Ans: C

Exp:

Gautamiputra Satakarni was the powerful ruler in the Satavahana dynasty. His achievements and personality are recorded in the Nasik prasasti, which was caused to be engraved by his mother Gautami Balasri during the reign of Vashisthiputra Pulumavi. He is described as the destroyer of the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. It also credits him with the annihilation of the Kshaharata dynasty and restorer of the fortune of the Satavahana family. Hence, Option (c) is correct.

Ans: B

Exp:

The Satavahanas utilised Prakrit as their official language, with all their inscriptions scripted in Brahmi, reminiscent of the practices during the Ashokan era. Several Satavahana kings potentially authored Prakrit texts. One such text, the Gathasattasai or Gathasaptasati, is credited to King Hala of the Satavahana dynasty. This work comprised 700 verses in Prakrit but underwent revisions at a later period, potentially after the sixth century. Hence, Option (b) is correct.

Ans: C

Exp:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Kanvas, who perhaps began their political career as subordinates of the Sungas (Puranas call them shungabhrityas), brought to an end the Sunga kingdom. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: Nagarjunakonda prospered most in the second–third centuries under the patronage of the Ikshvakus, the successors of the Satavahanas. It possesses both Buddhist monuments and the earliest brahmanical brick temples. The Sunga empire played an important role in patronising art. Bharhut, Bodhgaya and Sanchi bear evidence of the patronage received from the Sunga rulers.

Statement 3 is correct:  The Sunga artists appear to delight in the handling of the human figures. The reliefs illustrate episodes from the life of the Buddha and incidents that give us an idea of contemporary life.  It reflects for the first time the results of the ethnic, social and religious fusion and integration. Important religious developments also took place during this period. Patanjali’s synthesis of the tradition of Yoga became the foundation of one of the schools of thought.

Ans: D

Exp:

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Kalinga, or coastal Orissa south of the Mahanadi, rose to importance under Ashoka, though a strong state had been founded in that area in the first century BC. Its ruler, Kharavela had advanced as far as Magadha. Mahameghabahan Kharavela, third Chedi ruler of Kalinga, was the principal builder of 117 caves with art and architecture and Hathigumpha inscription in the twin hills, followed by his son Kudepsari and grandson Vaduka (Paduka). But repetition of some inscription in Ganesh Gumpha of Udayagiri traces some incisions of Bhauma Santikar I period (891 AD). 

Pair 2 is correctly matched: The Gupta governors, who seem to have become independent after about AD 550, occupied north Bengal; some part of it may also have been seized by the rulers of Kamarupa. Local vassal princes called samanta maharajas had created their own administrative apparatus and built their military organisation consisting of horses, elephants, foot soldiers, and boats to fight the local peasantry. By AD 600 the area came to be known as Gauda and functioned as an independent state ruled by Shashanka, Harsha’s adversary.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: Kamarupa, coterminous with the Brahmaputra basin running from east to west, shot into prominence in the seventh century.The Kamarupa kings adopted the title varman, which obtained not only in northern, central, and western India but also in Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.In the seventh century Bhaskaravarman emerged as the head of a state which controlled a substantial part of the Brahmaputra basin and some areas beyond it. Buddhism also acquired a foothold, and the Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang (Hieun Tsang) visited this state.

Pair 4 is correctly matched: From about AD 525 onwards, the area developed a fairly organised state covering Samatata and a portion of Vanga which lay on the western boundary of Samatata. It is called the kingdom of Samatata or Vanga whose rulers, including Sama Haradeva, issued a substantial number of gold coins in the second half of the sixth century.

Ans: C

Exp:

In  the seventh century, there was the existence of the state of the Khadgas, literally swordsmen, in the Dhaka area.There was also the kingdom of a brahmana feudatory called Lokanatha and that of the Ratas, both in the Comilla area. All these princes of south-east and central Bengal issued land grants in the sixth and seventh centuries. A fiscal and administrative unit called Dandabhukti was formed in the border areas between Bengal and Orissa. Danda means punishment, and bhukti enjoyment. The unit was apparently to pacify and suppress the tribal inhabitants of that region and may have promoted Sanskrit and other elements of culture in the tribal areas. Hence, Option (c) is correct.