India Vocabulary Quiz

Match the following

• seasonal wind patterns that cause wet and dry seasons

• monsoons

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

• subcontinent

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

• caste system

• the written language of ancient India

• Sanskrit

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

• Hinduism

Match the following

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

• Nirvana

• Siddhartha Gautama. Means "Enlightened One."

• Brahma

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

• Hindu-Arabic numerals

• A single spiritual power that Hindus believe lives in everything

• Buddha

• a state of complete peace or total happiness

• Karma

Match the following

• personal duty

• Dalits

• Warriors and rulers

• Kshatriyas

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

• Aryans

• Untouchables and Harijan and Pariahs or Outcasts

• dharma

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

• Harappa

Match the following

• a Hindu god considered the preserver of the world

• Shiva

• A member of the Hindu priestly caste/class

• Brahmins

• A Hindu god considered the destroyer of the world.

• Sudras

• Caste of the common people (merchants and artisans)

• Vishnu

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

• Vaisyas

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