From the free UGC NET History Mock Test 1 — Unit 1: Negotiating the Sources unit-wise mock test — real question, real answer, real explanation.
Which of the following sites has yielded the earliest unambiguous evidence of iron technology in Northern India, dating back to c. 1200-1000 BCE?
Hastinapur
Atranjikhera ✓
Kaushambi
Taxila
Atranjikhera in Uttar Pradesh has provided some of the earliest well-stratified evidence of iron use in the Ganga-Yamuna doab, associated with the Painted Grey Ware culture, supporting the case for an early, independent iron age in North India.
The decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837 was achieved primarily through the analysis of coins from which dynasty?
Mauryan Empire
Indo-Greek and Western Kshatrapa dynasties ✓
Gupta Empire
Kushana Empire
Prinsep used bilingual Indo-Greek coins (Greek and Kharosthi/Brahmi legends) and Western Kshatrapa coins to cross-match letterforms, which gave him the key to deciphering Ashokan Brahmi inscriptions.
Which text provides the detailed rules for measuring sacrificial altars (Vedis) and constructing geometric brick structures in the Vedic period?
Sulba Sutras ✓
Grihya Sutras
Srauta Sutras
Dharma Sutras
The Sulba Sutras (part of the Kalpa Vedanga) contain precise geometric rules for constructing fire altars of specified shapes and areas — they are also historically important as early Indian mathematical/geometric texts.
The inscription on the Sohgaura Copper Plate is historically important because it contains:
Earliest land grant recorded on copper plate in Prakrit
Mauryan royal order concerning state granaries during times of famine ✓
Eulogy of Emperor Samudragupta's military campaigns
Charter establishing an early Buddhist monastery
The Sohgaura Copper Plate, generally dated to the Mauryan period, records administrative orders for establishing state granaries to store grain against famine — evidence of organized Mauryan famine-relief administration, not a land grant or religious charter.
Which foreign chronicle provides detailed geographical information regarding the ports along the western coast of India, such as Barygaza and Muziris?
Geographia of Strabo
Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder
Periplus Maris Erythraei by an anonymous author ✓
Historical Library of Diodorus
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by an anonymous Greek-speaking merchant/sailor (c. 1st century CE), is a practical sailing manual describing Indian Ocean ports including Barygaza (Bharuch) and Muziris (Kerala coast) in unmatched commercial detail.
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Itihaaskar — UGC NET/JRF & UPSC History Optional notes by Parveen Malik (B.Tech. (CSE), M.A. (History), History JRF). Also spelt Itihaskar.