Sunday 5 August 2012

Indian History Bit-Bank


*  Primitive man 1st learnt to make fire.

*  Growing grain made possible the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic age.

*  Wheat and barley were the earliest cereals grown by man.

*  The main occupation of the Paleolithic people was hunting and gathering food.

*  The Indus Valley civilization type was found in Sumer.

*  The excavations in the Indus Valley have pushed the antiquity of Indian history to 2500BC.

*  The Indus Valley civilization specialized in Town planning, architecture and craftsmanship.

*  The people of the Indus Valley civilization worshipped Pashupati.

*  Lothal and Kalibangan are associated with Harappan culture.

*  Lothal is the port town of the Indus Valley civilization.

*  Lothal is situated in Gujarat.

*  Kalibangan, located in Rajasthan along the dried-up-bed of river Ghaggar was excavated in the 1960s under the guidance of B.K.Thapar.

*  Mohenjodaro is situated in Sind province in Pakistan.

*  Mohenjodaro and Harappa sites are not in India.

*  Iron is not known to the Indus people.

*  The metals Tin, Copper and lead are known to the Indus people.

*  Rice cultivation is associated with Lothal.

*  Wheat was the staple food of the Indus people.

*  The great granary of the Harappan civilization has been found at Harappa.

*  Merchants possibly ruled Indus people.

*  Humped bull, goat and elephant are the important animals during the Indus civilization.

*  The script used by the Indus Valley people was depicted through pictures and diagrams.

*  Indus valley civilization spread over Punjab, Sind, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

*  The Harappan people disposed their dead through burial.

*  Harappan seals were made of terracotta.

*  An image of dancing girl is found at Mohenjodaro.

*  Burnt brick buildings presents the most significant features of the Indus Valley civilization.

*  The salient feature of the Rig vedic religion was worship of nature.

*  In connection with the Indus Valley civilization, we come across the name of Sir Mortimer 
   Wheeler.

*  The local name of the Mohenjodaro is Mound of the dead.

*  The Indus valley people venerated the bull.

*  The Indus Valley civilization was non-Aryan because it had a pictographic script.

*  The Harappan people inherited the knowledge of wheat, barley and cotton cultivation from the earlier inhabitants of Mehrgarh.

*  Excavations at Belan Valley sites have helped us in determining the nature of the transition from food gathering to food producing stage.

*  Archaeological excavations throw light on Harappan culture.

*  Upanishads are books on philosophy.

*  The Rig Veda contains hymns in honour of the gods.

*  The major difference between Varna and Jati is that Varna are only four but Jati are many.

*  The chief impact of Vedic culture on Indian history was the consolidation of caste.

*  The Brahmanas are books that deal with ritualism.

*  Buddha preached his first sermon at Sarnath.

*  The village community got a lot of power during the reign of the Cholas.

*  Rajendra chola-I conquered Java and Sumatra.

*  The Saka era began in the year 78AD.

*  Megasthenes was the ambassador of Seleucus.

*  Shrimad Bhagavad Gita was originally written in Sanskrit.

*  Mahabalipuram was established by the Pallavas.

*  Nagarjuna, Asvagosha and Vasumitra were the contemporaries of Kanishka.

*  Shankaracharya founded four matthas in the four corners of India.

*  The paintings of Ajanta depict stories of the Jatakas.

*  Purushasukta is found in the Rigveda.

*  Milindapanha is a religious conversion.

*  The word Buddha means an enlightened one.

*  Tripitakas are the sacred books of the Buddhists.

*  The principle that distinguishes Jainism from Buddhism is the attribution of a soul to all beings and things.

*  Kautilya’s Arthasastra is a book on principles and practice of statecraft.

*  The central point in Ashoka’s Dhamma was peace and non-violence.

*  The division of Mauryan society into seven classes was particularly mentioned in the Indica of Megasthenes.

*  The effects of the Kalinga war on King Ashoka are found in rock edicts.

