This free Buddhism and Jainism MCQ test is the sixth set in our 72nd BPSC practice series. Its 25 questions cover Sangam administration, emblems, tinais and epics, and then Bihar’s ancient heartland: the Buddhist and Jain councils, the Barabar caves, Ashoka’s edicts, the Haryanka and Shunga kings, Rampurva and the gana-sanghas. Each question shows the correct answer and an explanation as soon as you choose an option, and you can work out your score with BPSC-style negative marking at the end. For more practice, see our free BPSC mock test series.
What this test covers: Mandalam to ur, Chera, Chola and Pandya emblems, the five tinais, hero stones, Murugan, Silappadikaram and Manimekalai, the Kalabhras, Senguttuvan, the third Buddhist council, Ajivikas, Sthulabhadra, Rock Edict XIII, Udayin, Rummindei, Vajji, Pushyamitra, Kharavela, the samaharta, Shravasti, Rampurva, Devabhuti, Kalasoka, Avanti and the Mallas.
Sangam Age, Magadha, Buddhism & Jainism
25 questions · Ancient India · BPSC prelims pattern
How this test works
Click the option you think is right. It locks, turns green if correct or red if not, and the explanation opens underneath. Your score updates in the bar at the top as you go, and Calculate final score at the bottom gives the full breakdown. Choose (E) Not attempted when you would only be guessing, exactly as you would bubble E on the BPSC OMR sheet.
+1 mark — Correct answer
−1/3 mark — Wrong answer
0 — no penalty — (E) Not attempted, the fifth bubble on every question
−1/3 mark — Row left completely blank in the real exam
Sangam age8 questions
1. Arrange the administrative divisions of the Sangam kingdoms in descending order:
- Nadu
- Mandalam
- Ur
- Valanadu
Select the correct order using the code given below:
Show answer
Answer: (B) 2 – 4 – 1 – 3
The Sangam kingdoms were divided into mandalams, then valanadus, nadus and finally urs (villages), so the descending order is 2-4-1-3.
2. Which of the following pairs of Sangam dynasties and their respective royal emblems/garlands are incorrectly matched?
Dynasty | Emblem | Royal Flower/Garland
- Cheras | Bow and Arrow | Palmyra flower
- Cholas | Tiger | Fig (Atti) flower
- Pandyas | Two Fish (Carp) | Neem (Margosa) flower
- Velir Chieftains | Lion | Lotus flower
Show answer
Answer: (D) 4 only
The Cheras had the bow, the Cholas the tiger and the Pandyas the fish as emblems. The Velir were minor chieftains without a lion emblem, so pair 4 is wrong.
3. The Sangam literature classifies the Tamilakam land into five distinct ecological zones (Ainthinai). Consider the following pairs:
- Kurinji: Hunting and gathering, honey collection
- Mullai: Cattle rearing and shift/rain-fed agriculture
- Marutam: Wet-paddy cultivation
- Neital: Salt manufacturing and pearl fishing
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
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Answer: (D) All of the above
The five tinais are Kurinji (hills: hunting, honey), Mullai (forest: cattle rearing), Marutam (riverine plains: paddy), Neital (coast: fishing, salt) and Palai (desert). All four pairs are correct.
4. With reference to military practices and hero worship during the Sangam Age, consider the following statements:
- Nadukal or Veerakkal were hero stones erected to commemorate warriors slain in battle or during cattle raids.
- Vadakiruthal/Vatakkiruttal was a ritual practice where defeated or dishonoured kings committed ritual suicide by facing north and starving to death.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Answer: (C) Both 1 and 2
Hero stones (nadukal) honoured warriors who died in battle or cattle raids, and vadakkiruttal was the ritual fast unto death facing north by a dishonoured king. Both are correct.
5. Which deity was considered the primary and indigenous guardian deity of the Kurinji landscape during the Sangam era, later assimilated into the pan-Indian deity Skanda/Kartikeya?
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Answer: (B) Murugan
Murugan was the god of the Kurinji hill region in Sangam poetry and was later identified with Skanda or Kartikeya.
6. Consider the following statements regarding the Post-Sangam Tamil Epics:
- Silappadikaram, authored by Ilango Adigal, centres around the story of Kovalan, Kannagi, and Madhavi.
- Manimekalai, written by Chithalai Chathanar, is a Buddhist philosophical sequel to Silappadikaram.
- Sivaga Sindamani, composed by Tirutakkatevar, is a Jain epic highlighting renunciation.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Show answer
Answer: (D) 1, 2, and 3
Silappadikaram by Ilango Adigal tells of Kovalan, Kannagi and Madhavi; Manimekalai by Sattanar is its Buddhist sequel; and Sivaga Sindamani by Tirutakkadevar is a Jain epic. All three are correct.
7. Which development is traditionally associated with the decline of the classical Sangam Age in Tamilakam?
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Answer: (B) Displacement of Tamil dynasties by an intrusive power
The Sangam age ended when the Kalabhras, an intrusive power, displaced the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms around the third century CE.
8. Which famous Chera monarch is celebrated in the epic Silappadikaram for establishing the Pattini Cult (worship of Kannagi as the ideal wife) and launching a military expedition to the Himalayas to bring stone for her idol?
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Answer: (C) Cheran Senguttuvan
Senguttuvan, the Chera king celebrated in the Silappadikaram, set up the Pattini cult of Kannagi and is said to have marched north to bring stone for her image.
Magadha, Buddhism & Jainism17 questions
9. Which of the following Buddhist Councils was convened at Pataliputra under the royal patronage of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, and was presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa?
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Answer: (A) Third Buddhist Council
The Third Buddhist Council met at Pataliputra under Ashoka, presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa, and compiled the Kathavatthu.
