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Thinkers, Beliefs And Buildings
“The mid-first millennium BCE in often regarded as a turning point in world history.” Justify the statement.
The mid first millennium BCE is often regarded as turning point in World History: it saw the emergence of thinkers such as Zarathustra in Iran, Kengzib China, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Greece, and Mahavira and Gautama Buddha, among many others in India. They tried to understand the mysteries of existence and the relationship between human beings and the cosmic order. This was also the time when new kingdoms and cities were developing and social and economic life was changing in a variety of ways in the Ganga Valley. These thinkers attempted to understand these developments as well.
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Explain the variety of sources used by the historians to reconstruct histories of religious traditions.
Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.
Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.
Or
“The Begums of Bhopal played a significant role in preserving the remains of stupa at Sanchi.” Support this statement with suitable evidence.
Read this short inscription and answer the questions that follow:
In the year 33 of the maharaja Huvishka (a Kushana ruler), in the first month of the hot season on the eighth day, a Bodhisatta was set up at Madhuvanaka by the bhikkhuni Dhanavati, the sister’s daughter of the bhikkhuni Buddhamita, who knows the Tipitaka, the female pupil of the bhikkhu Bala, who knows the Tipitaka, together with her father and mother.
A. How did Dhanavati date her inscription?
B. Why do you think she installed an image of the Bodhisatta?
C. Who were the relatives she mentioned?
D. What Buddhist text did she know?
E From whom did she learn this text?
Why do you think women and men joined the Sangha?
To what extent does knowledge of Buddhist literature help in understanding the sculpture at Sanchi?
Figures I and II. are two scenes from Sanchi. Describe what you see in each of them, focusing on the architecture, plants and animals, and the activities. Identify which one shows a rural scene and which an urban scene, giving reasons for your answer.
Fig.: I
Fig. : II
Discuss the development in sculpture and architecture associated with the rise of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.
Discuss how and why stupas were built.
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