Question Discussion & Solution

The Correct Answer is 1921.

 Key Points

• Harappa was an Indus civilization urban centre.
• It lies in Punjab Province, Pakistan, on an old bank/bed of the River Ravi.
• Harappa was the first site of the civilization to be excavated in 1921.
• The excavation team was led by Daya Ram Sahni.

 Important Points

• Mohenjo-Daro was discovered in 1922 by R. D. Banerji.

The correct answer is Al-Biruni.

Key Points

• Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was an Iranian scholar.
• He has been variously called as the:-
  • Founder of Indology
  • Father of Comparative Religion
  • Father of modern geodesy
  • The first anthropologist
• He wrote the book Kitab-ul-Hind.
• Alberuni (Abu Raynham Beruni) was a Persian scholar who came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni in 1017.
• He commented on Indian sciences, Hindu religious beliefs, customs, and social organization.

Additional Information

• Al-Masudi's Book - The Meadows of Gold
• Sulaiman's Book - Ancient Accounts of India and China
• Firdausi's Book - Shahnameh

The correct answer is Maharashtra.

• Ajanta is 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta.
• Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India.

Key Points

• These Buddhist and Jain caves are ornately carved, yet seem quiet and meditative and exude divine energy and power.
• These are the rock-cut caves of Ajanta nestled in a panoramic gorge, in the form of a gigantic horseshoe.

Additional Information

• Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-meter (246 ft) wall of rock.
  • The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.
  • The caves, cut into the face of a mountain, form a horseshoe shape around the Wangorah River.
    • They are an example of one of Indian's unique artistic traditions known as rock-cut temples. Ajanta consists of thirty caves, each dedicated to the life of the Buddha.
• Ellora (also known as Elura and, in ancient times, as Elapura) is a sacred site in Maharastra, central India.
  • ​The Ellora Caves are listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and are celebrated for their Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples and monuments which were carved from the local cliff rock in the 6th to 8th century CE. 
  • Ellora Caves served as lodgings to the travelling Buddhist and Jain monks besides being a site for the trade route.
    • A part of the Hindu and Buddhist Caves were built during the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and the Jain Caves were built by the Yadav dynasty.

The correct answer is Gopala.

• Pala Dynasty:
  • Its founder, Gopala, was a local chieftain who rose to power in the mid-8th century during a period of anarchy.
  • His successor, Dharmapala, greatly expanded the kingdom and for a while was in control of Kannauj.

Additional Information

• The incredible Buddhist complex of Paharpur was created under the Pala dynasty in Bengal and fostered by successive leaders.
  • The Pala dynasty ruled the regions of Bengal and Bihar for about 400 years, from the 8th century until the end of the 11th century, with about 20 leaders on the throne during the period.
  • To begin to understand the Pala Dynasty, it's useful to look at the state of affairs when the first ruler took power.
  • The region that is now north-eastern India and Bangladesh had been in a state of anarchy for about a century following the fall of the Post Gupta dynasty. Feudal lords had found themselves in a cycle of a petty conflict with no obvious path to resolution.
  • It wasn't until one feudal lord named Gopala managed to gain the support of other leaders that stability started to emerge.
  • Through a democratic process, he took control of the region called Varendra, made up of north-western Bangladesh, West Bengal, and the Indian area of Bihar. He would be the founder and first ruler of the Pala Empire.
  •  It was the dynasty's second ruler, the son of Gopala, who would have the biggest impact, though.
  • His name was King Dharma Pala Deva (also known as Dharmapala) and he greatly expanded the territory of the empire, spreading across northern India. He is regarded as an efficient administrator and, during this period, the region flourished economically

The correct answer is Kanishka.

Key Points

• Since the Parinirvana (death) of Buddha, all Buddhist communities sequentially convoked to settle theological matters and to amend the content of various Buddhist sutras and hence is called Buddhist Council. There are 6 such councils held until 1954.
  • First Buddhist Council was held at Girivraja also known as Rajgriha or Rajgir under the chairmanship of Mahakassap and kingship of Ajatshatru in the year 483 B.C. for adopting and preserving all Buddha’s sayings and disciplines known as Sutta and Vinaya respectively.
  • The second Buddhist Council was held at Vaishali under the chairmanship of Sabbakami and kingship of Kalasoka in year 383 B.C. No outcome was ascertained in this council due to the controversial act of accepting donations, done by monks.
  • The third Buddhist Council was held at Patliputra under the chairmanship of Moggaliputta Tissa and kingship of Ashoka in year 251 B.C. to classify established Pitakas.
  • Fourth Buddhist Council is segregated into two separate councils held at Srilanka (77 BCE) and Kashmir (127 CE) under Vattagamani Abhaya and Kanishka respectively resulting in the division of Buddhism into Hinayana (Theravada Buddhism) and Mahayana.
  • The fifth and sixth Buddhist council was held by Hinayana Buddhism at Burma in 1871 and 1954 respectively.