Static Quiz 20 September 2023 (History)

Solution: (a)

Justification: Statement 1: In Lilavati, solutions of quadratic, cubic, and quartic indeterminate equations are explained. The rules he gives are (in effect) the same as those given by the Renaissance European mathematicians of the 17th century A cyclic Chakravala method for solving indeterminate equations of the form ax2 bx c = y was given by him.

The solution to this equation was traditionally attributed to William Brouncker in 1657, though his method was more difficult than the chakravala method.

Statement 3: No such work has been produced by him.

Solution: (c)

Justification: Most historians agree that early historic urban settlements underwent a decline. Thus Chattopadhyaya, an eminent historian, holds, “the decline was geographically widely distributed and since this observation is based on a study of archaeological sequences at a number of Early Historic sites, both of the northern and southern India, the chronology of the decline of this urban phase is not a matter of speculation”.

Solution: (c)

Justification: Statement1:In his early life, Harsha was adevout Sai va but later he became an ardent Hinayana Buddhist. HiuenTsang converted him to Mahayana Buddhism. This led him to shed eating meat and enforce the same as well.

Statement2: Hiuen Tsang mentions in his account about the conference held at Allahabad, known as Prayag. It was the one among the conferences routinely convened by Harsha once in five years.Harsha gave away his enormous wealth as gifts to the members of all religious sects.

According to HiuenTsang, Harsha was so lavish that he emptied the treasury and even gave away the clothes and jewel she was
wearing. His statement might be one of admiring exaggeration.

Solution: (c)

Justification: The fourfold division of the society – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya and Sudra – was prevalent.
Statement 1: The Brahmins were the privileged section of the society and they were given land grants by the kings. Hiuen Tsang mentions that the Sudras practiced agriculture.
Statement 2: Hiuen Tsang mentions three ways of disposal of the dead – cremation, water burial and exposure in the woods.
Statement 3: The position of women was not satisfactory. The institution of Swyamvara (the choice of
choosing her husband) had declined.

Remarriage of widows was not permitted, particularly among the higher castes. The system of dowry had also become common. The practice ofsati was also prevalent.

Learning: Trade and commerce had declined during Harsha’s period, which isis evident from the decline of trade centres, less number of coins, and slow activities of merchant guilds. The decline of trade in turn affected the handicrafts industry and agriculture.
Since there was no large-scale demand for goods, the farmers began to produce only in a limited way. This led to the rise ofself-sufficient village economy.

Solution: (a)

Learning: Harsha wrote three plays–the Priyadarshika, the Ratnavali and the Naganandam. The first two are ‘sister plays’, dealing with harem intrigue, and the third tells the story of Jimutavahana, a bodhisattva. Jimutavahana (c. 12th century) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and writer of legal and religious treatises of early medieval period. He was the earliest writer on smriti (law) from Bengal whose texts are extant.