Deck 8: Indian Empires

Question 1

Kanishka was a ________ ruler of India.

A) Aryan
B) Mongol
C) Huna
D) Kushana

Answer 1

Kushana

Question 2

Which of these men was a great Indian playwright of the fifth century C.E.?

A) Kanishka
B) Kalidasa
C) Kautilya
D) Harsa

Answer 2

Kalidasa

Question 3

The janapadas were ________.

A) subcastes
B) Aryan political groupings
C) guilds
D) religious tales

Answer 3

Aryan political groupings

Question 4

Which of these ruled India around 300 B.C.E.?

A) Chandragupta Maurya
B) Asoka
C) Meander
D) Harsa

Question 5

The Bhagavad-Gita is part of the

A) Vedas
B) Mahabharata
C) Artha-sastra
D) Upanishads

Question 6

Which of these religions experienced a revival under Gupta rule?

A) Hinduism
B) Shinto
C) Buddhism
D) Islam

Question 7

The largest region of southern India is the ________.

A) Indus valley
B) Punjab
C) Deccan
D) Ganges valley

Question 8

The Puranas are Aryan ________.

A) hymns
B) legends
C) historical records
D) plays

Question 9

The third-century-B.C.E.Mauryan ruler,victor of the Battle of Kalinga,was ________.

A) Asoka
B) Chandragupta Maurya
C) Chandra Gupta
D) Harsa

Question 10

Which of these is the Hindu value of following one's duty?

A) artha
B) dharma
C) moksha
D) kama

Question 11

The Aryan Vedas are ________.

A) law codes
B) hymns
C) histories
D) political treatises

Question 12

Which of these dynasties ruled the region of Magadha in the second century B.C.E.?

A) Mauryan
B) Gupta
C) Huna
D) Sunga

Question 13

Which of these dynasties ruled India from the fourth to the sixth centuries?

A) Pallava
B) Chola
C) Maurya
D) Gupta

Question 14

A jati is an Indian ________.

A) tribal people
B) guild
C) subcaste
D) mystic

Question 15

Which of these is commonly attributed to Kautilya?

A) Ramayana
B) Questions of King Milinda
C) Kama Sutra
D) Artha-sastra

Question 16

Which of these is one of India's great epics?

A) Artha-sastra
B) "Meghaduta"
C) Questions of King Milinda
D) the Ramayana

Question 17

Much of India was briefly unified under ________ in the seventh century.

A) Kanishka
B) Asoka
C) Harsa
D) Chandra Gupta

Question 18

Which of these was the language favored by the Guptas?

A) Bengali
B) Sanskrit
C) Urdu
D) Persian

Question 19

One of the largest of the early Aryan states was ________.

A) Deccan
B) Pataliputra
C) Magadha
D) Chola

Question 20

Faxian is best known as a ________.

A) Huna ruler
B) Indonesian mystic
C) Buddhist pilgrim
D) Mauryan ruler

Question 21

The kingdom of ________ was based on Sumatra.

A) Bhadravarman
B) Srivijaya
C) the Khmer
D) Chola

Question 22

The Vedas tell us most about Aryan ________.

A) society
B) political organization
C) history
D) beliefs

Question 23

Asoka's support of Buddhism appears to have been based on ________.

A) Buddhist support for imperial rule
B) the ruler's personal experience
C) Mauryan traditions
D) popular support for Buddhism

Question 24

The impact of the Aryan invasion on South Asia can be characterized as ________.

A) limited to the north
B) short-lived
C) disastrous
D) extensive

Question 25

Which of these invaded India as part of the larger Xiongnu conquests?

A) Hunas
B) Aryans
C) Kushanas
D) Shakas

Question 26

Rajendra I was king of ________ in the eleventh century.

A) Srivijaya
B) Sumatra
C) Chola
D) Champa

Question 27

The prominence of Sanskrit under the Guptas highlights that dynasty's ________ roots.

A) Kushana
B) Harappan
C) Hindu
D) Aryan

Question 28

The figure "Buddha of the 'great wonders'" reflects the influence of ________ invaders of India.

A) Macedonian
B) Huna
C) Aryan
D) Kushana

Question 29

The map "Gupta India" shows that Gupta rule ________.

