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CTET Mahajanapadas — practice questions

Explore 56 free Mahajanapadas questions in CTET Social Studies. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Mahajanapadas questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 56.

How many great kingdoms and republics make up the Mahajanapadas of ancient India?Read the answer and worked solution →The Mahajanapadas existed in which span of centuries?Read the answer and worked solution →What does the term Janapada literally mean?Read the answer and worked solution →Which ancient Buddhist text often refers to sixteen great kingdoms and republics?Read the answer and worked solution →How many of the Mahajanapadas does the Digha Nikaya mention?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Mahajanapada is omitted from the twelve listed in the Digha Nikaya?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Jain scripture gives a different list of sixteen Mahajanapadas?Read the answer and worked solution →The Bhagavati list omits nations of which northern region, such as Kamboja and Gandhara?Read the answer and worked solution →What does a gaṇasaṅgha mean in early Indian history?Read the answer and worked solution →Which movements, including Buddhism and Jainism, rose in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE?Read the answer and worked solution →In whose time was Anga annexed by Magadha?Read the answer and worked solution →Merchants of Anga regularly sailed to which distant land?Read the answer and worked solution →In which Vedic text is the first reference to the Angas found?Read the answer and worked solution →The Ashmaka Mahajanapada lay in which part of India?Read the answer and worked solution →On the banks of which river were many Assakas located in the Buddha's time?Read the answer and worked solution →Which city was the capital of the integrated Avanti in the time of Mahavira and Buddha?Read the answer and worked solution →Avanti roughly corresponded to which modern region?Read the answer and worked solution →Along with Avanti, Kosala and Vatsa, which was the fourth great monarchy after Mahavira and Buddha?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Mahajanapada had Suktimati as its capital?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Chedi king is mentioned in the Rigveda?Read the answer and worked solution →Which river watered the lands of Gandhara?Read the answer and worked solution →What was the later capital of Gandhara in Buddhist tradition?Read the answer and worked solution →The Taksashila University was a renowned centre of learning in which Mahajanapada?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Gandhara king was a contemporary of Bimbisara of Magadha?Read the answer and worked solution →Kamboja and Gandhara formed which satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire?Read the answer and worked solution →Which Achaemenid ruler is said to have destroyed the Kamboja city of Kapisi?Read the answer and worked solution →Varanasi was the capital of which Mahajanapada?Read the answer and worked solution →Which two rivers gave Varanasi its name?Read the answer and worked solution →Which famous king ruled Kosala in the era of Mahavira and Buddha?Read the answer and worked solution →Prasenajit of Kosala made an alliance with Magadha through his sister's marriage to whom?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

How many great kingdoms and republics make up the Mahajanapadas of ancient India?

  1. Twenty
  2. Fourteen
  3. Twelve
  4. Sixteen
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Correct answer: D. Sixteen

1. The Mahajanapadas are a set of great states of ancient India. 2. Ancient sources list sixteen such kingdoms and aristocratic republics. 3. Ten, twelve and twenty-four do not match the standard count; twelve is only what one Buddhist text lists. _Source: Wikipedia, Mahajanapadas, lead section_

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The Mahajanapadas existed in which span of centuries?

  1. Second to fourth centuries CE
  2. First to third centuries CE
  3. Tenth to eighth centuries BCE
  4. Sixth to fourth centuries BCE
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Correct answer: D. Sixth to fourth centuries BCE

1. The Mahajanapadas belong to the age of early cities in the Ganges plain. 2. They existed from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. 3. The tenth to eighth centuries BCE is earlier, and the CE ranges are far later, after the Mauryas. _Source: Wikipedia, Mahajanapadas, lead section_

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What does the term Janapada literally mean?

  1. Treasury of a state
  2. Court of a king
  3. Gate of a city
  4. Foothold of a people
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Correct answer: D. Foothold of a people

1. Janapada joins jana (people) with pada (foot). 2. So it literally means the foothold of a people. 3. Court, gate and treasury have nothing to do with the roots of the word. _Source: Wikipedia, Mahajanapadas, section Overview_

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More Social Studies topics

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