, the sense of touch. And there are souls in mobile bodies: the worm with two senses (touch and taste), the ant with three (touch, taste, and smell), the bee with four (touch, taste, smell, and sight), and the animal and human with five (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing).

Hence, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (a)
Deva Raya constructed a dam on Tungabhadra and irrigated cities and villages with canals from this dam.
Hence, option (a) is correct.

Ans: (b)
The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh). The pillar was called the Garuda- standard by Heliodorus, referring to the deity Garuda. Hence, 1 is incorrect.

Ans: (b)

• Dhauli is an important early historic urban centre of Orissa. The archaeological remains found at Dhauli traced back its antiquity to c.3rd century B.C, particularly to the time of Ashoka. Dhauli is of great historical importance as one of the famous Rock Edicts of emperor Ashoka is located here. Hence, Pair 1 is correctly matched.
• In 2013, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) geared up for protecting the Ashoka rock edict site near Erragudi on Gooty-Pathikonda road in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. Hence, Pair 2 is correctly matched.
  • The inscriptions were one of the important treasures of Mouryan king Ashoka (269-231 BCE) falling under major and minor rock inscriptions. 
• Jaugada is an ancient fort that served as a Mauryan fortified capital of the Kalinga province. Jaugada is located near the cities of Berhampur and Purushottampur in Ganjam district of Odisha.
  • Jaugada is the second place in Odisha where there is a major Ashokan rock edict, also known as Kalinga edict. Hence, Pair 3 is not correctly matched. 
• The Ashoka edict in Kalsi scripted the humane approach after the war when Ashoka imbibed Buddhism. Kalsi lies in the buffer zone between Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. Hence, Pair 4 is not correctly matched.

Therefore, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (b)

• The corpus of poems known as Sangam literature was produced over six centuries, from around 300 BC to 300 AD, by Tamils from very diverse social backgrounds.
  • These works provide insight into early Tamil culture and into trade relations (hence, not devoid of material culture) between South India and the Mediterranean, West Asia and Southeast Asia.
• Sangam writings are possibly unique in early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious. The poems are concerned with two main topics: those of the first five collections are on love (akam), and those of the next two are on heroism (puram), including the praise of kings and their deeds.
  • Many of the poems, especially on heroism (hence, dealing with warrior ethics), display great freshness and vigour and are singularly free from the literary conceits of much of the other early and medieval literatures of India. Being bardic literature in praise of heroes and patrons, its concern with various aspects of society and economy was incidental.
• Sangam literature reflects a belief in sacred or magical forces called ananku that were supposed to inhabit various objects.
  • "Sangam" literature is not the product of a particular social or religious group nor was it sponsored as a court literature by a ruling elite.
• Composed at various points of time over a long span of about 600 years and authored by people of various levels- princes, chieftains, peasants, merchants, potters, smiths, carpenters and brahmanas, Jains and Buddhists, the poems deal with disparate social groups.

Hence, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (a)

• Nizamuddin Panipati translated Yoga Vasistha at the request of Jahangir in 1597. This translation was considered as a part of the encyclopedic collection edifying literature initiated by Akbar.

Hence, option (a) is correct.

Ans: (a)

• Ramanuja, born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century, was deeply influenced by the Alvars. According to him the best means of attaining salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu.
  • Vishnu in His grace helps the devotee to attain the bliss of union with Him.
• He propounded the doctrine of Vishishtadvaita or qualified oneness in that the soul even when united with the Supreme God remained distinct.
  • Ramanuja’s doctrine greatly inspired the new strand of bhakti which developed in north India subsequently.

Hence, option (a) is correct.

Ans: (a)

• Somnath temple stands at the shore of the Arabian ocean on the western corner of the Indian subcontinent in Gujarat State.
• Shree Somnath is first among the twelve Aadi Jyotirlingas of India. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It was mentioned by the Arab traveller Al-Biruni in his travelogue, influenced by which Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked the Somnath temple in 1024 with his five thousand soldiers and looted its property and completely destroyed the temple. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The research based on ancient Indian classical texts show that first Somnath Jyotirling Pran-Pratistha was done on the auspicious third day of the brighter half of Shravan month during the tenth Treta yug of Vaivswat Manvantar.
• The modern temple was reconstructed with the resolve of Sardar Patel who visited the ruins of Somnath temple on November 13 1947. Then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, did the Pran-Pratistha at the existing temple on 11 May 1951. 

Hence, statement 3 is NOT correct.

Ans: (b)

• The Nettipakarana is a mythological Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon.
• Parishishtaparvan is a 12th-century Sanskrit mahakavya by Hemachandra which details the histories of the earliest Jain teachers.
• Avadanasataka is an anthology in Sanskrit of one hundred Buddhist legends, approximately dating to the same time.
• Trishashthilkshana Mahapurana is a major Jain text composed largely by Acharya Jinasena during the rule of Rashtrakuta.

Hence, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (c)
Aryadeva was a Mahayana Buddhist monk, a disciple of Nagarjuna and a Madhyamaka philosopher. Dignaga was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic. Sri Ranganathamuni, popularly known as Sriman Nathamuni (823 CE–951 CE), was a Vaishnava theologian who collected and compiled the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Hence, only pairs 2 and 3 are correctly matched. The first pair is not correctly matched.

Ans: (d)

• In India the earliest reference to slavery as a result of judicial punishment is found in the Buddhist Jataka stories. In the kulavaka jataka, we are told that a village superintendent was made a slave as a result of judicial punishment. Kautilya also mentions such slaves (dandapranita). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• According to Kautilya, if a master begets a child by a female slave, both the child and the mother become free. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• If a son born to a female slave was fathered by her master, the son was entitled to the legal status of the master’s son. 

Hence, statement 3 is correct.