Ans: B

Exp:

The easy availability of iron in the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) phase gave rise to a new socio-economic structure in the mid-Gangetic plains in the fifth century BC. The metal coins first appeared in the age of Gautama Buddha. 

The earliest coins were largely made of silver, though a few copper coins also existed. These coins are called ‘punch-marked’ coins because of their manufacturing technique. The pieces of silver and copper were punched with certain marks, such as a hill, tree, fish, bull, elephant, and crescent. The Punch marked coins are broadly classified into two periods : the first period (attributed to the Janapadas or small local states) and the second period (attributed to the Imperial Mauryan period).

Both Statement-I and Statement– II are correct, and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I

Reference: Chapter 17, State Structure and the Varna Society in the age of Buddha, R.S.Sharma

Ans: B

Exp:

Pair 1 is correct: The Pali texts speak of three types of villages during the age of Gauama Budhha. One of them was the typical village inhabited by various castes and communities, and these villages seem to have been the largest in number, with each village headed by a village headman called a bhojaka.

Pair 2 is incorrect: The traders had to pay customs on the sale of their commodities, and the tolls were collected by officers known as Shaulkika or shulkadhyaksha.

Pair 3 is incorrect: The rich peasants of the village were called Gahapatis (a Pali term) in the age of Buddha. The peasants had to pay one-sixth of their produce in tax. Taxes were collected directly by royal agents. and generally no intermediate landlords existed between the peasants, on the one hand, and the state, on the other.

Reference: Chapter 17, State Structure and the Varna Society in the age of Buddha, R.S.Sharma

Ans: D

Exp:

• • The terms Nishka and Satamana in the Vedic texts are taken to be names of coins, but they seem to have been prestige objects made of metal.
  • In the age of the Buddha, Bali, which had previously been a voluntary payment made by tribesmen to their chiefs, was made mandatory, and officers known as balisadhakas were appointed to collect it.
  • The Bhandagarika was the name of the treasurer in the administration of the Shakyas and Lichchhavis.

• The artisans and merchants were organised into guilds under their respective headmen. Vessas were merchant streets where both artisans and merchants lived in fixed localities in towns of the mid gangetic basins.

Reference: Chapter 17, State Structure and the Varna Society in the age of Buddha, R.S.Sharma

Ans: C

Exp:

Statement 1 is correct: The NBPW phase marked the beginning of the second urbanisation in India as towns arose in the mid-Gangetic basin in the fifth century BC. This urbanisation strengthened the state, increased trade, and saw a considerable increase in both settlements and population. These growing settlements further contributed to the emergence of large states.

Statement 2 is correct: Many towns mentioned in the Pali and Sanskrit texts, such as Kaushambi, Shravasti, Shringaverapur, Ayodhya, Kapilavastu, Varanasi, Vaishali, Rajgir, Pataliputra, and Champa, have been excavated, and in each case signs of habitation and mud structures relating to the early NBPW phase or to the middle period of it have been found. 

Reference: Chapter 17, State Structure and the Varna Society in the age of Buddha, R.S.Sharma

Ans: C

Exp:

The Republican system of government was a non-monarchial form of government that existed either in the Indus basin or in the foothills of the Himalayas in eastern UP and Bihar, e.g., The republics of Shakyas and Lichchhavis.

 In the republican system of governance: 

• The real power lay in the hands of tribal oligarchies. The republic functioned under the leadership of oligarchic assemblies. 

• Every tribal oligarch, known as a “raja, claimed the revenue from the peasants.

• Each raja was free to maintain his own little army under his senapati, enabling each of them to compete with the others.