24 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWho was the Nawab of Bhopal (ruled 1868-1901) whose own account describes visiting Sanchi Kanakhera?
(A) Razia Begum(B) Sultan Jehan Begum(C) Shahjehan Begum(D) Nur Jehan Begum - 1 markIn what language and approximate period was the Rigveda compiled?
(A) Pali, c. 500-300 BCE(B) Classical Sanskrit prose, c. third century BCE(C) Prakrit, c. 1000-500 BCE(D) Vedic Sanskrit, c. 1500-1000 BCE - 1 markAccording to Buddhist texts, how many sects or schools of thought were active in debate in early India?
(A) 23(B) 64(C) 16(D) 6 - 1 markThe Prakrit text Uttaradhyayana Sutta records which queen persuading her husband to renounce the world?
(A) Queen Prabhavati(B) Queen Kamalavati(C) Queen Gandhari(D) Queen Shachi - 1 markAfter attaining enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching what?
(A) Sacrificial ritual(B) Dhamma, the path of righteous living(C) Statecraft(D) The recitation of the Vedas - 1 markWho was the Buddha’s foster mother, and the first woman ordained as a bhikkhuni?
(A) Buddhamita(B) Mahapajapati Gotami(C) Punna(D) Dhanavati - 1 markWhat does the Sanskrit word ‘stupa’ literally mean?
(A) A pillar(B) A temple(C) A heap(D) A cave - 1 markA scene at Sanchi that looks rural at first glance has been identified by art historians as a scene from which Jataka?
(A) The Mahakapi Jataka(B) The Vessantara Jataka(C) The Shibi Jataka(D) The Gandatindu Jataka - 1 markIn which century did the Kailashnatha temple at Ellora, carved out of a single piece of rock, reach completion?
(A) Sixth century CE(B) Eighth century CE(C) Tenth century CE(D) Fifth century CE
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): The eastern gateway at Sanchi, the best preserved, was eventually taken away to be displayed in a museum in France.
Reason (R): The French had sought Shahjehan Begum’s permission to remove it.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): As he lay dying, the Buddha immediately instructed that grand stupas be built for him without being asked.
Reason (R): According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, when pressed further by Ananda, the Buddha said stupas should be erected at the four crossroads.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Sanchi (ii) Amaravati (iii) Lumbini (iv) Kusinagara
List II: (1) the Buddha’s birthplace, later marked by an Asokan pillar (2) discovered 1818, three of four gateways still standing (3) the place of the Buddha’s nibbana (4) discovered 1796, today an insignificant mound
(A) i-3, ii-1, iii-4, iv-2(B) i-4, ii-2, iii-3, iv-1(C) i-2, ii-4, iii-1, iv-3(D) i-1, ii-3, iii-2, iv-4 - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) chaitya (ii) garbhagriha (iii) shikhara (iv) stupa
List II: (1) mound containing relics, Sanskrit for ‘heap’ (2) tall structure raised over the central shrine of a temple (3) sacred site or shrine, possibly derived from ‘chita’ (4) small square room with a single doorway, the earliest form of a temple
(A) i-2, ii-1, iii-4, iv-3(B) i-3, ii-4, iii-2, iv-1(C) i-3, ii-4, iii-1, iv-2(D) i-1, ii-2, iii-3, iv-4
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Non-injury to living beings, ahimsa, is central to Jaina philosophy.
Statement II: Jainism holds that the entire world is animated: even stones, rocks and water have life.
(A) Only Statement II is true(B) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(C) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(D) Only Statement I is true - 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Sanchi’s stupa survives largely intact while Amaravati’s has been reduced to an insignificant mound.
Statement II: Amaravati was found and its sculpture dispersed before scholars recognised the value of leaving finds in place, unlike Sanchi.
(A) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(B) Only Statement II is true(C) Only Statement I is true(D) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following in chronological order.
1. development of Mahayana Buddhism
2. emergence of Jainism and Buddhism (Mahavira and the Buddha)
3. earliest temples
4. first stupas built
(A) 2-4-1-3(B) 1-4-2-3(C) 4-2-1-3(D) 2-1-4-3 - 1 markArrange the following in chronological order.
1. Sanchi declared a World Heritage Site
2. Cunningham publishes Bhilsa Topes
3. Marshall and Foucher publish The Monuments of Sanchi
4. Ram Raja’s Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus published; Cunningham explores the stupa at Sarnath
(A) 4-3-2-1(B) 2-4-3-1(C) 3-4-2-1(D) 4-2-3-1
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe ______ Pitaka contains the Buddha’s own teachings, while the Vinaya Pitaka is a collection of monastic rules.
(A) Jataka(B) Abhidhamma(C) Sutta(D) Vinaya - 1 markVaishnavism developed cults around ______ avatars, or incarnations, of Vishnu.
(A) five(B) seven(C) twelve(D) ten
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following place-and-event pairings is INCORRECT?
(A) Bodh Gaya: enlightenment(B) Lumbini: birth(C) Sarnath: nibbana(D) Kusinagara: nibbana
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.
— Dhanavati’s inscription (NCERT exercise Question 4)
— Dhanavati’s inscription (NCERT exercise Question 4)
- 1 markAccording to the passage above (Dhanavati’s inscription), how did she date her record?
