CBSE Class 12 (Arts) Kings, Farmers and Towns — practice questions
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Practice CBSE Class 12 (Arts) Kings, Farmers and Towns in the app →Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention sixteen states of the sixth century BCE known as what?Which mahajanapadas ruled by oligarchies, with power shared by many men, were called what?In which sangha did the rajas probably control resources such as land collectively?What does the term oligarchy mean in the study of early states?What was a typical feature of the capital city of each mahajanapada?From about the sixth century BCE, Brahmanas composed which Sanskrit texts laying down norms for rulers?According to the Dharmasutras, to which varna were rulers ideally expected to belong?Rulers were told to collect taxes from which groups?How were raids on neighbouring states viewed?Magadha, which became the most powerful mahajanapada, lay in the region of which present-day state?Iron mines that gave Magadha resources for tools and weapons lay in which present-day state?Which animal, found in Magadha's forests, was an important component of its army?Rajagaha, the first capital of Magadha, is the Prakrit name for which present-day town?Which city on the Ganga later became the Magadhan capital, commanding routes of communication?The Mauryan Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in about which year?Chandragupta Maurya's control reached the northwest up to where?Asoka conquered Kalinga, which lies in the coastal part of which present-day state?Megasthenes, whose account survives in fragments, was an ambassador at whose court?Parts of the Arthashastra were probably composed by whom, traditionally the minister of Chandragupta?During which period did Asoka reign?What was new about Asoka's way of sending messages?Which principle was part of Asoka's dhamma?Which city was a provincial centre of the Mauryan Empire along with Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri?Suvarnagiri, literally the golden mountain, was possibly important for tapping gold mines in which present-dayWhy were Taxila and Ujjayini chosen as provincial centres?Where was Mauryan administrative control likely to be strongest?How many subcommittees were in the military committee mentioned by Megasthenes?Which Mauryan military body arranged carts, food and fodder?What were the officers known as dhamma mahamatta appointed to do?According to Greek sources, how many foot-soldiers did the Mauryan ruler's standing army have?For roughly how long did the Mauryan Empire last?How does a chief's source of resources differ from that of a king?The early Tamil Sangam poems describe which rulers?The Satavahanas ruled over which regions?The Shakas, who set up kingdoms in the north-west and west, were a people of which origin?Colossal statues of Kushana rulers were found in a shrine at Mat near which city?Which title, meaning son of god, did many Kushana rulers adopt?The Kushana title devaputra was possibly inspired by the rulers of which land?Who were the samantas in the Gupta Empire?Who composed the Prayaga Prashasti, the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, in Sanskrit?What are prashastis?Which Shaka ruler claimed to have repaired the Sudarshana lake without taxing his subjects?During whose rule was the artificial Sudarshana lake originally built by a local governor?In which language were the Jatakas, popular tales about kings and subjects, written?In the Gandatindu Jataka, what did subjects of the wicked king do to escape his tax collectors?Which tool turned alluvial soil in the Ganga and Kaveri valleys?Which method raised paddy output in the Ganga valley but was back-breaking?Which semi-arid areas avoided the iron ploughshare until the 20th century?Which kind of farming suited the hilly tracts of the north-eastern and central subcontinent better?Which means of irrigation was less common than wells and tanks in early India?The Pali term gahapati was used to designate which people?In Sangam literature, which term denotes ploughmen?The Harshacharita, a biography of Harshavardhana, was composed by which court poet?On what material were most records of early land grants inscribed?Surviving early land grant records are generally about grants to whom?Prabhavati Gupta, daughter of Chandragupta II, married into which ruling family of the Deccan?Chandragupta II, father of Prabhavati Gupta, ruled during which period?What does Prabhavati Gupta's grant suggest about legal rules?What was an agrahara?Some historians see land grants as a sign of what weakness in kings?Which group often lay beyond the reach of officials and samantas?Pataliputra began as a village with which earlier name?Which Chinese pilgrim found Pataliputra in ruins with a very small population in the seventh century CE?Puhar, an early city, was located where?Which glossy pottery, probably used by the rich, is found in early cities?What were shrenis in early Indian towns?What do votive inscriptions record?In the Periplus, the Greek name Erythraean referred to which sea?Archaeology at Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu shows evidence of which industry?What was the Tamil word for a successful merchant?Which spice was in especially high demand in the Roman Empire?Among the earliest coins minted in India, which were made of silver and copper from about the sixth century BCWhat does numismatics study?Which rulers issued the first coins bearing the names and images of rulers?Which dynasty issued the largest hoards of gold coins from about the first century CE?The Yaudheyas, who issued copper coins, lived in which area?For what quality were the earliest Gupta gold coins remarkable?Who deciphered Asokan Brahmi in 1838?The decipherment of Kharosthi was helped by coins of which rulers?Asoka's inscriptions in Afghanistan were written in which scripts?The title devanampiya in Asokan inscriptions is often translated as what?After how many years of rule was Kalinga conquered, according to the inscription of Devanampiya Piyadassi?The Kalinga inscription records that how many men were deported?What is puzzling about the Asokan inscription of anguish?In what year was the Asiatic Society founded in Bengal?Colin Mackenzie collected over how many inscriptions in the 1810s?The Arabs conquered Sind in about which year?Which event is dated c. 327-325 BCE?