Deck 8: Empires and Visionaries in India, 600 B.C.E-600 C.E

Question 1

By this time, southern India's Indian Ocean trade had grown highly profitable from the spice trade in such rare spices as nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, but especially ________, a spice which would drive what ultimately became the world's first global trading system.

A) mint
B) mustard seed
C) caraway seed
D) black pepper

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In Buddhism, the final stage of enlightenment reached through meditation and "right mindfulness" is described as the "blowing out" of all karmic traces of past lives, thus achieving an uncluttered state of calm non-attached "nothingness" or ________.

A) nirvana
B) dharma
C) ahimsa
D) aurav

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The idea of __________ results from unsanctioned contact with someone from a lower caste.

A) ritual marriage
B) ritual sacrifice
C) ritual pollution
D) ritual suicide

Answer 3

C

Question 4

With the decline of the Mauryans and the adoption of Buddhism by peoples of the northwest, the region around Taxila became the nexus of a caravan trade linking all of Eurasia, from:

A) the sixth century BCE to the fourth century BCE.
B) the third century BCE to the third century CE.
C) the third century CE to the sixth century CE.
D) the seventh century BCE to the third century BCE.

Question 5

The idea that the Indian subcontinent was a land united by faith was one of the most consistent Hindu beliefs and led to the name by which India is now universally recognized, ______.

A) Bharat
B) Krishna
C) Pandya
D) Chola

Question 6

In a deer park in Sarnath, Gautama preached a sermon to his disciples outlining what became known as the ________, a path of moderation.

A) Righteous Way
B) Middle Way
C) Only Way
D) Way to Salvation

Question 7

Around the first century CE, all of these ideas took shape in what ultimately became the largest branch of Buddhism, ________, the "Greater Vehicle."

A) Upanishad
B) Mahayana
C) Yoga
D) Bharata

Question 8

Which of the following is not a characteristic belief of Buddhist doctrine?

A) Which of the following is not a characteristic belief of Buddhist doctrine?
B) Right conduct
C) Nirvana
D) Correct ritual

Question 9

_________ is considered to be perhaps India's most dominant ruler until the nineteenth century CE.

A) Chandragupta
B) Karnataka
C) Mahavira
D) Ashoka

Question 10

Known for such works as the romance Shakuntala and the epic The Cloud Messenger, __________ is the most influential poet and dramatist of the Sanskrit language and is widely referred to as "India's Shakespeare."

A) Sudraka
B) Kalidasa
C) Bhasa
D) Asvaghosa

Question 11

The Pali Canon, written in Pali, the sacred language of Buddhism, is a collection of texts that constitutes the foundation of ________ Buddhism and serves as the fundamental body of scriptures for nearly all Buddhist schools.

A) Mahayana
B) Yogic
C) Theravada
D) Heretical

Question 12

Gupta power began to wane as groups seeking greater autonomy in the vicinity of Malwa in central India began to assert themselves, and as a new wave of central Asian nomads, the ___________, began to arrive.

A) Bengalis
B) Marwanis
C) Mongols
D) Hunas

Question 13

In devotional branches of Hinduism, a worshipper dedicates himself to practices that venerate, honor, or adore:

A) a particular creed.
B) a multitude of gods or divinities.
C) a particular god or divinity.
D) a multitude of creeds.

Question 14

_______ is the practice of acting in an unselfish manner for the good of others.

A) Nihilism
B) Altruism
C) Positivism
D) Cynicism

Question 15

Which of the following is not one of Guatama's Four Noble Truths?

A) All life is suffering.
B) Suffering arises from craving
C) To stop suffering, one must do penance for sins.
D) One stops craving by following the Eightfold Path.

Question 16

Nigantha Nataputta was the founder of the ascetic religious doctrine known as:

A) Sikhism
B) Niganthism
C) Jainism
D) Buddhism

Question 17

In addition to Buddhism, the most profound intellectual influences from India on the surrounding regions were in the realm of ________.

A) science
B) music
C) dance
D) fashion

Question 18

In spite of his advocacy of the peaceful principles of dharma, Ashoka's empire seems to have been an early version of a(n) ________.

A) utopian state
B) democratic state
C) police state
D) secular state

Question 19

These Indian visionaries sought not only to understand the unity of the universe, but also to attain this unity by merging their personal selves, or _______, into the universal self, or ______, and thereby achieve salvation.