(A) By a Buddhist era count(B) By a lunar calendar date(C) By the regnal year, season and month-day of the ruler Huvishka(D) By a king’s coronation year
Passage
“Pleasure and pain, measured out as it were, cannot be altered in the course of samsara (transmigration). It can neither be lessened or increased … just as a ball of string will when thrown unwind to its full length, so fool and wise alike will take their course and make an end of sorrow.”
— Makkhali Gosala (Source 3)
— Makkhali Gosala (Source 3)
- 1 markWhat is the core idea expressed in the passage above?
(A) A person can alter their fate through severe penance(B) Pleasure and pain are fixed and cannot be changed by virtue or penance(C) Only kings control destiny(D) At death, everything dissolves into the four elements
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Three of Sanchi’s four gateways were still standing when it was discovered in 1818.
(ii) No collection of Amaravati sculpture panels was ever known as the ‘Elliot marbles.’
(A) Only (i) is true(B) Both are true(C) Only (ii) is true(D) Both are false - 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Once within the sangha, all were regarded as equal, having shed their earlier social identities.
(ii) Women were admitted into the sangha through Ananda’s mediation.
(A) Only (i) is true(B) Both are true(C) Only (ii) is true(D) Both are false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (C) Shahjehan Begum (ruled 1868-1901) described visiting Sanchi Kanakhera in her own work, Taj-ul Iqbal Tarikh Bhopal; her successor Sultan Jehan Begum continued funding the site’s preservation.
- (D) The Rigveda was compiled in Vedic Sanskrit between c. 1500 and 1000 BCE, and was taught orally to men of priestly families.
- (B) Buddhist texts mention as many as 64 sects or schools of thought, whose teachers travelled and debated in places such as the kutagarashala.
- (B) The Uttaradhyayana Sutta records queen Kamalavati urging her husband to renounce his kingdom, comparing herself to a bird that dislikes its cage.
- (B) After enlightenment, he came to be known as the Buddha, ‘the Enlightened One’, and taught dhamma, the path of righteous living, for the rest of his life.
- (B) Mahapajapati Gotami, the Buddha’s foster mother, was the first woman ordained as a bhikkhuni, after Ananda’s mediation opened the sangha to women.
- (C) Stupa is a Sanskrit word meaning a heap; it originated as a simple semi-circular mound of earth, later called the anda, and evolved into a more complex structure.
- (B) Art historians identified the scene as the Vessantara Jataka, about a generous prince who gave away everything and lived in the forest with his family; matching image to text was needed to read it correctly.
- (B) The cave-temple tradition culminated in the eighth century in the carving of the entire Kailashnatha temple at Ellora, out of a single piece of rock.
Assertion-Reason
- (D) A is false: the French did seek permission, but both the French and the English were eventually satisfied with plaster-cast copies, and the original gateway remained at Sanchi. R is true.
- (D) A is false: the Buddha first told Ananda not to trouble himself with honouring his remains and to attend to his own good; only when pressed further did he name the four crossroads. R is true.
Match the Following
- (C) Sanchi was discovered in 1818 with three of four gateways standing (i-2); Amaravati was discovered in 1796 and is now an insignificant mound (ii-4); Lumbini is the Buddha’s birthplace, marked by Asoka’s pillar (iii-1); Kusinagara is where he attained nibbana (iv-3).
- (B) Chaitya is a sacred site possibly derived from ‘chita’ (i-3); garbhagriha is the small square room with one doorway, the earliest temple form (ii-4); shikhara is the tall structure over the shrine (iii-2); stupa is Sanskrit for ‘heap’ (iv-1).
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) Both statements are true, and Statement II gives the reason for Statement I: if even stones, rocks and water have life, non-injury to every living being becomes central.
- (D) Both statements are true, and Statement II gives the reason for the difference in fate described in Statement I.
Chronological Ordering
- (A) Mahavira and the Buddha (c. sixth century BCE), then the first stupas (c. third century BCE), then Mahayana Buddhism (c. second century BCE onwards), then the earliest temples (c. third century CE): order 2-4-1-3.
- (D) Ram Raja’s essay and Cunningham’s Sarnath exploration came in 1834, Bhilsa Topes in 1854, The Monuments of Sanchi in 1914, and the World Heritage declaration in 1989: order 4-2-3-1.
Fill in the Blanks
- (C) The Sutta Pitaka contains the Buddha’s teachings; the Vinaya Pitaka holds monastic rules, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka deals with philosophical matters.
- (D) Ten avatars were recognised within the Vaishnava tradition, forms the deity was believed to have assumed to save the world from disorder and destruction.
Odd One Out
- (C) Sarnath is where the Buddha gave his first sermon, not where he attained nibbana; nibbana took place at Kusinagara. The other three pairings are correct.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) Dhanavati dated her inscription by Huvishka’s 33rd regnal year, the hot season, and the eighth day of its first month.
- (B) Makkhali Gosala argued that pleasure and pain are fixed, like a ball of string that must unwind to its full length once thrown, regardless of virtue or penance.
True / False
- (A) (i) is true: three of the four gateways were standing in 1818. (ii) is false: Walter Elliot’s 1854 collection of panels was indeed known as the Elliot marbles.
- (B) Both statements are true: within the sangha all were regarded as equal having shed earlier identities, and women’s admission came about through Ananda persuading the Buddha.
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