QB365 - Question Bank Software Polity and Society in Post-Mauryan Period 11th Standard History Part - A 15 x 1 = 15 1) _________ was one of the most capable generals of Alexander (a) Seleucus Nicator(b) Antigonus(c) Antiochus(d) Demetrius 2) Megasthenes was sent by Seleucus Nicator to the capital Pataliputra as the _________ ambassador. (a) Roman(b) Greek(c) Chinese(d) British 3) The regular interchange of ambassadors and correspondence ______ (a) affected the regular (b) facilitated regular (c) facilitated regular (d) none trade from India to the trade from India to the trade from India to the of the West West East above 4) ____________ was the best known of the Indo-Greek kings (a) Euthydemus(b) Demetrius(c) Menander(d) Antialcidas 5) Kushana coins were of higher quality than that of ______________ coins. (a) Roman(b) Greek(c) Gupta(d) Satavahana 6) _____________ near Salem had mines producing beryl, which was a gemstone in high demand in Rome. (a) Vaniyampadi(b) Meandears(c) Pushyamitra(d) Numismatic 7) ___________ is described as "king" and "soter" or saviour, and not as a great conqueror. (a) Vaniyampadi(b) Meandears(c) Pushyarnitra(d) Numismatic 8) They ceded land to ___________ the Sunga emperor who had usurped the throne after the last Mauryan ruler. (a) Vaniyampadi(b) Meandears(c) Pushyamitra(d) Numismatic 9) __________ evidence alsoproves Demetrius's association with India. (a) Vaniyampadi(b) Meandears(c) Pushyamitra(d) Numismatic 10) _____________ is known to us primarily because his emissary, Heliodorus. (a) Antialcidas(b) Bactria(c) Maues or Moa/Moga(d) Rudradaman 11) At about 165 BCE, ____________ was lost to the Parthians and Sakas. (a) Antialcidas(b) Bactria(c) Maues or Moa/Moga(d) Rudradaman 12) The first Saka ruler in India was ____________ (20 BCE to 22 CE). (a) Antialcidas(b) Bactria(c) Maues or Moa/Moga(d) Rudradaman 13) The most famous of the Saka kshatrapas was ___________ (a) Antialcidas(b) Bactria(c) Maues or Moa/Moga(d) Rudradaman 14) ____________ appointed kshatrapas or satraps as provincial governors to administer their territories. (a) The Sakas(b) Kanishka(c) Greeks(d) Bactria 15) The best known of the Kushana kings was ___________ (a) The Sakas(b) Kanishka(c) Greeks(d) Bactria Part - B 10 x 2 = 20 16) What led to the integration of India with the Mediterranean world, Central Asia and China? Answer : 1. Decline of the Mauryan Empire, parts of India were subject to the invasion of the Indo- Greeks, Sakas and Kushanas from West and Central Asia. 2. This strengthened the process of acculturation and the assimilation of foreign cultures and art forms into Indian society. 3. It also resulted in the integration of India with the Mediterranean world and Central Asia and China through extended trade linkages. 17) What was the result of the war between Chandragupta and Seleucus Nicator. Answer : 1. Seleucus surrendered the land he had conquered up to the Indus and 2. Received 500 war elephants in return. 3. A marriage agreement between theem. 4. The treaty also led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Greeks and the Mauryan emperor. 18) What is meant by the term Yavana? Answer : In India,the term yavana was used to denote all person of Greek origin, including those of mixed race and even the Phoenicians. 19) “Menander is said to have ruled a large kingdom in the North West of the country.” Elaborate. Answer : 1. Menander successfully attacked Pataliputra, but retreated without consolidating his conquest. 2. Interestingly, in his coins, he is described as "king" and "soter" or saviour, and not as a great conqueror. 20) Write a short note on “Kshatraps”. Answer : 1. The Indo-Greek kingdom was ousted by the Sakas followed by the Parthians and the Kushanas. 2. The Sakas appointed kshatrapsor provincial governors to administer the territories. 21) What did the word YAUNA represents? Answer : 1. The word was derived from the Persian word yauna, which referred to Greeks. 2. In India the term yavana was used to denote all persons of Greek origin, including those of mixed race and even the Phoenicians. 22) Name the goods trade from India? Answer : A variety of luxury goods, including ivory, tortoise shell, pearls, indigo and other dyes, aromatic substances like spikenard or nard (a fragrant oil from the Gangetic region) and malabathrum (leaf of cinnamon, used as an aromatic) and rare woods were exported from India. 23) Why did Heliodorus, sended Antiacidas from his court? Answer : 1. Antiacidas who was sent to the court of King Bhagabhadra erected a pillar or garudadhvaja with its capital adorned by a figure of Garuda, in honour of God Krishna(Vasudeva). 2. Heliodorus had evidently become a follower of Vishnu. (The pillar stands in isolation in the middle of a open ground in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.) 