Ancient India


  1. What is mean by inscriptions?

Inscriptions are virtually permanent records, some of which carry dates. Others are dated on the basis of

Palaeography or styles of writing, with a fair amount of precision.

  1. What is mean by janapadas?

Janapada means the land where a jana (a people, clan or tribe) sets its foot or settles. It is a word used in both Prakrit and Sanskrit.

  1. Who are important Mahajanapadas?

Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur frequently. Clearly, these were amongst the most important mahajanapadas.

  1. What is mean by dhamma policy of Asoka?

Asoka also tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma, the principles of which, as we have seen, were simple and virtually universally applicable. This, according to him, would ensure the well-being of people in this world and the next. Special officers, known as the dhamma mahamatta, were appointed to spread the message of dhamma.

  1. What is mean by Manu script?

The Manusmrti is one of the best-known legal texts of early India, written in Sanskrit and compiled between c. second century BCE and c. second century CE.

  1. Who are grahapati?

A grahapati was the owner, master or head of a household, who exercised control over the women, children, slaves and workers who shared a common residence. He was also the owner of the resources –land, animals and other things – that belonged to the household. Sometimes the term was used as a marker of status for men belonging to the urban elite, including wealthy merchants.

  1. What is harshacharitha and who wrote it?

The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj (see Map 3), composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (c. seventh century CE)

  1. What is mean by numismatic?

Numismatics is the study of coins, including visual elements such as scripts and images, metallurgical analysis and the contexts in which they have been found.

  1. What is mean by Patriliny and Matriliny?

Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on.

Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother.

  1. What are the different types of Vedas?

Rig Veda

Yajur Veda

Samar Veda

Atharva Veda.