Ancient Indian History GK

C [Koccadiyan Ranadhira]

Notes:

Koccadiyan Ranadhira who ruled from 700 A.D. to  730 A.D. reduced an Ay chief at Mardur “a hill country between Tinnevelly and Travancore.” He also conquered the Kongu country and assumed the title of Kongarkoman.

D [Steatite]

Notes:

The beautiful beads are one of the important discoveries of Mohenjodaro. Majority of the beads are made of fired steatite. Other materials in making beads include Agate, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, grossular garnet, serpentine and amazonite.

B [Tamil Nadu]

Notes:

In South India, the Bhakti movement originated in Tamil Nadu sometime after the 7th century AD with the Alwars (Vaishnava saints) and the Adiyars (Shaiva saints). With their songs of longing,they worshipped Hindu god of Vishnu. The collection of their hymns are known as Divya Prabandha. All the saints were male except one named Andal.

D [Khadphises I]

Notes:

Kujula Kadphises (also known as Kadphises I) is believed to be the founder of Kushana dynasty in India in 78 A.D. According to the Rabatak inscription, he was the grandfather of the great Kushan king Kanishka. He followed Greek religious ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition, and also followed traditions of Hinduism, being a devotee of the Hindu God Shiva. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements.

B [Yajurveda]

Notes:

Yajur Veda is a step-by-step guide about the right way of performing religious ceremonies and sacred rituals. Derived from “yajus” meaning “prose mantra” and veda meaning “knowledge”), the Yajur veda is the Veda of prose mantras. An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a compilation of ritual offering formulas that were said by a priest at the time of ritual actions.

C [Simuka]

Notes:

Simuka was the founder of the Satavahana Dynasty. He is mentioned as the first king in a list of royals in a Satavahana inscription at Nanaghat. He is believed to have destroyed the Shunga Power in the Deccan with the aid of the Rathikas and Bhojakas. He reigned for around 23 years and was beheaded by his brother Kanha, who succeeded him.

C [Pali]

Notes:

Pali is use as a Buddhist canonical language came about because the Buddha opposed the use of Sanskrit, a learned language, as a vehicle for his teachings and encouraged his followers to use vernacular dialects. The word ‘Pali’ primarily signifies ‘Text’ or ‘sacred texts’ or the text of the Buddhist canon as opposed to the connentaries, but gradually it became the name of the language in which the canon (Tripitika) of the Theravada Buddhism and the ancillary texts were written.

A [Ilango Adigal]

Notes:

Ascetic-prince Ilango Adigal, the younger brother of reputed warrior-king Sengutt-uvan of the Chera dynasty is credited with Silappadikaram, one of Five Great Tamil Epics. Silappadikaram revolves around Kannagi, who having lost her husband to a miscarriage of justice at the court of the Pandyan Dynasty, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom.

C [Anguttara Nikaya]

Notes:

In the post-Vedic period, the entire northern territory mostly situated north of the Vindhyas and extending from the North-West frontier to Bihar was divided into sixteen states called Sodasha Maha-janapadas. The Buddhist literature, particularly the Anguttara Nikaya lists the sixteen mahajanapadas given as – Gandhara, Kamboja, Assaka, Vatsa, Avanti, Surasena, Chedi, Malla, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Vajji, Anga, Kosala and Magadha.

C [Hathnora]

Notes:

A Homo erectus skull was discovered at the site of Hathnora in the Narmada valley. This evidence dates back to early-mid Pleistocene epoch and suggests Homo erectus inhabited parts of central India during that time period.