Ancient History Terms

Question 1

Agnikula

Answer 1

Certain Rajput clans who claim to have emerged from Yajna Havana-Kunda.

Question 2

Agrahara

Answer 2

Donation of land or taxes from a village by the king to the learned brahmans.

Question 3

Ajivika

Answer 3

A heterodox sect closer to Jainism which flourished at the time of the Buddha.

Question 4

Amatya

Answer 4

Official designation for a high official used right from the Mauryan Period.

Question 5

Aranyakas

Answer 5

Vedic texts, traditionally composed by hermits.

Question 6

Artha

Answer 6

Prosperity and well-being, one of the four aims of life of a Hindu.

Question 7

Arthashastra

Answer 7

A treatise on polity by Kautilya, belonging to the Mauryan period.

Question 8

Ashramas

Answer 8

The four stages of life; also a place where hermits live.

Question 9

Yukta

Answer 9

Designation of an revenue officer of the king used in the Mauryan period.

Question 10

Bhagavata

Answer 10

A sect devoted to Lord Vishnu.

Question 11

Bhukti/ Bhogika

Answer 11

An administrative fiscal unit of a kingdom in the Gupta period.

Question 12

Bodhisattva

Answer 12

A person who attains nirvana by working for the welfare of the world and voluntarily postpones release from rebirth; also regarded as an incarnation of the Buddha, prior to his own birth in the world.

Question 13

Brahmacharin

Answer 13

Celibate studentship, the first of the four stages (Ashramas) of life.

Question 14

Brahmanas

Answer 14

Vedic texts dealing with rituals and sacrifice.

Question 15

Chatiya

Answer 15

A sacred enclosure. The term is also used for a Buddhist place of worship.

Question 16

Charvaka

Answer 16

A religious sect following a materialist philosophy.

Question 17

Devadana

Answer 17

Donated revenue assigned to a temple.

Question 18

Dharma

Answer 18

Piety, Morality – a way of life.

Question 19

Dharmasastras

Answer 19

Texts on laws relating to society and religious observances of the Hindus.

Question 20

Digambara

Answer 20

A Jain sect whose followers do not believe in keeping even a small piece of cloth on themselves.

Question 21

Doab

Answer 21

The area between two rivers.

Question 22

Dvija

Answer 22

The twice-born; referring to the first birth which is the physical birth and the second the initiation into educational status.

Question 23

Garbhagriha

Answer 23

The sanctum of the Hindu temple.

Question 24

Gayatrimantra

Answer 24

The verses of the RigVeda wherein the request has been made to illuminate one’s mind with knowledge.

Question 25

Grama

Answer 25

A village.

Question 26

Hinayana

Answer 26

One of the two major Buddhist sects.

Question 27

Jati

Answer 27

Family or a group of people defined by their profession.

Question 28

Kaliyuga

Answer 28

The fourth and final age of the aeon.

Question 29

Kalpa

Answer 29

A day of Brahma equivalent to 4,320 million earth years.

Question 30

Karma

Answer 30

Action or deed, and also the theory of conditioning one’s future births by the deeds of the present or the previous lives.

Question 31

Kayastha

Answer 31

A jati associated with revenue records, first found in the Mauryan period and frequently mentioned in the medieval period.

Question 32

Kharoshthi

Answer 32

A script in which Ashokan inscription of Shahbazgari and Manashera are written.

Question 33

Kottom

Answer 33

Group of villages during Cholas

Question 34

Kula

Answer 34

The clan or extended family.

Question 35

Kumaramatya

Answer 35

An official designation of a high official.

Question 36

Mahakshatrapa

Answer 36

‘Great governor’, a title taken by rulers, mainly by Saka kings.

Question 37

Maharajadhiraja

Answer 37

‘Great king of kings’, an imperial title.

Question 38

Mandalam

Answer 38

An administrative unit, frequently used in south India.

Question 39

Matha

Answer 39

A centre of education attached to a temple or religious establishment.

Question 40

Matsyanyaya

Answer 40

A political theory where, in a state of anarchy, the strong devour the weak.

Question 41

Maya

Answer 41

Illusion.

Question 42

Moksha

Answer 42

Release from the cycle of rebirth.

Question 43

Nadu

Answer 43

An administrative unit, frequently used in south India.

Question 44

Nagara

Answer 44

Style of temple architecture developed in central and northern India.

Question 45

Nirvana

Answer 45

Release from the cycle of rebirth.

Question 46

Nishaka

Answer 46

The term used for a gold coin during mauryan empire.

Question 47

Pali

Answer 47

A Sanskrit-based language in which the Buddhist scriptures were recorded in Ceylon.

Question 48

Pana

Answer 48

A term used for coin.

Question 49

Pasupata

Answer 49

A Saivite sect.

Question 50

Puranas

Answer 50

The Hindu text containing the history of various dynasties.

Question 51

Purohita

Answer 51

Chief priest.

Question 52

Rajuka

Answer 52

An official designation used in the Mauryan period.

Question 53

Rashtra

Answer 53

Country.

Question 54

Sabha

Answer 54

An assembly of a few select ones/elders first found in the RigVeda.

Question 55

Samiti

Answer 55

A larger assembly.

Question 56

Samkhya

Answer 56

One of the six major schools of philosophy in ancient India.

Question 57

Sangam

Answer 57

The earliest phase of Tamil literature.

Question 58

Satamana

Answer 58

A silver coin which weighed about 180 gram.

Question 59

Sati

Answer 59

A virtuous woman; one who has immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

Question 60

Senapati

Answer 60

Commander of the army.

Question 61

Shikhara

Answer 61

Tower surmounting a temple.

Question 62

Shreni

Answer 62

Guild, organisation of craftsmen and merchants.

Question 63

Stupa

Answer 63

Domical structure containing relics of the Buddha.

Question 64

Svetambara

Answer 64

One of the two major Jaina sects, which follows the code of wearing white clothes.

Question 65

Tantne

Answer 65

A religious cult.

Question 66

Theravada

Answer 66

A Buddhist sect.

Question 67

Upanishads

Answer 67

The philosophical texts included in Vedic literature.

Question 68

Varna

Answer 68

Four-fold division of Hindu society.

Question 69

Vedanta

Answer 69

One of the six major philosophical schools in ancient India.

Question 70

Vihara

Answer 70

Buddhist monastery.

Question 71

Yavana

Answer 71

Term used in Indian sources for the people of western Asia, Greeks and Romans.

Question 72

Yoga

Answer 72

One of the six major schools of philosophy in ancient India.