Quiz on Ancient Indian History – GK GS Quiz for All Competitive Exams

B [326 BC]
Notes:
In 326 BC, Alexander invaded India, after crossing the river Indus, he advanced towards Taxila. He then challenged king Porus , ruler of the kingdom between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab. The Indians were defeated in the fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants, which the Macedonians had never before seen.

A [Sapta Sindhu]
Notes:
The region where the Aryans settled in India around 1500 B.C. was called Sapta Sindhu (Seven Rivers), also referred to as the Brahmavarta. They spread to Indo-Gangetic plains in the later Vedic Period and this region came to be known as Aryavarta (1000 BC to 600 BC).

B [78 AD]
Notes:
Kanishka was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty (127-151) who ruled an empire extending from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. Kanishka’s era is believed by many to have begun in 127 AD on the basis of Harry Falk’s ground-breaking research. Chinese records of Yuehchi show his coronation as 78 AD. He was the founder of the Saka era which starts from 78 A.D.

B [The Enlightened one]
Notes:
The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. “Buddha” is also sometimes translated as “The Enlightened One”. As Gautam fully comprehended the Four Noble Truths and as he arose from the slumbers of ignorance he is called a Buddha. Before His Enlightenment he was a bodhisattva which means one who is aspiring to attain Buddhahood. He was not born a Buddha, but became a Buddha by his own efforts. Every aspirant to Buddhahood passes through the bodhisattva period — a period comprising many lives over a vast period of time.

C [Dhanananda]
Notes:
Dhananand (also known as the Agrammes, Xandrammes, according to the Greek travellers and writers) was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty according to Mahabodhivamsa. In 314 B.C. Chandragupta Maurya attacked Magadh kingdom and defeated the Nandas.