Deck 12: Classical India

Question 1

The Hindu deity Shiva is the god of

A) marriage.
B) creation.
C) war.
D) peace.
E) life and death.

Answer 1

life and death.

Question 2

Elaborate on the influence of India on surrounding areas and civilizations.

Answer 2

Answers would include,East Asia,Buddhism,Southeast Asia,Indian Ocean,Indonesia,Thailand,Cambodia,Laos,Malaysia,Anghor Wat and Sri Vijaya.

Question 3

During India's Gupta period,most villagers and farmers experienced

A) overpopulation.
B) a lack of adequate farmland.
C) starvation from famine.
D) a large increase in population of their herds.
E) disagreements concerning control of water resources.

Answer 3

disagreements concerning control of water resources.

Question 4

The impetus for the change in Hinduism that established a guide for moral and ethical conduct was

A) the Bhagavad-Gita.
B) the Vedas.
C) the "looseness" of Buddhism.
D) the Upanishads.
E) the Rig-Veda.

Question 5

Which Hindu deity has been described as a "Christ figure without ethical teachings"?

A) Brahman
B) Shiva
C) Indra
D) Vishnu
E) Kali

Question 6

Discuss the geographic boundaries and issues regarding Classical India's religions,both domestic and foreign.

Question 7

Indian scholars were so knowledgeable that they were often invited to train Muslims in the city of

A) Medina.
B) Agra.
C) Baghdad.
D) Calcutta.
E) Mecca.

Question 8

Discuss the Kushan Empire and its significance to Indian history.

Question 9

The violent Muslim antagonism toward Indian Buddhism stemmed mainly from the fact that

A) Buddhists were polytheistic.
B) Buddhists habitually ate pork.
C) Buddhists attempted an alliance with Hindus.
D) Buddhists competed with Muslims for converts.
E) Buddhists called for the overthrow of Islam.

Question 10

Elaborate on the significant advances and challenges of the Gupta Period.

Question 11

Many wealthy Muslims came to classical India for the purpose of

A) studying astrology.
B) gaining mathematical knowledge.
C) practicing sculpting.
D) obtaining medical treatment.
E) studying astronomy.

Question 12

Discuss the role of literature in Indian religion.

Question 13

The chief crop of Gupta India was

A) rice.
B) cotton.
C) wheat.
D) maize.
E) peanuts.

Question 14

Fa Xian's major contribution lay in his

A) Sanskrit plays.
B) poems about Hindu sexuality.
C) realistic portraits.
D) travel accounts of Gupta India.
E) paintings at Ajanta.

Question 15

The main cause of differences between northern and southern India seems to have been

A) the war-like culture of the North.
B) the lack of invasions in the South.
C) the Mahayana Buddhism of the South.
D) the acceptance of Buddhism in the North but not in the South.
E) the flourishing of the arts in the North.

Question 16

India's North and South only began to achieve any sense of uniformity after

A) the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism.
B) the introduction of Theravada Buddhism.
C) the spread of Buddhism throughout the subcontinent.
D) the near extinction of Buddhism in the subcontinent.
E) the spread of Hinduism to Sri Lanka.

Question 17

The Gupta are associated with a revival of

A) Buddhism.
B) Hinduism.
C) Islam.
D) Jainism.
E) Confucianism.

Question 18

The most popular art form among Hindus has historically been

A) sculpture.
B) painting.
C) literature.
D) architecture.
E) music.

Question 19

Kalidasa's contribution lay in the field of

A) politics.
B) medicine.
C) poetry.
D) religion.
E) drama.

Question 20

Describe life in Classical India.

Question 21

The practice of sati

A) appears to have been very common up to World War II.
B) was required of all widows.
C) involved the segregation of women from outside society.
D) often took the place of divorce in India.
E) refers to ritual suicide of wives after the deaths of their husbands.

Question 22

The major source of foreign troubles for India has been its

A) sea frontiers to the east.
B) borders with China.
C) resident colonies of foreign traders.
D) lack of strong military leadership.
E) frontier with Afghanistan.

