Rise of Territorial Kingdoms and New Religious Sects Online Test 11th History Questions in English

Explanation
Aryans began migrating eastwards from about 1000 BCE. As they moved eastwards, they encountered thick forests.

Explanation 

Iron played a significant role in the clearing of the forest. The fertile soil of the Gangetic valley and the use of iron ploughshares improved agricultural productivity

Explanation 

Iron also played a big role in improving craft production such as pottery, carpentry and metal working. This in turn paved the way for urbanization.

Explanation 

The movement of the Indo-Aryans towards the east was aimed at accessing the iron ore of south Bihar and gaining a near monopoly over it. The iron ore was responsible for the political dominance attained by the state of Magadha. -D.D. Kosambi.

Explanation 

Iron axes and iron ploughs led to the expansion of area under cultivation in the Ganges valley. -R.S. Sharma. 

That the use of iron axe and iron plough facilitated clearing of forests and generation of agricultural surplus is a myth because even as late as 16th and 17th centuries the Gangetic plain was heavily forested. -Makkhan Lal. 

The forests of Ganges region could have been cleared by means of fire. -A. Ghosh and Niharranjan Ray

Explanation 

The epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, the dharmasastras, Buddhist texts such as the Tripitakas and Jatakas, Jaina texts and Greek accounts such as that of Arrian constitute literary sources for the period.

Explanation 

Agriculture improved during this phase of development in the middle Gangetic plains. Wet rice cultivation began to yield more produce of rice than other crops, thus creating the necessary agrarian surplus. Protected irrigation alone was not responsible for the surplus production of rice. Iron technology also played a crucial role.

Explanation 

Agricultural surplus, the growth of crafts and trade, and the growing population led to the emergence of towns in the Gangetic plains. This is called the second urbanisation in Indian history after the first urbanisation evident in the Harappan Civilization.

Explanation Different types of towns came into being: 

1. Political and administrative centres such as Rajgriha, Shravasti, Kaushambi and Champa 
2. Centres of trade and commerce such as Ujjain and Taxila 
3. Holy centres such as Vaishali.

Explanation 

The Later Vedic period (900–600 BCE) witnessed the transition from a tribal polity based on lineage to a territorial state 

Explanation 

The janas who migrated eastwards began to settle down in various regions. The loyalty of the people shifted from jana (tribe or clan) to janapada (territory)

Explanation 

Janapada literally meant ‘the place where the tribe sets its foot upon.’ The janapadas fought with one another for resources and political dominance. Some janapadas extended their territories and brought various janas within their jurisdiction. Such janapadas grew into mahajanapadas.

Explanation 

Territory, people, government and sovereignty are important elements of a state. All these elements were found in some of the mahajanapadas.

Explanation 

The mahajanapadas represented the emergence of territorial kingdoms that ruled over people (jana). The king headed the government aided by a centralised administration. The king was also the sovereign ruler. The king levied taxes out of agricultural surplus and redistributed it and ensured maintenance of law and order in a hierarchical society by force and coercion. These features marked the formation of state in the Gangetic plains.

Explanation 

According to Puranic, Buddhist and Jaina traditions, there were sixteen mahajanapadas.

1. Gandhara 2. Kamboja 3. Assaka 4. Vatsa 5. Avanti 6. Shurasena 7. Chedi 8. Malla 9. Kuru 10. Panchala 11. Matsya 12. Vajji (Vrijji) 13. Anga 14. Kasi 15. Kosala 16. Magadha

Explanation 

The proto-states of the Gangetic region were known as janapadas and comprised chiefdoms, republics and small kingdoms. Sixteen mahajanapadas find mention in the early texts. There were also ganasanghas or oligarchies, which were centred on clans

Explanation 

The Vrijjis were one of the best known of the gana-sanghas, and Vaishali was their capital in the Mithila region. These kingdoms did not come under the single decision-making authority of a king but decisions were taken on a collective basis by the heads of the different clans together.

Explanation 

There were also smaller kingdoms such as Kosala and Kasi. It is interesting to note that the names of the clans, such as Ikshvaku and Vrishni, as well as these early kingdoms, are all mentioned in the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata

Explanation 

The mahajanapadas on the Gangetic plains were all monarchies. Vedic orthodoxy was an established practice in these kingdoms. The priestly class enjoyed a preeminent status in the mahajanapadas unlike in the gana-sanghas. The kingdoms were governed by kings and the administration was centralised. The brahman priests provided legitimacy to the king through various rituals.

