Ancient Indian History Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 1)

Kodumanal is an archaeological site in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu. It sits on the Noyyal river, a Kaveri tributary. Around 2,300 years ago, it was a Sangam-era trade and craft hub. Excavations found iron and steel tools, gem beads, and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions.

The correct answer is Only two. Asmaka–Godavari and Kosala–Sarayu are correctly matched. Kamboja–Vipas is wrong and Avanti–Mahanadi is wrong. That leaves two correct pairs. Memory hook: Ayodhya sat on the Sarayu, and the Sarayu split Kosala.

The correct answer is a large wheel with earthen pots tied to the outer ends of its spokes. The pots fill in the well and empty into a trough. Option (a) is wrong because a leather bag pulled over a pulley is close to the charas, a leather bucket drawn by oxen around Agra. Option (c) is wrong because one pot driven by bullocks is not a wheel. Option (d) is wrong because a bucket pulled by hand is a plain bucket lift. Memory hook: pots on a wheel means araghatta.

NCERT describes a curving shikhara in North India and a pyramidal vimana in South India.

The correct answer is 45. The count is now 45. Of these, 37 are cultural, seven are natural and one is mixed.

37 is only the number of cultural sites. The other numbers do not match the official count.

Memory hook: Sarnath made India’s tally 45.

The correct answer is Busan. The decision came on 25 July 2026. It was taken at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Busan, Republic of Korea.

Paris is where UNESCO has its headquarters, but the session was held in Busan. The other cities did not host this session.

Memory hook: 48th session = Busan.

The answer is the Mitakshara, written by Vijnaneshwara. The Dayabhaga is a digest of several Smritis, not a commentary on one. Memory hook: Mitakshara comments on Yajnavalkya.

The answer is Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda. The Atharvaveda stood outside this group and is called a later addition. Memory hook: three plus one.

The answer is three. They are Kauthuma, Jaiminiya and Ranayaniya. Tradition says a thousand shakhas once existed. Memory hook: three schools left.

Dharmapala is the answer. He was a Pala king of Bengal and Bihar. He founded Vikramshila in the late eighth or early ninth century. Sources give slightly different dates, from about 775 to 820 CE. Gopala, Devapala and Mahipala were also Pala kings, but they did not found it. Memory hook: Dharmapala, the Vikramshila builder.

His nephew Jangchub Ö carried out the invitation. The captor wanted a ransom of gold. Yeshe Ö told his nephew to use that gold to invite Atisha instead. So Yeshe Ö never made the trip himself. Dharmapala had died long before. Memory hook: the king stayed captive, the nephew brought Atisha.

The correct answer is On the raised Citadel. Mohenjodaro had two parts. The Citadel was higher and walled. The Great Bath, the Granary and the Assembly Hall stood there.

The Lower Town held the ordinary houses and streets.

Memory hook: Big public buildings on the high Citadel.

The correct answer is 160, 200, 320, 640. The higher Harappan weights followed the decimal system. The lower ones were binary: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.

The binary series covers the small weights. The last option is not a Harappan series.

Memory hook: Small binary, big decimal.

The correct answer is Four and two times. The length was four times the height and the breadth twice the height, a 4:2:1 ratio. It held from Jammu to Gujarat.

Other ratios were not the Harappan standard.

Memory hook: 4 : 2 : 1.

The correct answer is Some central control or planning. Bricks and weights of the same standard over a vast area point to organisation. Many scholars suspect a state or a strong unifying element.

The uniformity does not suggest war, foreign rule or the end of trade.

Memory hook: Same standard, same planning.

The answer is John Marshall. Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro. Based on these finds, Marshall announced a new civilisation in the Indus valley in 1924. He was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Why the others fail: Cunningham found a seal at Harappa but called it foreign to India. Wheeler dug there in the 1940s. Banerji found the Mohenjodaro seals but did not make the announcement. Memory hook: Banerji found, Marshall announced.

The answer is Mohenjodaro, at 125 hectares. The textbook gives Mohenjodaro as 125 hectares. World History says Harappa spreads over 450,000 square metres, which is about 45 hectares. Why the others fail: Harappa is the smaller of the two. They are not equal, and neither is under 10 hectares. Memory hook: 125 beats 45.

The answer is about 100 miles. Cunningham noted in 1875 that the brick taken from the site was enough for about 100 miles of the Lahore-Multan railway line. Why the others fail: Ten, 50 and 500 miles are not the figure he gave. The point is the scale of the loss. Memory hook: brick robbers, 100 miles.

The sabha and the samiti helped govern the tribe. The rajan needed their approval for the throne.

It found ancestry related to ancient Iranians and to Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers, and little or no steppe ancestry. This one sample neither proves nor disproves migration.

Shortughai, a Harappan settlement in present-day Afghanistan near the Oxus river, has revealed traces of canals used for irrigation in its semi-arid surroundings. No such canal traces have been found at the main Punjab and Sind heartland sites like Banawali, Lothal, or Dholavira, which are instead known for docks, reservoirs, and drainage systems, not canals. This is why Shortughai is the correct answer.

The answer is Pali, the canonical language of early Buddhist scriptures like the Majjhima Nikaya.

The answer is Mahapajapati Gotami, Queen Maya’s sister, who raised Buddha after his mother died shortly after his birth.

The answer is marriage by capture. Among the eight traditional forms of Hindu marriage, the Rakshasa form involved forcibly abducting the bride.