Social Science [2 Mark Questions]

Kanishka patronized Buddhist monks and donated money to build monasteries. The Fourth Budhhist council was organised during his reign.

The kings want to control the silk route because they could benfit from the taxes, tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route.

Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, was born in Bethelehem. Christianity emerged in West Asia about 2000 years ago.

Kings tried to control the route because they could benefit by collecting taxes, tributes and gifts brought by the traders travelling along the route. In return these kings protected these traders from the robbers.

The word ‘Hindu’ is derived from the river Indus. It was used by Arabs and Iranians to refer to people who lived to the east of the river, and to their cultural practices, including their religious belief.

Ordinary people were attracted to Bhakti because it was a devotion to a particular deity, e.g. Shiva, Vishnu, etc. The people did not need to perform elaborate temple or religious ceremonies.

Silk was expensive because it had to be brought all the way from China, along dangerous roads, through mountains and desert as only Chinese knew the technique for making silk.

The older form of Buddhism was known as Theravada Buddhism. It was more popular in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand andIndonesia.

Traders explored several sea routes. Some of these followed the coasts. There were others across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where sailors took advantage of the monsoon winds to cross the seas more quickly. So, if they wanted to reach the western coast of the Indian subcontinent from East Africa or Africa, they chose to sail with the south west monsoon.

The Indo-Greeks or Bactrians were from Northern Afghanistan. Their King Demetrius II captured Punjab. The Indo-Greek introduced coins with images of rulers for the first time. Later Menander became the king and made Sakala his capital.

Those who followed the path of Bhakti emphasized devotion and individual worship of a god or goddess rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.

Bhakti means a person’s devotion to his or her chosen deity. Whether rich or poor, low or high caste, man or woman, anyone could follow the path of Bhakti.

Gautamiputra Satakarni and other Satavahana rulers were known as “lords of the dakshinapatha” literally meaning the route leading to the south.

Muvendar is a Tamil word which means three chiefs. It was used for the heads of three ruling families- the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas, who became powerful in south India around 2300 years ago.

They were called Syrian Christians because they came from west Asia. They were amongst the oldest Christian communities of the world.

The southern half of the Indian sub- continent is marked by a long coastline, hills, plateaus and river valleys. Kaveri is the most fertile river valley.

All Satavahana rulers were called the lords of Dakshinapatha as they were ruling in the west often controlling the route to the southern regions.