Explanation 

The brahman priests provided legitimacy to the king through various rituals. The kingship was hereditary and the succession was in most cases based on the law of primogeniture. The king was assisted by councils called parishad and sabha. The councils were advisory in nature

Explanation

The king appropriated the agricultural surplus through land revenue apart from a few other taxes. Bali was a tax imposed based on the area of cultivable land. Bhaga was obtained as a share of the produce. Kara and Shulka were some of the other taxes collected during this period.

Explanation 

The richer landowners were called grihapatis. These landowners employed labourers called dasas or karmakaras. The smaller landowners were known as kassakas or krishakas.

Explanation 

The society was stratified on the basis of varna. It emerged as a marker of status. Cultivators and artisans were identified as the shudras. A new social category that emerged during this period was placed below the shudras in the social hierarchy and considered untouchables. They were forced to live on the fringes of the settlements and subsisted on hunting and gathering their food.

Explanation

In the sixth and fifth centuries before the Common Era, north India underwent a remarkable intellectual awakening that profoundly impacted India and influenced its culture in subsequent millennia as well. The impact also swept across South Asia.

Explanation

Intellectual awakening was the outcome of questioning the existing philosophy by a host of heterodox thinkers. Gosala, Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Ajita Kesakambalin and other thinkers renounced the world and wandered across the Gangetic plains, contemplating and reflecting on the social and cultural scenario of their times.

Explanation

With urbanisation and expansion of trade, new classes of merchants and bankers such as sethis sought higher social status appropriate to their economic status.

Explanation 

A Buddhist text, Samannaphala Sutta, while making a reference to Ajatashatru of Magadha meeting Gautama Buddha, mentions that before his meeting, the former had a philosophical discourse with the leaders of the various sects such as Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambalin, Pakudha Kachchayana, Sanjaya Belatthiputta and Nigantha Nataputta (Mahavira).

Explanation 

They are described as “homeless wanderers” of longstanding (chira-pabbajito), founders of sects (tithakaro) and leaders of their orders (ganachariyo). These sects were the key rivals of Buddhism. Their doctrines were shown unsatisfactory while that of Buddha was acceptable to Ajatashatru.

Explanation
The Ajivikas are believed to have evolved from one of the many ascetic groups of the times. According to Buddhist records, Nanda Vaccha was considered the founder of the Ajivika sect.

Explanation 

Nanda Vaccha was succeeded by Kisa Samkicca, followed by Makkhali Gosala, who was the third and the greatest of the Ajivika

Explanation 

Gosala met Mahavira for the first time in Nalanda and their friendship lasted for six years. They separated due to doctrinal differences.

Explanation 

Gosala then went to Sravasti, where he was patronised by a rich potter woman called Halahala. The Ajivikas are believed to have evolved from one of the many ascetic groups of the times.

Explanation 

Gosala believed in the doctrine of reanimation, and criticised and ridiculed the severe austerities of the Vedic ascetics. Being rival sects, both the Buddhist and Jaina accounts portray Gosala as a person of vicious character.

Explanation 

Sravasti was the headquarters of the Ajivika sect. The Ajivikas were naked ascetics. Mahakhali Gosala is the third of the Ajivikas sect.

Explanation 

The basic principle of the Ajivikas was niyati or fate: they believed that nothing in this world could be changed as everything was predetermined. Everyone has to pass through a series of transmigrations to put an end to pain.

Explanation 

According to Ajivikas, there were six inevitable factors in life, viz. gain and loss, joy and sorrow, and life and death. Two other preachers, Purana Kassapa and Pakudha Kacchayana, joined the Ajivikas after the death of Gosala and infused new life to it.

Explanation 

Purana Kassapa held the view that actions did not have any merit or demerit. No evil is caused by torture, hurting and killing others. Similarly, no merit is acquired by generosity, self-control and truthful speech. Humans cannot change anything by action as everything is predetermined. According to him, nonaction is the way out of life.

Explanation 

Pakudha Kacchayana believed that the world was made of seven substances that were “unmade, irreducible, uncreated, barren, stable as a mountain peak, standing firm like a pillar – that do not alter, do not change, do not interfere with one another, are incapable of causing one another pleasure, pain or both pleasure and pain”.

Explanation 

The Ajivikas had rich lay disciples such as potters and bankers. The Ajivika sect spread across the length and breadth of the country, though their influence was much less compared to that of Buddhism and Jainism.