A) Atman, brahman
B) Atman, jina
C) Atman, dharma
D) Jina, dharma

Question 20

The Upanishads, which favored monism over polytheism, proclaimed a(n) ___________ first principle as universal truth.

A) Factionalism and division were in the end fatal to their survival.
B) The modern Indian state is in a direct line of succession to these republics.
C) Once abolished, monarchy never returns.
D) They field weak armies, as Alexander the Great dislodged them with very little effort.

Question 21

Departing somewhat from the Bhagavad Gita's concept of dharma as duty, dharma for Ashoka was simply ________.

A) "that which is good"
B) "that which is evil"
C) "that which is done"
D) "that which is normal"

Question 22

The authors of the Upanishads and main reformist visionaries of the Vedic tradition were Mahavira and Gautama, the latter also known as _________ or Enlightened One.

A) Buddhaghosa
B) Buddha
C) Ashoka
D) Chandragupta

Question 23

Which of the following is not a text in the Pali Canon?

A) The Tripitaka
B) The Vinaya
C) The Sutras
D) The Bodhisattva

Question 24

During the Gupta era, a collection of religious traditions derived from Vedic, Brahmanic, and Upanishadic practices, among others, and collectively called ________, flourished, becoming India's dominant faith.

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

Question 25

As a classical language, Sanskrit was used in a staggering variety of works of poetry, prose, and drama, as well as in the Puranas, which were ______________.

A) manuals for living
B) war treatises
C) medical texts
D) genealogies and histories

Question 26

The incarnated form of a Hindu deity, such as Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, is known as a(n):

A) karma
B) alvar
C) avatar
D) shakti

Question 27

Contemporary accounts of ______________'s court and the structure of his government suggest a strong connection to the political practices idealized in the Arthashastra.

A) Vena
B) Maha Pajapati
C) Chandragupta Maurya
D) Guatama

Question 28

Perhaps the most distinctive marker of Hinduism as a religious civilization is the ______ system.

A) varna
B) jati
C) code
D) shakti

Question 29

The founding principle of Jain doctrine is the belief that all things possess jiva, a kind of ______ that yearns to be free from the prison of the material world.

A) aura
B) love
C) soul
D) being

Question 30

Jain doctrine teaches followers that the only thing standing between their jiva and freedom from material bondage is something called ______.

A) aura
B) karma
C) ahimsa
D) dharma

Question 31

The following was not one of India's southern kingdoms:

A) Taxila
B) Pandya
C) Pallava
D) Chola

Question 32

The _____ era is considered to be the classical age of Indian culture and religion.

A) Gupta
B) Kushan
C) Indo-Bactrian
D) Mauryan

Question 33

The continual arrival of new peoples from central Asia expanded the cultural resources of northern India and greatly aided the spread of Buddhism, but it also:

A) favored the development of stable states.
B) hindered the development of stable states.
C) promoted the concept of imperial detachment.
D) promoted the development of other religions.

Question 34

Which of the following is not a characteristic belief of Jain doctrine?

A) Belief in karma
B) Belief in ahimsa
C) Belief in multiple deities
D) Belief in the avoidance of attachment to worldly possessions

Question 35

In the early first millennium BCE, the emerging states along the Ganges River valley developed political systems ranging from _______, often termed "republics" by scholars, to centralized monarchies.

A) ganas
B) mokshas
C) nirvanas
D) Mahayanas

Question 36

Chandragupta's first attempt to seize power from the ruling Nandas was influenced by his teacher ________, whose Arthashastra became the most influential political treatise in Indian history.

A) Kautilya
B) Kalidasa
C) Mahavira
D) Kali

Question 37

Though forced from his Indian holdings, Seleucus Nikator and his successors ____________

A) Attempted to seize them back when Ashoka succeeded to the throne.
B) Executed the visionary Mahavira when they seized his monastery at Karnataka.
C) Sent their ambassador Megasthenes to convert the Indians to the worship of Zeus.
D) Maintained cordial relations with the Mauryas.

Question 38

One distinctive innovation growing out of Ashoka's support of dharma was his taking up of the Buddhist concept of ahimsa, or _______.

A) Exacting revenge for a perceived wrong
B) Asceticism
C) The discovery of extensive and previously unexplored gold mines in the vicinity
D) Nonviolence

Question 39

Ashoka's devotion to dharma even extended to sending his sons as Buddhist missionaries to ______, where it has remained the principal faith to this day.

A) Ctesiphon
B) Sri Lanka
C) Korea
D) Malaysia

Question 40

The Gupta era marked a peak of popularity for the works of the playwright and poet ______ (fl. fifth century CE), sometimes called the "Indian Shakespeare".

