Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) and Answers on The Vedic Era
Question 1: What is the Vedic name of river Ravi?
a) Purushni
b) Chandrabhaga
c) Arjikiya
d) Satadru
Answer: (a)
Question 2: The term ‘Aryan’ denotes
a) an ethnic group
b) a nomadic people
c) a speech group
d) a superior race
Answer: (d)
Question 3: Which term is used to describe the spread of Buddhism from India through South-East Asia?
a) Social mobility
b) Cultural diffusion
c) Ethnocentrism
d) Interdependence
Answer: (a)
Question 4: Who among the following Vedic God/Goddess depicts an association with the Sun?
a) Ashwin
b) Pusan
c) Indira
d) Aranyani
Answer: (a)
Question 5: Which among the following Kingdoms did not appear in the later Vedic North India?
a) Kuru Panchala
b) Kosala
c) Kashi
d) Anga
Answer: (d)
Question 6: Which one of the following scripts of ancient India was written from right to left?
a) Brahmi
b) Nandnagiri
c) Sharada
d) Kharoshti
Answer: (d)
Question 7: Which vedic text refers to money lending?
a) Atharvaveda
b) Satapatha Brahmana
c) Yajurveda
d) Gopatha Brahmana
Answer: (b)
Question 8: Which of the following statements correctly describe the difference between a Chaitya and a Stupa?
a) Chaitya is a place of worship while stupa is an architectural term for a mound containing a relic of the Buddha and later on of leading Buddhist saints
b) Chaitya is a place of worship while stupa is a religious term
c) Chaityas represent Mahayanism while stupa Hinayanism
d) None of these
Answer: (a)
Question 9: The 40-year war between ancient Aryan King Divodas and Shambar resulted in the defeat of?
a) Sakas
b) Khasas
c) Kirats
d) Kinnars
Answer: (c)
Question 10: Which one of the following four Vedas contains an account of magical charms and spells?
a) Rigveda
b) Yajurveda
c) Atharvaveda
d) Samaveda
Answer: (c)
Question 11: The Purushukta, which refers to the origin of caste, is found in the
a) Rigveda
b) Yajurveda
c) Atharvaveda
d) Samaveda
Answer: (a)
Question 12: The Rigvedic God Varuna was
a) harbinger of peace
b) destroyer of foes
c) guardian of the cosmic order
d) God of prosperity
Answer: (c)
Question 13: The river most mentioned in early Vedic literature is
a) Sindhu
b) Sutudri
c) Saraswati
d) Ganga
Answer: (a)
Question 14: Which one of the following was initially the most powerful city state of India in the 6th century BC?
a) Gandhar
b) Kamboj
c) Kashi
d) Magadh
Answer: (c)
Question 15: Which one of the following was a corporation of merchants in ancient India?
a) Parishad
b) Chaturvedimangalam
c) Ashtadikgaja
d) Manigrama
Answer: (d)
Question 16: The grammarian Panini hailed from which of the following mahajanapadas?
a) Gandhara
b) Kamboja
c) Vatsa
d) Avanti
Answer: (a)
Question 17: Which of the following Kings of Magadha transferred the capital from Girivraja to Pataliputra permanently?
a) Ajatshatru
b) Shisunaga
c) Kalashoka
d) None of these
Answer: (c)
Question 18: Which of the following provides the correct sequence of dynasties ruling at Mahajanapadas?
a) Brihdratha, Harayanka, Shisunaga, Nanda
b) Harayanka, Brihdratha, Shisunaga, Nanda
c) Harayanka, Shisunaga, Nanda, Brihdratha
d) Brihdratha, Shisunaga, Harayanka, Nanda
Answer: (c)
Question 19: In the context of Indian society, which of the following term does not belong to the category of the other three?
a) Kula
b) Vamsa
c) Kosa
d) Gotra
Answer: (c)
Question 20: Tundiyas and Akasias were the royal officers connected with which of the following works?
a) Supervision of Ganikas
b) Supervision of mints
c) Tax collection
d) Judicial pronouncements
Answer: (c)
Question 21: In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisatva Avalokitesvar was also known as?
a) Vajrapani
b) Manjusri
c) Padmapani
d) Maitreya
Answer: (c)
Question 22: Who among the following was a contemporary of Gautam Buddha?
a) Nagarjuna
b) Kanishka
c) Kautilya
d) Mahavir
Answer: (d)
Question 23: The concept of eight fold path forms the theme of?
a) Dipavamsa
b) Divyavadana
c) Mahaparinibban Sutta
d) Dharma Chakra Pravartana Sutta
Answer: (d)
Question 24: Milindapanho is in the form of a dialogue between the King Menander and the Buddhist monk
a) Nagasena
b) Nagarjuna
c) Nagabhatta
d) Kumarilabhatta
Answer: (a)
Question 25: Which one of the following is not a part of early Jain literature?
a) Therigatha
b) Acarangasutra
c) Sutrakritanga
d) Brihatkalpasutra
Answer: (a)
Question 26: The concept of Anuvrata was advovated by
a) Mahayana Buddhism
b) Hinayana Buddhism
c) Jainism
d) the Lokayukta School
Answer: (c)
Question 27: Mahamastakabhisheka, a great religious event, associated with and done for whom among the following?
a) Bahubali
b) Buddha
c) Mahavir
d) Nataraja
Answer: (a)
Question 28: Who among the following is given the credit of carrying Jainism in South India?
