UPSC CSE Art & Culture — practice questions
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Practice UPSC CSE Art & Culture in the app →A museum label says a Harappan seal is carved from a soft stone. Which stone is it?The Mature Harappan civilisation is dated to which period?Grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil and chickpea. Which grain is relatively rare?Terracotta models of a plough have been found at Cholistan and at which Haryana site?At which Rajasthan site was a ploughed field with two sets of furrows at right angles found?Traces of canals have been found at which Harappan site in Afghanistan?Water reservoirs that may have stored water for farming were found at which Gujarat site?Who was the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, called the father of Indian archaeolMohenjodaro is divided into a small high western part and a larger lower eastern part. What are these called?Harappan bricks followed a standard ratio. Length and breadth were how many times the height?About how many wells did Mohenjodaro have, by scholars' estimate?The Great Bath tank was made watertight with bricks set on edge and a mortar of what?Which tiny settlement of under 7 hectares was devoted almost wholly to craft production like bead-making?Nageshwar and Balakot, both near the coast, specialised in making objects from which material?Harappans may have sent expeditions to the Khetri region of Rajasthan for which metal?Mesopotamian texts call the Harappan region by which name?The Harappan script has how many signs, showing it was not alphabetical?Harappan weights were usually cubical and made of which stone?By about which year BCE had most Mature Harappan sites in Cholistan been abandoned?Who announced the discovery of the Indus valley civilisation to the world in 1924?Which ASI Director-General, from 1944, insisted on following the stratigraphy of a mound?Fire altars regarded as ritual structures have been found at Lothal and which other site?An East India Company mint officer deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s. Who was he?In Asokan inscriptions the king is called Piyadassi. What does the title mean?Early Buddhist and Jaina texts list how many great states or mahajanapadas?Mahajanapadas where power was shared by several men called rajas were known as:Which mahajanapada in present-day Bihar became the most powerful between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE?Rajagaha, the first capital of Magadha, is present-day:Chandragupta Maurya founded his empire in about which year?Asoka conquered Kalinga, which lies in which present-day region?Megasthenes, whose account survives in fragments, was a Greek ambassador to whose court?Parts of the Arthashastra were probably composed by whom?Who was the first ruler to inscribe messages to subjects and officials on stone?Which Mauryan provincial centre, meaning golden mountain, tapped the gold mines of Karnataka?How many sub-committees did Megasthenes say coordinated Mauryan military activity?For roughly how many years did the Mauryan Empire last?Which rulers adopted the title devaputra, son of god, and set up colossal statues at Mat near Mathura?The Prayaga Prashasti praising Samudragupta was composed by which court poet?The Gandatindu Jataka describes subjects fleeing a wicked king. In which language were the Jatakas written?In Sangam texts, large landowners were called vellalar and slaves adimai. What were ploughmen called?Prabhavati Gupta, who granted a village by inscription, was the daughter of which ruler?The Harshacharita, a biography of Harshavardhana, was written by whom?The first coins bearing names and images of rulers were issued by whom?In which year did James Prinsep finally decipher Asokan Brahmi?The Mahabharata in its present form runs to about how many verses?Who led the project begun in 1919 to prepare a critical edition of the Mahabharata?How many years did the critical edition of the Mahabharata take to complete?In Sanskrit texts, which term designates a family?Tracing descent from father to son to grandson is called:The Kauravas and Pandavas belonged to which ruling lineage?Marrying daughters into families outside the kin group is called:The practice of a man having several wives is termed:The Manusmriti, the most important Dharmashastra, was compiled between which dates?How many forms of marriage did the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras recognise?Each gotra was named after whom?Satavahana rulers were named Gotami-puta or Vasithi-puta. What does puta mean?Which Rigveda hymn describes the four varnas emanating from the body of Purusha?Ekalavya, who cut off his thumb for Drona, belonged to which forest-dwelling community?The Shungas and Kanvas, who