Prelims 2016 · Q89
MediumWith reference to the cultural history of India, the memorizing of chronicles, dynastic histories and epic tales was the profession of who of the following?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) Maagadha
The Maagadha (Magadha) belonged, along with the sutas, to the bardic tradition of ancient India, whose members sang the deeds of kings and heroes and kept dynastic memories alive by recitation. The other three options are not bardic professions: a shramana and a parivrajaka are wandering renouncers, and an agraharika is linked to an agrahara land grant.
- ✓ (d) Bards kept ancient tradition alive by memory and recitation. NCERT notes that the original Mahabharata story was probably composed by charioteer-bards called sutas, and that such compositions circulated orally. University study material adds that the bardic tradition emerged from the Sutas and Magadhas, the earliest authors of the Itihasas and Puranas, and that Kautilya lists the pauranika, the suta and the Magadha among the king's salaried officials for the Itihasa and Purana.
- ✗ (a) A shramana ("one who strives") is a renouncer who left household life for an ascetic path, as in the Buddhist and Jain traditions; it is not the name of a bard.
- ✗ (b) A parivrajaka is a wanderer who has given up settled life, not a keeper of dynastic histories.
- ✗ (c) An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, usually free of land revenue; an agraharika is linked to such a grant, not to reciting chronicles.
Remember · Sutas and Maagadhas were the bards of ancient India who remembered and recited royal deeds, genealogies and epic tales; shramanas and parivrajakas were renouncers.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 3 “The original story was probably composed by charioteer-bards known as sutas who generally accompanied Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating their victories and other achievements.”
- NCERT Class 9 · Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 5 “Contemporary sources refer to them by different terms, such as parivrajaka (wanderer), bhikshu (one who lives by begging alms), or shramana (one who strives).”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 2 “An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king”
- University of Calicut (School of Distance Education): Selected Themes in Indian Historiography, Historical Consciousness in India ↗ · reference work “The bards used to sing the stories of the heroes who always moved from one place to another. The bardic tradition emerged from the Sutas and Magadhas who were actually the earliest authors of Ithihasas and Puranas.”
- Utkal University (Directorate of Distance & Continuing Education): Indian Historiography, M.A. History Paper VII ↗ · reference work “We are also informed by Kautilya that “the pauranika, the suta and the Magadha” were three officials of salaried class retained by a king or prince for listening to the Itihasa and Purana.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·