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 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.
In Harappan archaeology, the site of Dholavira is uniquely distinguished by which urban feature?
Exclusive reliance on sun-dried mud bricks with no stone masonry
Tripartite division of the city and sophisticated stone water reservoirs ✓
Complete absence of a citadel area
Circular planned houses built along radial streets
Dholavira in Gujarat is unusual among Harappan sites for its three-part city division (citadel, middle town, lower town) and an elaborate system of stone-cut water reservoirs and channels, reflecting sophisticated water management in an arid region.
The Nirukta, an ancient treatise on etymology and philology, was composed by which scholar?
Panini
Yaska ✓
Pingala
Katyayana
Yaska's Nirukta is the earliest surviving systematic work on etymology, explaining difficult Vedic words — it is one of the six Vedangas and a crucial tool for interpreting archaic Vedic vocabulary correctly.
This is one question from a free, complete 50-question Unit-Wise mock test — take the real thing, under real time pressure, for free.
Take the Free Mock Test →This question is part of our free Unit-Wise mock test series, drawn from the same real question bank used across every UGC NET History mock test on this site. For structured, chapter-by-chapter notes covering everything these questions test, see our UGC NET History Notes, or try the History Glossary Flashcard Quiz for daily term-by-term practice.
Pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan
Itihaaskar — UGC NET/JRF & UPSC History Optional notes by Parveen Malik (B.Tech. (CSE), M.A. (History), History JRF). Also spelt Itihaskar.