24) Write about the Indian interactions with the Greeks Answer : 1. The Indian interactions with the Greeks was not limited to the Indo-Greek kings. 2. Greeks were becoming known and their presence recorded throughout the subcontinent. 3. Merchants, sailors and many others of Greek origin were travelling to India, so there was a continued interaction with the Greeks. 25) Who are Sakas? Answer : 1. The Sakas were pushed back from eastern Iran by the Parthian ruler Mithradates (188-123 BCE) 2. They then turned to north-western India and finally settled in the region between the Indus valley and Saurashtra. Part - C 5 x 3 = 15 26) Point out the speciality of the coins of Demetrius. Answer : He issued bi-lingual square coins with Greek on the obverse and Kharoshti (the local language of north-western Pakistan) on the reverse. 27) What do you know of Menander? Answer : 1. Menander (c. 165/145-130 BCE) was the best known of the Indo-Greek kings. 2. He is said to have ruled a large kingdom in the at Pataliputra. 3. Many historians argue that the elaborate administrative institutions of the Mauryan Empire drew inspiration from the administrative systems of the Persians and Greeks. 28) Give an evidence for the Ashoka's relation with the west Asia kings? Answer : Rock Edict (13) mentions five yona kings, identified as 1. Antiochus II Theos of Syria, 2. Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, 3. Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, 4. Magas of Cyrene and 5. Alexander of Corinth. 29) Where the regions India had trade in his period? Answer : Trade was carried on by the overland route via north-west Afghanistan (Bactria) and also partly by the coastal route along the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. 30) What is the belief of meanders? Answer : 1. Menander is mainly remembered as the eponymous hero of the Buddhist text. 2. Milinda-pinha (questions of Milinda), in which he is engaged in a question-andanswer discussion on Buddhism with the teacher Nagasena. 3. He is believed to have become a Buddhist and promoted Buddhism. Part - D 3 x 5 = 15 31) “The rise of Indo-Greek kings in Western India strengthened trade and cultural contacts”. Explain. Answer : 1. This regular interchange of ambassadors and correspondence, as well as the extension of the Mauryan Empire till Afghanistan, facilitated regular trade from India to the West as far as Egypt 2. Trade was carried on by the overland route via north-west Afghanistan (Bactria) and also partl.y by the coastal ro. ute. along the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. 3. A variety ofluxury goods, including ivory, tortoise shell, pearls, indigo and other dyes. 4. aromatic substances like spikenard or nard (a fragrant oil from the Gangetic region) and malabathrum (leaf of cinnamon, used as an aromatic) and rare woods were exported from India. 5. Thus, The rise ofIndo-Greek kings in Western India strengthened trade and cultural contacts. 32) Discuss the contribution of Kanishka to art and literature. Answer : During the reign of Kushanas, there was great creative energy when art and literature flourished. 1. The Greek influence led to an Indo-Greek style of sculpture and art commonly referred to as Gandhara art. Statues of Buddha, sculpted particularly in Taxila 2. The north-western regions, show him in graceful garments, surrounded by cherubs and leaves inspired by the Greek tradition. 3. The red sandstone sculpture with intricate carving produced near Mathura. 4. The Buddhists began to carve out rock caves in the hills of western India, which served as religious centres with chaityas and viharas, stretching from the Ajanta caves to the Kanheri caves in Mumbai. 5. Large statues of Buddha were sculpted in these caves as apart of the Mahayana tradition, and in later centuries, they were further-embellished with murals of extraordinary beauty, as seen in the Ajanta caves. 6. Kanishka was the patron of Buddhist philosophers such as Asvaghosha, Parsva and Vasumitra, as well as the great Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna. 7. Asvaghosha is known for his Buddhacharita and is celebrated as the author of the first Sanskrit play, Sariputraprakarana, in nine acts. 8. The great dramatist Bhasa, whose plays werere-discovered only about a hundred years ago in South India. 33) Write a note about Demetrius. Answer : 1. Euthydemus's son Demetrius succeeded him (c. 200 BCE), and another Demetrius, probably Demetrius II, was the first known Indo-Greek king (c. 175 BCE). 2. The distinguishing feature of the reign of the Indo-Greek kings was their exquisite comage. 3. Minted in the same style as Greek coins of silver, they carried the portrait of the reigning king on one side with his name. 4. The coins thus give us a visual picture of the kings, who are represented 5. In various kinds of headgear and with distinctive facial and physical features.