Test: Ancient History and Medieval- 1 Free Online Test 2026

• ‘Ramapithecus’ and ‘Sivapithecus’ are names given to fossil remains of early ape-like primates discovered in the Siwalik Hills (in present-day India and Pakistan). These fossils, particularly jaw and skull fragments, date back to the Miocene epoch—about 10 to 14 million years ago.
• They were initially considered possible ancestors of humans because of certain dental and jaw similarities. However, further analysis has confirmed that they are more closely related to orangutans than to direct human ancestors.
• Ramapithecus was originally thought to be a hominid (closely related to humans), but is now regarded as a female form of Sivapithecus, which was an ape.
• Their discovery helped paleoanthropologists trace the evolutionary history of primates in the Indian subcontinent.

Hence, option (C) is the correct answer.

• The Nimat Nama (Book of Delights) is an illustrated Persian manuscript that serves as a cookery book, compiled during the reign of Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji, the Sultan of Malwa (ruled 1469–1500 CE).
• It includes recipes for food, perfumes, and aphrodisiacs and depicts the Sultan himself participating in or overseeing culinary activities.
• The illustrations in the manuscript exhibit a blend of Persian and Indian painting styles. Persian influence is seen in elements like scroll-like clouds and fine facial features, while Indian traditions are reflected in costumes and vibrant colors.
• This work marks a significant development in the Indo-Persian school of miniature painting in Malwa.

Thus, option (B) is the correct answer.

Burzahom, located in present-day Kashmir, is a significant Neolithic site known for its unique pit-houses.

• These dwellings were dug into the ground and had steps leading into them.
• The likely purpose of such architecture was to protect inhabitants from the harsh, cold climate of the region.
• Archaeological finds include tools made of stone and bone, as well as pottery and animal remains, indicating a mixed economy of hunting and farming.
• This site reflects early human ingenuity in adapting to local environmental conditions.

Hence, option (D) is the correct answer.

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.

✅ Statement 1 is correct:

• Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Mauryan court, mentions the Pandya kingdom and highlights that it was once ruled by a woman, suggesting a possible matriarchal influence in Pandya society.

• He also praised the region for its wealth, particularly its pearl fisheries.

❌Statement 2 is incorrect:

• The capital of the Pandya kingdom was Madurai, not Kaveripattanam (which was associated with the Chola kingdom).

• The Pandya territory occupied the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula, mainly present-day Tirunelveli, Madurai, and Ramnad districts in Tamil Nadu.

Therefore, only statement 1 is correct, and option (A) is the right answer.

The correct order from west to east is:

Nageshwar → Dholavira → Rangpur → Lothal

So, the correct answer is:

b) 2-1-3-4

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.

• ✅Hence statement 1 is correct.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 2 is not 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 3 is 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.

• 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
   

❌Incorrect: King Harshavardhana was the founder of the Pushyabhuti Dynasty or the Vardhana Dynasty during the 7th century A.D.
The Pushyabhuti dynasty was already in existence before Harshavardhana. It was founded by Pushyabhuti, and Harshavardhana was its most famous ruler. He ascended the throne around 606 A.D. but was not the founder.

❌Incorrect: Fa-Hien, a famous Chinese traveler, visited India during the Harshavardhana period and studied at Nalanda University.
Fa-Hien visited India much earlier during the reign of Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) in the 5th century A.D.The Chinese traveler who visited India during Harshavardhana's reign was Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), not Fa-Hien.

❌Incorrect: He defeated Chalukya king, Pulakesin II, and extended his kingdom beyond the Narmada river to the south.
Harshavardhana was defeated by Pulakesin II of the Chalukya dynasty when he attempted to expand his empire southward beyond the Narmada River. The battle took place around 618-619 A.D., and Pulakesin II successfully stopped Harsha's southern expansion.

Therefore,Correct Answer -Option D

✅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)

  ↵

• ✅Hence statement 3 is correct. 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 1 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 2 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.

• 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).
• 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.

✅Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

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.
 

• ❌Hence both statements 1 and 2 are not correct.Chaityas were the places of worship and congregation while viharas were the places of residents of Buddhist monks.
• ✅Hence statement 3 is 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.

✅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.

❌Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• 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 2 is 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 3 is not 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. 

• 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.