Question 1

Consider the following statements relating to the use of the place-value system in India:
1. The earliest epigraphic use of the place-value system in India is found in the Mankani plates from Gujarat (AD 595-596).
2. In the ninth century, place-values become general in inscriptions all over India.
3. The place-values have been found in Sanskrit inscriptions in South-east Asia as early as the seventh century.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

Accepted Answer

2 and 3 only. * Statement 1 is correct: The earliest known epigraphic evidence of the decimal place-value system in India is found in the Mankani (Sankheda) copper plates of Gujarat dated to 595-596 CE.

* Statement 2 is correct: By the ninth century CE, the decimal place-value notation had become widely prevalent and gained broad acceptance in inscriptions all over India.

* Statement 3 is correct: Evidence of Indian place-value numerals has been discovered in Sanskrit inscriptions of South-east Asia dating as early as the seventh century CE, demonstrating the transmission of Indian mathematical ideas.

Question 2

Consider the following statements about the Rigvedic period :
I. Irrigation from wells allowed agriculture to expand away from flood plains and strips on river margins into the present Punjab and Haryana plains having underground water levels reasonably close to the surface.
II. Draught-animal power was employed to draw up water out of the wells.
Which of the following information support/supports the above statements?
1. There is evidence in the Rigveda of the use of ashma chakra (stone pulley wheel) and ahava (strapped wooden pails) to draw up water.
2. Mention has been made in the Rigveda of the use of implements like parashu/ kulisha (axe) and datra /sreni (sickle).
3. There is a history of the use of ox, even before the Rigveda, for ploughing the land and pulling the carts.

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3. * Information 1 supports Statement I: The Rigveda refers to ashma chakra (stone pulley wheels) and ahava (wooden buckets/pails), indicating well irrigation away from river flood plains.

* Information 2 does not support either statement: Implements like axes (parashu) and sickles (datra) indicate forest clearing and harvesting, but provide no direct evidence regarding well-irrigation or water-lifting systems.

* Information 3 supports Statement II: Oxen were widely used during and before the Rigvedic period for ploughing and pulling carts, confirming the availability of draught-animal power that could lift water.

Question 3

Consider the following assertion:
In the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus, or the Sutlej flowed into the Yamuna and one major tributary of either had shifted from the Ganga to the Indus or vice versa.
Which of the following is/are the basis of the above assertion?
1. The Nadi-Sukta of the Rigveda
2. The explorations of the Sutlej and the Yamuna by Robert Bruce Foote
3. The presence of the same species of dolphins in both the Indus and the Ganga river systems

Accepted Answer

1 and 2. * Statement 1 is incorrect: The Nadi-Sukta (River Hymn) forms part of the Rigveda (Mandala-10) and lists rivers from east to west as they existed in human memory during the Holocene epoch (around 1500–1200 BCE). There is a gap of at least a million years between Pleistocene river shifts and Vedic texts.

* Statement 2 is incorrect: Robert Bruce Foote explored prehistoric stone tools and archeological sites in South India, never the Pleistocene drainage dynamics of the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.

* Statement 3 is correct: The South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is a strictly freshwater species that cannot survive in saltwater. Because the Indus and Ganga mouths are roughly 4,600 km apart across marine waters, they could only populate both systems if they once shared a common connected drainage basin during the Pleistocene, before tectonic upheavals separated them. Molecular studies show they diverged ~550,000 years ago during the Pleistocene.

Question 4

Which of the following pairs of ancient and modern names of rivers is/are correctly matched?
1. Vitasta : Chenab
2. Asikni : Jhelum
3. Parushni : Ravi
4. Yavyavati : Beas

Accepted Answer

3 and 4. * Pair 1 is incorrectly matched: The ancient name for the Jhelum river is Vitasta.

* Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: The ancient Vedic name for the Chenab river is Asikni (or Askini).

* Pair 3 is correctly matched: The Ravi river was known as Parushni in ancient texts like the Rigveda.

* Pair 4 is incorrectly matched: The ancient name for the Beas river is Vipasa (or Vipasha). Yavyavati is identified as the modern Zhob River in northern Balochistan or a tributary of the Vedic Saraswati.

Question 5

In which one among the following texts does the term kshetra-patni ('mistress of the field') originate?

Accepted Answer

Rigveda. * Atharvaveda: The term Kshetra-patni ("Lady or Mistress of the Field") is associated with the Atharvaveda, where it appears in the context of agrarian and fertility rites. The Atharvaveda places greater emphasis on agricultural practices, household rituals, and fertility ceremonies.

* Note: By contrast, the Rigveda mentions the masculine counterpart Kshetrapati ("Lord or Protector of the Field"), who is invoked for the protection, fertility, and successful yield of cultivated land.

Question 6

Consider the following statements:
1. There are no parables in Upanishads.
2. Upanishads were composed earlier than the Puranas.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 only. * Statement 1 is incorrect: The Upanishads feature numerous allegorical parables, dialogues, and stories specifically structured to explain abstract Vedic philosophical concepts.

* Statement 2 is correct: The early core Upanishads are a part of late Vedic literature, composed during the later Vedic period (c. 800–500 BCE). The Puranas were composed significantly later, beginning around the early centuries of the Common Era.

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