From the free UGC NET History Mock Test 1 — Unit 1: Negotiating the Sources unit-wise mock test — real question, real answer, real explanation.
The site of Arikamedu was excavated comprehensively by which British archaeologist in 1945?
John Marshall
Mortimer Wheeler ✓
Alexander Cunningham
Aurel Stein
Mortimer Wheeler conducted the landmark 1945 excavation at Arikamedu, applying stratigraphic methods that firmly established the site's identity as a Roman trading settlement and set new standards for archaeological technique in India.
Which of the following Sangam texts is classified as a major epic and written by Prince Ilango Adigal?
Manimekalai
Silappadikaram ✓
Pattinappalai
Maduraikkanchi
Silappadikaram is traditionally attributed to Ilango Adigal, said to be a Chera prince-turned-monk — it is considered one of the "five great epics" of Tamil literature, alongside its sequel Manimekalai (attributed to a different author, Sattanar).
In ancient epigraphy, the Eran Stone Pillar Inscription of Bhanugupta (510 CE) is historically famous as the earliest epigraphic evidence for:
Widow remarriage
Practice of Sati ✓
Devadasi system
Royal coronation ritual
The Eran inscription of Bhanugupta's time (510 CE) records the self-immolation of Goparaja's widow on his funeral pyre — it is generally cited as the earliest clear epigraphic reference to the practice of Sati in India.
Which ancient author penned Naturalis Historia, criticizing the drain of Roman wealth to India for luxury goods?
Strabo
Pliny the Elder ✓
Arrian
Justin
Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, complained that India drained the Roman Empire of a hundred million sesterces a year for luxury imports like spices, gems, and textiles — a Roman perspective that corroborates the archaeological Roman coin-hoard evidence in South India.
The excavation of the Neolithic site of Burzahom in Kashmir revealed which distinctive housing pattern?
Raised wooden pile-dwellings
Subterranean pit-dwellings ✓
Multi-roomed burnt-brick houses
Circular mud-huts with stone pavements
Burzahom in Kashmir is distinctive among Indian Neolithic sites for its subterranean (underground) pit-dwellings, likely dug for insulation against the region's cold climate — a housing pattern not typically seen at Neolithic sites elsewhere in the subcontinent.
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.
