With reference to the Indo-Roman trade in ancient India, the term 'aurei' refers to :
- A.Perfume
- B.Wine
- C.Black Pepper
- D.Coins
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, Coins. Aurei (singular aureus) were the gold coins of the Roman Empire, and large numbers of them reached India in payment for Indian goods. From the first century BCE to the third century CE Roman ships sailed to the Malabar and Coromandel coasts with the monsoon winds, bringing gold and silver coins, wine, olive oil and fine pottery. They took back pepper, spices, pearls, precious stones, muslin and ivory. Hoards of Roman gold aurei and silver denarii have been found at many sites in south India, especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, and at the port of Arikamedu near Puducherry. The Roman writer Pliny complained that this trade drained the empire of its gold. Option A is wrong because perfumes were goods of trade, not a name for coins. Option B is wrong because wine came to India in amphorae and was not called aurei. Option C is wrong because black pepper was the chief Indian export, so prized that it was called 'yavanapriya'. Exam tip: aureus is the Roman gold coin, denarius the silver one; Arikamedu and Muziris were key Indo-Roman ports.
Practice Questions
View allWhich European traveller had observed, "A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers"?
- A.Francois Bernier
- B.Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
- C.Thomas Roe
- D.Abbe J. A. Dubois
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The remark comes from Abbé Jean-Antoine Dubois, a French Catholic missionary who lived in south India, mostly in Mysore, from 1792 to 1823.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following scholars of Akbar's court translated Bhaskaracharya's Lilavati into Persian?
- A.Abul Fazl
- B.Faizi
- C.Fathullah Shirazi
- D.Ataullah Rashidi
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Faizi, Akbar's poet laureate and the elder brother of Abul Fazl, translated the Lilavati into Persian in 1587. The Lilavati is the arithmetic part of the Siddhanta Shiromani, written by the mathematician Bhaskaracharya (Bhaskara II) in the twelfth century, and it covers numbers, fractions, progressions and measurement.
Read the full explanation →Which of the pairs of Ashokan inscription and location is/are correctly matched ?
1. Jaugada : Karnataka
2. Bahapur : New Delhi
3. Rajula-Mandagiri : Andhra Pradesh
Select the answer using the codes given below :
- A.1 only
- B.1,2 and 3
- C.3 only
- D.2 and 3 only
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Jaugada is in Odisha, not Karnataka, so only pairs 2 and 3 are right. Jaugada, in Ganjam district of Odisha, is one of the two places, with Dhauli, that carry Ashoka's Separate Kalinga Edicts.
Read the full explanation →The Bali Jatra fair, which recalls the ancient sea voyages of Indian merchants to Southeast Asia, is held in which state?
- A.Odisha
- B.West Bengal
- C.Gujarat
- D.Tamil Nadu
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Bali Jatra, meaning the voyage to Bali, is held at Cuttack on the bank of the Mahanadi on Kartik Purnima, when people float small paper and banana bark boats in memory of the merchants of Kalinga who sailed to Bali, Java, Sumatra and Borneo; the same day is marked as…
Read the full explanation →Korkai, the pearl fishery port of the Pandyas in the Sangam age, stood on which river?
- A.Kaveri
- B.Vaigai
- C.Tamraparni
- D.Palar
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Korkai lay near the mouth of the Tamraparni in the present Thoothukudi district, and it was the headquarters of the Pandya pearl fishery of the Gulf of Mannar, praised by the Periplus and by the Sangam poets; the sea has since receded and left the site inland.
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