Deck 3: Shifting Agrarian Centers in India, 3000-600 B.C.E

Question 1

Archeological remains of Harappan culture were first identified:

A) During work on an extension of the East India Railway.
B) In a bazaar in northern India, being sold as paperweights.
C) As a base for construction of a large bridge across the Ravi River.
D) In Buddhist temples where they were being protected as ancient religious symbols.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

All of the following statements about the Bhagavad Gita are true EXCEPT:

A) It is one of the 18 books of the Mahabharata.
B) The protagonist, a warrior named Arjuna, is conflicted about going into battle against friends and family members.
C) The god Krishna leads the warrior Arjuna to the realization that the human duty to support and protect one's family outweighs all other considerations.
D) It maintains that humans are required to put aside their personal reservations and fulfill their duty whether or not it appeals to them.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following might represent evidence that the Aryans were agents of technological transmission?

A) Their introduction of chariots to the Xia and Shang societies of China.
B) The introduction of the horse to South Asia.
C) The diffusion of iron.
D) Maps and detailed information about Chinese and Persian society in the Rig-Veda.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The term "formalism" is used to describe:

A) The belief that only the pure and proper forms of rituals were effective.
B) The belief that the formulas for rituals were always effective, as long as the speaker was sincere.
C) The belief that the Brahmans were responsible for training the other varnas in the best forms.
D) The notion that wearing proper robes and headgear was necessary to perform rituals effectively.

Question 5

One of the most important concepts in the Vedas was that of dharma, which refers to:

A) Diligently fulfilling required duties in accordance with one's place in society.
B) One's duty to pursue peace at any cost.
C) The importance of sexual purity and asceticism.
D) The obligation to act in accordance with one's own conscience, regardless of social standing.

Question 6

The land area occupied by the Harappans:

A) Included only the city of Harappa and a circular area about 500 meters wide.
B) Was much smaller than Egypt's Old Kingdom or Sargon's Mesopotamia.
C) Shows no signs of having participated in any trading networks.
D) Was the largest cultural area of the third millennium BCE.

Question 7

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the two major cities of Harappan culture,:

A) Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the two major cities of Harappan culture,:
B) Were built on high natural plateaus, simplifying both defense and water drainage.
C) Show a cultural variation much greater than the cities of Old Kingdom Egypt.
D) Were deficient in sanitary provisions, such as drains and gutters.

Question 8

All of the following are characteristic of the monsoon winds of the South Asian subcontinent EXCEPT:

A) The monsoon winds make rainfall seasonally predictable, although even minor variations in timing can cause disasters such as floods and famine.
B) During the wet cycle, the winds from Africa, flowing from southwest to northeast, cause heavy rainfall.
C) During the dry cycle, the winds reverse and bring hot, dry air from Central Asia, and the subcontinent becomes arid.
D) The heaviest rainfall generally occurs in the north and in the plain of Sind, leaving much of the south comparatively arid year round.

Question 9

The Vedas were composed:

A) During the year 1003 BCE.
B) Between 1400 and 800 BCE.
C) By the Harappan priesthood some time during 1700-1300 BCE.
D) By Indo-Europeans sometime after 400 BCE.

Question 10

Archeological and anthropological analysis of the Harappan economy indicates all of the following EXCEPT:

A) They may have been the first people to cultivate cotton for use in clothing.
B) Their diet staples included wheat, barley, peas, melons, figs, and sesame.
C) Cattle appear to have been the most important domestic animals.
D) They seem never to have domesticated and bred dogs.

Question 11

By about 600 BCE, the largest northern Indian states, particularly Magadha and Kosala:

A) Developed ideologies of kingship based on a common religious understanding
B) Realized that they had extended beyond the practical limits of their ability to
C) Had nearly destroyed each other by constant warfare.
D) Realized that prosperity can only be achieved through peaceful interaction.

Question 12

The signs of a decline in the major cities of Harappa include:

A) The construction of structures of inferior quality over earlier buildings.
B) A sharp rise in migration from outlying towns and villages to the large cities, as they were probably seeking protection from invaders.
C) The construction of many large dams, apparently in an attempt to control the tributaries of the Indus.
D) The complete disappearance of all Harappan villages and towns by 2000 BCE.

