ANCIENT HISTORY QUIZ

BRICKS - MOST STANDARDISED PRODUCTS OF HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

➤ Bricks used in construction during the Mature Harappan Age were all manufactured in two basic sizes- 7 x 14 x 28 cm and 10 x 20 x 40 cm.

➤ The smaller bricks were used for the construction of residences and other smaller houses, while the larger ones were used for public buildings, walls, etc.

➤ In the Indus Valley Civilization, all bricks corresponded to sizes in a perfect ratio of 4:2:1 and made use of the decimal system.

➤ The ratio for brick dimensions 4:2:1 is even today considered optimal for effective bonding.

GHAGGAR-HAKRA RIVER SYSTEM - LARGEST CONCENTRATION OF HARAPPAN SITES

➤ The Ghaggar-Hakra River is a non-perennial river in India and Pakistan flows only during the monsoon season.

➤ The latest studies mention that Ghaggar-Hakra was perennial at Harappan Civilisation’s peak.

➤ Most sites of the Harappan Civilisation are actually found along the bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra river.

METALS USED BY HARAPPANS

➤ Variety of metals such as copper, gold, silver was extensively used by the Harappan metal workers.

➤ In this era, gold and silver were used to make ornaments.

➤ Several crucibles of copper slag are discovered here, which marks the beginning of metallurgy.

➤ They used to make alloys such as bronze and tin by smelting copper with other metals.

➤ Bronze was extensively used in making sculptures.

➤ They had also perfected the intricate ciré perdue or lost wax technique of metal casting as early as the third millennium BCE.

➤ One of the finest examples of Bronze Sculptures found during the excavation of Indus valley is the “dancing girl” of Mohenjodaro.

➤ Minor metals like tin, arsenic, lead, antimony etc. were used for alloying.

➤ But, Iron was not known to the people of Indus Valley Civilisation. Iron was first used in the later Vedic Period by the Aryans. It was known as shyam ayas means black or dark metal.

TEMPLES ❌

In contrast to Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization seems to have lacked any temples or public places of worship, that would give clear evidence of specific deities.

No building has been discovered at any Harappan site that can be identified as a temple, but the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro may have been used for ritual bathing purposes, as were the bathing ghats attached to later Hindu temples.

COINS ❌

Indus Valley traders did not use coins for trading. The exchange of goods was done through barter system.

The first coins of India were 'punch-marked coins' called Karshapanas or Pana – minted in the 6th century B.C. by the Mahajanapadas (republic kingdoms) of ancient India.

MIRRORS ✅

In Indus valley civilization, manufacture of polished bronze and copper mirrors goes back to the time between 2800 and 2500 BC.

Bronze and copper mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today.

These mirrors were made as polished reflective surfaces on metals, commonly bronze or copper.

They used by the elites amongst the Harappans.

An Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report that was made public in 2015 claims that the largest and oldest sites of the Harappan Civilization are both in Haryana.

BHIRRANA - THE OLDEST SITE OF IVC

The oldest, according to C-14 radio-dating done by ASI, is at Bhirana village in Fatehabad district, and has been dated to 7570-6200 B.C.

That makes it far older than the site at Mehrgarh, Pakistan, which has been dated to 6400-7000 B.C.

RAKHIGARHI - THE LARGEST SITE OF IVC

Rakhigarhi, a village close to Bhirrana, is the largest Harappan site in the world.

Excavations by ASI have revealed that the site is spread over 400 hectares, nearly double that of Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan.

ALLAHDINO - THE SMALLEST SITE OF IVC

It is an unfortified settlement of 1.4 hectares near Karachi, set in a coastal area of Pakistan. This small but well-organized settlement was abandoned by 2000 B.C.

Apad-dharma literally means ‘conduct permitted during calamities’. It means the norms to be followed during crisis in life. It is defined as 'duty when in distress'. These norms and duties are specified in Smriti literature. Under it, a person belonging to a class is suggested the alternative means of earning livelihood if he is faced with crisis in life.

In mauryan period, Amatyas were administrative personnel or civil servants who filled the highest admin­istrative and judicial appointments. Their pay scales, service rules and method of payment were clearly laid down. Their roles and functions were very important for all governmental work and administrative work.

• Takshashila University flourished from 600 BC to 500 AD in the kingdom of Gandhara.

• The curriculum consisted of 68 elective courses, including philosophy, law, statecraft, defense, warfare strategies, grammar (several languages), the 18 arts (music, dance, fine arts, etc.), mathematics, astronomy, astrology, plants & herbs, medicine (Ayurveda, Ayurvedic acupuncture, etc.) and surgery.

• Some of these, such as medicine, were taught for up to seven years before graduation.

• During the 800 years that the university was operational it attained great fame.

• Its campus was one mile in length and a half-mile in width.