a) Sudharmana
b) Indrabhuti
c) Bhadrabahu
d) Sthulabhadra
Answer: (c)
Question 29: With which religion is Kaivalya associated?
a) Buddhism
b) Jainism
c) Hinduism
d) Sikhism
Answer: (b)
Question 30: Relics of Buddha are preserved in a
a) Vihara
b) Chaitya
c) Stupa
d) Monastery
Answer: (c)
Question 31: The famous Indo-Greek King who embraced Buddhism was
a) Strato-I
b) Menander
c) Demetrius
d) Alexander
Answer: (b)
Question 32: The meaning of ‘Buddha’ is
a) anything beyond God
b) soul after death
c) the enlighted one
d) the ultimate path for Moksha
Answer: (c)
Question 32: Rigveda is divided into 10 books. Which among the following is/are the oldest?
a) First
b) Second-Eighth
c) Third-Ninth
d) Second-Seventh
Answer: (d)
Question 33: The Gayatri mantra contained in the Rigveda is dedicated to which deity?
a) Agni
b) Maruti
c) Surya
d) Savitri
Answer: (d)
Question 34: In ancient India, the ‘Yaudheyas’ were
a) a sect of Buddhism
b) a sect of Jainism
c) a republican tribe
d) Vassals of the Cholas
Answer: (c)
Question 35: The learned lady who is said to have debated the famous law given yajna valkya was
a) Gargi
b) Maitreyi
c) Kamala
d) Kalindi
Answer: (a)
Question 36: Which one among the following principles was not propagated by the Theosophical Society?
a) Belief at Karma and Rebirth
b) Belief in Universal Brotherhood and Humanity
c) Belief in Vedantic Philosophy
d) Belief in the Eradication of Untouchability
Answer: (d)
Question 37: What does Baudhayan theorem relate to?
a) Lengths of sides of a right-angled triangle
b) Calculation of the value of pi
c) Logarithmic Calculations
d) Normal distribution curve
Answer: (a)
Question 38: Which one of the following statements regarding Rigvedic women is not correct?
a) They could attend assemblies and other sacrifices along with their husband
b) Some unmarried women offered sacrifices on their own
c) Women could occupy the highest positions of authority
d) Women often chose their partners
Answer: (c)
Question 39: Which of the following is not correctly matched?
a) Rigveda : Aitarya and Kaushitaki Upanishad
b) Samaveda : Chhandogya and Kena Upanishads
c) Shukla Yajurveda : Katha and Svetasvatara Upanishad
d) Atharvaveda : Prasna and Mundaka Upanishads
Answer: (c)
Question 40: Which of the following social practice was not pursued during the Vedic period?
a) People could change their occupations
b) Inter-caste marriages were allowed
c) Food cooked by the Shudras was not taken
d) Sati or self immolation upon death of husband, was not known
Answer: (c)
Question 41: Which one among the following is the correct meaning of the term rule of primogeniture?
a) Favourite son inheriting his father’s estate
b) Eldest son inheriting his father’s estate
c) Division of inheritance amongst all the sons
d) Division of inheritance amongst all the sons and daughters
Answer: (b)
Question 42: Which one among the following is not correctly matched?
a) Vitasta : Jhelum
b) Asikni : Chenab
c) Parusni : Ravi
d) Satadru : Beas
Answer: (d)
Question 43: Which one of the following is not true regarding the swastika symbol?
a) The swastika appears to be not only presents-vedic but also presents-Harappan in origin
b) The swastika spread from Elam and Baluchistan to the Indus valley and Turkmenistan
c) It is an exclusively Aryan symbol
d) Around 800 BC, the swastika symbol as a decorative piece on PGW used for domestic purpose
Answer: (c)
Question 44: Which one among the following is not correctly matched?
a) Vikrama era : 58 BC
b) Saka era : AD 78
c) Gupta era : AD 248
d) Kali era : 3102 BC
Answer: (c)
Question 45: Which of the following was not related to Buddha’s life?
a) Kanthaka
b) Alara Kalama
c) Channa
d) Goshala Maskariputra
Answer: (d)
Question 46: What is the correct chronological order in which of the following kings ruled in India?
a) Bimbisara – Mahapadma Nanda – Kanishka I – Skanda Gupta
b) Skanda Gupta – Kanishka I -Mahapadma Nanda – Bimbisara
c) Mahapadma Nanda – Skanda Gupta – Kanishka I – Bimbisara
d) Skanda Gupta – Kanishka I – Mahapadma Nanda – Bimbisara
Answer: (a)
Question 47: Which one among the following is not correctly matched?
a) Gatha Saptasati : Hala
b) Mahabhashya : Patanjali
c) Kalpasutra : Hala
d) Katantra : Sarvarman
Answer: (c)
Question 48: In Buddhism, what does Patiomokkha stand for?
a) A description of Mahayana Buddhism
b) A description of Hinayana Buddhism
c) The rules of the Sangha
d) The Questions of King Menander
Answer: (c)
Question 49: Buddha did not recognise
a) idol worship
b) existence of soul after death
c) sacrifice
d) None of these
Answer: (d)
Question 50: According to Buddha, the cause of all human sorrows is ‘trishna’ which means
a) desire for worldly things
b) desire for material enjoyments and worldly things
c) worldly attachments
d) hyperactivity of mind
Answer: (b)