UGC NET History Practice Question

Which of the following sites has yielded the earliest physical evidence of cultivated rice in the Indian subcontinent, dating back to c. 6000 BCE?

Mehrgarh

Lahuradewa / Koldihwa ✓

Burzahom

Chirand

Lahuradewa and Koldihwa in the Middle Ganga valley have produced some of the earliest claimed evidence of rice cultivation in South Asia, pushing back the timeline for Neolithic agriculture in the eastern Gangetic region, though some early rice-husk dating remains debated among archaeologists.

The Milindapanha is a famous Pali dialogue on Buddhist philosophy held between King Menander I and which Buddhist monk?

Nagasena ✓

Moggaliputta Tissa

Vasubandhu

Upagupta

The Milindapanha records a philosophical dialogue between the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda) and the Buddhist monk Nagasena, an important source for understanding Indo-Greek engagement with Buddhism in the northwest.

Which Purana is explicitly divided into two major sections called Purva-khanda and Uttara-khanda and contains extensive geographical data on sacred sites (Tirthas)?

Skanda Purana

Padma Purana ✓

Agni Purana

Markandeya Purana

The Padma Purana is structured with distinct khandas (sections) including extensive Tirtha-mahatmya (sacred-site glorification) content, making it a valuable, if legend-heavy, source for the historical geography of pilgrimage sites.

The inscription of Heliodorus on the Garuda Pillar at Besnagar records his dedication to which deity?

Shiva

Vasudeva ✓

Buddha

Mahavira

The Heliodorus Pillar inscription records that Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador from Taxila, dedicated the Garuda-topped pillar to Vasudeva (Krishna) and identifies himself as a Bhagavata — key evidence of early Vaishnavism's spread and Indo-Greek religious conversion.

Which ancient Greek historian wrote Geographia, providing detailed coordinates of places across the Indian subcontinent during the 2nd century CE?

Arrian

Strabo

Ptolemy ✓

Pliny

Claudius Ptolemy's Geographia (2nd century CE) provided latitude/longitude-style coordinates for numerous Indian towns, rivers, and regions, making it an important (if sometimes distorted) source for reconstructing ancient Indian historical geography.

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More Free UGC NET History Practice

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.