Explanation 

Manimekalai, Nilakesi and Sivagnanasiddhiyar have references to Ajivika doctrine. Nilakesi’s quest for truth takes her to Buddha and Puranan

Explanation 

Nilakesi’s quest for truth takes her to Buddha and Puranan. Puranan was the leader of the Ajivika sect. The Cholas are known to have levied a tax on the Ajivikas.

Explanation 

Ajita Kesakambalin (Ajita of the Hair Blanket) was a materialist. He believed that every human was made of four primary elements: fire, water, wind and sense. After death, these elements return to the earth. There is no life after death.

Explanation 

Ajita Kesakambalin said, “Generosity is taught by idiots. The words of those who speak of existence after death are false, empty chatter. With the breakup of the body, the wise and the foolish alike are annihilated, destroyed. They do not exist after death.”

Explanation 

The term “lokayata” signifies materialist thought. Indian materialism has also been named Carvaka after one of the two founders of the school. Carvaka and Ajita Kesakambalin are said to have established Indian materialism as a formal philosophical system. Carvakas developed the concept of scepticism and believed in the pursuit of knowledge through experience.

Explanation 

There was intense rivalry among the various heterodox sects. This is evident from the various religious accounts of the period. Buddhist and Jaina texts not only mention other heterodox sects but also belittle them. For example, Bhagavatisutra, a Jaina text, provides a poor account of Makkhali Gosala.

Explanation 

Jaina texts described Gosala as born to a poor mendicant in a cowshed. It accuses Gosala becoming a disciple of Mahavira for material comfort as the latter had many wealthy patrons. It describes “the greatest Ajivika teacher as a person of most contemptible character, a man of low parentage, and (sic) of low profession”.

Explanation 

Buddhagosa also ridicules Gosala in his commentaries. He describes Gosala as a servant fleeing naked from his master on committing a mistake even disregarding the fact that his garment had fallen. A Buddhist Jataka story “compares the heretics with the fire-flies, whose faint light faded before the rising glory of the sun, i.e., the Buddha”.

Explanation 

Among the various sects, the sect led by Vardhamana Mahavira (referred to as Nigantha Nataputta by Buddhist texts) bloomed into a religion called Jainism. It was earlier known as Nirgranthas (free from bonds)

Explanation 

Mahavira was known as Jina (conqueror) of the soul and because of him, his sect came to be known as Jainism. 

Explanation 

According to Jain tradition, Mahavira was not the founder of Jainism, but the last of the 24 Tirthankaras or ‘maker of fords’ (ford means a shallow place in river or stream to allow one to walk across).

Explanation 

According to Jaina tradition, Risabha was the founder of the sect. He is considered the first Tirthankara.

Explanation 

Yajur Veda mentions three of the Tirthankaras, viz., Risabha, Ajitanatha and Aristanemi. Mahavira organised his members into monastic and lay followers.

Explanation 

Vardhamana was born around 540 BCE in Kundagrama, a suburb of Vaishali. He was a member of the ruling family of a gana-sangha and his father Siddhartha was the chief of the Jnatrika clan. His mother Trishala was a Lichchavi princess and sister of its chief Chetaka. Mahavira was closely connected to rulers of Magadha, Anga and Videha through his mother.

Explanation 

During the course of his wanderings, Mahavira met Gosala and spent six years with him before they parted due to differences.

Explanation

From his childhood, Mahavira was attracted to spiritual life. After the death of his parents, he left his home at the age of 30 and wandered about as a mendicant for 12 years in search of true knowledge. He practiced severe austerities and discarded his garment.

Explanation 

In the 13th year of his wandering, at the age of 42, Vardhamana attained enlightenment or Nirvana. He then became a Tirthankara and came to be called a Jina or Mahavira (the Great Conqueror).

Explanation

Mahavira died about 468 BCE at the age of 72 in Pavapuri near Rajgriha. He fasted unto death according to Jaina ideals. His death or final liberation was a joyous event for the Jains.

Explanation 

Mahavira had a huge following. In the early stages, his followers were drawn from different sections of the society. However, in course of time, Jainism was confined to the trading and money-lending community. Jainism’s insistence on non-violence closed other occupations, including agriculture, as it prescribed refraining from intended or unintended killing.