Question 13

Religious symbols found in Harappan archeological evidence indicate:

A) That the "swastika" only appeared in Buddhist-influenced cultures.
B) A clearly-delineated cosmological system among them.
C) That they may have believed in a life after death.
D) That there was a renegade fertility cult outside the scope of the official religion.

Question 14

After the disappearance of Harappan cities, the re-urbanization of northern India was in large part supported by:

A) Aryan use of slave labor.
B) The coordinated effort to desalinate the Indus River.
C) The cultivation of rice.
D) Indra's commands in the Rig-Veda.

Question 15

The following are indications that Harappan society included merchants and/or traders, EXCEPT:

A) Evidence of Harappan merchandise being traded as far away as Egypt and central Asia.
B) Evidence in Mesopotamian records from about 2300 BCE.
C) Harappan seals found at Ur in Mesopotamia.
D) Elaborate port facilities.

Question 16

An important pattern in the history of both northern India and Mesopotamia is:

A) An important pattern in the history of both northern India and Mesopotamia is:
B) Ghettoization of conquered peoples, prohibiting cultural or biological assimilation.
C) Regular rhythms of migration and invasion.
D) Accurate accounts and records that tell us much about their religion and philosophy.

Question 17

All of these statements about the Rig-Veda are true EXCEPT:

A) It appears to be the oldest of the Vedas, dating to an oral tradition passed
B) It contains more than a thousand verses.
C) It maintains that the Aryans descended from a matriarchal society
D) It depicts a society broken down into four social divisions or varnas: priests, warriors, merchants, and commoners.

Question 18

By 600 BCE, a male householder of the upper class was expected to:

A) Rule the entire extended family, with no restrictions on his behavior.
B) See that all people present - including children, married daughters, the elderly and sick, guests and servants - were fed before he and his wife ate.
C) Force his wife to commit ritual suicide should he even have a suspicion that she has committed any act of sexual infidelity.
D) Make sure that no sexually explicit materials entered the household.

Question 19

A society calling themselves "Aryans":

A) Conquered northern India in a series of ferocious battles beginning around 1200 BCE.
B) Attacked the subcontinent by sea and swept up along the coastlines before pushing toward the Indian interior.
C) Entered South Asia through the Khyber Pass and spread across Punjab over a 300 year period, with evidence of some battles, but longer periods of peaceful migration.
D) Captured all of the major Harappan cities and either killed or enslaved the native population.

Question 20

The Indo-Europeans migrated into northern India during the period:

A) 2500-2200 BCE
B) 1500-1200 BCE
C) 2100-1800 BCE
D) 1000-800 BCE

Question 21

The Vedas:

A) Can be trusted by historians and archeologists because they were accounts of events which were written as they occurred.
B) Were written down after 600 BCE, but grew from an oral tradition composed between about 1400 and 900 BCE.
C) Represent the authors' best efforts to convey accurate information to future generations rather than being in any way allegorical or mythological.
D) Were lost for centuries, but discovered and translated by archeologist Sir Arthur Murphy in 1925.

Question 22

The term "Hinduism":

A) Was an Indo-European word used to describe Harappan religious rites.
B) Was derived from the Persian word hindu, taken from the Sanskrit word sindhu, or "rivers."
C) Was derived from the term Harappans used to describe the duties of priests.
D) Came into use after the Indo-European invasion to describe the religious practices of the conquered Harappan societies.

Question 23

All of the following are true of the practice, understanding, or goals of yoga EXCEPT that:

A) The practice is based on the belief that mastery of the body allows one to leave the restrictions of the material world.
B) The body is constantly changing, and the practice of yoga allows one to go beyond the physical to that which is unchanging.
C) The discipline of postures, breathing, and meditation help the practitioner to go beyond the limitations of the material world.
D) Through intense practice and discipline, one can move the body to a state of unchanging grace.

Question 24

Despite the many things that are known about Harappan culture, virtually nothing is known of its:

A) Sophisticated urban planning
B) System of social organization
C) Standardized weights and measures
D) Attention to cleanliness and comfort

Question 25

The ___________ of the subcontinent have, historically, been its main avenues of trade, migration, and, frequently, invasion.

A) Monsoon winds
B) Surrounding seas
C) Major rivers
D) Mountain passes

Question 26

The Plain of Sind is the site of some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on earth-nearly _____________ degrees Fahrenheit.

