The Mauryas and the Post-Mauryan Age

Practice questions (16)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

1. The Indica, an account of India under Chandragupta Maurya, was written by:

   1. Deimachus
   2. Megasthenes
   3. Dionysius
   4. Heliodorus
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   Answer: B — Megasthenes

   Megasthenes, envoy of Seleucus Nicator at Pataliputra, wrote the Indica, which survives only in quotations by later Greek writers. Deimachus and Dionysius were envoys at the court of Bindusara, and Heliodorus was an Indo-Greek envoy to the Shunga court.

2. In which one of the following inscriptions does the emperor’s personal name "Ashoka" appear, instead of only the title Devanampiya Piyadasi?

   1. Maski
   2. Girnar
   3. Kalsi
   4. Dhauli
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   Answer: A — Maski

   The Maski minor rock edict in Karnataka, found in 1915, names the emperor as Ashoka; the name also occurs at Gujarra, Nittur and Udegolam. Girnar, Kalsi and Dhauli carry Major Rock Edicts, which use only the title Devanampiya Piyadasi.

3. Ashoka’s description of the Kalinga war and of his remorse after it is found in which Major Rock Edict?

   1. Rock Edict II
   2. Rock Edict VIII
   3. Rock Edict XII
   4. Rock Edict XIII
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   Answer: D — Rock Edict XIII

   Rock Edict XIII records the deportation of 150,000 and the killing of 100,000 in Kalinga and announces conquest by dhamma. Rock Edict XII is the near-miss: it deals with tolerance among sects, not the war.

4. Consider the following statements about Ashoka’s inscriptions:
   1. The rock edicts at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra are written in the Kharoshthi script.
   2. An inscription at Kandahar is in Greek and Aramaic.
   3. The versions at Dhauli and Jaugada include Rock Edict XIII.
   Which of the statements given above are correct?

   1. 1 only
   2. 1 and 2 only
   3. 2 and 3 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
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   Answer: B — 1 and 2 only

   Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong and is the trap: in Kalinga itself, at Dhauli and Jaugada, edicts XI, XII and XIII were left out — the account of the war was not carved in the conquered land — and two Separate Kalinga Edicts were added instead.

5. In the Mauryan administration described in the Arthashastra, the Samaharta was the:

   1. Custodian of the treasury
   2. Head of the state farms
   3. Chief collector of revenue
   4. Superintendent of ships
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   Answer: C — Chief collector of revenue

   The Samaharta was the chief collector of revenue. The custodian of the treasury was the Sannidhata — the pair is regularly swapped — while state farms came under the Sitadhyaksha and ships under the Navadhyaksha.

6. The Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath was adopted as the State Emblem of India on:

   1. 15 August 1947
   2. 26 November 1949
   3. 26 January 1950
   4. 24 January 1950
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   Answer: C — 26 January 1950

   The emblem was adopted on 26 January 1950, the day the Republic came into being. 24 January 1950 is the trap: on that day the Constituent Assembly adopted the national anthem and national song, and 26 November 1949 is when the Constitution itself was adopted.

7. The Besnagar pillar was set up by Heliodorus, envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, as a Garuda-dhvaja in honour of:

   1. Vasudeva
   2. Shiva
   3. Buddha
   4. Surya
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   Answer: A — Vasudeva

   Heliodorus calls himself a Bhagavata and dedicates the pillar, topped by Garuda, to Vasudeva — early evidence of the Vaishnava faith and of a Greek adopting it. Shiva is the tempting option because the Kushana Vima Kadphises showed Shiva on his coins, but that belongs to a different dynasty and century.

8. Consider the following statements about the Satavahanas:
   1. Their kings often bore names derived from their mothers.
   2. They are credited with beginning the practice of granting land with fiscal immunities to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.
   3. Their official language was Sanskrit.
   Which of the statements given above are correct?

   1. 1 only
   2. 2 and 3 only
   3. 1 and 2 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
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   Answer: C — 1 and 2 only

   Statements 1 and 2 are correct: matronymics such as Gautamiputra and Vasishthiputra, and land grants with immunities, are Satavahana hallmarks. Statement 3 is wrong — their inscriptions are in Prakrit; the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit is the Junagadh record of their Shaka rival Rudradaman.