*  Megasthenes visited India during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.

*  Buddha’s preachings were mainly related to purity of thought and conduct.

*  The title ‘Vikramaditya was assumed by Chandragupta-II.

*  The famous Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien visited India during the reign of Chandragupta-II.

*  King Harsha ruled over a part of northern India.

*  Under the King Harsha, Kanauj became the important city of northern India.

*  The main source for the study of village government under the cholas is the Uttaramerur inscription.

*  The Uttaramerur inscription belongs to the period of Parantaka-I.

*  The first coins circulated in India in Bihar and Eastern UP.

*  The Mauryan ruler, Ashoka, begin to issue edicts from the 12th year of his reign.

*  The earliest evidence of the practice of Sati can be gleaned from an inscription at Eran in Madhya Pradesh dated 510 AD.

*  Rajtarangini written by Kalhan is a history of Kashmir.

*  The most important kingdom in Deccan and central India after the Mauryas was that of the Satavahanas.

*  Indo-Greeks were the first kings to issue gold coins in India.

*  The first human statues worshipped in India were those of Buddha.

*  Ashokan inscriptions were deciphered in 1837 by Prinsep.

*  Kanishka partronised Mahayana Buddhism.

*  Harsha moved his capital from Thanesar to Kanauj.

*  Hieun Tsang described Indians as “hot tempered but honest”.

*  Jaya Dev was the author of Gita Gobind.

*  King Harsha Vardhan was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of Deccan.

*  Bana Bhatta lived in the court of Harshavarshana.

*  Alexander invaded India in 327 BC.

*  The famous rock-cut temples at Elephanta are ascribed to the Chalukyas.

*  A major Rock Edict of Ashoka has been found in Girnar.

*  Export trade in pre-Gupta age was most extensive with Roman Empire.

*  In the Vedic period Goghna refers to a guest.

*  Bactrians were the first kings to issue coins bearing their names.

*  Junagadh rock inscription is the first official record in Sanskrit.

*  Through Atharvanaveda we can understand the folk traditions of the later Vedic period and the socio-religious conditions of the common people.

*  In the later Vedic period, land became more important and tribe ownership of land gradually changed to family ownership.

*  In the later Vedic period, people married outside their gotra.

*  In the later Vedic Period, Sabha became more important than samiti.

*  In the later Vedic Period, mixed farming which included cultivation and herding were the  main substance activity.

*  In the later Vedic period, Public and Private Sacrifices became very important.

*  In the later Vedic period, Iron technology was mostly used for weapons of war.

*  The important Later Vedic and Early Vedic Gods were different.

*  The earlier crop cultivated in South India was millet.

*  Increase in imperial expenditure, Weakening of State control and invasion by foreign powers are the important factors for Mauryan decline.

*  Rock edict XIII is of paramount importance in understanding the Ashokan policy of       DHAMMA.

*  The 5th Rock edict introduces the institution of Dhamma maha mattad.

*  The policy of Dhamma was an attempt at founding a new religion.

*  Among the sitting idols of Buddha, the one found at Katra is among the oldest.

*  The principle patrons of Gandhara art were Sakas and Kushanas.

*  The foremost examples of nature being represented in sculpture come from Mathura.

*  Idols related with Brahmanical religion have been found at Mathura.

*An example of the Nagara style of architecture is provided by the Lingaraj temple, Bhubaneswar.

*  Blue colour used in paintings at Ajanta was obtained from imported Lapis Lazuli.

*  The Ashoka pillar at Allahabad provides information about the reign of Samudragupta.

*  Harshavardhana was defeated by Pulakesin II of the Chalukya dynasty.

*  Tamralipti was an important port of the eastern coast during the Gupta period.

*  Brahmanas deal with methods of performing Vedic rituals.

*  Upanishads deal with metaphysical problems.

*  Atharva Veda deals with documents folk tradition.

*  Megasthenes stayed at Pataliputra for 5 years.