A) Fa Xian
B) Vatsyayana
C) Kalidasa
D) Patanjali

Question 41

The Indian visionaries were hermit teachers living in the forests of the Gangetic states to "draw [disciples] near" to themselves (the meaning of the Sanskrit "______").

A) Upanishad
B) Sutra
C) Antimony
D) Tantra

Question 42

Among the earliest Jain doctrines was the idea that all things possess jiva, a kind of "soul" that _______

A) Must resolve itself by cycling through seven human gurus.
B) Yearns to be free from the prison of the material world.
C) Disappears into the clouds until summoned by a "messenger".
D) Is controlled by the darker edges of the gods Shiva and his consort Kali.

Question 43

Jainism's most distinctive element is that it is rigorously _________, insisting instead on meditatively merging into an eternal unity that is both universal and transcendent.

A) Experimental
B) Populist
C) Materialistic
D) Atheistic

Question 44

According to Buddhist accounts, the insight gained from Siddhartha Gautama's experiences and a long period of deep meditation sparked his enlightenment one day _________

A) An hour before he died.
B) When he had been driven out of his house by his parents.
C) Under a pipal (fig) tree in the town of Gaya.
D) While engaged in tantric sex.

Question 45

The Four Noble Truths emphasize __________.

A) A hedonistic enjoyment of the physical world.
B) A process of staying busy, in order to avoid contemplating the futility of everything.
C) The avoidance of craving, in order to avoid the suffering that comes from it.
D) The material sustenance that must be provided to the Buddha and his gurus.

Question 46

Part of the Pali Canon, the ______ are five groups of "Discourses", most of which are believed to have originated from the Buddha.

A) Sutras
B) Mahabharata
C) Cloud Messenger
D) Puranas

Question 47

The concept of the _________ was that once one has achieved enlightenment, he should be dedicated to helping the suffering achieve their own enlightenment.

A) Durga
B) Bhakti
C) Bodhisattva
D) Esoteric

Question 48

The idea behind committing transgressive acts and following "tantra" was:

A) To follow the commands of the Arthashastra and establish political dominance.
B) Gain admission to the next higher level in the jati or caste system.
C) To experience all the pleasures of human life before another cycle of reincarnation begins.
D) To prove one's mastery over attachment to the acts themselves.

Question 49

The spread of Buddhism and the Indian system of "god-kings" soon reached the Khmers and the state of Champa in modern _________.

A) Indonesia
B) Cambodia
C) Japan
D) Tibet

Question 50

The urge to break the Islamic monopoly of the spice trade ultimately drove Columbus to sail into the Atlantic, hoping to go directly to _________.

A) Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
B) The Mekong Delta
C) The Malabar Coast
D) The Ganges

Question 51

The potential for anyone, regardless of social position, to practice Jainism and Buddhism ________.

A) Destroyed the notion of caste once and for all.
B) Caused a backlash among followers of the Vedic tradition.
C) Led for calls to equalize the treatment of women.
D) Undermined the hierarchical order of the caste system.

Question 52

In the "second stage of life" a man should get up before dawn, offer the appropriate sacrifices throughout the day, and ____________

A) Busy himself studying the Vedas, Puranas, and Itihasas.
B) Retreat to the forest and live on the roots and berries he can gather.
C) Wander without a home or possessions.
D) Sing praise to Shiva, while being careful not to ignore Vishnu altogether.

Question 53

The first images of the Buddha looked remarkably like _______.

A) The Jains' founder Mahavira.
B) The Greek god Apollo.
C) The actual Siddhartha Guatama.
D) The oldest images of Draupadi.

Question 54

Cycles of time marking eternity in some philosophical schools were measured in intervals; for one example, the shorter kalpa was reckoned at about __________.

A) Six thousand years
B) Twenty thousand years
C) Seven million years
D) Four billion years

Question 55

The history of the Gangetic republics indicates that:

A) Factionalism and division were in the end fatal to their survival.
B) The modern Indian state is in a direct line of succession to these republics.
C) Once abolished, monarchy never returns.
D) They field weak armies, as Alexander the Great dislodged them with very little effort.

Question 56

Ashoka, the grandson of ______________, emerged as perhaps India's most dominant ruler until the nineteenth century CE.

A) Chandragupta
B) Seleucus Nikator
C) Mahapadama Nanda
D) Alexander the Great

Question 57

Ashoka told his own story and outlined his Buddhist-inspired ideas for proper behavior in the form of _____________.

