Indian History Mixed Quiz: Set 52

The correct answer is C, Ajatashatru. The Buddhist text Mahaparinibbana Sutta and the Jaina tradition credit Ajatashatru of the Haryanka dynasty with two engines used in his long war against the Lichchhavis of Vaishali: the Mahashilakantaka, which hurled great stones, and the Rathamusala, a chariot fitted with a mace that swept down ranks of soldiers. Option A is wrong because Mahapadma Nanda founded the Nanda dynasty a century later and is remembered for his vast army and his humble origin. Option B is wrong because Shishunaga founded the Shishunaga dynasty after the Haryankas and is remembered for destroying the power of Avanti. Option D is wrong because Chanda Pradyota was the ruler of Avanti, a rival of Magadha, not its king. Remember the Haryanka order: Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and then Udayin, who founded Pataliputra.

The correct answer is D, He was the first recipient of the Padma Shree Award. C. Rajagopalachari was one of the first three recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954, along with C. V. Raman and S. Radhakrishnan, not of the Padma Shri, so this statement is not true. Known as Rajaji, he took charge in 1948 as the last Governor General of India and the only Indian to hold that post, after Lord Mountbatten left. He had earlier been Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Union Home Minister and Chief Minister of Madras State. A is true, since no other Indian held the office. B is true, because he founded the Swatantra Party in 1959 to oppose Nehru's policy of state control and land ceilings. C is true, as he was a close associate of Gandhi and a senior Congress leader. Exam tip: the first Bharat Ratna went to Rajaji, Raman and Radhakrishnan in 1954.

The correct answer is A, Kharavela of Kalinga. The inscription is cut in a cave of the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, is written in Prakrit in the Brahmi script, and records year by year the campaigns, irrigation works and patronage of Jainism of this ruler of the Mahameghavahana line. Option B is wrong because Rudradaman I, the Shaka ruler of western India, is known from the Junagadh rock inscription. Option C is wrong because Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty is known from the Nasik prashasti issued by his mother Gautami Balashri. Option D is wrong because Samudragupta is known from the Prayag or Allahabad pillar prashasti composed by Harisena. The pairing of inscription with ruler is the whole of this question type.

The correct answer is B, Cholas. Puhar, also called Kaveripattinam, was the great port of the early Cholas of the Sangam age.

The town stood where the Kaveri meets the Bay of Bengal, and Karikala, the best known early Chola ruler, is credited with developing it. Sangam poetry and the Tamil epic Silappadikaram describe its warehouses, its separate quarter for foreign merchants and its trade in pepper, pearls and fine cloth with Rome and South East Asia. Uraiyur was the inland capital of the early Cholas while Puhar served as the coastal capital and port.

A is wrong: the Cheras of the Kerala coast used Muziris and Tondi as their ports. C is wrong: the Pandyas ruled from Madurai and their port was Korkai, famous for pearls. D is wrong: the Vakatakas ruled in the Deccan and had no port on this coast.

Exam tip: pair them up, Chola with Puhar and Uraiyur, Chera with Muziris and Vanji, Pandya with Korkai and Madurai.

The correct answer is B, Mahapadma Nanda. Mahapadma Nanda founded the Nanda dynasty in about the middle of the fourth century BCE after displacing the Shishunagas, and the Puranas call him Ekarat, the sole sovereign, and Sarva-kshatrantaka, the destroyer of all Kshatriyas, because he is described as a ruler of low birth who uprooted the older ruling families. Option A is wrong because Dhana Nanda was the last of the line, the ruler whom Chandragupta Maurya overthrew with Chanakya's help. Option C is wrong because Shishunaga founded the earlier Shishunaga dynasty, which the Nandas replaced. Option D is wrong because Kalashoka, or Kakavarna, was a Shishunaga ruler in whose reign the second Buddhist council was held at Vaishali. The order to remember is Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda and then Maurya. The later Guptas of Magadha are a separate, weaker line and should not be confused with this imperial house.

The correct answer is D, Chin Khilich Khan. Chin Qilich Khan, better remembered by his title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, was a Mughal noble appointed governor of the Deccan by Muhammad Shah. Tired of court intrigue at Delhi, he returned to the south, defeated his rival Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda in 1724 and from then on ruled the Deccan as an independent prince in all but name, founding the Asaf Jahi or Nizam dynasty of Hyderabad that lasted until 1948. He kept the forms of Mughal loyalty, struck coins in the emperor’s name, yet appointed his own officers and made war and peace on his own. Option A is wrong because Asaf Jah II, that is Nizam Ali Khan, was a later ruler of the same line, not its founder. Option B is wrong because Bahadur Shah was the Mughal emperor who ruled from 1707 to 1712. Option C is wrong because Alivardi Khan made himself independent in Bengal, not Hyderabad. Exam tip: Hyderabad 1724 Chin Qilich Khan, Awadh 1722 Saadat Khan, Bengal Murshid Quli Khan.

