This Bihar quiz on Ancient Bihar: Magadha, Mauryas and Guptas puts 12 multiple-choice questions to you, the verified MCQs published with GK24's note on the topic, 3 of them asked in real previous-year papers. Every question carries a full explanation of why the correct option is right and why the other options are wrong, so you learn the fact behind the answer rather than the letter. Attempt it right after reading the note, keep to the timer, and use the explanations at the end to mark what needs another look. Sit it again before the exam as a quick revision of the topic.
12 questions with answers and explanations
Which foreign invader surrendered his territories to Chandragupta Maurya?
Seleucus was the Macedonian general who took over Alexander's eastern conquests and tried to recover the Indian provinces around 305 BCE.
Read the full explanation →Which Haryanka ruler shifted the capital of Magadha to Pataliputra?
Udayin, the son and successor of Ajatashatru, built a fort at the meeting point of the Ganga and the Son and moved the Magadhan capital there from Rajagriha.
Read the full explanation →The First Buddhist Council was held at Rajgir during the reign of which ruler?
The First Buddhist Council met at the Sattapanni cave in Rajagriha soon after the death of the Buddha, under the patronage of Ajatashatru of the Haryanka dynasty.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following was not a land related tax during the Mauryan period?
Shulka was a duty on goods, collected at the gates of towns and at ferries and frontiers on trade, not on land or its produce.
Read the full explanation →Who founded the Nanda dynasty of Magadha?
Mahapadma Nanda overthrew the Shishunagas and founded the Nanda dynasty in the fourth century BCE.
Read the full explanation →The Prayag Prashasti, the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, was composed by
Harisena was Samudragupta's court poet and a high officer, and he composed the long eulogy engraved on an older Ashokan pillar now at Allahabad.
Read the full explanation →The Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar was founded by which Gupta ruler?
Kumaragupta I, who took the title Mahendraditya, founded the monastery and seat of learning at Nalanda in the fifth century CE.
Read the full explanation →Match the Greek rulers named in Ashoka's edicts with their regions: (A) Antiochus II (B) Ptolemy II (C) Antigonus II (D) Magas, with (i) Cyrene (ii) Macedonia (iii) Egypt (iv) Syria.
Ashoka's Thirteenth Rock Edict names the Hellenistic kings to whom he sent dhamma missions, and their kingdoms are known from Greek history: Antiochus II Theos ruled the Seleucid kingdom of Syria, Ptolemy II Philadelphus ruled Egypt, Antigonus II Gonatas ruled Macedonia and Magas ruled Cyrene in north Africa.
Read the full explanation →The remains of a Mauryan hall with eighty polished sandstone pillars were excavated at which place in Patna?
Excavations at Kumhrar in Patna uncovered the plinth and pillar stumps of a large pillared hall of the Mauryan period, counted at eighty pillars of Chunar sandstone with the characteristic mirror polish.
Read the full explanation →Who deciphered the Brahmi script of Ashoka's inscriptions in 1837?
James Prinsep, secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, worked out the values of Brahmi letters and published his reading in 1837, which made the edicts speak.
Read the full explanation →Which was the last Mauryan ruler, killed by his commander Pushyamitra Shunga?
Brihadratha was the last of the Mauryas, and around 185 BCE his own commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Shunga killed him and took the throne, founding the Shunga dynasty with its centres at Pataliputra and Vidisha.
Read the full explanation →Which Chinese pilgrim visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya?
Fa-Hien travelled to India at the turn of the fifth century CE, in the reign of Chandragupta II, to collect Buddhist texts.
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