A) was more extensive than Mauryan rule
B) shared the same core region as the Mauryan Empire
C) covered most of India
D) centered on the Deccan

Question 30

The great temple of Borobudur was built in ________ in the 700s.

A) Cambodia
B) Java
C) Japan
D) the Ganges valley

Question 31

The oral traditions of the Aryans are of particular importance to historians because the Aryans were ________.

A) deeply religious
B) invaders
C) not literate
D) distinctly different from the Harappans

Question 32

Funan is a state in the south of modern ________.

A) India
B) Indonesia
C) Myanmar
D) Vietnam

Question 33

Which of these reflect the influence of Alexander the Great in India?

A) the Aryan migrations
B) the Mauryan empire
C) the spread of Buddhism
D) Indo-Greek coins

Question 34

India under the Mauryans can be characterized as ________.

A) marked by great religious diversity
B) united and politically stable
C) politically fragmented
D) dominated by janapadas

Question 35

In "Mauryan India," ________ India was ruled by Asoka.

A) most of
B) all of
C) only
D) the great river valleys of

Question 36

Which of these patterns was illustrated by the Aryan invasions into India?

A) violent invasions that lead to political chaos
B) nomadic peoples that disrupt an earlier civilization
C) the clash of two conflicting civilizations
D) the spread of civilization from its core area to a new area

Question 37

The Hunas followed the most common pattern of invasion into India ________.

A) from the northwest
B) by sea
C) from central Asia
D) via the Ganges valley

Question 38

Sangam poetry illustrates which of these themes in Indian history?

A) the clash between Buddhism and Hinduism
B) regional cultural traditions
C) the cultural dominance of northern India
D) the legacy of the Aryan migrations

Question 39

The janapadas represent ________ in India during the sixth century B.C.E.

A) the collapse of Harappan civilization
B) social change
C) a new political direction
D) a blend of religious traditions

Question 40

The map "Classical south Asia" illustrates India's ________.

A) ruling ethnic majority
B) distinct geographic divisions
C) ethnic diversity
D) core civilization

Question 41

Compare the impact of the Huna (Xiongnu)invasions in the different regions they impacted.

Question 42

Which of these is illustrated by Angkor Wat?

A) the spread of Indian culture to Southeast Asia
B) the dominance of Mahayana Buddhism in Asia
C) the end of the Srivijaya kingdom
D) Indian dominance in Southeast Asia

Question 43

Unlike the Huna invasion,the Aryan migrations into India ________.

A) had a lasting impact
B) brought a new religion
C) were more protracted
D) came from the north

Question 44

The fate of Asoka's edicts indicates that as emperor he ________.

A) was followed by a long line of Indian emperors
B) established an important precedent
C) had little impact on Indian history
D) had no successor

Question 45

India's influence on Southeast Asia was based on ________.

A) conquest
B) religion and commerce
C) migrations
D) diplomatic ties

Question 46

India's empires have usually been based ________.

A) in northwest India
B) on maritime commerce
C) in the Ganges valley
D) in the Deccan

Question 47

Which of these developed strongly in the Roman and Chinese empires but not in classical India?

A) a literary language
B) central power
C) bureaucracies
D) ruling dynasties

Question 48

In the context of Indian history,the Mauryan Empire was ________.

A) typical
B) unusually large
C) a foundation
D) an important precedent

Question 49

Historically,India has been characterized by ________.

A) Urdu dominance
B) Buddhist dominance
C) three major cultural regions
D) great ethnic diversity

Question 50

Compare the Mauryan Empire to one of the empires discussed so far in the textbook.Consider in particular the institutions,political philosophies,and goals of each.

Question 51

Which of these lived in India prior to or during the Harappan period?

A) Aryans
B) Kushanas
C) adivasis
D) Buddhists

Question 52

What were the most important factors in the strengths of Buddhism and Hinduism in India?

Question 53

Unlike the Aryans when they entered India,the Harappans were ________.

A) urbanized
B) Hindus
C) illiterate
D) pastoralists

Question 54

Compare the spread of Indian culture to sinicization.How were these similar and different?

Question 55

Discuss how we know about the Aryan immigrants into India and the strengths and weaknesses of these sources.