10. The rock-cut caves located at the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills near Gaya were excavated and gifted by Emperor Ashoka and his grandson Dasharatha to ascetics belonging to which heterodox sect?
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Answer: (A) Ajivikas
The Barabar and Nagarjuni caves near Gaya were gifted by Ashoka and his grandson Dasharatha to the Ajivika ascetics.
11. Where was the First Jain Council held around 300 BCE under the leadership of Sthulabhadra, resulting in the compilation of the 12 Angas?
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Answer: (D) Pataliputra
The first Jain council at Pataliputra, led by Sthulabhadra around 300 BCE, compiled the twelve Angas; the later council at Valabhi fixed the canon in writing.
12. In which of the following Major Rock Edicts does Emperor Ashoka explicitly describe his conquest of Kalinga and express profound sorrow over the mass suffering caused by the war?
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Answer: (A) Major Rock Edict XIII
Major Rock Edict XIII describes the Kalinga war, its casualties and Ashoka’s remorse, and announces his turn to conquest by dhamma.
13. Which Haryanka dynasty ruler shifted the capital of Magadha from the hill-fortified city of Rajgriha to Pataliputra for the first time?
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Answer: (A) Udayin
Udayin (Udayabhadra), son of Ajatashatru, built a fort at the confluence of the Ganga and Son and moved the capital to Pataliputra.
14. The Rummindei Pillar Inscription of Ashoka in Nepal is uniquely valuable to economic and administrative historians because it records:
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Answer: (A) A reduction of the agricultural tax (Bhaga) to 1/8th and complete exemption from Bali at Buddha’s birthplace
The Rummindei pillar records that Ashoka visited Lumbini, the Buddha’s birthplace, exempted the village from bali and reduced its bhaga to one-eighth.
15. Which Mahajanapada in northern Bihar functioned as an ancient confederacy of eight republican clans, with the Licchavis being the dominant ruling lineage?
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Answer: (D) Vajji
Vajji was a confederacy of eight clans in north Bihar with Vaishali as its capital, in which the Lichchhavis were the leading clan.
16. Who among the following founded the Shunga Dynasty by assassinating the last Mauryan king Brihadratha, and later performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices as recorded in the Ayodhya Inscription?
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Answer: (A) Pushyamitra Shunga
Pushyamitra Shunga killed Brihadratha, the last Maurya, in about 185 BCE; the Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva records his two ashvamedha sacrifices.
17. The Hathigumpha Inscription in the Udayagiri Hills near Bhubaneswar, written in Prakrit using Brahmi script, details the chronological biographical account of which ruler?
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Answer: (A) Kharavela
The Hathigumpha inscription in the Udayagiri hills, in Prakrit and Brahmi, is the record of the Kalinga king Kharavela of the Chedi (Mahameghavahana) dynasty.
18. In the central administrative framework outlined in Kautilya’s Arthashastra, what was the primary responsibility of the high-ranking official designated as the Samaharta?
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Answer: (A) Collection of overall state revenues and preparation of the annual budget
In the Arthashastra the samaharta was the collector-general responsible for revenue and the budget; the sannidhata was the treasurer.
19. Lord Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana) at Sarnath, but in which city did he spend the maximum number of rainy-season retreats (Varshavasas)?
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Answer: (A) Shravasti
The Buddha spent the largest number of rainy-season retreats at Shravasti, the capital of Kosala, mostly in the Jetavana monastery.
20. Which Ashokan Pillar excavation site in West Champaran, Bihar, yielded the famous, highly polished Bull capital that currently resides at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi?
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Answer: (A) Rampurva
The bull capital from the Ashokan pillar at Rampurva in West Champaran now stands in Rashtrapati Bhavan; Lauriya Nandangarh, also in Champaran, has a lion capital.
21. Around 73 BCE, Vasudeva established the short-lived Kanva Dynasty in Magadha after assassinating which last ruler of the Shunga Dynasty.
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Answer: (A) Devabhuti
Vasudeva Kanva assassinated Devabhuti, the last Shunga king, around 73 BCE and founded the Kanva dynasty.
22. The Second Buddhist Council was held at Vaishali roughly 100 years after the Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha under the royal patronage of which king?
Show answer
Answer: (A) Kalasoka
The Second Buddhist Council met at Vaishali about a century after the Buddha’s death, during the reign of Kalasoka of the Shishunaga dynasty.
23. Which ancient texts explicitly list the names of the 16 Mahajanapadas that flourished across northern India during the 6th century BCE?
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Answer: (D) Both A and B
The Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya and the Jain Bhagavati Sutra both give lists of the sixteen mahajanapadas, with some differences in names.
24. Which Mahajanapada was situated around the Vindhyas along the Narmada River, with capitals at Ujjain and Mahishmati?
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Answer: (A) Avanti
Avanti, in the Malwa region around the Vindhyas and the Narmada, had two capitals, Ujjain in the north and Mahishmati in the south.
25. Which republican Mahajanapada (Gana-Sangha) had its capitals at Pava and Kusinara?
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Answer: (D) Malla
The Mallas were a gana-sangha with two capitals, Pava and Kusinara; the Buddha died at Kusinara and Mahavira at Pava.
Your result
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Finished, or stopping here? This counts every question you have answered so far.
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1 B · 2 D · 3 D · 4 C · 5 B · 6 D · 7 B · 8 C · 9 A · 10 A · 11 D · 12 A · 13 A · 14 A · 15 D · 16 A · 17 A · 18 A · 19 A · 20 A · 21 A · 22 A · 23 D · 24 A · 25 D
Scoring: +1 correct, −1/3 wrong, 0 for (E) Not attempted, −1/3 for a row left blank in the real exam.
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