Deck 15: Indian Civilization in Its Golden Age

Question 1

Many wealthy Muslims came to classical India for the purpose of

A) studying astrology.
B) gaining mathematical knowledge.
C) practicing sculpting.
D) obtaining medical treatment.
E) studying astronomy.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which Hindu deity has been described as a "Christ figure without ethical teachings"?

A) Brahman
B) Shiva
C) Indra
D) Vishnu
E) Kali

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The practice of sati

A) appears to have been very common up to World War II.
B) was required of all widows.
C) involved the segregation of women from outside society.
D) often took the place of divorce in India.
E) refers to ritual suicide of wives after the deaths of their husbands.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Divorce in Gupta society was

A) unacceptable.
B) rare among the upper castes.
C) generally reserved for the Brahmins.
D) encouraged for the Untouchables.
E) easily obtained.

Question 5

The Hindu deity Shiva is the god of

A) marriage.
B) creation.
C) war.
D) peace.
E) life and death.

Question 6

The violent Muslim antagonism toward Indian Buddhism stemmed mainly from the fact that

A) Buddhists were polytheistic.
B) Buddhists habitually ate pork.
C) Buddhists attempted an alliance with Hindus.
D) Buddhists competed with Muslims for converts.
E) Buddhists called for the overthrow of Islam.

Question 7

The most popular art form among Hindus has historically been

A) sculpture.
B) painting.
C) literature.
D) architecture.
E) music.

Question 8

During India's Gupta period, most villagers and farmers experienced

A) overpopulation.
B) a lack of adequate farmland.
C) starvation from famine.
D) a large increase in population of their herds.
E) disagreements concerning control of water resources.

Question 9

Indian scholars were so knowledgeable that they were often invited to train Muslims in the city of

A) Medina.
B) Agra.
C) Baghdad.
D) Calcutta.
E) Mecca.

Question 10

The main cause of differences between northern and southern India seems to have been

A) the war-like culture of the North.
B) the lack of invasions in the South.
C) the Mahayana Buddhism of the South.
D) the acceptance of Buddhism in the North but not in the South.
E) the flourishing of the arts in the North.

Question 11

In Indian society, by the time of the Gupta period,

A) the status of women had slightly improved from earlier days.
B) the status of women had markedly improved from earlier days.
C) women had clearly become more subservient to men.
D) only widows enjoyed a privileged position.
E) married women had significantly more rights than single women.

Question 12

Kalidasa's contribution lay in the field of

A) politics.
B) medicine.
C) poetry.
D) religion.
E) drama.

Question 13

The impetus for the change in Hinduism that established a guide for moral and ethical conduct was

A) the Bhagavad-Gita.
B) the Vedas.
C) the "looseness" of Buddhism.
D) the Upanishads .
E) the Rig-Veda.

Question 14

The seat of royal Gupta power lay in the

A) Indus valley.
B) Ganges valley.
C) Afghani hills.
D) area of the Khyber Pass.
E) Bramaputra valley.

Question 15

The world's longest poem, and a part of Hindu scripture, is the

A) Rig-Veda.
B) Upanishad.
C) Mahabharata.
D) Ramayana.
E) Bhagavad-Gita.

Question 16

India's North and South only began to achieve any sense of uniformity after

A) the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism.
B) the introduction of Theravada Buddhism.
C) the spread of Buddhism throughout the subcontinent.
D) the near extinction of Buddhism in the subcontinent.
E) the spread of Hinduism to Sri Lanka.

Question 17

Indian religion first exhibited a concern with ethics in

A) the deity Varuna.
B) the Mahabharata .
C) the Vedas.
D) the Rig-Veda.
E) Theravada Buddhism.

Question 18

Hinduism successfully responded to challenges from Jainism and Buddhism by

A) becoming more ritualistic.
B) waging civil war.
C) becoming oriented toward monotheism.
D) become more ethically oriented.
E) incorporating some aspects of each of these religions.

Question 19

The Indian caste system

A) has a strong hold throughout India today.
B) was formally outlawed after World War II.
C) was created in response to repeated invasions.
D) guarantees equality before the law.
E) has always had its greatest impact among the wealthy.

Question 20

Fa Xian's major contribution lay in his

A) Sanskrit plays.
B) poems about Hindu sexuality.
C) realistic portraits.
D) travel accounts of Gupta India.
E) paintings at Ajanta.

Question 21

Sources for Gupta India are somewhat sparse, because Hindu and Buddhist traditions are both ____________________.

Question 22

The "Great Hero," founder of the ____________________ religion, was Mahavira Vardhamana

Question 23

The Cambodian structure at Angkor

A) was built as a Buddhist shrine.
B) is the oldest religious structure in the world.
C) at one time served as Buddhist religious headquarters.
D) is the oldest continually used temple complex in existence.
E) was seized by invaders from Thailand, deserted for hundreds of years, and is now a tourist attraction.

Question 24

Hinduism in Southeast Asia is one of the most notable examples of a mixed religion, which is known as ____________________.

Question 25

The major source of foreign troubles for India has been its

A) sea frontiers to the east.
B) borders with China.
C) resident colonies of foreign traders.
D) lack of strong military leadership.
E) frontier with Afghanistan.

Question 26

Under the Indian caste system, which of these jobs would an outcaste not perform?

A) burying the dead
B) working as a common laborer
C) begging
D) selling animal products
E) All of these jobs would be off limits to an outcaste.

Question 27

Unlike most other major religions, Hinduism has no

A) formal places of worship.
B) sacred book of uniform beliefs.
C) major gods.
D) written history.
E) rituals.

Question 28

Wonderful Indian paintings have been found in the caves at ____________________.

Question 29

India's most significant Hindu epic poem is the ____________________.

Question 30

Ritual suicide of Indian widows was termed

Question 31

The first example of involved speculation in Hindu thought can be read in the ____________________.

Question 32

After the downfall of the Gupta Empire, India split into ____________________ cultural/political regions.

Question 33

The ____________________ are Hindu philosophic works based on involved speculation.

Question 34

The Upanishads would best be described as

A) poetic musings about the Aryan history.
B) philosophical musings and speculations about life.
C) a historic chronicle of the development of Aryan civilization.
D) a series of poems dealing with the three main Hindu gods.
E) a part of the Mahabharata , the world's longest poem.

Question 35

Southeast Asian peoples generally accepted Hindu-Indian culture

A) through conquest.
B) selectively.
C) entirely.
D) only religiously.
E) only under threat of death.

Question 36

Violence between Muslims and non-Muslims was a trademark of the ____________________ Sultanate.

Question 37

The head of an Indian family could be compared to a(n)

A) Jewish patriarch.
B) Muslim caliph.
C) Buddhist monk.
D) Christian matriarch.
E) Muslim ulama.

Question 38

The Hindu attitude toward sex seems to have been that it was

A) natural.
B) unclean.
C) fun.
D) evil.
E) holy.

Question 39

One would best describe the attitude of Southeast Asian colonies to their Indian colonizers as

A) resentful and antagonistic.
B) perplexed.
C) accepting and cooperative.
D) accepting but selective.
E) domineering.

Question 40

The upper classes of the Sri Vijaya Empire in Sumatra followed this religion, whose value-systems they spread throughout the Orient:

A) Buddhism
B) Islam
C) Hinduism
D) Sikhism
E) Jainism