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Bihar Board Class 12 (Arts) Kings, Farmers and Towns — practice questions

Explore 50 free Kings, Farmers and Towns questions in Bihar Board Class 12 (Arts) History. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Kings, Farmers and Towns questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 50.

In the 1830s, the East India Company mint official who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts was:Read the answer and worked solution →In early inscriptions the king titled 'Piyadassi' ('pleasant to behold') is identified as:Read the answer and worked solution →Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, the most powerful mahajanapada was:Read the answer and worked solution →The founder of the Mauryan Empire (c. 321 BCE) was:Read the answer and worked solution →Epigraphy is the study of:Read the answer and worked solution →The conquest that proved a turning point in Asoka's reign was that of:Read the answer and worked solution →The earliest inscriptions in the subcontinent were largely written in which language?Read the answer and worked solution →Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention how many mahajanapadas?Read the answer and worked solution →States known as ganas or sanghas were a form of government best described as:Read the answer and worked solution →The Greek ambassador who left an account of the court of Chandragupta Maurya was:Read the answer and worked solution →The Arthashastra, a key source on the Mauryas, is traditionally attributed to:Read the answer and worked solution →In the fourth century BCE the capital of Magadha was shifted from Rajagaha to:Read the answer and worked solution →Asokan inscriptions in the north-west of the subcontinent were written in the:Read the answer and worked solution →Asoka primarily used his rock and pillar inscriptions to proclaim:Read the answer and worked solution →Both Mahavira and the Buddha are said to have belonged to states of which type?Read the answer and worked solution →The term 'janapada' literally means:Read the answer and worked solution →The five major political centres of the Mauryan empire were Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and:Read the answer and worked solution →The Dharmasutras, which laid down norms for rulers, were composed by:Read the answer and worked solution →The provincial centre Suvarnagiri (literally 'golden mountain') was probably important for:Read the answer and worked solution →Undated inscriptions are assigned a date mainly on the basis of:Read the answer and worked solution →Ambitious early kings credited with building Magadhan power include Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and:Read the answer and worked solution →Asoka's dhamma, as proclaimed in his inscriptions, included all of the following EXCEPT:Read the answer and worked solution →Megasthenes' account of Mauryan India survives today:Read the answer and worked solution →Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention sixteen states of the sixth century BCE known as what?Read the answer and worked solution →Which mahajanapadas ruled by oligarchies, with power shared by many men, were called what?Read the answer and worked solution →In which sangha did the rajas probably control resources such as land collectively?Read the answer and worked solution →What does the term oligarchy mean in the study of early states?Read the answer and worked solution →What was a typical feature of the capital city of each mahajanapada?Read the answer and worked solution →From about the sixth century BCE, Brahmanas composed which Sanskrit texts laying down norms for rulers?Read the answer and worked solution →According to the Dharmasutras, to which varna were rulers ideally expected to belong?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

In the 1830s, the East India Company mint official who deciphered the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts was:

  1. John Marshall
  2. James Prinsep
  3. Mortimer Wheeler
  4. Megasthenes
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Correct answer: B. James Prinsep

James Prinsep, an officer of the East India Company mint, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s, unlocking the earliest inscriptions and coins.

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In early inscriptions the king titled 'Piyadassi' ('pleasant to behold') is identified as:

  1. Asoka
  2. Bimbisara
  3. Chandragupta Maurya
  4. Samudragupta
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Correct answer: A. Asoka

Prinsep found that the king called Piyadassi in inscriptions was Asoka, known from Buddhist texts.

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Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, the most powerful mahajanapada was:

  1. Gandhara
  2. Magadha
  3. Kuru
  4. Avanti
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Correct answer: B. Magadha

Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.

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