Test: History - 1 - UPSC MCQ

Mahajanapadas - The Mahajanapadas were the set of sixteen kingdoms that existed in ancient India. About 2500 years ago, some janapadas or states became more important than other states and were known as mahajanapadas. Some of the Mahajanapadas were Magadha, Gandhara, Kuru, Kamboja, Kosala, Panchala,

Vajji, Kashi etc.

Most mahajanapadas had a capital city, many of these were fortified. This means that huge

wall of wood, brick or stone were built around them.

• Special features of Mahajanpadas Administration Forts were probably built because people were afraid of attacks from other kings and needed protection.

• Some rulers wanted to show how rich and powerful they were by building really large,

• tall and impressive walls around their cities.

• The land and the people living inside the fortified area could be controlled more easily by the king by building forts.

• Building such huge walls required a great deal of planning including resources, labours etc. The new rajas now began maintaining armies.

• Soldiers were paid regular salaries and maintained by the king throughout the year.

• The Mahajanapadas started to collect regular taxes.

• Changes took place in agriculture like the use of iron ploughshares and transplanting paddy.

• Generally, slave men and women, (dasas and dasis) and landless agricultural labourers (kammakaras) had to do agricultural work.

Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India. The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda.

Statement 2 is not correct: After the battle, Maharana Pratap able to make a successful escape, the battle failed to break the deadlock between the two powers. Subsequently, Akbar led a sustained campaign against the Rana, and soon, Goganda, Udaipur, and Kumbhalgarh were all under Akbar’s control

• Shankaracharya wrote the commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahmasutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

• Shankaracharya’s discourse or his philosophical views came to be known as Advaita Vedanta. Advaita literally means non-dualism or belief in one reality.

• Shankaracharya expounded that ultimate reality is one, it being the Brahman.

• According to the Vedanta philosophy, ‘Brahman is true, the world is false and self and Brahman is not different, Shankaracharya believed that the Brahman is existent,unchanging, the highest truth and the ultimate knowledge.

• He also believed that there is no distinction between Brahman and self. The knowledge of Brahman is the essence of all things and the ultimate existence. Ramanuja was another well-known Advaita scholar.

• A Sutra in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi refers to the worshippers of Vasudeva (Krishna).

• The Chhandogya Upanishad also speaks of Krishna, the son of Devaki, a pupil of the sage Ghora Angirasa, who was a sun-worshipping priest.

• A large number of people worshipped Vasudeva Krishna exclusively as their personal God and they were at first known as Bhagavatas.

• The Vasudeva-Bhagavata cult grew steadily, absorbing within its fold other Vedic and Brahminic divinities, like Vishnu (primarily an aspect of the Sun) and Narayana (a cosmic God).

• From the late Gupta period the name mostly used to designate this Bhakti cult was Vaishnava, indicating the predominance of the Vedic Vishnu element in it with emphasis on the doctrine of incarnations (Avataras).

• It is the first among the 12 Jyotirlingas which are symbolic representations of Lord Shiva.

• Located at the Veraval Port or Prabhas Pattan in Saurashtra, Gujrat, the present temple is built in the Chalukyan style.

  • This Architecture is also known as the “Kailash Mahameru Prasad” style.

  • It reflects the skill of the SompuraSalats, one of Gujarat’s master masons.

• Raids - In AD 1026, Mahmud of Ghazni first looted the temple,and then came Afzal Khan, the commander of Ala-ud-din Khilji and later Aurangzeb.

• It is said that the temple was looted and destroyed as many as seventeen times.

• Post Modern History - The Iron man of India, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was instrumental in the construction of the present temple.

• The first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad installed the Jyotirling in the new temple on May 11, 1951.

Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river was called India. The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the northwest, and who are mentioned in the Rigveda.

The Aranyakas are called forest books and they deal with mysticism, rites, rituals and sacrifices.

• Another step which Muhammad-Bin- Tughlaq took at this time was the introduction of the ‘token currency’. Since money is merely a medium of exchange, all countries in the world today have token currencies - generally paper currency, so that they do not have to depend upon the supply of gold and silver. There was a shortage of silver in the world in the fourteenth century. Moreover, Qublai Khan of China had already successfully experimented with a token currency.

• A Mongol ruler of Iran, Ghazan Khan, had also experimented with it. Muhammad Tughlaq decided to introduce a bronze coin which was to have the same value as the silver tanka. Specimen of this coin has been found in different parts of India, and can be seen in museums. The idea of a token currency was a new one in India and it was difficult to induce the traders, as well as the common man to accept it.

Jagannath Puri Temple:

• Devasnana Purnima – The annual bathing ritual, where the holy trinity is brought out from their sanctum seated in a raised platform and bathed with purified water drawn from a well within thetemple premises.