*  Bimbisara, ruler of Magadh was a contemporary of Buddha.

*  Of the various terms that are used to denote cities in ancient Indian literature, Pura is the   earliest.

*  The modern writers refer the king Ashoka as “a monk in a King’s garb”.

*   Vedic texts mention vrihi, tandula and sali to refer to Rice.

*  The great king, Seleucus I Nitor, was a contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya.

*  Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus.

*  Sungas were the immediate successors of the Mauryas in Magadha.

*  Purushapura was the capital of Kanishka.

*  The 3rd Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra, during the region of Ashoka.

*  On the basis of the Chinese traditions and Cantonese records, the dates of Buddha’s birth and death have been fixed.

*  Buddha introduced the order of monks and nuns.

*  Buddha had designated Kashyap as his successor.

*  Buddha believed that desire is the only cause of unhappiness.

*  Buddhist literature was written in Pali.

*  Manu Smriti deals with Law.

*  Rig Veda consists of 1028 hymns.

*  Panini and Patanjali are the renowned names in the literary history of ancient India. They flourished during Sunga dynasty.

*  The capital of the Haryanka King Bimbisara was Rajgir or Girivraya.

*  Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Deogiri because the new capital occupied a central and strategic location.

*  Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq shifts his capital back to Delhi because he realized that he could never hope to conquer the whole peninsula.

*  During the sultanate period, the accession of a king was traditionally done by battle between probable candidates.

*  Guru Nanak preached the brotherhood of man.

*  Paintings during the Mughal period was at its prime during the reign of Jahangir.

*  Balban was the first Muslim ruler to formulate the theory of kingship similar to the theory of divine right of the kings.

*  Alberuni came to India in 11th century AD.

*  The Ain-i-Akbari was written by Abul Fazl.

*  A token copper currency was introduced by Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.

*  The iqtadari system was introduced by Iltutmish.

*  The sultan who set up a separate department for the maintenance of slaves was Firoz Shah 
   Tughlaq.

*  Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq was failure because he was not practical.

*  In the 3rd battle of Panipat, the Marathas were defeated by the Afghans.

*  Aurangzeb tried to transform India into an Islamic state.

*  Shivaji checked the Mughal expansion in the South.

*  Akbar followed the policy of conciliation towards the Rajputs with a view to strengthening the Mughal Empire.

*  The greatness of Sher Shah lies in his administrative reforms.

*  The Hoysala kingdom was finally absorbed into the kingdom of the Vijayanagar.

* The most important limitation that generally served as a check on the absolutism of the sultans of Delhi was the power of the Ulemas.

*  The sultan who made a successful attempt to free himself from the control of the ulemas was Alauddin.

*  The Muslim ruler who introduced a standing army was Iltutmish.

*  Balban prohibited drinking because he wanted to restore the prestige and power of the crown.

*  Paper came to be used in India in the 14th century.

*  European paintings were introduced in the court of Jahangir.

*  When the East India Company was set up, India’s ruler was Akbar.

* The 1st Sultan of Delhi who initiated the policy of associating Indian Muslims with administration was Alauddin Khilji.

*  Cornwallis created the covenanted civil service of India, which came to be known as the Indian Civil Service from 1861 onwards.

*  Laissez Faire policy of the British in India aimed at removing all restrictions on the export of Indian raw materials to England and on the import of British manufactured goods into India.

*  Wellesley was responsible for the establishment of the College of Fort William at Calcutta to train young civil servants of India.

*  The high courts at the three Presidential cities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay came into existence during the viceroyship of John Lawrence.

*  Dalhousie passed the Widow Remarriage Act.

*  Dalhousie gave official sanction to the education of girls in India.

*  Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College in 1792 at Varanasi.

*  The British made English as the medium of instruction in India in the year 1835.

*  Sir Charles Wood, who drafted the Education Despatch of 1854 was the then President of the Board of control.

*  W.W.Hunter was the president of the Indian Education Commission of 1882.

