INDIAN HISTORY
BEST QUESTIONS FOR ALL THE COMPETITIVE EXAMS 2020-21
The first metal to be extensively used by the people in India was ______.
— Copper
_______ was the first to discover the traces of the Harappan Civilisation.
— Daya Ram Sahani
The utensils of the Indus Valley people were mainly made of ________.
— clay
The most common animal figure found at all the Harappan sites is
________. — unihorn bull
The term Aryan, Indo-Aryan or Indo-European denotes a _______
concept. — Linguistic
According to the most widely accepted view, the Aryans originally came
from ______. — Central Asia
________ Veda was compiled first. — Rigveda
_________ Veda deals with magic spells and witchcraft.
— Atharvaveda
The Vedic religion along with its Later (Vedic) developments is actually
known as ________. — Brahmanism
The Vedic Aryans first settled in the region of ________.—
Saptasindhu
_____ Ved contains the famous Gayatrimantra. — Rigveda
The famous Gayatrimantra is addressed to ______. — Savita
Two highest gods in the Vedic religion were _____ and _______.
— Indra, Varuna
Division of the Vedic society into four classes is clearly mentioned in
the ________ of Rigveda. — Purusa – sukta
The normal form of government during the Vedic period was ________.
— monarchy
Two popular Assemblies of the Vedic period were ______ and ______.
— Sabha, Samiti
After the growth of the Vedic religion the most important development in
the history of the so-called Hinduism was the development of ________.
— Bhagavatism
Bhagavatism refers to worship of ________. — Vasudeva Krishna
Vaishnavism , a later development of Bhagavatism, advocates the worship
of ________. — Vishnu and his incarnations
The founder of Jainism was ________. — Parsvanatha
Vardhamana Mahavira the 24th Tirthankar of Jainism was born at
_________ and died at _________ — Kundagrama, Pava
Of the five vows ( Panch Anuvratas) of Jainism four existed before
Mahavira. The one which he added was ________. — celibacy
Jainism was divided into two sects-Swetambaras (White-clad) and
Digambaras (Sky-clad or naked) – During the reign of the ________.
— Mauryas
The name Buddha means ________. — enlightened
Buddhism was divided into Mahayana and Hinayana during the reign of
________. — Kanishka
The great exponent of Mahayana Buddhism was ______.
— Nagarjuna
Jatakas are the stories of _________. — Buddha’s previous lives
Outside India, Buddhism was first accepted in _______.
— Sri Lanka
When Alexander invaded India, Magadha was being ruled by the ________.
— Nandas
The decline of the Nandas at the hands of Kautilya and Chandragupta
Maurya has been vividly portrayed in the Sanskrit play written by Kalidasa
is _______. — Malavikagnimitram
The Mauryan sculptors had attained the highest perfection in the
carving of ________. — animal figures
_______ usurped power from the Mauryas after killing the last Mauryan
ruler Brihadratha — Pushyamitra Sunga
The most famous Indo-Greek ruler of India, famous for his sense of
justice and dialogues with a Buddhist monk Nagasena (as described in
the Buddhist work Milindpanho) was ________. — Menander
The first great empire to the south of the Vindhayas was of the _______.
— Satavahanas
Gautama Buddha was brought up by ______. — Mahaprajapati
The phrase the ‘Light of Asia’ is applied to _______. — The Buddha
The Eight-fold path was enunciated by _______. — The Buddha
The Buddhist Doctrines were written in ______ language. — Pali
The first Buddhist Council was held at _______. — Rajagriha
Ashoka was much influenced by a Buddhist monk called _______.
— Upagupta
Megasthenes visited India during the period of ______.
— Chandragupta Maurya
Megasthenes was the Ambassador of ______. — Selukos Nikator
“The Indica” was written by ______. — Megasthenes
Mauryan Dynasty was founded by _______. — Chandragupta Maurya
The Rig Veda consists of ________ hyms. — 1028
_________ Veda is rendered musically. — Sama Veda
________ was the hero of a famous drama Malvikagnimitra written by
Kalidasa. — Agnimitra
The duties of Dharmamahamatras are explained in the Minor Rock Edict
No ._______. — V
The Vishnu Purana gives an account of ______ dynasty.
— Mauryan
A well-organised State machinery was introduced for the first time by
_______. — the Mauryas
The last Mauryan king was _______. — Brihadratha
Bimbisara was succeeded by _______. — Ajatasatru
The Upanishads are separated from the Brahmanas by treatises called
_______. — Aranyakas
‘Atman is everything and everything is Atman’ is the …… doctrine
— Pantheistic
The salient feature of the Rig Vedic religion was worship of ________.
