Ancient India Study Guide

Recognized as the biggest army in the world at that time, the Maurya Empire's army had a force of _________soldiers and 9,000 war elephants.

600,000

What led the emperor Ashoka to become less harsh and warlike during his reign?

A destructive military victory caused him to adopt Buddhist ideas.

The empire shown on the map covered land that is now part of which present-day country?

Afghanistan

After the withdrawal of _________, Chandragupta was able to subdue territories in central and western India.

Alexander

Which statement correctly describes how moral ideas influenced an ancient ruler?

Ashoka looked to Buddhism as a guide for how to treat his subjects.

Chandragupta Maurya created an empire in India in 322 BCE. He was followed by his son Bindusara in 298 BCE. Who was the next to rule this empire?

Ashoka, his grandson

At the top of the Hindu caste system are the ________, a group comprised of teachers and intellectuals.

Brahmins

Asoka converted to ___________ after a lengthy, bloody war with the state of Kalinga.

Buddhism

Under Ashoka, _______ became the central religion in the Maurya Empire.

Buddhism in the Mauryan Empire

The Milinda Panha is a ______ work about dialogues between the Indo-Greek King Menander and the philosopher Nagasena.

Buddhist

How did the literary work known as the Vinayapitaka advance ancient Indian civilization? This literature set rules for the organization of ____.

Buddhist monasteries.

After conquering the Nanda Dynasty, ________ founded the Maurya Empire.

Chandragupta

_____ dominated Ancient Indian metallurgy even though tin was most widely used.

Copper

The famous _____ Blades were made of Wootz steel.

Damascus

Which statement best describes the early years of the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka?

He often made war to gain control over more land and people.

Under the rule of Chandragupta, ______ became a unified state for the first time in history.

India

The Maurya Empire dominated India's _________ Age.

Iron

The warriors in the Hindu caste system are known as the _____.

Kshatriyas

The ______ is the longest poem in the world, with over one million verses.

Mahabharata

The Bhagavad Gita is a later addition to which text?

Mahabharata poem

The Indus Valley civilization was in present-day _____ and northwest India.

Pakistan

Which of the following best describes an advance in cloth robes in ancient India? Robes were embroidered with strands of gold.

Robes were embroidered with strands of gold.

The _________ language was used in most of the major works of literature from Ancient India.

Sanskrit

The Hindu caste known as ________ is comprised of laborers.

Shudras

What physical geographic feature gave rise to the Indus Valley civilization?

The Indus River

What was the name of the collection of texts composed around 500 BCE which includes more than 1000 poems?

The Rig Veda

In the Hindu caste system, the farmers and merchants are known as the ______.

Vaishyas

Ancient Indians were the first to combine arsenic and lead, leading to the discovering of what?

alloys

The ancient Indian system of preventative medicine was known as _______, which means "longevity of life."

ayurveda

Based on _______, castes in the Hindu caste system were inherited from a person's parents and passed on to their children.

birth

How did Asoka help unite India socially?

by establishing hospitals and other public services for all

Steel produced in ancient India had high ______ content, making it very strong.

carbon

The people of the Harappan civilization were the first in India to develop metallurgy, which of the following metals was mined locally in Harappa?

copper was mined in Harappa

Based on archeological evidence, which form of art was advanced by the ancient civilization of Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley?

cotton textiles

Which word best describes the Mauryan emperor Ashoka during the early years of his reign?

cruel

Which mathematical method of notation was developed by Indian mathematicians?

decimal point system

The Indian mathematician Aryabhatta developed accurate calculations for_____.

eclipses

As emperor, Chandragupta Maurya did which of the following?

established a strong, centralized government

Ancient Indian medicine was sufficiently advanced to make which of the following possible?

eye surgery

The success of the Indus Valley civilization was largely dependent on which geographic feature?

fertile flood plain

Which of the following were Indians first to invent?

flush toilets

People in higher castes received privileges but were expected to be __________.

good role models

"We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made." —Albert Einstein. Which contribution from the civilization of ancient India does Albert Einstein refer to in this quotation?

its number system

Indian society was divided into a caste system which meant that your _____________________ was already decided when you were born.

job category

The caste system prohibited ________ outside one's caste.

marriage

-Pillar Edicts- • built during the third century BCE • carved with writing in an ancient language • found in places once ruled by the Maurya Empire What information is written on these pillar edicts?

messages and instructions from Ashoka

In the Aryan society, the people were divided based on their _____.

occupation

Which characteristic was most evident in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro?

planned cities

The ancient Sanskrit Sushruta Samhita details advanced methods of performing which medical technique?

plastic surgery

Ancient India's development of metallurgy is considered a _________ use of the science.

practical

Ashoka's Dhamma, which was responsible for much of the harmony in his Empire, was an ethical code he created that combined the essence of all ______.

religions

Wootz _____ is the name given to an exceptionally durable material that is heated to a molten state in a crucible.

steel

The Mauryan emperor Ashoka changed the way he ruled after defeating what people around 250 BCE?

the Kalingans

The Indian philosopher, Kanada, developed the concept of _____.

the atom

The social order of the Aryan civilization gave rise to _____.

the caste system

What was the earliest mathematical concept to be developed by ancient Indian mathematicians?

the concept of infinity

Asoka was the most well known ruler of the Mauryan dynasty in India, and was noted for __________.

the great size of the Mauryan empire during his rule AND his rejection of violence and promotion of religious tolerance

As emperor of the Maurya Empire, Asoka established an imperial code based on _________.

the teachings of the Buddha

The Sanskrit word varna means _______.

type, order or class

Ancient Indian farmers are credited for being the first to use ______ for lifting water to irrigate crops.

wheels