Explanation 

About 500 years after Mahavira’s death, in about 79 or 82 CE, a schism occurred in Jainism. Magadha was affected by severe famine and some of the Jaina monks under Bhadrabahu went south to maintain their strict discipline

Explanation 

Jaina monks under Bhadrabahu remained without garments and were known as Digambaras (space-clad or naked).

Explanation 

Others stayed back under the leadership of Sthulabhadra and adopted a white garment and were known as Svetambaras (white-clad). The schism weakened Jainism in Magadha, but it found ardent followers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka. 

Explanation 

On the death of Bhadrabahu, Shulabhadra held a Great Council at Pataliputra, which compiled the Jaina canon. It consisted of 12 angas (limbs).

Explanation 

On the death of Bhadrabahu, Shulabhadra held a Great Council at Pataliputra, which compiled the Jaina canon. It consisted of 12 angas (limbs).

Explanation 

Another council was held in Valabhi, Gujarat, in the 5th century CE. It added 12 upangas (minor sections). The Jaina monks not only wrote religious treatises but also promoted secular literature.

Explanation 

The Jaina monks not only wrote religious treatises but also promoted secular literature. Acharrangasutra, Sutrakritanga, and Kalpasutra are the earliest Jaina texts

Explanation 

Most of the early Jaina texts were written in Ardha-Magadhi, which was the language of common people.

Explanation 

The central tenet of Jainism is non-violence. No other religion lays as much emphasis on non-violence as does Jainism. It also criticises human emotions. Jainism denies the existence of God.

Explanation 

In its early stages, deity was not worshipped in Jainism. It emphasises that salvation cannot be attained by worshipping god or by sacrifices. It stipulates that one can escape misery only by performing austerities.

Explanation 

Jainism advocated dualism: the world is made of soul (jiva) and matter (ajiva), which are eternal. The coming together of jiva and ajiva creates karma (action), which leads to an endless cycle of birth and rebirth.  

Explanation 

Mahavira rejected Vedic authority. Hence, Jainism is an unorthodox religion. According to Jainism, the world has no beginning or end. It goes through a series of progress and decline according to an eternal law. To free oneself from karma, one has to practice severe austerities and self-mortification. Therefore, in Jainism, only monks could achieve liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth.

Explanation

Jain discipline requires adherence to certain rigorous rules. The Jains are required to follow three principles called Triratnas or Three Gems. (1) Right faith (samyag-darshana); (2) Right knowledge (samyag-jnana); (3) Right conduct (samyag-mahavrata)

Explanation 

The monks have to undertake the five great vows (pancha-mahavrata): (1) Not to kill or injure (ahimsa); (2) Not to steal (asteya); (3) Not to lie (satya); (4) Celibacy (brahmacharya); (5) Not to possess property (aparigraha).

Explanation

The five vows are common to both the monks and lay followers. The monks were to observe the vows more rigorously than the lay followers. As Jainism placed great emphasis on non-violence, strict observers of the faith wear a muslin cloth around their mouth and nose so that they would not inhale small insects even by mistake. To avoid trampling on ants and other insects, Jain monks used feathers to sweep the path before walking. 

Explanation

Jains could not practice agriculture or other crafts that involve killing or injury to living organisms. Hence, they took to trading and money-lending and excelled in it. As a result, they were closely associated with urbanisation.

Explanation 

Jainism is an egalitarian religion. It does not sanction any inequality based on birth. It is one’s deeds that determine one’s status in society and not birth. Jainism believes that “by one’s action one becomes a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, or a Vaishya, or a Sudra.” Pride based on birth is considered a sin. Women were admitted into the monastic order. However, as a woman one cannot attain salvation. By accumulating merit by good deeds, a woman could be reborn as a man and then strive to attain salvation.

Explanation 

Jainism spread to Tamil Nadu from about the third century CE. Jaina rock shelters are found in large numbers around Madurai and other places.

Explanation

Jaina influence is strong in early Tamil literature. Naladiyar, Palamoli, Jivaka Chinthamani, Yapperunkalam Karikai, Neelakesi are some of the prominent Jaina works in Tamil. 

Explanation 

As early as c. 470 CE a Jaina Dravida Sangha was established in Madurai by Vajranandi, a disciple of Boojya Padha. Jainism has survived in Tamil Nadu and there are several Jaina temples. One of the Jaina temples is at Tiruparuthikunram near Kanchipuram with beautiful ceiling paintings. This part of Kanchipuram was known as Jaina Kanchi.