— Nature
When Alexander invaded India, Texila was ruled by ________.—
Ambhi
There are similarities between the seals found at Mohenjo-Daro and
……. — Sumeria
Megasthenese was a Greek Ambassador sent to the court of the king ……
— Chandragupta Maurya
Mudra Rakshasa was written by _______. — Visakadatta
Dharmamahamatras were _________ during the Mauryans.
— Officials
Kanva dynasty was established by _______. — Vasudeva
Kharavela of Kalinga was a follower of the religion _______.—
Jainism
The capital of the king Kharavela of Kalinga was ______.
— Kalinganagara
Buddha delivered his first sermon at _______. — Sarnath
The Buddha attained Nirvana at _______. — Kusinagara
The proceedings of the Third Buddhist Council led to the issue of
______ Edict. — Sarnath
The most important Pahlava ruler was ________.
— Gondophernes
St Thomas died a martyr at _______. — Madras
The Capital of Kanishka Empire was _______. — Peshawar
The fourth Buddhist Council was held at _____. — Kundalavana
Alexander was the son of Philip II of ________. — Macedonia
Porus was defeated by Alexander at the battle of _______.
— Hydaspes
Alexander the Great died at _______. — Babylon
The monolithic image of Jain Saint ‘Gomatiswara’ is at _______.
— Saravanabelgola
_______ was the mother of Vardhamana Mahavira. — Trisala
The Monk whom Chandragupta Maurya accompanied to South India was
________. — Bhadrabahu
Megasthenes was succeeded by _______ as ambassador.
— Deimachos
The Saka Era was founded by _______. — Kanishka
The famous Indo-Greek King who embraced Buddhism was……..
— Menender
Kanishka was the follower of ________. — Mahayanism
The Sunga ruler Bhaga erected a monolithic ‘Garuda’ at _______.
— Besnagar
Vardhamana Mahavira died at ______. — Pavapuri
The city of Pataliputra was founded at the junction of the Ganges and
the _______. — Sone
The Nanda dynasty was established by _______. — Mahapadma
Alexander was trained by _______. — Aristotle
Vardhamana Mahavira was born at _______. — Kundagrama
Bimbisara was succeeded by _________. — Ajatasatru
Alexander sent back home a portion of his army under an admiral called
…… — Nearchos
_______ was another name of Pataliputra — Kusumapura
The founder of the Achaemenian Empire was ________. — Cyrus
The most powerful ruler of the Cheras was ______. — Senguttuvan
A temple for ‘Patini devi’ was constructed by ______. — Senguttuvan
During the 4th century AD the Western Satraps were conquered by
the _______ rulers. — Sassanian
Sudarsana lake was reconstructed by ______. — Rudradaman I
The first ruler of the Satavahanas was _______. — Simuka
Satavahana rule was extended to the Coromandal Coast by ________.
— Pulumayi II
Chashtana was the Satraps of ______. — Malwa
Srikakulam was the capital of _______. — Andhras
The ancient Chola kingdom existed in the delta of the river _______.
— Cauvery
The first Persian ruler who occupied part of Indian territory was ________.
— Cyrus
The fourth and the last Buddhist Council held at Kashmir was convened
by _______. — Kanishka
The first image of the Buddha was carved out during the reign of _______.
— Kanishka I
_______ was the personal physician of Kanishka and also the author of a
famous treatise on the Indian system of medicine. — Charaka
The worship of images (of Buddha) in India began during the period
________. — Kushana
The last great ruling dynasty of Magadha was ________. — Gupta
Kanishka is associated with an era which is known as ________.
— Saka era
The greatest conqueror among the Gupta rulers was ________.
— Samudragupta
The famous Mehrauli Iron Pillar Inscription describes the conquest of
______. — Chandragupta II
The Gupta king who is known in the Indian legends as Vikramaditya
was _______. — Chandragupta II
The Chinese traveller Fa-hien visited India and left a detailed account of
the reign of _______. — Chandragupta II
The foremost astronomer and mathematician of the Gupta period was
______. — Aryabhatta
The Chinese traveller Huen Tsang, called the Prince of Pilgrims visited
India during the reign of ______. — Harsha
Harshacharita the biography of Harsha, was written by _______.
— Banabhatta
Harsha was the last great royal patron of the religion ______.