• Chariot Festival – This happens during the month of June/July. During the festival, the Lord comes out to the street to greet his devotees, people irrespective of caste, creed & colour can seek his blessings.

• During the Vedic period, women were given equal opportunities as men for their spiritual and intellectual development. There were women poetesses like Apala, Viswavara, Ghosa and Lopamudra during the Rig Vedic period. Women could even attend the popular assemblies. There was no child marriage and the practice of sati was absent.

• However, with the transition to the later Vedic period, the position of women declined, as the society became more patriarchal. Women also lost their political rights of attending assemblies. Child marriages had become common. According the Aitreya Brahmana, a daughter has been described as a source of misery. However, the women in the royal household enjoyed certain privileges. The social divisions were not rigid during the Rig Vedic period, as it was in the later Vedic period. Larger kingdoms were formed during the later Vedic period.

• The four divisions of society (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras) or the Varna system was thoroughly established during the Later Vedic period. The two higher classes - Brahmana and Kshatriya enjoyed privileges that were denied to the Vaisya and Sudra. Many sub- castes, on the basis of their occupation appeared in this period. The two outstanding Rig Vedic gods, Indra and Agni, lost their former importance. On the other hand, Prajapati, the creator, came to occupy the supreme position in the later Vedic period.

• Another step which Muhammad-Bin- Tughlaq took at this time was the introduction of the ‘token currency’. Since money is merely a medium of exchange, all countries in the world today have token currencies — generally paper currency, so that they do not have to depend upon the supply of gold and silver. There was a shortage of silver in the world in the fourteenth century. Moreover, Qublai Khan of China had already successfully experimented with a token currency. A Mongol ruler of Iran, Ghazan Khan, had also experimented with it.

• Muhammad Tughlaq decided to introduce a bronze coin which was to have the same value as the silver tanka. Specimen of this coin has been found in different parts of India, and can be seen in museums. The idea of a token currency was a new one in India and it was difficult to induce the traders, as well as the common man to accept it.

• Statement 1 is not correct: Qutab-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, commenced the construction of the Qutab Minar in 1200 AD, but could only finish the basement. His successor, Iltutmush, added three more storeys, and in 1368, Firoz Shah Tughlak constructed the fifth and the last storey.

• Statement 2 is correct: The tower has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony and tapers from a 15 m diameter at the base to just 2.5 m at the top. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone; The fourth and fifth storeys are of marble and sandstone. Statement 3 is correct: Qutub Minar and its monuments were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

• Sangam literature Some of the earliest works in Tamil, known as Sangam literature, were composed around 2300 years ago. These texts were called Sangam because they were supposed to have been composed and compiled in assemblies (known as sangams) of poets that were held in the city of Madurai.

• The period in which the Sangam literature was composed is called Sangam Age. The three kingdoms Chera, Chola and Pandya flourished during this period. There were three Sangams which created a literary movement. The Sangam literature consists of Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku and the two epics Silappathigaram and Manimegalai. Among these, the Tolkappiyam authored by Tolkappiyar was the earliest work which provides the information on Social, Economic and political conditions of the Sangam Age along with the Tamil grammar.

• It was composed in the second Sangam. The third Sangam created Patthupattu, (Ten Idylls or poetries), Ettuthokai (The eight Anthologies), Padinenkilkanakkyu (The Eight Minor Didactic Poems), the Rural and Jivaka Chintamani etc. The Sangam literature speaks of the worship of Vishnu, Siva and Indra.

• Abul Fazl’s Akbarnamah and Ain-e- Akbari are fine piece of literature. From there we get a good deal of information about Akbar and his times.

• Minhaj-us-Siraj was a historian who was patronized by Slave Sultan Nasir- ud-din Mahmud to whom he dedicated his magnum opus Tabaqat- i-Nasiri.

1. Kumbhandas

2. Surdas

3. Krishnadas (Shudra by caste)

4. Parmanand Das

5. Govindswami

6. Cheetswami

7. Nand Das

8. Chaturbhuj Das

The Viharas found in western India were found to be dug out in hills.

Enrich Your Learning: Viharas The monasteries build as a permanent shelter for monks (they used to travel for teachings) were known as Viharas. Many supporters of the monks and nuns, and monk themselves felt the need for more permanent shelters and so monasteries were built. The earliest Viharas were made of wood, and then of brick. Some of the Viharas were even in caves that were dug out in hills, especially in western India. The land on which the vihara was built was donated by a rich merchant or a landowner, or the king. The local people came with gifts of food, clothing and medicines for the monks and nuns. In return, they taught the people.

Example: Cave in Karle present in Maharashtra.