The correct answer is B, Harisena. He was a court poet of Samudragupta, and the prashasti he composed in Sanskrit, partly in prose and partly in verse, lists the kings the emperor uprooted in the north, those he defeated and reinstated in the south, and the rulers who paid him homage, which makes it the main source for his reign. Option A is wrong because Ravikirti composed the Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II. Option C is wrong because Vatsabhatti composed the Mandasor inscription about a guild of silk weavers in the time of Kumaragupta. Option D is wrong because Banabhatta was the court writer of Harshavardhana and wrote the Harshacharita and the Kadambari, which are literary works and not inscriptions. The poet and his patron are asked in either direction.

The correct answer is D, Santhal Revolt. The Santhal rebellion, called the Hool, was led by the brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu. It broke out in 1855 in the Rajmahal hills of the Damin-i-Koh tract, in what is now Jharkhand, when Santhal peasants rose against moneylenders, zamindars, contractors and the police who had taken their land and pushed them into bonded debt. Thousands gathered at Bhagnadih, declared their own rule and marched on the plains; the British put the rising down by 1856 after heavy fighting, and Sidhu and Kanhu were killed. The government then created the separate Santhal Parganas district with special protective rules. Option A is wrong because the Bhil risings of Khandesh were led by Sewaram and later Govind Guru. Option B is wrong because the Khasi revolt in the Meghalaya hills was led by Tirot Sing. Option C is wrong because the Munda rebellion, the Ulgulan of 1899, was led by Birsa Munda. Exam tip: Hool 1855 means Sidhu and Kanhu; Ulgulan 1899 means Birsa Munda.

The correct answer is A, Sri Gupta. Sri Gupta, who bore the modest title Maharaja, is named in the inscriptions as the founder of the Gupta family, and he was followed by his son Ghatotkacha. Option B is wrong because Chandragupta I, the third ruler, was the first important king of the house: he took the grand title Maharajadhiraja, married the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi and is connected with the beginning of the Gupta era in 319 to 320 CE, which is why he is often mistaken for the founder. Option C is wrong because Samudragupta was his son, the conqueror whose campaigns Harisena recorded in the Prayaga Prashasti on the Allahabad pillar and whom modern writers call the Napoleon of India. Option D is wrong because Ghatotkacha was the second ruler, between Sri Gupta and Chandragupta I.

The correct answer is B, 19 December 1929. The Lahore session of the Indian National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution on 19 December 1929 and declared complete independence to be the goal of the Congress.

The session met on the bank of the Ravi and was presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. On the midnight of 31 December 1929 the tricolour was hoisted there, and the Congress asked people to observe 26 January 1930 as the first Independence Day. The same resolution cleared the way for a civil disobedience programme, which Gandhi began with the Dandi March in March 1930.

Option A, 21 December 1929, is not linked with any decision of the session. Option C, 26 December 1929, is also a wrong date. Option D, 15 December 1929, falls before the session opened.

Exam tip: Lahore session 1929 — resolution 19 December, flag 31 December, first Independence Day 26 January 1930.

The correct answer is B, Pulakeshin II, the greatest ruler of the Chalukyas of Badami. The inscription at Aihole, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet Ravikirti, praises his achievements and mentions his success against Harshavardhana, which is the only firm evidence that the ruler of Kanauj was checked on the Narmada. Option A is wrong because Harshavardhana is the king defeated in this record, and our knowledge of him comes from the Harshacharita of Banabhatta and the account of Hiuen Tsang. Option C is wrong because Narasimhavarman I was the Pallava ruler who later defeated and killed Pulakeshin II and took the title Vatapikonda. Option D is wrong because Dantidurga founded the Rashtrakuta power in the middle of the eighth century, long after this inscription.

The correct answer is A, Singapore. Subhas Chandra Bose proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India, the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, at Singapore on 21 October 1943. He himself took charge as head of state, prime minister and minister of war. The government was recognised by Japan, Germany and Italy among others, declared war on Britain and the United States, later moved its headquarters to Rangoon, and was given charge of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which Bose renamed Shaheed and Swaraj. Bose had reached Singapore in July 1943 and taken command of the Indian National Army from Rash Behari Bose. Option B is wrong because Shanghai had no part in this. Option C is wrong because Berlin is where Bose spent 1941 to 1943 and set up the Free India Centre and the Indian Legion. Option D is wrong because Mandalay in Burma is the jail where he was held in the 1920s. Exam tip: 21 October 1943 at Singapore, with the headquarters shifting to Rangoon in 1944.

The correct answer is C, Brihadratha. Pushyamitra Shunga, the commander of the Mauryan army, killed the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha in about 185 BCE and founded the Shunga dynasty, which ruled from Pataliputra and Vidisha and under which the Sanchi and Bharhut stupas were enlarged. Options A, B and D are wrong because Dasharatha, Samprati and Devavarman were all earlier rulers of the declining Mauryan line that followed Ashoka; the Puranas place Brihadratha at the end of the list. The dynasty that followed the Shungas was the Kanva dynasty, founded by Vasudeva, who killed the last Shunga, Devabhuti. Examiners often pair these two palace revolutions, so keep the sequence clear: Maurya, then Shunga under Pushyamitra, then Kanva under Vasudeva, then the Satavahanas in the Deccan. The Shunga period is also asked for Patanjali and for the Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar near Vidisha.

