Gupta

Who was the founder of the Gupta dynasty?
a) Chandragupta I
b) Samudragupta
c) Sri Gupta
d) Chandragupta II
✅ Answer: c) Sri Gupta
👉 Sri Gupta founded the dynasty; Chandragupta I assumed royal titles and expanded power.
Which Gupta ruler is known as the 'Napoleon of India'?
a) Chandragupta I
b) Chandragupta II
c) Skandagupta
d) Samudragupta
✅ Answer: d) Samudragupta
👉 Dubbed so by historian Vincent Smith for his military campaigns listed in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription.
Who was the author of Allahabad Pillar Inscription?
a) Banabhatta
b) Harisena
c) Vishakhadatta
d) Kalidasa
✅ Answer: b) Harisena
👉 Court poet of Samudragupta; inscription details his conquests.
The title 'Vikramaditya' was assumed by:
a) Ashoka
b) Samudragupta
c) Chandragupta II
d) Harshavardhana
✅ Answer: c) Chandragupta II
👉 He adopted the title and defeated the Sakas of Ujjain.
The Iron Pillar at Mehrauli is associated with:
a) Chandragupta I
b) Samudragupta
c) Skandagupta
d) Chandragupta II
✅ Answer: d) Chandragupta II
👉 The inscription mentions a mighty king, likely Chandragupta II.
Which Gupta ruler faced Hun invasions?
a) Chandragupta II
b) Kumaragupta
c) Skandagupta
d) Samudragupta
✅ Answer: c) Skandagupta
👉 He repelled Hun attacks, but it weakened the empire.
The Chinese traveler Fa-Hien visited during the reign of:
a) Ashoka
b) Harshavardhana
c) Chandragupta II
d) Samudragupta
✅ Answer: c) Chandragupta II
👉 He came to study Buddhism and observed the social structure of India.
Which Gupta ruler issued the maximum number of gold coins?
a) Chandragupta I
b) Samudragupta
c) Chandragupta II
d) Kumaragupta
✅ Answer: b) Samudragupta
👉 His coins show him as a warrior, poet, and musician.
Which Gupta ruler adopted the title 'Maharajadhiraja'?
a) Sri Gupta
b) Chandragupta I
c) Samudragupta
d) Skandagupta
✅ Answer: b) Chandragupta I
👉 Marked the start of Gupta imperialism around 320 CE.
The Gupta era began in:
a) 78 CE
b) 319–320 CE
c) 273 BCE
d) 606 CE
✅ Answer: b) 319–320 CE
👉 It began with Chandragupta I’s coronation.
Which university flourished during Gupta period?
a) Taxila
b) Nalanda
c) Vikramshila
d) Valabhi
✅ Answer: b) Nalanda
👉 Although founded later, it began to flourish under Gupta patronage.
Kalidasa was the court poet of:
a) Harsha
b) Skandagupta
c) Chandragupta II
d) Ashoka
✅ Answer: c) Chandragupta II
👉 He wrote Abhijnanasakuntalam, Meghadutam, Raghuvamsha.