Question 23

The Upanishads would best be described as

A) poetic musings about the Aryan history.
B) philosophical musings and speculations about life.
C) a historic chronicle of the development of Aryan civilization.
D) a series of poems dealing with the three main Hindu gods.
E) a part of the Mahabharata, the world's longest poem.

Question 24

Most marriages in Classical India were

A) late in one's life.
B) based on mutual compatibility.
C) among Buddhists.
D) arranged.
E) political.

Question 25

Which of the following was true of Classical South India?

A) It had little contact with Southeast Asia.
B) It had no art.
C) It was strongly influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism.
D) It left the most written records.
E) It constantly had to worry about Islamic invaders from the west.

Question 26

The head of an Indian family could be compared to a(n)

A) Jewish patriarch.
B) Muslim caliph.
C) Buddhist monk.
D) Christian matriarch.
E) Muslim ulama.

Question 27

One would best describe the attitude of Southeast Asian colonies to their Indian colonizers as

A) resentful and antagonistic.
B) perplexed.
C) accepting and cooperative.
D) accepting but selective.
E) domineering.

Question 28

The Indian caste system

A) has a strong hold throughout India today.
B) was formally outlawed after World War II.
C) was created in response to repeated invasions.
D) guarantees equality before the law.
E) has always had its greatest impact among the wealthy.

Question 29

The ____________________ are Hindu philosophic works based on involved speculation.

Question 30

The upper classes of the Sri Vijaya Empire in Sumatra followed this religion,whose value-systems they spread throughout the Orient.

A) Buddhism
B) Islam
C) Hinduism
D) Sikhism
E) Jainism

Question 31

____________________ was the most significant leader of the Kushan Empire.

Question 32

Unlike most other major religions,Hinduism has no

A) formal places of worship.
B) single sacred book of uniform beliefs.
C) major gods.
D) written history.
E) rituals.

Question 33

India's most significant Hindu epic poem is the ____________________.

Question 34

Divorce in Gupta society was

A) unacceptable.
B) rare among the upper castes.
C) generally reserved for the Brahmins.
D) encouraged for the Untouchables.
E) easily obtained.

Question 35

Hinduism in Southeast Asia is one of the most notable examples of a mixed religion,which is known as ____________________.

Question 36

Under the Indian caste system,which of these jobs would an outcaste not perform?

A) burying the dead
B) working as a common laborer
C) begging
D) selling animal products
E) All of these jobs would be off limits to an outcaste.

Question 37

In Indian society,by the time of the Gupta period,

A) the status of women had slightly improved from earlier days.
B) the status of women had markedly improved from earlier days.
C) women had clearly become more subservient to men.
D) only widows enjoyed a privileged position.
E) married women had significantly more rights than single women.

Question 38

Southeast Asian peoples generally accepted Hindu-Indian culture

A) through conquest.
B) selectively.
C) entirely.
D) only religiously.
E) only under threat of death.

Question 39

The Cambodian structure at Angkor

A) was built as a Buddhist shrine.
B) is the oldest religious structure in the world.
C) at one time served as Buddhist religious headquarters.
D) is the oldest continually used temple complex in existence.
E) was seized by invaders from Thailand, deserted for hundreds of years, and is now a tourist attraction.

Question 40

The Hindu attitude toward sex seems to have been that it was

A) natural.
B) unclean.
C) fun.
D) evil.
E) holy.

Question 41

Sources for Gupta India are somewhat sparse,because Hindu and Buddhist traditions are both ____________________.

Question 42

Ritual suicide of Indian widows was termed ____________________.

Question 43

Wonderful Indian paintings have been found in the caves at ____________________.

Question 44

The temple at Anghor Wat was initially a(n)____________________ shrine.

Question 45

Violence between Muslims and non-Muslims was a trademark of the ____________________ Sultanate.

Question 46

The world's longest poem is the ____________________.