succeeded the Mauryas, belonged to which varna?Which Shaka ruler rebuilt the Sudarshana lake, recorded in an early Sanskrit inscription?Which Satavahana king claimed to be a unique Brahmana and destroyer of Kshatriya pride?A fifth-century inscription at Mandasor records the history of a guild of which craftsmen?The play Mrichchhakatika, whose hero was both Brahmana and merchant, was written by whom?Which Chinese monk wrote that untouchables had to sound a clapper in the streets?Gifts a woman received at marriage, kept as her own wealth, were called:In the Sutta Pitaka myth, people chose a leader paid with rice to punish wrongdoers. He was called:Which rulers of Bhopal funded the preservation of the Sanchi stupa, so that John Marshall dedicated his volumeThe Rigveda, compiled between c. 1500 and 1000 BCE, praises which deities especially?Elaborate sacrifices like the rajasuya and ashvamedha were performed by whom?Buddhist texts mention how many sects or schools of thought in the age of debate?A hut with a pointed roof where philosophers debated was called a:After the Buddha's death his teachings were compiled at a council of elders at which place?Which Pitaka contains rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha?The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa are chronicles of Buddhism in which country?Makkhali Gosala, who held that everything is predetermined, belonged to which tradition?According to Jaina tradition, how many tirthankaras preceded Mahavira?Jaina monks and nuns took five vows. Which of these was NOT one of them?The Buddha was born Siddhartha, son of a chief of which clan?In Buddhist philosophy the world is anicca. What does anicca mean?The Buddha's reported last words asked followers to be what unto themselves?Who was the first woman ordained as a bhikkhuni?The Therigatha is a collection of verses composed by whom?The Buddha attained nibbana at which place?In a stupa, the balcony-like structure above the mound that represents the abode of the gods is the:Worshippers entered a stupa through which gateway and walked clockwise?Which commissioner of Guntur carried Amaravati sculptures to Madras in 1854?Women swinging from a tree at the Sanchi gateway represent which auspicious motif?The new Buddhist tradition that worshipped Bodhisattas and Buddha images was called:Bombay came to the East India Company in 1661 in what way?Which imperial officer policed and ran the internal affairs of a Mughal town?The Portuguese set up base at Panaji in which year?From which year did all-India decennial censuses become a regular feature?The Survey of India was established in which year?Between 1900 and 1940 India's urban population rose from about 10 per cent to about what share?Railways were introduced in India in which year, shifting activity away from old river towns?Which two towns are named as the only proper industrial cities of colonial India?Simla was founded during which war?Darjeeling was wrested from the rulers of which kingdom in 1835?Which Viceroy officially moved his council to Simla in 1864, sealing the summer capital practice?Binodini Dasi, pioneer of Bengali theatre, helped set up which Calcutta theatre in 1883?From which local Telugu lords did the Company buy the right to settle at Madraspatam in 1639?In Madras, which area was a colony of dyers and bleachers of cloth?Indians in Madras who spoke both the local language and English, serving as agents, were called:Calcutta grew from three villages. Which were they?Lord Wellesley wrote a Minute on Calcutta town improvement in which year?The Lottery Committee of 1817 got its name because:Bombay's Town Hall, built in 1833, is an example of which architectural style?The Rajabai Tower of Bombay University was funded by which banker and named after his mother?Victoria Terminus, headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, is the finest example of which style?The Gateway of India was built in Gujarati style to welcome which royal visitors in 1911?Which diplomat from Herat left one of the most important fifteenth-century descriptions of Vijayanagara?Al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khwarizm, which lies in present-day:Which Sultan took Al-Biruni to Ghazni as a hostage in 1017?Al-Biruni's Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is divided into how many chapters?Ibn Battuta, author of the Rihla, was born in which Moroccan city?Ibn Battuta reached Sind in which year?Which Sultan of Delhi appointed Ibn Battuta as qazi of the city?In 1342 Ibn Battuta was sent as the Sultan's envoy to the ruler of which country?Ibn Battuta stayed for eighteen months as qazi in which island nation?According to Ibn Battuta, how many days did it take to travel from Sind to Delhi?