Ancient History MCQs – 11 ( Gupta Period )

Ans - A ( Chandragupta-II  ).

• Chandragupta II, also named Vikramaditya, is believed to be one of the greatest rulers of the Gupta dynasty.

• He was the son of Samudragupta and Datta Devi. 

• He ruled the Gupta Empire from 375 to 415 C.E. when the kingdom achieved its zenith, often referred to as the ‘Golden Age of India’. 

   

Ans - D ( Srigupta ).

• Gupta empire emerged around the late 3rd century and brought Magadha under the control of founding member Srigupta.

• He was succeeded by Ghototkacha Gupta.

• The empire got prominent under the control of Chandragupta I (319-335 CE).

Ans - D ( Fa-Hiena ).

•  Fa-Hien was a Chinese pilgrim who visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II on a religious mission. He traveled by foot from China to India and returned by sea route. 

• He traveled to many cities associated with the life of the Buddha – Sravasti, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir, etc and wrote about  Taxila, Pataliputra, Mathura, and Kannauj in Middle India.

• He recorded his observations in a travelog titled Fo-Kwo-King (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms). It is one of the main literary sources to reconstruct the age of Gupta. 

• Important observations of Fa-Hien: 
  1. The administration of the Guptas was liberal and benevolent, the people enjoyed economic prosperity and the burden of taxes on them was not heavy. 
  2. The primary source of income of the state during that time was land revenue and people could move freely from one land to another.
  3. Monasteries, Sanghas, temples and their property and other religious endow­ments were free from government taxes. 
  4. Rest-houses were built for travelers. 
  5. People observed tolerance in religious matters because Buddhism and Hinduism both flourished side by side during that time.
  6. Mostly, People were vegetarians and avoided meat and onions and they avoided alcohol and other intoxicants. 
  7. The Palace of Emperor Ashoka also existed at that time, about which Fa-hien remarked that ‘it might have been built not by men but by gods’.
  8. Caste-system and Untouchability was prevalent. ‘Chandalas’ at the lowest rank.

Ans - C ( Samudragupta ).

• Samudragupta was the greatest king of the Gupta dynasty and called the Napoleon of India.

• He never faced defeat in any battle in his life.

• He was the son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi.

  
  

Ans - D ( Gupta period ).

• Aryabhatiya and Surya Siddhanta were written Aryabhatta.
• He belongs to the Gupta period. He is credited with the invention of the decimal system and zero.
• He told for the first time that the Earth is not static, it rotates around the sun.

Ans - A (Digvijay).

This policy of Samudragupta is described as Digvijaya or defeating the enemy kings of the South, Grahana or getting the authority over the kingdoms and then Anugraha allowing them to rule their Kingdoms under his Suzerainty. In the course of his Southern Campaign, he humbled as many as twelve princes.

Ans - A ( Harisena ).

• Harisena was a 4th-century Sanskrit poet, an important figure in the court of the Gupta emperor, Samudragupta. 
• His most famous poem, written in 345 C.E., describes the bravery of Samudragupta and is inscribed on the Allahabad Pillar.

Ans - A ( Samudragupta  ).

• Samudragupta was the greatest ruler of the Gupta dynasty. He was called Napoleon of India by V. A. Smith. 
• He was a follower of Vaishnavism but tolerant of other religions.