Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Kushinagar.

Key Points

• Buddha died in 483 BC at Kushinagar, a village in Uttar Pradesh. 
• He attained Mahaparinirvana, or the final blowing out at the age of 80 in Kushinagar.
• Ashoka, the greatest patron of Buddhism, built a stupa to mark Mahaparinirvana (Buddha's death).
• It is an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists.

Important Points

• Gautama Buddha
  • Gautama Buddha was born at Lumbini in the Sakya Kshatriya clan.
  • He was the founder of Buddhism.
  • His father was Suddhodhana, King of Kapilavastu, and his mother was Mahamaya, Princess of Kollia republic.
  • He was married to Yasodhara at an early age and had a son Rahul.
  • At the age of 35, he got enlightened under a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya.

Additional Information

• Patna, historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital city of Bihar in India.
  • Pataliputra was the ancient capital of the Magadh empire.
• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, is one of the oldest cities in the world.
• Sarnath Buddha delivered his first sermon to his five disciples at Sarnath.
  • Dhamek stupa is located in Sarnath, 13 km from Varanasi.

The correct answer is Mauryan Empire.

Key Points

• In the Mauryan empire Kautilya refers to two types of courts :
  • Dharmasthiyas (dealt with civil matters).
  • Kantakasodhana(dealt with criminal matters).

Additional Information

• Mauryan Empire (321 BCE - 185 BCE):
  • Chandragupta Maurya (321 BCE - 297 BCE):
    • Founder of the Maurya Dynasty and credited with the setting up of the first (nearly) pan-Indian empire.
    • Known as Sandrakottos to the Greeks and Androkottus by Aerian and Plutark. 
    • William Jones was the 1st scholar who recognized Sandrokottos as Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Kautilya mentored Chandragupta and prepared him for a takeover of Magadha.
    • Set up a vast centralized empire (details of whose functioning, society, military, and economy are well preserved in Kautilya's Arthashastra).
    • Defeated the invading army of the Eastern part of Alexander's empire Seleucus (305 BCE).​
    • Megasthenese was a Greek ambassador sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Chandragupta in his later years accepted Jainism.
      • Accompanied Bhadrabahu to Karnataka and later died by following the ritual of sallekhana, i.e., fasting till death. 
  • Bindusara (297 BCE - 273 BCE):
    • 2nd Mauryan Emperor of India and he was the son of Chandragupta Maurya.
    • Known as Amitrochates to the Greeks. In Jain texts, he was known as Simhasena.
    • Antiochus sent Deimachus as an ambassador to Bindusara's court.
    • Chanakya also remained the chief advisor of Bindusara.
    • Bindusara was an able monarch who was successful in consolidating the empire established by his father.
    • Bindusara patronized the Ajivikas.
  •  Ashoka the Great (268 BCE - 232 BCE):
    • 3rd king of the Mauryan Empire.
    • He was known for:
      • Renunciation of war after the Kalinga war.
      • Development of the concept of Dhamma (pious social conduct, welfare of humanity).
      • Promotion of Buddhism. 
      • Effective reign of a nearly pan-Indian political entity.
    • Under Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire stretched from modern-day Iran through almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.
    • Ashoka initially rules this vast empire through the political treatise's precepts known as the Arthashastra.
    • In his inscriptions, he was called Devanampriya or Devanapiyadasi.​
    • Most of the inscriptions were written in Prakrit language in Brahmi script except only two which were in Kharoshti script.
    • In 1837, James Prinsep become the 1st scholar who deciphered Ashoka's inscription.
  • Brihadratha:
    • Last Mauryan ruler.
    • Assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga and established his own Sunga dynasty.

The correct answer is Pataliputra.

Key Points

• Pataliputra was the capital of the Mauryan Empire.
• The empire lasted from 321 to 185 BCE.
• The Mauryan Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya and the most popular ruler of the empire was Ashoka.
• Mauryan dynasty had three important rulers:
  • Chandragupta
  • Bindusara
  • Ashoka

 Thus, we can say that Pataliputra was the capital of the Mauryan Empire.

Additional Information

• The most important cities of the empire were the capital Pataliputa, Ujjain and Taxila.

The correct answer is Fa-Hien.

Key Points

•  Fa-Hien (405-411 A.D.):
  • Fa-Hien Visited India during the reign of Chandragupta-II.
  • He was the first Chinese Buddhist monk to travel to India in search of Buddhist Scriptures.
  • He gave a detailed account of Buddhist monasteries, life, and teachings of Buddhists at that time.
  • He mentions about Untouchability that prevailed in India during that time. Hence, option 4 is correct.
  • In his memoirs, he notes that the chandalas lived outside the village and had to maintain distance from the upper castes.
  • The chandalas suffered such glaring lack of privilege that whenever they entered towns or market places they would strike a piece of wood to announce their arrival so that the others might not touch them and get polluted.

The correct answer is Vidisha.

Key Points

• The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh from the early years of the 5th century CE.
• They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India.
• Udayagiri caves contain iconography of Vaishnavism, Shaktism, and Shaivism.
• There are 20 caves of Hinduism and Jainism.
• The Jain cave is notable for one of the oldest known Jaina inscriptions from 425 CE, while the Hindu caves feature inscriptions from 401 CE.
• They are the only site that can be verifiably associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions belonging to the reigns of Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I.
• The Udayagiri hills and their caves are protected monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Additional Information

• Bhartrihari caves are situated in the Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh.
• Pandav caves and Adamghar caves are situated in the Hoshangabad district.
• Bagh caves are situated in the Dhar district.