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Q36·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2020

Scholars of Ancient India

HistoryAncient India (general)Statement-basedHardStatic

Question

With reference to the scholars/litterateurs of ancient India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1.

    Panini is associated with Pushyamitra Shunga.

  2. 2.

    Amarasimha is associated with Harshavardhana.

  3. 3.

    Kalidasa is associated with Chandra Gupta - II.

Options

a

1 and 2 only

b

2 and 3 only

c

3 only

Answer
d

1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Panini was an ancient Sanskrit grammarian who lived around the 6th-4th century BCE, long before Pushyamitra Shunga (2nd century BCE); Patanjali was associated with Shunga (Statement 1 is incorrect). Amarasimha was a Sanskrit grammarian and poet who was one of the Navaratnas (Nine Gems) in the court of Chandragupta II, not Harshavardhana (Statement 2 is incorrect). Kalidasa was also one of the Navaratnas in the court of Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) (Statement 3 is correct). > One-line conceptual takeaway: Chronological mismatch is a common trick in UPSC history questions; linking scholars to their patron kings is vital. Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2020

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q36

Subject

History

Sub-topic

Ancient India (general)

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Hard

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT Ancient India / RS Sharma

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