*  Indian universities assume teaching functions in the year 1904.

*  For the 1st time, education officially came under Indian control, by the Government Act of 1919.

*  Charter Act of 1833 was responsible for the ultimate death of the Presidency System.

*  Mayo made the 1st attempt for decentralization of financial administration.

*  Charter Act of 1853 created the 1st official legislature in India.

*  Rippon is regarded as the pioneer of local self-government in modern India.

*  The practice of holding ICS examinations simultaneously in England as well as in India began in the year 1922.

*  Warren hasting’s experiment of auctioning the right to collect revenue to the highest bidder is almost similar to Ljara system of the Mughals.

*  Sir John Shore was the president of the Board of Revenue when Lord Cornwallis introduced Permanent Settlement in Bengal and Bihar.

*  Thomas Munro was mainly responsible for the introduction of the ryotwari system in Madras.

*  The proportion of agriculture labourers to agricultural population was the highest in the ryotwari areas and low in the mahalwari areas.

*  Indigo, Tea and Coffee were the plantation industries in British India.

*  The 1st telegraph line introduced by Lord Dalhousie in 1853 ran between Calcutta and Agra.

*  During the period of Canning, the European soldiers stage the so-called ‘White Mutiny’ in India.

*  Saadutullah Khan was the founder of the autonomous state of the Carnatic.

*  Arcot was the capital of the state of Carnatic.

*  The first Carnatic War began in 1745 and ended in 1748.

*  Anwar–ud-din, the nawab of the Carnatic, intervened in the war on behalf of the English.

*  Madras was restored to the English by the French after the 1st Carnatic war.

*  The 2nd Carnatic War began in 1749 and ended in 1754.

*  In the 2nd Carnatic War, the French supported Chanda Sahib, while the British supported Anwar-ud-din.

*  General Eyre Coote was the English general who defeated Count de Lally in the Battle of Wandiwash, fought on January 22, 1760.

*  The Carnatic State was annexed by Lord Wellesley in the year 1801.

*  The first British governor of Sind was Sir Charles Napier.

*  Sir Charles Napier was replaced with Major James Outram in 1842.

*  Lord Ellenborough was the governor-general of India when Sind was annexed.

*  Murshid Quli Khan transferred his capital from Dacca to Murshidabad.

*  After the recovery of Calcutta in January 1757 by the English under Clive, Siraj-ud-daula 
  signed the treaty of Alinagar with the English conceding almost all their demands.

*  Siraj-ud-daula was captured and executed by Miran, son of Mir Jafar.

*  Shuja-ud-din was the governor of Bengal and Orissa between 1727 and 1739.

* Shuja-ud-din was granted the governorship of Bihar also by the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1733.

*  Sarfaraz Khan succeeded Shuja-ud-din.

*  Alivardi Khan was the deputy governor of Bihar before he murdered Sarfaraz and became the Nawab.

*  Alivardi Khan paid two crore rupees to the Mughal Emperor and received a farman in 1740 confirming his position as the governor of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

*  Alivardi Khan prohibited the English and the French from fortifying their factories at Calcutta and Chandranagore.

*  Siraj-ud-daula besieged and captured Calcutta in June 1756.

*  Mir Jafar was made the Nawab by the British, he granted them the right to free trade in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and also the Zamindari of the 24 Paraganas.

*  Mir Qasim granted the British the Zamindari of Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong.

*  Mir Qasim escaped alive after his defeat in the Battle of Buxar.

*  The nawabs of Bengal in chronological sequence Shuja-ud-din, Sarfaraz Khan, Alivardi Khan, Siraj-ud-daula, and nazm-ud-daula.

*  The British governors of Calcutta in the chronological order are Drake, Vansittart, Verelst, Cartier and Warren Hastings.

*  The chronological order of events is Black Hole Tragedy, Departure of Clive to England after his first term as Governor of Calcutta, Battle of Buxar, Death of Mir Jafar and Treaty of Allahabad.


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