[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2022: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 19 February 2022 – Ancient & Medieval India + Art & Culture – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

The Lower Palaeolithic or the Early Old Stone Age covers the greater part of the ice age. The Early Old Stone Age may have begun in Africa around two million years ago, but in India it is not older than 600,000 years. This date is given to Bori in Maharashtra, and this site is considered to be the earliest Lower Paleolithic site.

Early Old Stone Age sites have been found in the valley of river Son or Sohan in Punjab, now in Pakistan. Several sites have been found in Kashmir and the Thar Desert.

Lower Paleolithic tools have also been found in the Belan valley in UP and in the desert area of Didwana in Rajasthan. Didwana yielded not only Lower Paleolithic stone tools but also those of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic ages.

Chirki-Nevasa in Maharashtra has yielded as many as 2000 tools, and those have also been found at several places in the south. Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh is an important site, and the caves and rock shelters of Bhimbetka near Bhopal also show features of the Lower Paleolithic age.

Solution: c)

Harappan seals usually have a line of writing, probably containing the name and title of the owner. Scholars have also suggested that the motif (generally an animal) conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.

Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs.

Although the script remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical (where each sign stands for a vowel or a consonant) as it has just too many signs –somewhere between 375 and 400. It is apparent that the script was written from right to left as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left, as if the engraver began working from the right and then ran out of space.

Solution: b)

In later Vedic times, the Rig Vedic tribal assemblies lost importance, and royal power increased at their cost. The vidatha completely disappeared; the sabha and samiti continued to hold their ground but their character changed. They were now controlled by chiefs and rich nobles, and women were no longer permitted to sit in the sabha which was now dominated by warriors and brahmanas.

Solution: a)

The sixteen Mahajanapadas:

Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas. Although the lists vary, some names such as Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur frequently. Clearly, these were amongst the most important mahajanapadas.

While most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies, where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas.

Solution: b)

Ashokan inscriptions have been found in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Composed in Prakrit, they were written in Brahmi script in the greater part of the subcontinent. However, in the north-western part of the subcontinent they appeared in Aramaic language and Kharoshthi script, and in Afghanistan they were written in both Aramaic and Greek scripts and languages.

He was the first Indian king to speak directly to the people through his inscriptions which carry royal orders. The inscriptions throw light on Ashoka’s career, his external and domestic policies, and the extent of his empire.