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Quiz 1: The Story of India
Please answer these questions using complete sentences with
proper grammar and punctuation.Points will be deducted for
neglecting to do so. You may wish to answer these questions on a
separate
sheet(s) of notebook paper. Good luck!
1.) According to scientists, first man left Africa 70 to 80
thousand years ago and went to what towhat modern state in India?
In what region of India is this state located?ANS: According to
scientists, the first man to leave Africa travelled north along the
east coast of Africa, east across the southern portion of the
Arabian Peninsula, and down the west coast of
India to the modern state of Kerala. Kerala is located in the
southern region of India.
2.) What scientific evidence was presented in the video to
support this claim? What practice in thevillage at Tamil Nadu has
preserved their gene pool? Please explain. ANS: Geneticists,
includingProfessor R.M. Pitchappan of Madurai Kamaraj University
found the M-130 genetic markers of the first man to migrate from
Africa, in a group of villagers in Tamil Nadu. He performed a
salivatest on the villagers there, who maintain the practice of
marrying first cousins, and have thus
preserved their gene pool. It turns out that all the people of
the village are carriers of the M-130gene, and are therefore
genetically linked to the first men of Africa.
3.) What class of Indian society performs the 12-day long ritual
of the god of fire and how has thistradition been transmitted (or
passed down) over the centuries? ANS: The Brahmans, or class of
priests, are responsible for performing the god of fire ritual.
Through the oral tradition of fathersin the Brahman class teaching
their sons the chants, or incantations, this tradition has now
beenpassed down for many centuries (thousands of years).
4.) What is the purpose of the ritual of the god of fire? What
dramatic act concludes the ceremony?ANS: The purpose of the god of
fire ritual is to cleanse or purify the world of evil and to start
theafresh. After 12 days of the Brahman priests praying inside the
enclosures and remaining therewith their wives, the wood and straw
buildings that were specifically made for this ritual arethen
burned. No trace is said to be left of the ceremony, except in the
memory of the reciters,
the Brahman priests.
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5.) In 1922 British and Indian archaeologists discovered an
ancient civilization previously not knownto exist? What was the
name of this empire and in what modern countries was it located?
ANS:In 1921 and 1922, British and Indian archaeologists came to
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro,respectively. There they discovered
exciting evidence of Indias pre -history, a civilization that,like
the other great ancient civilizations of Iraq, Egypt and China, had
grown up on a river. The
city of Harappa was located on the now dried up bed of a
tributary of the Indus River in what isnow Pakistan, which was part
of India prior to its partition in 1947. The Harappan
Empirestretched from the Himalaya Mountains to the coast of the
Arabian Sea, including the countriesof India and Pakistan.
6.) What geographic feature played a vital role in the
development of this civilization? What is thename of the city in
that civilization that was compared to modern-day Manhattan (New
York)?ANS: The monsoons (rainy season) which fed the Indus River,
which provided fresh water forirrigation, and silt for fertile land
in which to grow crops were significant in the development of this
civilization. Mohenjo-Daro is the name of the ancient city located
to the south of Harappa
that was compared to modern-day Manhattan.
7.) What was the significance to this society of the advent of
agriculture, and how did that practicediffer from the way in which
people previously sustained themselves? Where was the practiceof
agriculture said to have come from? ANS: Agriculture, or the
deliberate production of foodby farming, created surpluses of food.
These surpluses allowed for the development of civilization. Prior
to agriculture, people sustained themselves by hunting and
gathering food.Agriculture is said to have developed in the near
east and then spread to other places.
8.) When was this empire said to have begun? What activity did
this civilization engage in thatrequired use of the sea? The empire
was said to have begun around 3500 B.C. The civilizationwas made up
of traders in ivory, teak and lapis lazuli. They traveled by boat
and traded just asthe people of modern India and Pakistan do.
9.) What did Dr. Sanjeev Gupta (in London) suggest was the cause
for this civilizations demise?Where did the people then move
to?
ANS: Dr. Gupta suggested that climate change (as we are
experiencing today) in the form of a
gradual decrease in the strength of the Indian summer monsoon
over the past 10,000 years, butparticularly dramatic around 3500
B.C., was a key to the drying up and shifting of the rivers. So,the
mature Harappan Civilization disappeared and moved eastward to the
central part of theGanges Plain.
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10.) The Rig-Veda, or Hindu scriptures, were written in what
ancient language? What other classicallanguages does this language
have amazing parallels to?ANS: The Rig-Veda was written in
Sanskrit, which we learned shares striking similarities to
theclassical languages of Greek and Latin.
Bonus (5 Points): What word or words can you recall from these
languages are strikingly similar. Please
state the words, correlate (link) them to their original
language and state the meaning of the word.
ANS:
Father in Latin and Greek is Pater and in Sanskrit is Pitar
Mother in Latin is Mater. I n Greek, mother is Meter . In
Sanskrit, mother is Matar.