A) 110
B) 150
C) 130
D) 120

Question 27

The larger streets of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are ___________.

A) Paved with brick and remarkably straight
B) Curvy and prone to flooding
C) Lacking gutters and drains to allow for drainage
D) Made of packed earth and apparently for short-term settlement

Question 28

The extensive nature of Harappan trade is indicated by all of the following except:

A) Mesopotamian records of the material available from Harappan merchants
B) The presence of copper and semiprecious stones, shell, and timber
C) The records that have been deciphered from Harappan symbols
D) The presence of Harappan figurines along a broad front of nomadic routes

Question 29

The major cities of Harappan society seem to have declined and been abandoned over the course of about ______________.

A) Fifty years
B) Two centuries
C) A millennium
D) Five centuries

Question 30

Harappan urban decline has been attributed to all of the following factors except:

A) Earthquakes
B) Increased flooding
C) Internal revolt
D) Extended drought

Question 31

In the Indo-European language system, the German word "Vater," "father," is related to the _____________ word "pitar".

A) Latin
B) Sanskrit
C) Persian
D) Akkadian

Question 32

In the 1930s and 1940s, Nazi ideologues appropriated the term "Aryan" for use in defining German ____________.

A) Language
B) Belief in dharma
C) Concepts about the oneness of God
D) Ethnicity

Question 33

By the sixth century BCE maharajas:

A) Wielded power that was seen as both secular and divine
B) Were forced to subordinate to the priests of the Vedic tradition
C) Forbade the ritual sacrifice of horses
D) Yielded power to republics like the Vajjian Confederacy

Question 34

The Arthashastra gives advice concerning

A) The selection of a wife and the proper ritual to be carried out in marriage
B) The higher law of putting aside personal reservations in battle, especially with relatives
C) The timing of war with one's neighbors, weighing whether they are weak or strong
D) The process of clarifying ghee for rituals

Question 35

In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's charioteer, actually the god Krishna in disguise, reminds him of the need to fulfill his duty according to _____________ ("that which is firm").

A) Vedanta
B) Dharma
C) Samsara
D) Atman

Question 36

Krishna advises Arjuna to:

A) Attack the weak, seek allies against the strong, and bide one's time with equals.
B) Prepare for a transmigration of souls in the near future.
C) Create guilds among his people that can furnish necessary products and promote trade.
D) Abandon his attachment to the result of a battle-whatever it may be.

Question 37

The Bhagavad Gita advocates:

A) Doing one's duty in accordance with one's place in society.
B) Challenging the arrangement of the "varnas" and smash the barriers between them.
C) Marrying across class lines in order to promote moksha, or release from the karmic cycle.
D) Daily bathing in the Indus River to remove internal impurities.

Question 38

Movement between castes could be possible in the specific case of:

A) A reassignment by the maharajah's council
B) A change of occupation
C) The transmigration of souls
D) The inability of a caste to perpetuate itself biologically

Question 39

The ascetic path enjoined full or partial renunciation of the material world, on the basis that it was:

A) Overcrowded and full of disease
B) Determined and overregulated
C) Impermanent and an impediment to a deeper understanding of reality
D) Too colorful and lively for a slow-thinking person

Question 40

In the Upanishads, the individual self ("atman") was ultimately to become identified with the brahman, or ___________.

A) Absence of reality
B) World of the dead
C) Perpetual banquet
D) Cosmic essence

Question 41

Harappan writing is most likely to have been:

A) A sophisticated religious system advocating concepts of karma.
B) A shorthand script used principally by merchants.
C) An extended battle narrative between the "dasas" and the Aryans.
D) A translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, carried by traders from Mesopotamia.

Question 42

The refined techniques of "glottochronology" are currently ______________.

A) Tracing the movement of metal-working technology across time and space.
B) Tracing mitochondrial DNA elements through various communities.
C) Tracing textual transmission and translation of documents across cultures.
D) Tracing language change over time and space.

Question 43

The Mahabharata:

A) Is the world's longest poem, longer even than the Christian Bible.
B) Provides guidance to those struggling with conflicting civil, social, and religious duties.
C) Was not intended as a source of religious doctrine.
D) Was designed primarily to give comfort to the "forest dwellers," those who had removed themselves from society in order to devote themselves to meditation.

