Prelims 1998 · archive
MediumWhich of the following pairs are correctly matched?
- 1.Mrichchakatikam – Shudraka
- 2.Buddhacharita – Vasubandhu
- 3.Mudrarakshasa – Vishakadatta
- 4.Harshacharita – Banabhatta
Select the correct answer using the codes:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 1, 3, and 4
Mrichchakatikam is by Shudraka, Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta and Harshacharita by Banabhatta. Buddhacharita is by Ashvaghosha, not Vasubandhu.
- ✓ 1. Shudraka wrote the Mrichchakatikam.
- ✗ 2. Buddhacharita is by Ashvaghosha; Vasubandhu was a Buddhist philosopher.
- ✓ 3. Vishakhadatta wrote the Mudrarakshasa.
- ✓ 4. Banabhatta, Harsha's court poet, wrote the Harshacharita.
Remember · Buddhacharita – Ashvaghosha; Mudrarakshasa – Vishakhadatta; Harshacharita – Banabhatta.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 3 “Shudraka wrote Mrcchakatikam, which is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Vishakhadatta's Mudraraksasam was written two hundred years later”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj (see Map 3), composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta”
- Ashvaghosha, Britannica ↗ · reference work “the Buddhacarita (“The Life of Buddha”), in verse, and the Mahalankara (“Book of Glory”)”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 1998, General Studies paper. UPSC did not publish an answer key for 1998: the answer shown is the one the sources above support. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 24 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·