— Buddhism
Two great Buddhist universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were
patronised by the ______ rulers. — Palas
The Chahamana (or Chauhan) king who founded the city of Ajmer and
made it his capital was _______. — Ajayaraj
Kalhana’s Rajatarangini is a work on the history of ______.
— Kashmir
Of the four main Chalukya dynasties of early medieval India Pulkesin II,
who defeated Harsha, belonged to Chalukya dynasty of ________.
— Badami or Vatapi
The capital of the Pallavas was ______. — Kanchi or Conjeevaram
The foundation of the Dravidian style of architecture in South India was
laid by ______. — Pallavas
The Pallava king responsible for carving the Rathas of Mahabalipuram
was ________. — Narsimhavarman
The Chola king, who after successfully raiding Bengal took the title of
Gangaikonda and also founded a new capital (Gangaikonda Cholapuram)
was ______. — Rajendra I
The masterpiece of Chola sculpture is the famous Nataraja or the Dancing
Shiva image at ______. — Chidambaram
A contemporary rival dynasty of the Cholas in South India was ______.
— Pandyas of Madurai
The Indian king who provided the most spirited and successful resistance
against Mahmud of Ghazni was _______.
— Chandela king Vidyadhar
The Indian ruler who, unable to bear the humiliation of his defeat at the
hands of Mahmud of Ghazni burnt himself to death was _______.
— Shahi king Jayapala
The famous ruler of ancient India who is said to have been converted to
Jainism, towards the end of his life, is _______. — Chandragupta
The Harappan economy was primarily ________ in nature.
— Urban
_______ was the first Muslim invader to enter India.
— Mohammed-bin-Qasim
The best specimens of Mauryan art are represented by their _______.
— Pillars
According to Strabo, the Tamil kingdom to first send emissaries to meet
Augustin in Athens in 20 BC, was _______. — Pandya
The word ‘Veda’ has been derived from the root word ‘Vid’ which means
_______. — Knowledge
The Kushan rule was brought to an end by _______.
— The Hindu Shahi Dynasty
Ashoka has been particularly influenced by the Buddhist monk ________.
— Upagupta
During Kanishka’s reign, the centre of political activity shifted from
Magadha to ______. — Purushapura (Peshawar)
Name the Sultan who resorted to the extreme step of abolishing as many
as 24 taxes. — Firoze Tughlaq
Who had got the Konark Sun Temple constructed?
— Narasimha Deva II
In which language did Krishna Deva Raya, who was also a scholar of
repute, write the Amukta-Malyada? — Sanskrit
Sultan Mahmud’s mission of plundering several temples for their wealth
included the famous __________ temple as well. — Somnath
Whom did Muhammad Ghori kill in the Second Battle of Tarain?
— Prithviraj
Who wrote Mrichchhakatika (Clay Cart)? — Sudraka
After the partition of India, the largest number of Harappan towns and
settlements have been found in the state of ______. — Gujarat
The Indus Valley Civilization can be said to belong to the _________ age.
— Bronze
Who among the following used to hold a religious assembly at Prayag
every five year? — Harshvardhana
Gautam Buddha as a prince was known as _______. — Siddhartha
Architectural developments in India manifested themselves in their full
glory during the period of the ______. — Guptas
The deep, transforming effect that the Kalinga War had on Ashoka has
been described in ________ edicts. — Rock
The proud title of ‘Vikramaditya’ had been assumed by _______.
— Chandragupta II
_______ was the first metal to be discovered and used as tools by humans?
— Copper
The Upanishads are a series of books devoted to ______.
— Philosophy
Which of the following temples has acquired the name of the Black
Pagoda? — Sun Temple
Name the later Gupta ruler who had performed the Ashwamedha Yajna
(Horse Sacrifice) and assumed the imperial title of Maharajadhiraj?
— Adityasen
With what subject does the Mitakshara deal? — Law
By whom had the Stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh been built?
— Ashoka
The author of Ashtadhyayai is _______. — Panini
In the Rigvedic period, after the king the next most important functionary
of the state was the _______. — Purohita
The concluding portions of the Brahmanas are called the _______.
— Satpathas
What does the Yajur Veda contain? — Hymns and rituals
The Mahajanapada that acquired prominence to become an empire was
that of ______. — Magadha
What is the present name of Dwara Samudra, the ancient capital of the
Hoysalas? — Halebid
The Ajanta cave paintings mostly belong to the period of the ________.
— Guptas
Who was the founder of the Sankhya School of philosophy?
— Kapila