Aryabhatta wrote:
a) Suryasiddhanta
b) Aryabhatiya
c) Panchasiddhantika
d) Brahmasphutasiddhanta
✅ Answer: b) Aryabhatiya
👉 Introduced the concept of zero and rotation of Earth.
Gupta administration was:
a) Centralized
b) Feudal
c) Bureaucratic
d) Decentralized
✅ Answer: d) Decentralized
👉 Local administration was strong; villages had autonomy.
What was the chief source of revenue in Gupta era?
a) Mining
b) Agriculture
c) Trade
d) Salt tax
✅ Answer: b) Agriculture
👉 Land revenue was the primary source for the state.
Which Gupta king founded Nalanda Mahavihara?
a) Kumargupta I
b) Chandragupta II
c) Skandagupta
d) Ramagupta
✅ Answer: a) Kumargupta I
👉 He is credited with laying the foundation of Nalanda.
Who is believed to have ruled briefly before Samudragupta?
a) Ramagupta
b) Skandagupta
c) Narasimhagupta
d) Vishnugupta
✅ Answer: a) Ramagupta
👉 Mentioned in dramas like Devichandraguptam, but not in inscriptions.
Who was the last important Gupta ruler?
a) Vishnugupta
b) Narasimhagupta
c) Kumaragupta II
d) Skandagupta
✅ Answer: d) Skandagupta
👉 He defended India from the Hunas but couldn’t stop decline.
Which foreign tribe invaded during the Gupta period?
a) Shakas
b) Greeks
c) Huns
d) Parthians
✅ Answer: c) Huns
👉 Skandagupta faced and repulsed their invasion.
Varahamihira’s famous work is:
a) Aryabhatiya
b) Suryasiddhanta
c) Panchasiddhantika
d) Brahmasphutasiddhanta
✅ Answer: c) Panchasiddhantika
👉 Compilation of five astronomical treatises.
Gupta coins were mainly made of:
a) Silver
b) Gold
c) Copper
d) Bronze
✅ Answer: b) Gold
👉 Known as Dinaras, showing deities and kings in various forms.
Which language was used in Gupta inscriptions?
a) Prakrit
b) Tamil
c) Sanskrit
d) Pali
✅ Answer: c) Sanskrit
👉 Sanskrit became the official court language.
Guptas issued land grants recorded on:
a) Stones
b) Copper plates
c) Palm leaves
d) Silk scrolls
✅ Answer: b) Copper plates
👉 Used for recording donations to Brahmins and temples.
Fahien noted that criminal laws in Gupta India were:
a) Strict
b) Harsh
c) Lenient
d) Absent
✅ Answer: c) Lenient
👉 Minor crimes were punished mildly; social order was based on dharma.
The Gupta Empire was weakened due to:
a) Religious conflicts
b) Internal revolts
c) Hun invasions and weak successors
d) Natural calamities
✅ Answer: c) Hun invasions and weak successors
👉 Repeated invasions led to disintegration of central authority.