A) The Arthashastra
B) Conversations with Nagasena
C) Rock and pillar edicts set up in his kingdom
D) The Kama Sutra

Question 58

In the north of Ashoka's kingdom, Taxila and the cities and towns along the caravan routes from China to the west grew wealthy from _____________.

A) The currency provided by begging ascetics
B) The exorbitant taxation enforced on ethnic Greeks around Ai-Khanoum
C) The discovery of extensive and previously unexplored gold mines in the vicinity
D) The increasing exchange of silk and other luxury goods

Question 59

The most famous ruler of Hellenistic Bactria, __________, achieved immortality in Buddhist literature as "King Milinda" by engaging in a debate with-and supposedly being converted by-the philosopher Nagasena.

A) Miltiades
B) Menander
C) Melpomene
D) Megasthenes

Question 60

A gold coin of the famous Buddhist king Kanishka (78-101 CE) depicts the king and contains an inscription in the __________ language.

A) Chinese
B) Sanskrit
C) Persian
D) Greek

Question 61

Hewn from a single, solid rock, the Kailasantha ___________, part of an elaborate complex in east-central India, is considered the world's most monumental sculpture.

A) Buddha
B) Temple
C) Gandhara
D) Palace

Question 62

In the highest state of understanding of atman-brahman, one could attain release from the bounds of the cycles of death and rebirth and thus enter into __________, or moksha.

A) Heaven
B) Nothingness
C) Transcendence
D) Conquest

Question 63

The followers of Nigantha Nataputta were called "Jains" after the title "jina" or "___________" that he had earned after 12 years of meditation.

A) Conqueror
B) Sleeper
C) Enlightened One
D) Divine

Question 64

At the age of _______, Siddhartha Gautama left his life of privilege and followed a discipline of extreme asceticism, leading him to fast nearly to death.

A) 74
B) 14
C) 19
D) 29

Question 65

On reaching the final stage of enlightenment, _________, the karmic traces of past lives are "blown out" like a lamp flame.

A) Moksha
B) Nirvana
C) Atman
D) Altruism

Question 66

Under the influence of Ashoka, ________ Buddhism became the approved sect, with the first complete surviving texts of "the teachings of the elders" surviving from this time.

A) Mahayana
B) Hinayana
C) Theravada
D) Nagasena

Question 67

Among the most consistent Hindu beliefs was the idea that the subcontinent was a land united by faith, _______, a name used to describe India ever since.

A) Bharat
B) Gujarat
C) Mauryan
D) Desai

Question 68

Of the many gods singled out for special attention, one of the most significant was _________, the powerful, fertile giver and "Destroyer" of life, the "Lord of the Dance" of the universe.

A) Vishnu
B) Brahma
C) Bodhisattva
D) Shiva

Question 69

Buddhism had enhanced trade ties with the Romans, the Sasanids, and the remnant states of Han China by the ____________.

A) Fifth century BCE
B) Fourth century CE
C) First century BCE
D) Ninth century CE

Question 70

The Hellenistic cultural exchange conducted through __________ spread the use of south Indian pepper throughout the Mediterranean world.

A) Antigonid Macedonia
B) Seleucid Syria
C) Sasanid Persia
D) Ptolemaic Egypt

Question 71

By the Gupta period, the idea of ritual pollution resulting from unsanctioned contact with __________ becomes increasingly common.

A) Mahayana Buddhists
B) Lower castes
C) Jains
D) Greeks

Question 72

In the first of the four "stages of life", boys of "twice-born" upper castes were to be taken into the household of a _______, or teacher, for a minimum of 12 years.

A) Buddha
B) Manu
C) Guru
D) Purana

Question 73

Vatsyayana's famous __________ or Aphorisms of Love, written perhaps in the first or second century CE, handles a multiplicity of sexual practices frankly.

A) Kama Sutra
B) Code of Manu
C) Abhidhamma
D) The Cloud Messenger

Question 74

In the area centered on Gandhara, in modern ________, Hellenistic artistic techniques of realistic human representation fused with practices of Mahayana Buddhism.

A) India
B) Iran
C) Iraq
D) Afghanistan

Question 75

The second century CE medical text Charaka Samhita, like its counterparts in the Mediterranean and later European world, taught a health regimen based on ____.

A) Prayer
B) Balance of humors
C) Bleeding the patient
D) Starving the patient