Quiz 133 : Indian History

Posted: 14 Jun 2009 09:10 PM PDT

1.Padish-nama gives detail about the times of which of the following

Mughal Emperor?
(A)Babur
(B)Jahanagir
(C)Shah Jahan

2.When it was 1958 What was Vikram Samvat?

(A)1900
(B)2016
(C)none of them

3.Bhimbethka in MP is a nice site to get examples of paintings related to ?

(A)Paleolithic age
(B)Mesolithic age
(C)both of them

4.Hamim Humam who was a chief of Royal School (Pathshala) was a

courtier of ?
(A)Akbar
(B)Jahanagir
(C)Humayun

5.Who among the following Mughal Emperors put a ban on killing of

animals in certain days?
(A)Shah Jahan
(B)Akbar
(C)Darashikoh

6.Ustad Isa is related to the design and architecture of which of which of the
following Buildings in Mughal Era?
(A)Taj Mahal
(B)Buland Darwaja
(C)Red Fort (Agra)

7."Sur Sagar " was written in the times of which of the Mughal emperors?
(A)Humayun
(B)Akbar
(C)Jahanagir
8.The founder of Mughal Empire Babur was a ______?
(A)Timur from paternal line and Mongol from maternal Line
(B)Mongol from Paternal Line and Timur from Maternal
(C)A Turk from paternal & maternal side

9.Jujhar Singh who was a Bundela Chief had revolted against ?

(A)Jahanagir
(B)Shahjahan
(C)Aurangzeb

10.In whose times the Mughal Empire reached its territorial climax ?
(A)Akbar
(B)Shahjahan
(C)Aurangazeb

11.Akbar had adopted the Ray system of revenue assessment which he had
abolished later on . Who among the following had introduced the ray system
?
(A)Ala ud din Khilji
(B)Balban
(C)Iltutmish

12.Which among the following terms precisely defines the loans given to
farmers for seeds , implements etc. in the Mughal era?
(A)Dams
(B)Dahsala
(C)Taccavi

13.Faujdar and Amagujar were the chief operators of the Sarkar

(Government ) in Mughal Era. Amalgujar was related to which of the
following operations?
(A)Law & Order
(B)Revenue
(C)Defense

14."Abdun Nabi was a chief kazi who was accused of corruption and
venality" . We are talking about the times of following Emperor?
(A)Al Ud Din Khilji
(B)Akbar
(C)Aurangazeb
15.India's Koh-i-noor diamond and Peacock Throne was looted by Nadir
Shah , the ruler of Persia who defeated the Mughal Army at Karnal in which
year ?
(A)1720
(B)1739
(C)1749

16.Who among the following Mughal emperors of India prohibited

smoking?
(A)Akbar
(B)Jahanagir
(C)Aurangzeb

17.Akbar failed to completely subjugate the following region ?

(A)Mewar
(B)Gujarat
(C)Malwa

18.Battle of Chausa was fought between ?

(A)Babur & Rana Sanga
(B)Hemu & Mughals
(C)Humayun and Sherkhan

19.During the reign of which of the following emperors maximum number

of books on classical music were written ?
(A)Akbar
(B)Aurangzeb
(C)Jahanagir

20.Padmavat is a work of Malik Muhammad jaisi who completed his work

during the era of ________?
(A)Sher Shah
(B)Jahangir
(C)Aurangazeb
Chanakya (Kautilya) (350-283 BC)
Posted: 02 Jun 2009 11:52 PM PDT

1. Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya

Emperor Chandragupta , who was the chief architect of his rise to power.
Born as Vishnu Sharma, Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which this
ancient Indian Politico-economical treatise called the Arthaśāstra identifies
its author.

2. He is known as "The Indian Machiavelli" in the Western world. Chanakya

was a professor at Takshashila University and was responsible for the
creation of Mauryan Empire.
3. Strabo (a greek Geographer) gives him the name Palibrothus. Arien
Plutarch give him the names of Androkottus.
4. In Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta he has been depicted by names
Piyadamus, Vrishal, Chandrasiri & Kulihin.
5. In Mudrarakshasa Chandragupta has been depicted as a weak insignificant
young man and Chanakya being the real ruler.
6. Historian Sir Thomas R. Trautmann has mentioned that Chanakya was
born with a complete set of teeth , which gave a sign that he would become a
King. However his teeth were broken so he would rule through someone
else.
7. He was thrown out of Nanda court which prompted him to swear to take
revenge.
8. Chanakya mixed poison to the food eaten by Chandragupta Maurya, now
king, in order to make him immune. Unaware, Chandragupta feeds some of
his food to his queen, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy. In order to
save the heir to the throne, Chānakya cut the queen open and extracts the
fetus, who is named Bindusara because he was touched by a drop (bindu) of
blood having poison.

Chandragupta Maurya (321-293 BC)

Posted: 01 Jun 2009 09:06 PM PDT

1. He was the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty. With the help of Chanakya,
he overthrew the Nanda Dynasty (Dhanananda was the last ruler of Nanda
Dynasty). His vast empire included Bihar, Bengal, Deccan (except modern
Kerala, Tamilnadu and parts of North east India) , Eastern Afghanistan,
Baluchistan and area west of Indus river.
In this way he was the first emperor who tried to unify India
politically. He is also considered as first genuine emperor of
India.
2. When Alexander died in Babylon, soon after in 323 BC, his empire
fragmented, and local kings declared their independence, leaving several
smaller satraps in a disunited state.
3. Chandragupta Maurya deposed Dhannanda with the help of Chanakya.
The Greek generals Eudemus, and Peithon, ruled until around 316 BC, when
Chandragupta Maurya (with the help of Chanakya, who was now his
advisor) surprised and defeated the Macedonians and consolidated the region
under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.
4. Chanakya encouraged Chandragupta Maurya and his army to take over
the throne of Magadha. Using his intelligence network, Chandragupta
gathered many young men from across Magadha and other provinces, men
upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king Dhana, plus resources
necessary for his army to fight a long series of battles. These men included
the former general of Taxila, other accomplished students of Chanakya, the
representative of King Porus of Kakayee, his son Malayketu, and the rulers
of small states.
5. According to the Jaina literatures, Chandragupta Maurya in his last days
converted into jainism by Bhadrabahu and renounced his throne in favour of
Bimbisar , his son.

