Chapter 61: Kingdoms and Reformers

Question 1

Bimbisara

Answer 1

he came to the throne of Magadha in 544 BC, and he became the first Indian empire-builder, albeit in a minor way.

Question 2

Brahman

Answer 2

it is someone who was born into a priestly family and they were to inherit the privilege of sacrifice.

Question 3

Gana-sangha

Answer 3

around the edges of the sixteen states lay a ring of tribes who still resisted being enfolded into any one of the sixteen mahajanapada. Instead of coalescing into kingdoms, these tribes formed independent alliances.

Question 4

Jainism

Answer 4

this was the name of the doctrines of Mahavira.

Question 5

Kshatriya

Answer 5

it is someone who was born into the ruling clan and they belonged to, by right, the elite and powerful.

Question 6

Mahajanapada

Answer 6

it is composed of sixteen tribes with land who had absorbed other tribes and became kingdoms.

Question 7

Nataputta Vardhamana/The Mahavira

Answer 7

he was born around 599 BC into a ganasangha in the northeast of the Ganga valley. He had become known as the Mahavira (the Great Hero).

Question 8

Nirvana

Answer 8

it is the knowledge of truth which is caused by nothing, dependent on nothing, and leads to nothing, a way of existence impossible to define in words.

Question 9

Shudra

Answer 9

it is someone who was born into a family as a slave, they were voiceless and powerless.

Question 10

Siddhartha Gautama/Buddha

Answer 10

he was a prince of the Shakya clan, which lay north of the Mahavira’s native alliance. He came too the conclusion that freedom could only be found by those who were able to reject their passions and desires.

Question 11

Vaishyas

Answer 11

it was someone who was born into a common family.