In 305 B.C., Chandragupta Maurya marched against Selukas Niketar, who was Alexander’s General controlling the north western India. Chandragupta Maurya defeated him and a treaty was signed. By this treaty, Selukas Niketar ceded the trans-Indus territories – namely Aria, Arakosia and Gedrosia – to the Mauryan Empire. He also gave his daughter in marriage to the Mauryan prince. Chandragupta made a gift of 500 elephants to Selukas. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Mauryan Empire. He, at a young age, captured Pataliputra from the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty, Dhanananda. In this task, he was assisted by Kautilya, who was also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta wherein the latter then became his most trusted advisor.

• The Alvars composed moving hymns addressed to Vishnu. They were compiled in the Nalayira Divyaprabandhanam by Nadamuni, at the end of the ninth century. Bhakti cult, as a religious movement, opened a new chapter in the history of Tamilnadu in the early medieval period.

• A strong wave of Tamil devotionalism swept the country from the sixth through the ninth centuries. The form was in hymns of the Nayanmars and the Alvars. The saints of Saivism and Vaishnavism simplified the use of Tamil language with the application of music. They brought the local and regional ethos into the mainstream.

• Azhwars (totally 12) and Nayanmars (totally 63), came from different strata of the Tamil society, such as artisans and cultivators. There were women saints as well, like Andal, an Alvar saint. The themes are mostly Krishna’s childhood. Krishna is the hero in Andal’s hymns. Her songs convey her abiding love for Krishna. Nammalvar, from Kurugur (Alvar Tirunagari), now in Thoothukudi district, is considered the greatest amongst Alvars. Nammalvar authored four works that include the Tiruvaymoli. Vaishnava devotees believe that his hymns distil the essence of the four Vedas.

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• New kingdoms along the coasts of India Each of the three chiefs of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas had two centres of power: one inland, and one on the coast. Of the six cities, two were very important: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas, and Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. The chiefs did not collect regular taxes. Instead, they demanded and received gifts from the people. They also went on military expeditions and collected tribute from neighbouring areas. They kept some of the wealth and distributed the rest amongst their supporters, including members of their family, soldiers, and poets.

• Many poets whose compositions are found in the Sangam collection composed poems in praise of chiefs who often rewarded them with precious stones, gold, horses, elephants, chariots, and fine cloth. Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in western India. The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni. He and other Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha, literally the route leading to the south, which was also used as a name for the entire southern region. He sent his army to the eastern, western and southern coasts.

Buddhism no longer received royal patronage in the Gupta period, as Bhagavatism or Vaishnavism over shadowed Mahayana Buddhism by the Gupta times. However, some stupas and viharas (monasteries) were constructed and Nalanda became a centre of Buddhist education. It was founded by the Gupta emperor Kumargupta. During the Gupta period, land taxes increased in number and those on trade and commerce decreased.

• Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was the most famous and outstanding of the Persian scholars and poets of the Sultanate period. His real name was Abul Hasan. He was one of the few Indian writers of Persian poetry whose works have been read and admired beyond their own country. His works represent the beginning of a new trend in India based Persian literature – the trend of the growing familiarity with the Indian literature and influence of the Indian literature on the Persian writings in India.

• He was the Indian born son of a Turkish immigrant. He began his career as a courtier and poet during the reign of Sultan Balban. He became a disciple of Shaikh Nizammudin Auliya, the famous Sufi saint of the Chisti order. He was the court poet during the reigns of Jalaluddin Khalji and Alauddin Khalji. Later, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughluq also patronized him. He lived through the reigns of 6 Sultans of Delhi and was connected with their courts. His poetry consisted of a great variety of forms – lyric, ode, epic and elegy. His poetry was essentially Indian in sentiment, though he followed the Persian models in technique. Thus, he created a new style of Persian, which came to be known as Sabaq-i-Hindi or the Indian style.

• Five literary masterpieces composed by him are Mutla-ul Anwar, Shirin Khuswau, Laila Majnun, Ayina-i Sikandari and Hasht Bihist. He dedicated all of them to Alauddin Khalji. His Five Diwans (Collection of compositions called ghazals) include Tuhfat-us Sighar, Wast-ul Hayat, Ghurrat-ul Kamal, Baqiya Naqiya and Nihayat-ul Kamal.

• These compositions show the great lyrical talent of his poetry. Khusrau also wrote historical Masnavis (narrative poems), which have great literary and historical value. He was not a historian in the actual sense of the term, but since he enjoyed the patronage of successive Sultans of Delhi and since he selected historical themes for his Masnavis, the historical content of his writings is of great interest to the students of the history of his times. In Qiran-us Sadain, Khusrau describes the quarrel and reconciliation between Sultan Kaiqubad and his father Bughra Khan.

