Chapter 3

Question 1

What was another name for the Indus Valley Civilization?

Answer 1

Harappan

Question 2

How large were each of the five major cities in the top tier of Mature Harappan civilization?

Answer 2

250 acres each

Question 3

How large were each of the several dozen towns middle tier of Mature Harappan
civilization?

Answer 3

15 to 150 acres each

Question 4

How large were each of the fifteen thousand smaller agricultural and craft villages in the
bottom tier of Mature Harappan civilization?

Answer 4

2.5 acres each

Question 5

In Mohenjo-Daro, residences with private wells and baths, along with toilets that drained by
earthenware pipes to sewage drains under the city streets, shows that particular attention was
paid to what feature?

Answer 5

Public sanitation

Question 6

The Harappan Civilization has been described as proto-historic. What does proto-historic
mean?

Answer 6

There were records of symbols and signs that have not been deciphered and read.

Question 7

The Harappan Civilization just “faded away”? All of the following are likely causes
EXCEPT which one?

Answer 7

Annihilation from invading armies.

Question 8

The Vedic Age was named after a set of religious texts. What is the name of the first of these
four religious texts that consists of 1028 hymns and was not written down until after 500
BCE?

Answer 8

Rig-Veda

Question 9

The Aryans spoke what language?

Answer 9

Sanskrit

Question 10

The Aryans valued what type of relationship?

Answer 10

Family

Question 11

The Vedic peoples referred to themselves as Aryans. What does Aryan mean?

Answer 11

“Noble” or “Respectable”

Question 12

The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The most beloved of the Vedic gods was the god of war
and the storm. He was also the king of the gods. What was his name?

Answer 12

Indra

Question 13

The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The god of fire and the household hearth summoned the
other gods to the sacrifice and acted as an intermediary between the gods and humans. What
was his name?

Answer 13

Agni

Question 14

Where was the Indo-Aryan homeland from which the Aryans migrated to India?

Answer 14

The steppe lands of southern Russia.

Just north of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

Question 15

During the Later Vedic Age, what two new resources made farming more productive?

Answer 15

Iron tools and rice

Question 16

As agriculture became more important and occupations became more diverse, what occurred
during the Late Vedic Age?

Answer 16

Village communities began to form.
Populations began to grow.
People began to engage in jobs other than farming.

Question 17

During the Late Vedic Age, the political structure was both an oligarchy and a republic. How
was this possible?

Answer 17

The heads of the most powerful families governed with the assistance of an assembly.

Question 18

During the later Vedic Age, the social structure became more hierarchical and rigid. A
system for classifying people based on broad occupational categories developed. What is the
name given to this classification system?

Answer 18

Varna system

Question 19

What social group was at the top of the Varna system?

Answer 19

Brahmins (priests)

Question 20

What social group immediately followed the Brahmins in the Varna system?

Answer 20

Kshatriya (chiefs and warriors)

Question 21

What social group immediately followed the Kshatriya in the Varna system?

Answer 21

Vaishya (commoners)

Question 22

What social group was at the bottom of the Varna system?

Answer 22

Shudras (servants)

Question 23

What is the earlies layer of Hinduism called?

Answer 23

Brahmanism

Question 24

As Brahmanism evolved and became more elaborate, three new Vedas and two new sets of
texts were added to the literature. Which text was primarily handbooks of rituals for the
Brahmins to follow?

Answer 24

Brahmanas

Question 25

As Brahmanism evolved and became more elaborate, three new Vedas and two new sets of
texts were added to the literature. Which text was an entirely new set of ideas to follow?

Answer 25

Upanishads

Question 26

In the Upanishads, what is the wandering between endless successions of death and rebirth
called?

Answer 26

Transmigration

Question 27

In the Upanishads, transmigration is not random but determined by one’s actions in this life
that lead to either a better or worse life at rebirth. This is known as the Law of __________?

Answer 27

Karma

Question 28

In the Upanishads, what is the ultimate divine reality called?

Answer 28

Brahman

Question 29

In the Upanishads, what is the eternal soul deep within the heart of each person called?

Answer 29

Atman

Question 30

According to the Upanishads, how is a person liberated from the illusion of endless
wandering?

Answer 30

Discovering that the soul is the divine reality.

Discovering atman and its identity with brahman.

Question 31

Who was the original Buddha?

Answer 31

Siddhartha Gautama
A young prince from the foothills of the Himalaya.
A renunciant dissatisfied with life and sought an answer to the question of suffering

Question 32

What is the principle teaching of the Buddha?

Answer 32

Four Noble Truths

Question 33

What is the First Noble Truth?

Answer 33

Dukka: Truth of Suffering; Life is full of suffering.

Question 34

What is the Second Noble Truth?

Answer 34

Samudaya: Truth of the Cause of Suffering; Suffering comes from desire/wanting.

Question 35

What is the Third Noble Truth?

Answer 35

Nirodha: Truth of the End of Suffering; Suffering stops when desire/wanting stops.

Question 36

What is the Fourth Noble Truth?

Answer 36

Magga: Truth of the Eight-Fold Path; In order to stop those desires/wants, one must
follow the Eight-fold Path

Question 37

With the expansion of trade, what was the merchants’ principal method of organization?

Answer 37

Guilds

Question 38

During India’s period of economic growth and flourishing trade networks, what was the
major overland trade network called?

Answer 38

Silk Roads

Question 39

How was Buddhism different from Vedic Brahmanism?

Answer 39

It was more inclusive; concerned less with birth and social class

Question 40

What is the earliest form of Buddhism and follows Buddha’s teaching of the Four Noble
Truths?

Answer 40

Theravada Buddhism

Question 41

What is the later form of Buddhism that offers multiple paths to enlightenment for people
from all walks of life?

Answer 41

Mahayana Buddhism

Question 42

Vedic Brahmanism evolved into modern-day Hinduism with the addition of new forms of
devotion and an effort to define a good life and society according to what idea?

Answer 42

Dharma

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT a famous Indian epic that illustrated the theme of dharma
(duty)?

Answer 43

Gilgamesh

Question 44

In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the creator”?

Answer 44

Brahma

Question 45

In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the preserver”?

Answer 45

Vishnu

Question 46

In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the destroyer?

Answer 46

Shiva

Question 47

Who was one of India’s greatest Sanskrit poets and playwrights?

Answer 47

Kalidasa

Question 48

Who was India’s astronomer that first proposed that the earth rotated on an axis, calculate pi
to 3.1416, and the solar year to 364.3586805 days?

Answer 48

Aryabhata

Question 49

What is the name given to India’s ancient medical science?

Answer 49

Ayurveda

Question 50

What political and economic scene is characterized by fragmented authority, a set of
obligations between lords and vassals, and grants of land by rulers in exchange for some kind
of service?

Answer 50

Feudalism

Question 51

Who is the Prophet of Islam, whose revelations are recorded in the Quran?

Answer 51

Muhammad

Question 52

What was the designated political successor to Muhammad, the leader of the Islamic
community, and the ruler of the Muslim Arab Empire called?

Answer 52

Caliph

Question 53

What is the name given to an Islamic ruler who governs a country largely independently of
the caliphs, but without claiming their title?

Answer 53

Sultan