Question 44

Some of the world's highest annual rainfall totals-over 100 inches-are regularly recorded in:

A) Baluchistan
B) The Indus Valley
C) The mountains extending from Bangladesh through Assam
D) The Deccan Valley

Question 45

In the monsoon system, winds carry moisture northeast over the Indian Ocean from ________ through _________.

A) November / February
B) June / October
C) April / August
D) September / December

Question 46

Mehrgarh culture has been dated to about _____________, making it perhaps the oldest on the Indian subcontinent.

A) 6,000 BCE
B) 16,000 BCE
C) 600 BCE
D) 60,000 BCE

Question 47

At its height, the city of Harappa:

A) Functioned without defensive walls
B) Was split into three zones
C) Had a population of over 40,000
D) Welcomed refugees from the Sea

Question 48

The Harappans may have been the first people to raise cotton for use in clothing, as is suggested by the recovery of __________ at Mohenjo-Daro.

A) Richly decorated and painted trousers
B) Official reports concerning the factories under the control of their kings
C) British commentaries from the 1850s
D) Cotton seeds and small patches of cloth and fishing line

Question 49

Harappan seals have been found at __________.

A) Jericho in the Levant
B) The Hittite capital Hatusa
C) Ur in Mesopotamia
D) The Pyramids in Giza

Question 50

The burdens of supporting the family and the penalties for failing to do so fell more heavily upon

A) Men
B) Women
C) Both men and women
D) Those past childbearing age

Question 51

Indian religions use a host of ____________ images, or lingams, in shrines, rituals, and festivals to symbolize male forces.

A) Fire
B) Phallic
C) Bull
D) Elephant

Question 52

The earliest Aryan religious text, the Rig-Veda, refers to a short, dark-skinned people whom the Aryans contemptuously called "dasas," or _______________.

A) Untouchables
B) Soul-less ones
C) Demons
D) The others

Question 53

The Rig-Veda is currently believed to have been composed between about ________ and ________.

A) 2400-1900 BCE
B) 240 BCE
C) 1400-900 BCE
D) 800-600 BCE

Question 54

The earliest Indo-European immigrants may have introduced the ________ to northern India, which became useful for drawing wagons and chariots.

A) Horse
B) Bull
C) Elephant
D) Donkey

Question 55

The __________ called "ghee" occupied a prominent place in the Aryans' religious symbolism.

A) Pureed mango
B) Burnished metal
C) Oracle bones
D) Clarified butter

Question 56

Sixteen large states, or mahajanapadas, dominated ___________ India in the period 800-600 BCE.

A) Southern
B) Northern
C) Northwestern
D) Southeastern

Question 57

The Bhagavad Gita, which has been called the "Indian gospel," is the sixth book of the ______________.

A) Rig-Veda
B) Upanishads
C) Code of Manu
D) Mahabharata

Question 58

The original term "jati", or "caste," means:

A) "To be burned"
B) "To be rejected"
C) "To be born into"
D) "To be a beggar"

Question 59

The Code of Manu advises that, "regarding this as the highest dharma of all four classes, husbands … _______________."

A) Must ensure that their wives are being faithful
B) Must marry a woman over 25 years old
C) Must ignore the advice of his father in the selection of a wife
D) Must strive to protect their wives

Question 60

The idea of kama, as encapsulated in the later Kama Sutra, included the _________________ a wide variety of sexual pleasures by men and women.

A) Ascetic renunciation of
B) Enjoyment of
C) Dangers inherent to
D) Public demonstration of

Question 61

A category of "excluded" castes-the so-called untouchables-was added, comprising people ______________.

A) Who had betrayed the will of their parents
B) Who had married into the Harappan culture
C) Who had been wounded in battle
D) Whose occupations were considered ritually unclean

Question 62

Indra was a swashbuckling warrior with a taste for ________, an intoxicating drink used in religious ritual.

A) Karma
B) Ghee
C) Soma
D) Dharma

Question 63

The practices of certain schools of yoga, meaning ______________, were based on the belief that mastery of the body allowed one to escape the restrictions of the material world.

A) Discipline
B) Stretching
C) Submission
D) Rebirth