• Miftah-ul Futuh deals with the military successes of Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji. Ashiqa is the story of romantic love between Khizr Khan, the eldest son of Sultan Alauddin Khalji and Deval Rani, daughter of Rai Karan, the Raja of Gujarat. In Nuh Siphr (the Nine Skies) he gives a poetical description of Sultan Qutubuddin Mubarak Khalji’s reign. This work also contains references to contemporary social and religious conditions. In Tughluq Nama he describes Ghiyasuddin Tughluq’s rise to power.

• In Khazain-ul Futuh, Khusrau gives an account of Alauddin Khalji’s conquests in the South. Amir Khusrau’s Persian poetry often reflected the love for his country. He composed verses in Hindavi (a form of Hindi or Urdu) also and showed the way for the future development of Urdu language.

• In Medieval India, Kashmir was an important centre of education. Many Saiva sects and centres of learning flourished in Kashmir during the period. A number of important maths was set up in south India, for example, at Madurai and Sringeri.

• Various centres of education provided a great impetus to discussions, religion and philosophy being the main topics. The numerous Maths and other centres of education, in various parts of India enabled ideas to flow freely and quickly from one part of the country to another.

• Philosophical education was not considered complete till the philosopher had visited various centres of learning in different parts of the country and held discussions with the scholars there.

• The growth of science in the country slowed down during the period so that, in course of time, it was no longer regarded as a leading country in the field of science. Thus, surgery declined because the dissection of dead bodies was regarded as fit only for the people of low castes.

• In fact, surgery became the profession of barbers. Astronomy was gradually pushed into the background by astrology. However, some advance was made in the field of mathematics.

• The Lilawati of Bhaskar-II, which was written during this period, remained a standard text for a longtime. Some advance was made in the field of medicine by the use of minerals, especially mercury. Many books were written on plant sciences and for the treatment of animals (e.g., horses, elephants, etc.).

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• The spread of Buddhism A Kushana ruler named Kanishka organised a Buddhist council where scholars met and discussed important matters. Ashvaghosha, a poet who lived in Kanishka’s court composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharit. Ashvaghosha and other Buddhist scholars began to write in Sanskrit. A new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism, developed. In Mahayana Buddhism statues of the Buddha were made in Mathura and Taxila and a belief in Bodhisattvas begin. The Boddhisattvas were supposed to be persons who had attained enlightenment. Once they attained enlightenment, they remained in the world to teach and help other people instead of maintaining isolation.

• The worship of Bodhisattvas became very popular and spread throughout Central Asia, China, and later to Korea and Japan. Buddhism also spread to western and southern India. Caves were made for monks to live in and some for kings, queens and merchants. Roads connecting prosperous ports on the coast with cities in the Deccan ran through the passes of western Ghats and traders used to halt in these cave monasteries. Buddhism also spread south eastwards, to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia including Indonesia. The older form of Buddhism, known as Theravada Buddhism, was more popular in these areas.

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Palaeolithic sites -

• The Palaeolithic period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. The Palaeolithic comes from two Greek words, ‘paleo’, meaning old, and ‘lithos’, meaning stone. This long period is divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This long period covers 99% of human history. The hunter- gatherers hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs. Hunter-gatherers likely made and used tools of stone, wood and bone. Stone tools were used to cut meats, chop fruits and roots and some were attached to make spears and arrows for hunting.

• Places where the stone was found and where people made tools are known as factory sites. Most tools were made from limestone, which was locally available. Wood was also used to make huts and tools. Hunsgi and Kurnool caves are some of the places where the evidences of Palaeolithic age have been found.

Soma was a ritualistic drink. It was an intoxicating drink made since the Vedic Mandala of the Rigvedic period. There are two ways to get wine: fermentation and distillation. Fermentation was widely known in the world. Wine was procured by fermenting rice, sugarcane juice, mahuwa flowers, etc. Distillation, however, was a late comer. Some think that it was first discovered in Italy in the 12th century A.D.

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Mauryan empire:

• The Mauryan empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, more than 2300 years ago. Chandragupta was supported by a wise man named Chanakya or Kautilya. Many of Chanakya’s ideas were written down in a book called the Arthashastra. There were several cities in the empire such as Taxila, Pataliputra, Ujjain. Taxila was a gateway to the northwest, including Central Asia, while Ujjain lay on the route from north to south India. People in different parts of the empire spoke different People in different parts of the empire spoke different languages. They probably ate different kinds of food and wore different kinds of clothes as well.

• The area around Pataliputra was under the direct control of the emperor. The officials were appointed to collect taxes from farmers, herders, craftspersons and traders, who lived in villages and towns in the area. These officials (not all) were given salaries. Messengers went to and fro and spies kept a watch on the officials and they both were supervised by the emperor. There were also the forested regions and people living in these areas were more or less independent, but may have been expected to provide elephants, timber, honey and wax to Mauryan officials.