1. Who founded the Pala empire?
2. In which year did Gopala found the Pala empire?
3. Which Pala ruler occupied Kanauj and held a grand darbar attended by vassal rulers from Punjab and eastern Rajasthan?
4. Near which place was Dharmapala defeated by the revived Pratihara power under Nagabhatta II?
5. Which Pala ruler extended control over Pragjyotishpur (Assam) and parts of Orissa?
6. The Arab merchant Sulaiman, who described the Pala kingdom as at war with the Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas, referred to it by which name?
7. Which university, revived by Dharmapala with 200 villages set apart for its expenses, had been famous across the eastern world?
8. Which university, founded by the Palas and located on a hill on the banks of the Ganga in Magadha, ranked second only to Nalanda?
9. Consider the following statements regarding Buddhist scholars associated with the Palas:
(I) Santarakshita and Dipankara (Atisa) were invited to Tibet
(II) They introduced a new form of Buddhism there
(III) Many Tibetan Buddhists subsequently came to study at Nalanda and Vikramasila
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
10. The powerful Buddhist dynasty that sent embassies to the Pala court and sought permission to build a monastery at Nalanda ruled over Malaya, Java, Sumatra and neighbouring islands. Which dynasty was this?
11. The Sailendra ruler requested which Pala king to endow five villages for the upkeep of the monastery built at Nalanda?
12. The Pratiharas are also known by which alternative name, reflecting their probable origin?
13. Which early Pratihara ruler offered stout resistance to the Arab rulers of Sind who were encroaching on Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Punjab?
14. Who decisively defeated the Arabs in their major thrust towards Gujarat in 738?
15. Who is regarded as the real founder of the Pratihara empire and the greatest ruler of the dynasty?
16. Bhoja was a devotee of Vishnu and adopted which title, found inscribed on some of his coins?
17. Al-Masudi, a native of Baghdad who visited Gujarat in 915–16, referred to the Gurjara-Pratihara kingdom by which name?
18. Which Sanskrit poet and dramatist, credited with writing a treatise on poetics, lived at the court of Mahipala, a grandson of Bhoja?
19. Consider the following pairs:
(I) Nagabhatta I – resisted Arab incursions
(II) Bhoja – recovered Kanauj
(III) Mahendrapala I – extended empire over Magadha and north Bengal
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Batch 1: 15 Type A (direct-recall) / 4 Type B (statement/match). Continuing straight to Batch 2 as instructed.
# Batch 2: Rashtrakutas (14 questions)
20. Who founded the Rashtrakuta kingdom and set up its capital at Manyakhet (Malkhed)?
21. Near which modern city was Manyakhet (Malkhed), the Rashtrakuta capital, located?
22. Which Rashtrakuta ruler is credited with terrifying the Kerala, Pandya and Chola kings and capturing the king of Lanka as a prisoner?
23. Which Rashtrakuta ruler, who preferred religion and literature to war, is credited with writing the first Kannada book on poetics?
24. Which Rashtrakuta ruler sacked Kanauj in 915 and, according to al-Masudi, was regarded as the greatest king in India at the time?
25. Which Rashtrakuta ruler defeated the Chola king Parantaka I in AD 949 and set up a pillar of victory at Rameshwaram?
26. In which year was the Rashtrakuta capital Malkhed sacked and burnt, marking the end of the Rashtrakuta empire?
27. Which Rashtrakuta king built the famous rock-cut temple of Siva at Ellora?
28. Consider the following statements about Rashtrakuta religious policy:
(I) They patronised Saivism, Vaishnavism, and Jainism
(II) They allowed Muslim traders to settle and preach Islam in their dominions
(III) Women did not veil their faces in the Rashtrakuta empire, according to Arab writers
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
29. Which Rashtrakuta ruler daughter, Chandrobalabbe, is noted as an exception for administering the Raichur doab?
30. In the Rashtrakuta administrative system, what was the head of a rashtra (province) called?
31. In the Pala and Pratihara empires, what was the governor of a bhukti (province) called?
32. Who was the foremost expounder of Dharmashastra in this period, holding that royal authority derived from both the Dharmashastras and the Arthashastra?
33. What was the official responsible for law and order in towns and their vicinity called?
34. Which dynasty is credited with maintaining the largest number of war-elephants among the three empires?
35. Which dynasty is believed to have had the finest cavalry in the country, importing horses by sea from Arabia and West Asia and overland from Khurasan and Central Asia?
36. Consider the following statements about vassal chiefs under these empires:
(I) They were autonomous in their internal affairs
(II) They had a general obligation of loyalty, tribute, and supplying troops to the overlord
(III) A son of a vassal chief was sometimes required to stay at the overlord's court to guard against rebellion
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
37. The Rashtrakutas had to constantly fight against the vassal chiefs of which two regions?
38. The Pratiharas had to fight constantly against the vassal chiefs of which two regions?
39. What was the basic unit of administration below the territorial divisions in these empires?
40. Village administration was carried on by the village headman along with which other hereditary official?
41. In Karnataka under the Rashtrakutas, village committees managed local schools, tanks, temples and roads, and could also do which of the following?
42. What term describes the hereditary revenue officers who rose in the Deccan during this period, discharging functions similar to the later deshmukhs and deshpandes of Maharashtra?
43. What general term came to be used indiscriminately for both visayapatis and smaller chieftains (bhogapatis) who dominated groups of villages?
44. The growing power of hereditary local elements, weakening village committees and central royal authority, is described in the passage by which term?
45. Which ministerial post was the only one exempt from the general expectation that ministers also lead military campaigns when called upon?
46. In the case of the Pala kings, which family is recorded as having supplied four successive chief ministers to Dharmapala and his successors?
47. Which king of Kashmir brought the Punjab under his control and even held sway over Kanauj in the period following Harsha's death, before his power waned with the rise of the Palas and Pratiharas?
48. Consider the following statements about the geographical basis of imperial power in this period:
(I) The Ganga valley, with its population and resources, was the basis of Gupta and Harsha's control extending to Gujarat
(II) Malwa and Rajasthan formed the essential links between the Ganga valley and Gujarat
(III) The Cholas built their supremacy in south India on control of the Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri deltas
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
49. Which of the three empires (Pala, Pratihara, Rashtrakuta) lasted the longest and acted as a bridge between north and south India in economic and cultural matters?
50. Which Rashtrakuta ruler defeated the Pratihara ruler and forced him to seek refuge in the deserts of Rajasthan, leaving Kanauj open for Dharmapala to occupy?
51. Mahendrapala I fought a battle with the king of Kashmir and had to yield some territories in which region, earlier won by Bhoja?
52. Between which years did the Rashtrakuta king Indra III attack and devastate Kanauj, weakening the Pratihara empire?
53. According to al-Masudi, the loss of which region, following Rashtrakuta gains, meant the Pratihara empire had no access to the sea?
54. Around which year did the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna III invade north India and defeat the Pratihara ruler, precipitating the rapid dissolution of the Pratihara empire?
55. The Pala infantry is recorded as having drawn soldiers from Malwa, Khasa (Assam), Lata (south Gujarat), and which other region?
56. Which older component of the armed forces had fallen out of use by this period, with no references to it found?
57. Consider the following statements about the tripartite struggle for Kanauj:
(I) It involved the Palas, Pratiharas, and Rashtrakutas
(II) Control of Kanauj implied control of the upper Gangetic valley and its trade and agricultural resources
(III) Kanauj had been considered the symbol of sovereignty of north India since the days of Harsha
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
