Notes and Study material for Exams
The Kushanas: Short introduction In the early 2nd century BC, a tribe on the Central Asian frontier of China called Hsiung-nu defeated a neighboring one known as Yueh-chih. After more conflict, the survivors of the Yueh-chih were dislocated west, passing down the Ili river valley and along the southern shore of lake Issyk Kul. This … Read more
Persian and Greek invasion: Persian invasion; Alexander, the Great and his legacy. India has a varied culture and traditions, many of them have been influenced by the foreign culture. India being a prosperous and rich country with great civilisation, it attracted the empires from long and many civilisations like Persian and Macedonian have invaded India … Read more
Jainism Originated in India thousands of years ago and is thought to have heavily influenced the two other main belief systems of the region at that time: Buddhism. The religion centres on the progress of one’s soul towards a divine consciousness through self-reformation, wisdom and self-control and pacifism towards all living creatures. There are two … Read more
Mahajanapadas The literal meaning of Mahajanapadas is great kingdoms. They flourished in the north/north western parts of India before the rise of Megasthenes. Whereas Avantipura who was the king of Surasena was one of the first desciples of Buddha, and it gained prominence evr since then in Mathura. The geographical locattion of this kingdom among the … Read more
Indus Valley Civilization Indus Valley Civilization was the first major civilization in south Asia, which spread across a vast area of land in present day India and Pakistan (around 12 lakh sq.km). The time period of mature Indus Valley Civilization is estimated between BC. 2700- BC.1900 i.e. for 800 years. But early Indus Valley Civilization had … Read more
–2/”>a >DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”> Magadh with reference to Uttar Pradesh All the states were perpetually at war with each other. Kaushal annexed Kashi and Avanti grabbed Vats. Later on Kausha and Vats in turn were subjugated one by one by Magadh, which became most powerful in the entire region. Magadh … Read more
–2/”>a >DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”> Mahabodhi Temple The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but much rebuilt and restored, Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, marking the location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya (in Gaya district) is about 96 km (60 mi) … Read more
Although the Rig Veda deals with devotional work of religious nature, yet it gives a vivid picture of the early Vedic civilization. The Vedic Civilization is best understood from the social life, political organisation, economic life and religious beliefs. The Kula or family was the basic unit of Rig-Vedic Society. The Kula was headed by … Read more
What was the ancient name of Chhattisgarh? (A) North Kosala (B) South Kosala (C) East Kosala (D) West Kosala Ans: (B) Which one of the following was not the name of Chhattisgarh? (A) South Kosala (B) Dakshina Kosala (C) Godwana (D) North Kosala Ans: (C) “Chhattisgarh” was termed during whose times– (A) Maratha (B) British … Read more
–2/”>a >DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd”> Hindutva Literally 'Hindutva' means a way of life or a state of mind that is based on the cultural and spiritual ethos based on the spiritual systems that evolved from India. Hindutva is a philosophy like Communism or Socialism. The difference is that, whereas communism and … Read more