Literary sources UPSC Prelims Practice Quiz

Vishakhadatta's historical play Mudrarakshasha describes the ascent of King Chandragupta Maurya and provides a glimpse of society and culture.

India is mentioned in foreign inscriptions, such as Darius'. Herodotus and Ctesias obtained their data from Persian sources. Herodotus' "History" contains a wealth of information regarding Indo-Persian relations. Arrian wrote a detailed account of Alexander's invasion of India based on information from those who participated in the campaign. The Greek kings dispatched ambassadors to Patliputra. There were Megasthenese, Deimachus, and Dionysios among them. Megasthenes was in Chandragupta Maurya's court. He authored a book titled Indica about India.

The Sangam literature describes numerous South Indian kings and dynasties. Sangama refers to collections of poetry compiled by a group of poets from different eras and patronized by numerous chiefs and kings. These 30,000 lines of poetry are organised into two main groups: Patinenkilkanakku and Pattupattu. The Sangam literature consists of short and long poems composed in praise of their kings by a large number of poets.

Abul Fazl was the author of Ain-I-Akbari. Ain-i-Akbari is a document from the 16th century. It was written entirely in Persian. It is about Mughal Emperor Akbar's government.

Dandin's Kavyadarsha is the earliest known systematic treatment of Sanskrit poetry. Panini, an Indian grammarian, wrote Ashtadhyayi between the fifth and sixth centuries BCE. Patanjali wrote the Mahabhasya. Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka, which means "Light on Tantra," covers the teachings of the Kula and Trika systems.

Malavikagnimitram is based on events that occurred during the reign of Pusyamitra Sunga, a dynasty that succeeded the Mauryas authored by Kalidasa.

Hegel's philosophy of history is likely the most thoroughly developed philosophical view of history that seeks significance or direction in history.

The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian holy epic and possibly the most well-known Indian book. The epic, attributed to the poet Vyasa, is broken into 18 portions and has about 220,000 lines. The Bhagavad Gita is the most well-known part.

Correct Option D.

Malavikagnimitra' also known as Malavika and Agnimitra was a Sanskrit play written by the playwright Kalidasa. Mrichchhakatika' or 'The little clay art' is an ancient Sanskrit play written by king Shudraka in 3rd century A.D.