MODULE 1
Session 1- SLO 1
Ancient India: An Overview
Ancient India is the Indian subcontinent from prehistoric times to the start of Medieval India,
which is typically dated to the end of the Gupta Empire. Ancient India was composed of the
modern-day countries of Afghanistan (some portions), Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, India
and Pakistan. There are a host of resources available to enrich your knowledge about the
general history, culture, science and technology and organizations concerned with ancient
India.
The following exercise consists of a set of questions to enable you check your knowledge
about various facts pertaining to the society and culture of Ancient India.
Identify the correct answer(s) for following questions from the choices given below them.
There can be more than one correct answers for a question. Discuss the answers with your
class and justify your choices. Added spaces have been provided with some questions for
additional opinions.
Q.1 Why do you think settlements happened in the Indus River Valley?
a) to be safe during the draught
b) for irrigation, transportation, trade, communication
c) to enjoy the nature’s bounty
d) Elder members of communities wished to
Q.2 identify the two major rivers of Ancient India from the following -
a) Tigris & Euphrates
b) Nile & Blue Nile
c) Indus & Ganges
d) Huang He & Yangtze
Q.3 Why do you think Indians eagerly waited for summer monsoons?
a) They brought rain & without them there would be drought
b) The cold winds were soothing during harsh summer
c) Monsoon helped in travels across the rivers
d) Monsoons made the pastures green
Q.4 After giving up the nomadic lives, what occupations did Aryans adopt for living?
a) constructing palaces
b) accumulating arms
c) farming
d) animal husbandry
Q.5 The Indian literature focused on
a) war; brave warriors & their heroic deeds
b) home life
c) politics & government
d) holy writings & Hindu themes
Q.6 Identify the written language of the Ancient Indian civilization -
a) cuneiform
b) Sanskrit
c) hieroglyphics
d) Hindi
Q.7 The four classes (varnas) in the Indian caste system are known as:
a) Pharaoh, priests, artisans, slaves
b) Brahman, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras
c) King, queen, princes, lords
d) Shogun, samurai, governors, artisans
Q.8 Which one of the following is a social group in which one is born and cannot change it
afterwards -
a) religion
b) family
c) tribe
d) caste
Q.9 Which things were decided based on a person's caste?
a) Job, marriage, friends
b) Foods
c) Clothes
d) Rituals and ceremonies
Q.10 What were the influences behind building temples, art and sculptures?
a) Happiness and devotion
b) Religion
c) Sacred knowledge and texts
d) Caste
Q.11 Identify India's two most notable epics among the following -
a) Odyssey & Iliad
b) Mahabharata & Ramayana
c) Vedas & Upanishads
d) Enlightenment & Nirvana
Q.12 Why do you think Indians never challenged the caste system?
a) It became associated with religious beliefs.
b) The economy depended on it.
c) They were afraid banishment.
d) They grew accustomed to the class they were born into.
Q.13 Reincarnation is...
a) a state of spiritual communion with God
b) taking another birth for fulfilling a duty
c) the payback for previous life
d) performing the duties of the caste
Q.14 Nirvana is...
a) a state of attainment of supreme knowledge
b) taking a rebirth to be united with Brahman
c) the blissful state
d) the divine law
Q.15 Karma is...
a) hard work
b) Yogic practice
c) the consequences of person’s deeds
d) the duties of people
Q.16 Dharma is...
a) wisdom
b) Salvation
c) Devotion
d) the divine law
Q.16 The holy books of Hinduism are -
a) Torah & the Bible
b) Vedas & Upanishads
c) Book of the Living & Book of the Dead
d) Old Testament & New Testament
Q.17 How do you think Hinduism primarily spread across the Indian subcontinent? Give
reasons.
a) through cattle
b) through rivers
c) trade, travel, and war
d) through deserts
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Q.18 What did King Ashoka help spread by building roads, hospitals, and shrines? Include
your
opinions on his philosophical beliefs.
a) Hinduism
b) Buddhism
c) Christianity
d) Islam
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Q.19 During the Gupta dynasty, the contributions by Indian mathematicians included -
a) algebra, addition & multiplication
b) 365-day calendar, fractions, hieroglyphics
c) algebra, zero, & infinity
d) algebra, alphabet, chemistry
Q.20 Which geographical feature marks India as a subcontinent of Asia?
a) Nilgiris
b) Ganges River
c) Himalayan Mountains
d) Thaar Desert
Q.21 Which of the following is not part of the caste system? Write a brief note on India
caste
system.
a) Brahmans
b) Vaisyas
c) Dalits
d) Sudras