Explanation 

Absence of royal patronage, split amongst Jains as Digambaras and Swetambaras, lack of missionary zeal, factionalism and the severity of practices, and spread of Buddhism as a rival faith led to the decline of Jainism in India.

Explanation 

Among the heterodox sects, Buddhism was the most popular. It went on to emerge as a powerful religion patronised by various rulers. It was so influential that its ideas were adopted by Asoka as a state policy. Though it virtually disappeared from India for nearly a millennium, it spread far and wide and is widely followed even today in the South-east and East Asian countries. In the mid-twentieth century it was revived in India by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Explanation 

Gautama Buddha was born as Siddhartha in the Sakya clan to its king Suddhodhana and his chief queen Mahamaya. His mother Mahamaya dreamt of a white elephant with six tusks entering her womb when she was pregnant.

Explanation

Buddha married Yashodhara and had a son named Rahula. When he was riding on his chariot with his charioteer one day outside the palace, he saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and finally a religious mendicant.

Explanation 

When Buddha was riding on his chariot with his charioteer one day outside the palace, he saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and finally a religious mendicant. Overcome by remorse at the misery of people, he left his palace in the dead of night in search of eternal truth. He cut his hair and sent it along with his discarded garments and jewellery to his father. This is known as Mahabhiraskramana or the Great Going Forth.

Explanation
Buddha rode in his chariot pulled by his favourite horse Kanthaka and driven by his charioteer Channa far away from the city.

Explanation 

Siddhartha wandered about and joined Alara Kalama as a disciple for a brief period. He also sought guidance from a hermit Uddaka Ramaputta. Siddartha was not satisfied with their path and practised severe austerities, which left him nearly dead.

Explanation 

One day, Siddhartha ate rice boiled in milk given by a milkmaid named Sujata and began meditation under a pipal tree in Bodhgaya.

Explanation 

After 49 days of meditation, Buddha attained enlightenment, at the age of 35. Thereafter, he came to be called Buddha or the Enlightened.

Explanation 

Buddha delivered his first sermon in a deer park in Sarnath near Varanasi. This event is described as Dharmachakra-parivartana or ‘wheel of the great law’.

Explanation 

Buddha spoke about the Four Noble Truths and the Middle Path. He established Sangha and spread his ideas far and wide. Buddha and his followers travelled for eight months of the year and stayed at a place for four months of the rainy season.

Explanation 

At the age of 80, he passed away in Kusinagara. This is known as Parinirvana. The prominent disciples of Buddha were Sariputta, Mahamoggallana, Mahakaccayana and Ananda. Buddha had a huge following among both the royalty and lay persons.

Explanation 

After the death of Buddha, the tenets and other aspects of Buddhism were decided upon in the councils of Buddhist monks. Over a period of time, four Buddhist councils were held.

Explanation 

The First Buddhist Council was held at Rajgriha after Buddha’s death. It was headed by Upali. In this council, Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka. Ananda recited Sutta Pitaka. The Second Buddhist Council met at Vaishali a century after Buddha’s death. The Buddhist Order split into two later.

Explanation 

The Third Buddhist Council was held at Pataliputra. It was convened by Asoka. The Sthaviravadins established themselves strongly and expelled the heretics.

Explanation 

The Fourth Buddhist Council was held at Kashmir during the reign of Kanishka. Sarvastivadins were an important sect of Buddhism. Its doctrines were compiled in Mahavibhasa.

Explanation 

In course of time, Sthaviravadins, Mahasanghikas and Sarvastivadins emerged as major sects of Buddhism. New ideas emerged among the Sarvastivadins and Mahasanghikas. It led to the emergence of Mahayana and Hinayana (the Great and Lesser Vehicles) in Buddhism. Mahayana or the Great Vehicle became popular and influential in India. Nalanda University was an important centre of Buddhist learning and was patronised by the Palas.

Explanation 

Hinayana or the Lesser Vehicle became popular in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and other South-east Asian countries. By the end of the Gupta period, Vajrayana or the Vehicle of the Thunderbolt emerged. It was popular in Bengal and Bihar.

Explanation 

Vajrayana was influenced by primitive local cults and spread to Tibet in the 11th century CE. The Vikramasila University in Bihar was an important centre of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Explanation 

Buddhism in India began to decline with the onset of the Bhakti movement. Slowly Buddhism came to be influenced by Hindu practices. Soon, Buddhism was incorporated into Hinduism, and Buddha came to be considered as an avatar of Vishnu in some traditions.

