CBSE Class 9 Social Science Chapter 05 State And Society Up To 1000 Ce MCQs Set 03

Answer: (A) A society is held together mainly by customs and shared practices, while a state is organised through formal laws and institutions

Explanation:
A society rests on informal bonds of custom, shared culture, and belonging, whereas a state is built around formal rules, rights, duties, and mechanisms for enforcing law and order.

Answer: (A) The Indus river along with its five tributaries and the Sarasvati

Explanation:
Sapta-Sindhu literally connects to the network of the Indus, its five tributaries, and the Sarasvati river, the area where the earliest Rigvedic hymns took shape.

Answer: (B) Hymns meant to ward off evil as well as verses connected to curing physical and mental ailments

Explanation:
Unlike the Samaveda's musical hymns or the Yajurveda's ritual prose, the Atharvaveda is described as containing a mix of protective charms against evil and verses concerned with treating illness.

Answer: (A) Keralaputras with the Cheras, and Satiyaputras with a kingdom in northern Tamil Nadu

Explanation:
The chapter notes that alongside the Cholas and Pandyas, Ashoka's edicts refer to the Keralaputras, identified with the Cheras of Kerala, and the Satiyaputras, located in northern Tamil Nadu.

Answer: (B) Killing a cow, acts of treachery, and drinking intoxicating liquor

Explanation:
While the king also judged everyday cases like abduction, robbery, and theft, the text reserves its harshest penalties—up to capital punishment—for offences such as cow-killing, treachery, and consuming intoxicants.

Answer: (B) They broadened into a wider category called kumaramatyas, who served as local or provincial administrators

Explanation:
The Guptas retained much of Kautilya's framework but expanded it, so the older amatya category grew to include kumaramatyas handling administration at the local and provincial level.

Answer: (B) A group of villages, similar to a modern tahsil

Explanation:
Vithi referred to a cluster of villages in the north, comparable to the southern terms pattala and kurram, and roughly equivalent to a present-day tahsil.

Answer: (B) Head district officer, chief banker, chief caravan trader, chief artisan, and chief of revenue collection

Explanation:
This Gupta-era inscription lists a five-member district office made up of the head officer along with representatives of banking, caravan trade, craft, and revenue collection.

Answer: (B) It was regarded as sacred, with the student treated much like a member of the teacher's own household

Explanation:
Living at the guru's home, students shared a close, mutually supportive relationship with the teacher, who guided them not just academically but as part of an extended family.

Answer: (A) Textiles, gems, coral, pearls, metals, and minerals

Explanation:
The text credits Magadha with a fairly diverse trade in textiles, precious stones, coral, pearls, metals, and minerals across northern, central, and southern India.

Answer: (D) Takshashila

Explanation:
Muziris, Kaveripattinam, and Arikamedu were bustling coastal ports central to India's maritime trade, whereas Takshashila is described in the chapter as a major hub of education and learning.

Answer: (A) Forests, crops, plants, and manure

Explanation:
This detail is cited to show how agricultural and botanical knowledge was systematically recorded in classical Sanskrit literature, alongside evidence from Sangam texts.

Answer: (B) Winning the title of adhiraja and pushing his conquests as far as the Himalayas

Explanation:
His campaigns, celebrated in Sangam poetry, are presented as an early southern example of the pan-Indian ambition to extend royal authority toward the Himalayas.

Answer: (A) That the varna system was originally meant to be functional, based on roles and conduct rather than fixed by birth

Explanation:
• The quote challenges the idea that varna status was purely hereditary.
• It reinforces the chapter's argument that varna began as a value-based, functional division.
• Over time, however, this flexibility gradually diminished, giving way to more rigid jati categories.

Answer: (A) Dharma, artha, kama, and moksha

Explanation:
The four purusharthas—righteousness, material well-being, desire, and liberation—together were seen as necessary for a fulfilling human life, with dharma expected to guide the pursuit of the others.

Answer: (A) Samiti

Explanation:
The samiti functioned as a bigger gathering focused on political affairs and policy, standing apart from the sabha, which was a smaller elite body handling judicial matters, and the vidhata, which was a general community forum for discussing warfare.

Answer: (A) Agriculture, pastoralism, and trade

Explanation:
Vaishyas were tied to productive economic roles such as farming, herding, and commerce, while also taking part in scriptural study and charitable giving alongside their economic duties.

Answer: (A) A patrilineal lineage traced back to a common ancestor, usually a Vedic sage

Explanation:
Gotra denoted descent through the male line from an ancestral rishi, and this lineage identity mattered a great deal in deciding whom a person could marry.

Answer: (A) Communities were often identified through both their people and the ruling family that led them

Explanation:
Naming a jana after the family that ruled it shows how early group identity blended kinship, leadership, and collective belonging rather than resting on territory alone.

Answer: (A) Lopamudra

Explanation:
Lopamudra is named alongside Apala, Vishvavara, and Ghosha as a woman sage traditionally credited with composing Rigvedic hymns.
The other three names belong to different periods and contexts: Sembiyan Mahadevi was a Chola-era patron of temples, Prabhavati Gupta was a Vakataka regent, and Avvaiyar was a Sangam-age poetess.

Answer: (A) Avvaiyar was a celebrated poetess of the Sangam age

Explanation:
Avvaiyar is mentioned as one of the notable poetesses of Sangam literature, whereas Ghosha belongs to the Rigvedic period and Sembiyan Mahadevi to the Chola era, and Lopamudra had no connection with irrigation works.

Answer: (A) The Pandyas were symbolised by the fish

Explanation:
The fish stood for the Pandyas, the bow for the Cheras, and the tiger for the Cholas — so any combination mixing these up is incorrect.

Answer: (A) Vendar of Tamilakam

Explanation:
Known collectively as the 'Vendar of Tamilakam' or the three crowned kings, these rulers presided over fertile, rice-growing kingdoms celebrated in Sangam verse. Adhiraja, by contrast, was a personal title earned by individual kings such as the Chera ruler Nedunjeral Adan after military victories.

Answer: (A) Poompuhar (Kaveripattinam) and Kanyakumari

Explanation:
One route joined Kanchipuram with the port of Poompuhar, also called Kaveripattinam, while the second linked it to Kanyakumari, illustrating how Tamil trade networks reached both a major port and the southern tip of the peninsula.

Answer: (A) The council could take decisions on its own in the public interest during the king's absence

Explanation:
This detail shows that governance was not entirely dependent on the king's constant presence.
• The mantri-parishad normally advised and supported the ruler.
• In exceptional situations, it could act independently to serve public interest.
• This indicates a degree of institutional continuity beyond the person of the king.