Predicted MCQs (26–50)

Which Gupta king was skilled in music and poetry?
a) Samudragupta
b) Chandragupta I
c) Kumaragupta
d) Skandagupta
✅ Answer: a) Samudragupta
👉 Coins show him playing the veena (lute).
Which Gupta king issued the tiger-slaying type of coins?
a) Chandragupta II
b) Skandagupta
c) Samudragupta
d) Kumaragupta
✅ Answer: c) Samudragupta
👉 Portrayed himself as a valiant warrior.
The Devichandraguptam drama relates to:
a) Skandagupta
b) Samudragupta
c) Ramagupta
d) Harsha
✅ Answer: c) Ramagupta
👉 Describes the episode of Ramagupta’s surrender to enemies.
Gupta period is known as the Golden Age of:
a) Religion
b) Trade
c) Culture and Science
d) Invasions
✅ Answer: c) Culture and Science
👉 Flourishing of literature, astronomy, metallurgy, art.
Which Gupta king repaired Sudarshana Lake?
a) Ashoka
b) Skandagupta
c) Rudradaman I
d) None
✅ Answer: d) None
👉 It was repaired by Rudradaman I (Saka), not a Gupta.
Which Gupta ruler had relations with the Lichchhavis?
a) Chandragupta I
b) Kumaragupta
c) Samudragupta
d) Skandagupta
✅ Answer: a) Chandragupta I
👉 He married a Lichchhavi princess Kumara Devi.
Samudragupta followed which policy in Dakshinapatha?
a) Annexation
b) Tribute-based
c) Religious
d) Feudal
✅ Answer: b) Tribute-based
👉 Southern rulers accepted his supremacy but retained autonomy.
Gupta temples were primarily built with:
a) Wood
b) Mud
c) Stone and bricks
d) Granite
✅ Answer: c) Stone and bricks
👉 Early Nagara-style temples emerged during this time.
The Ajanta cave paintings belong to:
a) Maurya Period
b) Gupta Period
c) Mughal Period
d) Maratha Period
✅ Answer: b) Gupta Period
👉 Buddhist murals were painted under Gupta and Vakataka patronage.
Who was known as Kaviraja in the Gupta court?
a) Varahamihira
b) Vishakhadatta
c) Kalidasa
d) Harisena
✅ Answer: c) Kalidasa
👉 Revered as the king of poets.
Which Gupta king took the title Vikramaditya?
a) Chandragupta I
b) Chandragupta II
c) Skandagupta
d) Samudragupta
✅ Answer: b) Chandragupta II
👉 He defeated the Sakas of Ujjain and earned the title.
Gupta rulers were primarily:
a) Jains
b) Buddhists
c) Shaivites
d) Vaishnavites
✅ Answer: d) Vaishnavites
👉 But tolerant of other religions like Buddhism and Jainism.
Famous iron pillar of Gupta age is located at:
a) Nalanda
b) Mehrauli
c) Ujjain
d) Mathura
✅ Answer: b) Mehrauli
👉 Famous for rust resistance; credits a “Chandra” king.
Gupta army included:
a) Only infantry
b) Elephants and cavalry
c) No navy
d) Tribal forces
✅ Answer: b) Elephants and cavalry
👉 They had a strong traditional army.
Gupta coins depicted:
a) Religious symbols
b) King’s portraits
c) Musical instruments
d) All of these
✅ Answer: d) All of these
👉 Gupta coinage was highly developed and artistic.
Which temple is a surviving Gupta structure?
a) Dashavatara temple
b) Brihadeshwara
c) Kailasanatha
d) Konark
✅ Answer: a) Dashavatara temple
👉 Located in Deogarh (UP), one of the earliest Hindu stone temples.
Vishnu worship became prominent during:
a) Mauryas
b) Guptas
c) Kushanas
d) Satavahanas
✅ Answer: b) Guptas
👉 Rise of Vaishnavism is visible in coins and temples.
Chandragupta I assumed the title:
a) Samrat
b) Devaputra
c) Maharajadhiraja
d) Chakravarti
✅ Answer: c) Maharajadhiraja
👉 Marked his imperial ambitions.
Science & astronomy flourished under:
a) Harsha
b) Ashoka
c) Chandragupta II
d) Samudragupta
✅ Answer: c) Chandragupta II
👉 Scholars like Aryabhatta and Varahamihira were active.
Decimal system and zero were developed by:
a) Brahmagupta
b) Aryabhatta
c) Bhaskaracharya
d) Patanjali
✅ Answer: a) Brahmagupta
👉 Built on Aryabhatta’s work during the later Gupta phase.
Who wrote Mudrarakshasa?
a) Kalidasa
b) Harisena
c) Vishakhadatta
d) Bharavi
✅ Answer: c) Vishakhadatta
👉 A political drama centered on Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya.
Which dynasty succeeded the Guptas?
a) Harshavardhana
b) Vardhanas of Thanesar
c) Maukharis
d) All of these
✅ Answer: d) All of these
👉 Post-Gupta India saw regional fragmentation.
Guptas promoted trade via:
a) Silk Route
b) Maritime links
c) Internal fairs
d) All of the above
✅ Answer: d) All of the above
👉 Economy flourished through diversified trade.
Gupta rulers mainly used what script?
a) Tamil
b) Devanagari
c) Brahmi
d) Kharosthi
✅ Answer: c) Brahmi
👉 In a more developed form for inscriptions.
Who was the court astronomer of Chandragupta II?
a) Aryabhatta
b) Varahamihira
c) Kalidasa
d) Harisena
✅ Answer: b) Varahamihira
👉 Author of Brihatsamhita and Panchasiddhantika.

📚 Sources:

NCERT Class 6, 12 (Themes I)
Lucent GK
Spectrum – Ancient India
Drishti Bihar Special
BPSC PYQs (63rd–70th)