9. The Junagadh rock inscription of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman I (150 CE) is especially important because it:

   1. records Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism
   2. is written in the Kharoshthi script
   3. lists the conquests of Samudragupta
   4. is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit
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   Answer: D — is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit

   It is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit, and it also records the repair of the Sudarshana lake first built under Chandragupta Maurya. It is in Brahmi, not Kharoshthi, and the list of Samudragupta’s conquests is the Prayag Prashasti on the Allahabad pillar.

10. Arrange the following events in chronological order:
    1. Menander’s rule from Sakala
    2. Rudradaman’s Junagadh inscription
    3. Ashoka’s Kalinga war
    4. Pushyamitra founds the Shunga dynasty
    Select the correct answer using the code below.

    1. 4 – 3 – 1 – 2
    2. 3 – 4 – 1 – 2
    3. 3 – 1 – 4 – 2
    4. 3 – 4 – 2 – 1
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    Answer: B — 3 – 4 – 1 – 2

    The Kalinga war (c. 261 BCE) comes first, then the Shunga takeover (c. 185 BCE), then Menander (mid-2nd century BCE), and Rudradaman’s inscription is firmly dated to 150 CE. The trap 3–1–4–2 puts Menander before the Shungas; he in fact ruled while the Shungas held the Ganga valley.

11. The principal capital of the Kushana king Kanishka was:

    1. Sakala
    2. Taxila
    3. Purushapura
    4. Pratishthana
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    Answer: C — Purushapura

    Kanishka ruled from Purushapura (Peshawar), with Mathura as a second centre. Sakala was the capital of the Indo-Greek Menander, and Pratishthana (Paithan) was the Satavahana capital in the Deccan.

12. Consider the following statements about schools of sculpture:
    1. The Gandhara school used grey-blue schist and shows Greco-Roman influence.
    2. The Mathura school used spotted red sandstone.
    3. The Amaravati school flourished mainly under Kushana patronage.
    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    1. 1 and 2 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: A — 1 and 2 only

    Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: Amaravati, in the lower Krishna valley, grew under the Satavahanas and later the Ikshvakus, while the Kushanas were the great patrons of Gandhara and Mathura.

13. Which one of the following correctly matches a Sangam-age kingdom with its emblem and capital?

    1. Pandyas — fish — Madurai
    2. Cheras — tiger — Uraiyur
    3. Cholas — bow — Vanji
    4. Cheras — fish — Korkai
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    Answer: A — Pandyas — fish — Madurai

    The Pandyas had the fish emblem and ruled from Madurai. The wrong options mix up the other two kingdoms: the tiger and Uraiyur belong to the Cholas, the bow and Vanji to the Cheras, and Korkai was the Pandya pearl port.

14. The Tamil epic Silappadikaram, the story of Kannagi and Kovalan, was composed by:

    1. Sittalai Sattanar
    2. Thiruvalluvar
    3. Tolkappiyar
    4. Ilango Adigal
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    Answer: D — Ilango Adigal

    Silappadikaram is by Ilango Adigal, by tradition a Chera prince. Sittalai Sattanar wrote its Buddhist sequel, Manimekalai, which is why his name is the strongest distractor; Thiruvalluvar wrote the Tirukkural and Tolkappiyar the grammar Tolkappiyam.

15. Consider the following statements about Kanishka:
    1. The Shaka era of 78 CE has traditionally been linked with his accession, though many historians now date his accession to around 127 CE.
    2. The Fourth Buddhist Council was held during his reign.
    3. The Rabatak inscription, which gives the Kushana genealogy, is in Sanskrit written in Brahmi.
    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 1 and 2 only
    3. 2 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: B — 1 and 2 only

    Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 1 deliberately gives the range rather than a single date, because Kanishka’s era is genuinely disputed. Statement 3 is wrong: the Rabatak inscription is in the Bactrian language written in a Greek-based script.

16. Which one of the following is NOT found in what survives of Megasthenes’ account of India?

    1. A division of Indian society into seven classes
    2. A city board of thirty members in six committees
    3. The claim that there was no slavery in India
    4. An account of the Kalinga war
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    Answer: D — An account of the Kalinga war

    Megasthenes was at the court of Chandragupta, two reigns before the Kalinga war, which is known from Ashoka’s own Rock Edict XIII. The other three are genuine reports of his — even the claim of no slavery, which is a misreading of Indian society rather than an invention of later writers.