6. 'Mura' was the name of mother of Chandragupta Maurya. Some historians

say that Chandragupta was an illegitimate child of the Nanda Dynasty of
Magadha in eastern India, born to a Nanda prince and a maid named
"Mura",.

7. Some other historians and literary texts say that Chandragupta may have
been raised by peacock-tamers which earned him the Maurya epithet.

8. There are other literary traditions according to which Chandragupta

belonged to Moriyas, a Kshatriya clan of a little ancient republic of
Pippalivana located between Rummindei in the Nepali Terai and Kasia in the
Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Bindusara (298-273 BC)

Posted: 31 May 2009 10:42 PM PDT

1. Bindusara was son of Chandragupta Maurya and Durdhara. He inherited a

vast empire from his father Chandragupta Maurya which included Northern,
Central and Eastern parts of India along with parts of Afghanistan and
Baluchistan. He was born in 320 BC and ruled from 298 BC to 272 BC.
2. He is also known as Amitraghata (amitra-enemy, ghata-slayer) in Sanskrit
Literature. Strabo has named him Amitrochates or Allitrochades which are
greek version of the name Amitraghata.
3. In Rajvalli katha he is mentioned as Seemseri. Some texts even call in
Bindupala.
4. He had two sons Sumana & Ashoka. Ashoka later succeded him, after his
death.
5. Chanakya worked as Prime Minister of Bindusara too.
6. He brought sixteen states under the Mauryan Empire and thus conquered
almost the entire Indian peninsula. That is why he is called the "conqueror of
Land between the two seas", Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.

7. Bindusara didn't conquer Dravidian kingdoms of the Cholas, Pandyas, and

Cheras as they were friendly to him.
8. Kalinga was the only kingdom in India that didn't form the part of
Bindusara's empire. It was later conquered by his son Ashoka.
9. Bindusara is known as "The Son of a Great Father and the Father of a
Great Son" because he was the son of a great father Chandragupta Maurya
and father of a great son Ashoka, the Great.
10. Bindusara had friendly relationships with Syrian King Antiochus-I . A
Greek Daimachos from Antiochus-I had come to his court.
11. Ptolemy -II Philadelphus of Egypt had sent and ambassador Dionysios to
Bindusara.

Arhashstra By Kautilya
Posted: 29 May 2009 10:43 PM PDT
Arthshastra: It was written by Kautilya or Vishnugupta or Chanakya, who
was a professor at Taxila University and later the prime minister of the
Maurya Empire. The manuscript was discovered by Arya Sharma Shashtri in
1904. Arthshastra has been divided in 15 Adhikarans and 180 Prakarans. It is
related to money and politics and contains 6000 shlokas. The 15 parts are as
follows:
1. Concerning Discipline
2. The Duties of Government Superintendents
3. Concerning Law
4. The Removal of Thorns
5. The Conduct of Courtiers
6. The Source of Sovereign States
7. The End of the Six-Fold Policy
8. Concerning Vices and Calamities
9. The Work of an Invader
10. Relating to War
11. The Conduct of Corporations
12. Concerning a Powerful Enemy
13. Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress
14. Secret Means
15. The Plan of a Treatise
Sources of History of Mauryan Empire
Posted: 28 May 2009 09:06 PM PDT

The starting of Mauryan Empire is from accession of Chandragupta Maurya

to the Throne of Magadha in 321 BC. Sanskrit had emerged as a rich Indian
Language by that time. Sources which gives an insight into the history of
Maurya's are as follwos:
1. Puranas like Vishnupurana, Bhagawat Purana, Markandeya Purana
2. Arthshastra by Kautilya
3. MudraRakshasha by Vishakhadatta
4. Mahabhasya by Patanjali
5. Malvikagnimitra by Kalidas
6. Harshcharita by Banabhatta
7. Rajtarangini by Kalhan
8. Some Buddhist Texts like Dipavansa, Mahavansa, Asokavadan , Milanda-
Panho . Buddhist sources connect Maurya’s to some tribes of Sakya and
gives details that their region was full of Peacocks (Mor in Hindi) and so
known as Mauryas.
9. Some Jaina texts like Brihatkathakosha of Harisena, Aradhana by
Prabhachandra, Kathakosha by Shrichand etc. Some of them link
Chandragupta Maurya with Moriya tribe of peacock tamers.
10. The Brahamnical sources describe Maurya’s as Shudras. However Greek
writers mention that they were from humble origin. In Greek sources
Chandragupta is mentioned as Sandrokottas.
11. Greek accounts : Indica by Mehgasthanes. Accounts of Plutarch, Strabo,
Ptolemy, Arian & Justin. Besides some writings of Fa Hien, Huen Tsang, I-
tsing etc. Chinese Buddhist Pilgrims.
12. Asoka’s Inscriptions
13. Rocks & Pillar Edicts of Maurya’s
14. Hathigumpha Inscription gives account of Decline of Maurya’s
15. Girnar ‘s Inscription of Rudradaman gives account of Chandragupta and
Asoka
16. Cave edict of Nagarjuni gives account of Dasarath