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Prelims · Ancient India · 8 questions

Vedic age & the Mahajanapadas

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Vedic age & the Mahajanapadas questions per year: 2016: 1, 2017: 0, 2018: 0, 2019: 0, 2020: 0, 2021: 0, 2022: 0, 2023: 0, 2024: 0, 2025: 1, 2026: 4 Asked in 3 of 11 years · most in 2026 (4)

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Prelims 2026 · Q3

Easy Provisional key

Consider the following statements:

I. Pali texts contain the first definite references to coins, e.g., kahapana, nikkha, kamsa, and kakanika.

II. The literary evidence from Pali texts is corroborated by archaeological evidence of punch-marked coins from many sites, most of them made of silver.

The above statements have been associated with which of the following?

  1. 1.Emergence of urban life
  2. 2.Transition to money economy

Select the answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Coins in the Pali (Buddhist) texts and the silver punch-marked coins found at many sites both belong to the age of the mahajanapadas (c. sixth century BCE). That age saw the Second Urbanisation of the Ganga valley, and coins came into use because trade was growing, so the evidence speaks to both urban life and a shift to money.

  • ✓ 1. Punch-marked coins appear alongside the rise of towns and cities in the Ganga valley (c. 600–500 BCE); coinage was a product of the growing urban trade of this period.
  • ✓ 2. Named coins such as the kahapana and actual silver punch-marked coins show exchange moving from barter towards payment in money.

Remember · Sixth century BCE: mahajanapadas, Second Urbanisation in the Ganga valley and the first Indian coins, silver punch-marked coins (kahapana in Pali texts).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2026 · Q10

Hard Provisional key

Consider the following statements about the Rigvedic period:

I. Irrigation from wells allowed agriculture to expand away from flood plains and strips on river margins into the present Punjab and Haryana plains having underground water levels reasonably close to the surface.

II. Draught-animal power was employed to draw up water out of the wells.

Which of the following information support/supports the above statements?

  1. 1.There is evidence in the Rigveda of the use of ashma chakra (stone pulley wheel) and ahava (strapped wooden pails) to draw up water.
  2. 2.Mention has been made in the Rigveda of the use of implements like parashu/kulisha (axe) and datra/sreni (sickle).
  3. 3.There is a history of the use of ox, even before the Rigveda, for ploughing the land and pulling the carts.

Select the answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

The two statements are about well irrigation and animal power. The Rigveda knows irrigation from wells, and a long prior use of oxen for ploughing and carts makes it plausible that the same animals worked the wells. Axes and sickles say nothing about wells or draught animals.

  • ✓ 1. The Rigveda knows irrigation from wells: the Vedic Heritage Portal (Ministry of Education) notes that Rigveda VII.49.2 lists well water among the kinds of irrigation water. UPSC's official key counts this item as supporting; we could not confirm the water-lifting detail in the item from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
  • ✗ 2. Axes (for clearing land) and sickles (for harvesting) are farming tools, but they have no bearing on drawing water from wells or on draught-animal power.
  • ✓ 3. Harappan seals and terracottas show the bull, terracotta plough models come from Banawali and Cholistan, and a ploughed field was found at Kalibangan; oxen already served as draught animals before the Rigveda.

Remember · Inference questions: keep only the evidence that bears on the claim. Well irrigation and older ox use support the Rigvedic statements; tool lists do not.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2026 · Q13

Medium Provisional key

Which of the following pairs of ancient and modern names of rivers is/are correctly matched?

  1. 1.Vitasta: Chenab
  2. 2.Asikni: Jhelum
  3. 3.Parushni: Ravi
  4. 4.Yavyavati: Beas

Select the answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 3 only

The Rigvedic names of the Punjab rivers are Vitasta (Jhelum), Asikni (Chenab), Parushni (Ravi), Vipasa/Vipash (Beas) and Sutudri/Shutudri (Sutlej). Pairs 1 and 2 are swapped and the Beas was the Vipasa, so only Parushni-Ravi is right.

  • ✗ 1. Vitasta is the Jhelum; the Chenab was called Asikni.
  • ✗ 2. Asikni is the Chenab; the Jhelum was the Vitasta.
  • ✓ 3. Parushni is the Rigvedic name of the Ravi.
  • ✗ 4. The Beas was the Vipasa (Sanskrit Vipasha), not Yavyavati.

Remember · Rigvedic Punjab rivers: Vitasta–Jhelum, Asikni–Chenab, Parushni–Ravi, Vipash–Beas, Shutudri–Sutlej.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2026 · Q20

Hard Provisional key

In which one among the following texts does the term kshetra-patni (‘mistress of the field’) originate?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Atharvaveda

The feminine kshetrasya patni, the 'mistress' of the field, is invoked in the Atharvaveda (Book 2, hymn 12), alongside heaven, earth and the atmosphere. The Rigveda's farming hymn (Book 4, hymn 57) praises the masculine Kshetrapati, the 'lord of the field'.

  • ✓ (b) Atharvaveda 2.12.1 names the 'mistress of the field' among the powers called upon, alongside heaven-and-earth and the wide atmosphere.
  • ✗ (a) Rigveda 4.57 is the Rigvedic farming hymn; the Vedic Heritage Portal describes the 'lord of the field' (Kshetrasya pati) as the presiding deity of the field, so the masculine form belongs here and not the feminine kshetra-patni.
  • ✗ (d) The Arthashastra is a later treatise on statecraft, not a Vedic hymn text invoking the deity of the field.

Remember · Kshetrapati (lord of the field) - Rigveda 4.57; kshetra-patni (mistress of the field) - Atharvaveda 2.12.1.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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