The correct answer is C, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister from 1964 to 1966 and led the country through the war with Pakistan in 1965. He gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, which linked the soldier at the border with the farmer in the field, and his years saw the beginning of the Green Revolution and the setting up of the Food Corporation of India. The war ended with the Tashkent Agreement, signed with Ayub Khan on 10 January 1966; Shastri died in Tashkent the same night. He was given the Bharat Ratna after his death, and 2 October is remembered as his birthday as well as Gandhi Jayanti. Option A is wrong because Morarji Desai became Prime Minister in 1977. Option B is wrong because Indira Gandhi took office in 1966 and led India in the 1971 war. Option D is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964, before this war. Exam tip: 1962 China under Nehru, 1965 Pakistan under Shastri, 1971 Bangladesh war under Indira Gandhi.

The correct answer is A. The Junagadh rock inscription of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman I says that the Sudarshana lake, first built in the Mauryan period and improved under Ashoka, burst in a storm and was rebuilt at the ruler own cost without a levy on his subjects. The record is also famous as the earliest long inscription in Sanskrit. Option B is wrong because the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta speaks of his struggle against the Hunas. Option C is wrong because the Sohgaura copper plate from the Gorakhpur region deals with the storage of grain for famine relief. Option D is wrong because the Uttaramerur inscription of the Chola king Parantaka I describes how the village assembly chose its members, and is the standard source on local self government in the Chola country.

The correct answer is A, 1905. Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal on 19 July 1905 and it came into effect on 16 October 1905, splitting the province into a Muslim-majority eastern half and the rest of Bengal. The reason given in public was that Bengal had grown too large to administer, but the real aim was to weaken the nationalist movement there by dividing Hindus and Muslims. The protest against it began the Swadeshi and boycott movement, in which foreign cloth was burnt and Indian goods, schools and banks were promoted, and Rabindranath Tagore's song Amar Sonar Bangla belongs to those days. The anger was so wide that the partition was finally cancelled in 1911, when the capital was also moved from Calcutta to Delhi. B is wrong because 1901 is the year Queen Victoria died. C is wrong because 1907 is the year of the Surat split in the Congress. D is wrong because 1911 is the year the partition was revoked, not made. Exam tip: announced in 1905 by Curzon, revoked in 1911 under Hardinge.

The correct answer is B, Gopala. Gopala was elected ruler by the chiefs of Bengal in about 750 CE, ending a long period of disorder known in the sources as matsyanyaya, and founded the Pala dynasty, which became one of the three contenders in the tripartite struggle for Kannauj. Option A is wrong because Dharmapala was his son, the ruler who extended Pala power to Kannauj and founded the Vikramshila monastery, and who is also credited with reviving Nalanda. Option C is wrong because Devapala, the son of Dharmapala, marks the height of Pala power but is the third ruler, not the founder. Option D is wrong because Mahipala I belongs to a later revival of the dynasty in the eleventh century. The Palas were Buddhist, which is why their monasteries and the Pala school of bronzes are asked about together with the names.

The correct answer is A. Tolkappiyam, ascribed to Tolkappiyar, is the oldest extant Tamil work and treats grammar along with the conventions of poetry, so it is the foundation of the whole Sangam corpus. Option B is wrong because the great works on medicine are the Charaka Samhita and, for surgery, the Sushruta Samhita, both in Sanskrit. Option C is wrong because astronomy belongs to the Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata and the Brihat Samhita and Panchasiddhantika of Varahamihira. Option D is wrong because statecraft is the subject of the Arthashastra of Kautilya. Keep the Sangam list in order: Tolkappiyam on grammar, the eight anthologies of the Ettutogai, the ten poems of the Pattuppattu, the Tirukkural among the minor works, and the twin epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai.

The correct answer is A, Pratishthana. The Satavahanas, who rose in the Deccan after the Mauryas, were founded by Simuka and ruled from Pratishthana, the modern Paithan on the Godavari in Maharashtra; their greatest king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, is praised in the Nashik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri. Option B is wrong because Vatapi, the modern Badami, was the capital of the Chalukyas, founded by Pulakeshin I several centuries later. Option C is wrong because Amaravati on the Krishna was a great Buddhist stupa site that flourished under Satavahana patronage but was not their capital. Option D is wrong because Vengi was the capital of the Eastern Chalukyas and earlier of the Ikshvakus and Salankayanas. The Satavahanas are also remembered for issuing lead coins and for the Prakrit inscriptions of Nashik and Nanaghat.

The correct answer is C, the thirteenth major rock edict. It gives the number of people killed, who died and who were carried away from Kalinga, says the king felt sorrow and remorse, and announces that he would seek conquest through dhamma rather than through war; it also names the Hellenistic kings to whom he sent envoys. Option A is wrong because the first major rock edict prohibits animal sacrifice and festive gatherings. Option B is wrong because the seventh pillar edict is a summary of his measures for dhamma towards the end of the reign. Option D is wrong because the Rummindei pillar at Lumbini commemorates his visit to the birthplace of the Buddha and the reduction of the village tax. Note that the Kalinga war is not mentioned in the edicts installed in Kalinga itself.