• It also had 300 lecture halls with stone benches for sitting, laboratories and other facilities were also available.

Takshashila’s famous researchers and teachers include

1) Panini - the great Sanskrit grammarian

2) Kautilya - king-maker of Mauryan Empire, astute political advisor and author of Arthashastra, c. 300 BCE

3) Charaka -the distinguished physician, whose research on the region’s flora and fauna described in his Charaka Samhita strengthened the development of Ayurveda.

4) Jivaka - the great physician to Gautama Buddha and his followers.

Gupta era marked the beginning of the free-standing temple Architecture. Most of the temples built in the Gupta era were carved with representation of Gods and Goddesses.

For e.g., Dasavatara Temple of Deogarh, Bhitargaon Temple, Bhitari Temple, Parvati temple of Nachna kuthara

Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh shows Sarvatobhadra style architecture.

Sarvatobhadra: These types of the temples have four functional doors in 4 cardinal directions and also a Pradakshinapatha with a row of 12 pillars around the santum sanctorum. These types of temples could be accessed from all sides.

Dasavatara Temple was built out of stone and masonry brick. Legends associated with Lord Vishnu are sculpted in the interior and exterior walls of the temple.

The Bhitargaon Temple of Kanpur is made entirely of bricks.

It was built in the 5th century during the Gupta period.

It is the oldest remaining brick/terracotta Hindu shrine with a roof and a high Shikhara.

Language used by Early Jainas - Prakrit

The early Jainas discarded Sanskrit as the language mainly patronised by the Brahmanas.

They adopted Prakrit, the language of the common people to preach their doctrines.

Ancient Jaina literature was written in Ardhamagadhi and their religious texts were finally compiled in the 6th century A.D. in Gujarat at a place called Vallabhi, which was a great centre of education.

Many regional languages developed out of Prakrit language, particularly Sauraseni, out of which grew the Marathi language.

TAXILA - oldest University of the world. It was established in Taxila or Takshashila (now in Pakistan) in 700 BCE.

The renowned University of Taxila is widely acknowledged as first example of higher learning in world history.

It is documented that over 10,000 students from China, Babylon, Syria and Greece in addition to Indian students studied there.

The role of Taxila University as a center of knowledge continued under the Mauryan Empire and Indo-Greeks in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.

Invasion of Toramana in the 5th century CE seem to have put an end to the activities of the University.

NALANDA - was an acclaimed Mahavihara, a large Buddhist monastery and centre of higher studies in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India. The site is located about 95 km southeast of Patna near the town of Bihar Sharif and was a centre of learning from 5th century A.D. to 1200 A.D.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

VALLABHI - The Vallabhi University was an important centre of Buddhist learning and championed the studies of Hinayana Buddhism between 600 A.D. and 1200 A.D.

Vallabhi was the capital of the Maitraka empire.

It was an important port for international trade located in Saurashtra (in present day it is called Vallabhipur located in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat).

For some time, the university was considered to be a rival to Nalanda, in Bihar, in the field of education.

VIKRAMSHILA - founded by Pāla king Dharmapala in late 8th or early 9th century.

It prospered for about four centuries before it was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200 A.D.

The ancient Vikramashila University. Vikramashila is located at about 50 km east of Bhagalpur district, Bihar.

VIKRAMASHILA UNIVERSITY

Vikramashila was one of the two most important centres of learning in India during the Pala Empire, along with Nalanda.

Vikramashila was established by King Dharmapala (783 A.D. to 820 A.D.) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nalanda.

It was destroyed by the forces of Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200 A.D.

A number of monasteries grew during the Pāla period in ancient Bengal and Magadha.

According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramashila, Nalanda (past its prime but still illustrious), Somapura, Odantapura and Jagaddala.

The five monasteries formed a network, “all of them were under state supervision” and there existed “a system of co-ordination among them.

Vikramashila is known to us mainly through Tibetan sources, especially the writings of Tāranātha, the Tibetan monk historian of the 16th–17th century.

Rummindei Pillar Inscription

Rummindei/Lumbini Pillar inscription mentions Ashoka's visit to Lumbini (Nepal) and says that Lumbini was the birthplace of Buddha.

The Lumbini Pillar Inscription recorded that sometime after the 20th year of his reign, Ashoka travelled to the Buddha's birthplace, personally made offerings and reduced the taxes of the people in that area.

The Lumbini pillar inscription is an inscription in the ancient Brahmi script, discovered in December 1896 on a pillar of Ashoka in Lumbini, modern Nepal.

Another famous inscription discovered nearby in a similar context is the Nigali-Sagar inscription.

Although it is in the past tense and in the ordinary third person (not the royal third person), suggesting that it is not a pronouncement of Ashoka himself, but a rather later commemoration of his visit in the area.

The qualifier used for the Buddha in the inscription is Sakyamuni.