Explanation

The Buddhist texts were compiled in Pali. The Pali canons are called as the Tripitakas (Three Baskets). They are Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

Explanation 

Vinaya Pitaka deals with monastic rules and moral disciplines. Sutta Pitaka dwells upon discourses and teachings of Buddha. Abhidhamma Pitaka expounds Buddhist philosophy

Explanation 

Other important Buddhist works include Milinda Panha, a discussion between Greco-Bactrian king Menander and Buddhist monk Nagasena, and Ceylonese chronicles Dipavamsa (Island Chronicles), Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle) and Culavamsa (Lesser Chronicle).

Explanation 

Born in a family renowned for purity of conduct and great spiritual devotion, the Bodhisattva became a great scholar and teacher. With no desire for wealth, he went to a forest and led a life of an ascetic. It was in this forest he encountered a starving tigress, which after giving birth to cubs was about to eat her own new born cubs for survival. With no food in sight, the Bodhisattva offered his body as food to the tigress out of compassion

Explanation 

The four noble truths prescribed by Buddha are as follows: 1. The Noble Truth of Suffering: Birth, age, death, unpleasantness, separation, unfulfilled wish. 2. The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering: thirst for pleasure, power, long life, etc. are the causes for sorrow. 3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (Nirvana): complete stopping or release from sorrow. 4. The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to Cessation of Suffering: the Noble Eight fold path or the middle path

Explanation 

Buddhism believed in karma and the doctrine of rebirth. Past actions determine one’s condition in this birth. To be free from karma or the cycle of rebirth is to attain nirvana. It can be attained by following the Middle Path.

Explanation 

Buddha’s Middle or Eightfold Path 

(1) Right Views; (2) Right Resolve; (3) Right Speech; (4) Right Conduct; (5) Right Livelihood; (6) Right Effort; (7) Right Recollection; (8) Right Meditation.

Explanation 

Buddha did not mention or talk about God. He neither accepted nor denied the existence of God. Buddhism advocated equality. It preached non-violence or ahimsa and love towards all. However, it was a moderate religion compared to Jainism’s insistence on ahimsa.

Explanation 

Buddhism spread to Tamizhagam from about third century BCE. Asokan inscriptions found in the Deccan region vouch for the spread of Buddhism to southern parts of India. Archaeological evidences also reveal the existence of a Buddhist complex of the fourth century CE in Kaveripattinam.

Explanation 

Manimekalai by Sattanar one of the twin epics (Silapathigaram) of the post-Sangam age is a Buddhist literature. Similarly, the now extinct Kundalakesi is a Buddhist epic. Kanchipuram in the early Christian era was a flourishing Buddhist centre.

Explanation 

Dinnaga and Dhammapala who headed the famous Nalanda University were renowned Buddhist scholars from Kanchipuram. Hiuen Tsang who visited Tamil country mentions in his travel accounts about several Buddhist Stupas built by Asoka in Kanchipuram

Explanation 

A Buddhist temple was built in Nagapattinam at the request of a Chinese ruler during the reign of Pallava king Narasimhavarman II (CE 695-722). Chinese monk Wu-hing visited the monastery

Explanation 

In CE 1006, during the reign of Rajaraja I, Srivijaya King Mara-wijayottungga-varman built a Buddhist temple in Nagapattinam. It is called the Soolamani-varma-vihara.

Explanation 

Buddhism faced divisions from time to time. Division into various splinter groups like ‘Hinayana’, ‘Mahayana’, ‘Vajrayana’, ‘Tantrayana’ and ‘Sahajayana’ led Buddhism to lose its originality.

Explanation 

Pali and Prakrit were the spoken languages of people of north India and it was through these languages the message of Buddhism was spread. But ever since the times of Fourth Buddhist Council held during the reign of Kanishka, Sanskrit had come to be adopted. Buddhism thereupon became unintelligible to common people.

Explanation 

Buddhism also lost its royal patronage after Harshavardhana. In contrast, the Vedic religion got royal patronage first from Pushyamitra Sunga and later from imperial Guptas. The role of the exponents of Bhakti movement like Ramanuja, Ramananda also helped to restore the glory of Vedic religion.

Explanation 

The invasion of Huns gave a deathblow to Buddhism. Toramana and Mihirakula, the two Hun chiefs had a deepseated hatred for the Buddhists and they almost liquidated the Buddhists living in the north-west India.