India Vocabulary Quiz

Match the following

• a large landmass that is smaller than a continent and set apart

• monsoons

• the largest religion in India today, believed in many gods.

• Hinduism

• divided Indian society into groups based on a person's birth, wealth, or occupation

• Sanskrit

• seasonal wind patterns that cause wet and dry seasons

• caste system

• the written language of ancient India

• subcontinent

Match the following

• the effects that good or bad actions have on a person's soul

• Brahma

• the number system we use today; it was created by Indian scholars during the Gupta dynasty.

• Buddha

• Siddhartha Gautama. Means "Enlightened One."

• Nirvana

• a state of complete peace or total happiness

• Hindu-Arabic numerals

• A single spiritual power that Hindus believe lives in everything

• Karma

Match the following

• Untouchables and Harijan and Pariahs or Outcasts

• Harappa

• personal duty

• Kshatriyas

• a large ancient city of the Indus River Valley civilizations, present-day Pakistan;

• dharma

• Warriors and rulers

• Aryans

• nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled

• Dalits

Match the following

• The majority of Indian castes, peasants, artisans, manual laborers, Ranked above only pariahs

• Sudras

• A member of the Hindu priestly caste/class

• Shiva

• Caste of the common people (merchants and artisans)

• Vaisyas

• a Hindu god considered the preserver of the world

• Brahmins

• A Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.

• Vishnu

Mahabarata

• Indian epic, deeply imbued with Hindu teachings.

• Name of important ancient leader; built roads and universities

• Great empire of India; expanded territory and gave the world the zero

• belief that after you die you can be reborn

Ashoka

• communicated his policies through his realm through inscribing his edicts on stone; unified India through conquest; established a capital city and SAFE trade routes

• nomads who brought Hinduism and the caste system to India

• belief that what you do in this life affects what you do in the afterlife

• leader during the Golden Age of India

Rig Veda

• nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled

• Hinduism's oldest sacred text

• personal duty

• Island off the coast of India

Vedas

• The priests of Hindu temples

• seasonal wind patterns that cause wet and dry seasons

• religious texts of Hinduism

• the effects that good or bad actions have on a person's soul