Arrange the following in correct chronological order 1. Charak Samhita 2. Bharat's Natyashastra 3. Sangam Literature 4. Ashtadhyayi Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- (a)1 – 3 – 4 – 2
- (b)2 – 4 – 1 – 3
- (c)4 – 3 – 1 – 2
- (d)3 – 1 – 2 – 4
Correct — C, 4 – 3 – 1 – 2. The one relation that no dating scheme disputes is that Panini's Ashtadhyayi comes first — the grammar is placed between the sixth and the fourth centuries before the common era, well before any of the others. That alone settles the question, because option (c) is the only sequence that begins with item 4. The rest of the order follows the conventional brackets used in Indian history teaching: the Tamil Sangam corpus is placed from about 300 BCE to 300 CE, Charaka's compilation of the Charaka Samhita around 100 BCE to 200 CE, and the first complete Natyashastra at roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE with estimates running as late as 500 CE, so it is treated as the last of the four.
- (a)1 – 3 – 4 – 2 — It puts the Ashtadhyayi third, behind both the Charaka Samhita and the Sangam corpus. Panini's grammar is the earliest of the four on every scholarly dating, so no sequence that demotes it can be right.
- (b)2 – 4 – 1 – 3 — It opens with the Natyashastra, which is the latest of the four in the ordering the key follows, and closes with the Sangam corpus. Both ends are inverted.
- (d)3 – 1 – 2 – 4 — It ends with the Ashtadhyayi, placing the oldest of the four last. This reverses the one relation in the question that is genuinely secure.
Ancient Indian texts are rarely datable to a year. Most were composed orally, transmitted for generations and then redacted, so scholars work with brackets of a century or more, and those brackets frequently overlap. Panini's Ashtadhyayi, a systematic Sanskrit grammar, is anchored by linguistic and historical evidence to the sixth-to-fourth centuries before the common era. The Sangam poems are the earliest Tamil literature. The Charaka Samhita is the great compendium of Ayurveda, revised in a later recension. The Natyashastra is the foundational treatise on drama, dance and music, traditionally ascribed to the sage Bharata although its actual author is unknown.
Be honest about what this item can and cannot test. The three later works overlap so heavily — one bracket running 300 BCE to 300 CE, another 100 BCE to 200 CE, a third 200 BCE to 200 CE — that no candidate could order them from their dates alone. The item is answerable only by elimination on Panini, and the examiner has helpfully left just one option starting with item 4. Exam chronologies of this kind should be treated as conventions rather than settled history, and the NDA papers themselves are not consistent about them: an earlier NDA paper asked when the Charaka Samhita originated and its key gives the third to second century BCE, an earlier bracket than the one used here. Two small printing points, neither of them material: the stem writes the sage's name as Bharat where Bharata is the usual form, and the option sequences are printed with en-dashes between the numbers.
- The composition of Panini's Ashtadhyayi is dated to between the sixth and fourth centuries before the common era.
- Most scholars place the Sangam literature era at about 300 BCE to 300 CE; the poems are in Tamil.
- Charaka's compilation of the Charaka Samhita is usually dated between 100 BCE and 200 CE, with a later revision and completion by Dridhabala.
- Estimates for the Natyashastra range from 500 BCE to 500 CE, with the first complete version generally placed between 200 BCE and 200 CE; tradition ascribes it to the sage Bharata, though the author is unknown.
- Ashtadhyayi of Panini — sixth to fourth centuries BCE, the earliest of the four
- Sangam literature — about 300 BCE to 300 CE, the earliest Tamil corpus
- Charaka Samhita — Charaka's compilation about 100 BCE to 200 CE, revised later by Dridhabala
- Natyashastra — first complete version about 200 BCE to 200 CE, with estimates running to 500 CE
Only the first position is secure; the last three brackets overlap, which is why the item is solved by eliminating every option that does not begin with the Ashtadhyayi.
- Trying to order the three later texts by their dates; their brackets overlap and the exercise cannot be done that way.
- Forgetting that a chronology option can be eliminated on its first item alone.
- Assuming exam brackets are fixed — different papers have used different dates for the Charaka Samhita.
Asked as a chronological-arrangement item on ancient texts, solvable by fixing the earliest work and eliminating the rest.
With reference to the scholars/litterateurs of ancient India, consider the following statements: 1. Panini is associated with Pushyamitra Shunga. 2. Amarasimha is associated with Harshavardhana. 3. Kalidasa is associated with Chandra Gupta – II. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(c) 3 only
Its first statement fails for exactly the reason this question turns on — Panini lived centuries before the Shunga king, which is why the Ashtadhyayi heads any chronology of these texts.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists: List I — I. Visakhadatta, II. Varahamihira, III. Charaka, IV. Brahmagupta. List II — A) Medicine, B) Drama, C) Astronomy, D) Mathematics
- (a) I – A, II – C, III – D, IV – B
- (b) I – B, II – A, III – C, IV – D
- (c) I – B, II – C, III – A, IV – D
- (d) I – C, II – B, III – A, IV – B
Answer(c) I – B, II – C, III – A, IV – D
Fixes Charaka with medicine, the subject of the Samhita that appears in this chronology, and shows the author-and-field pairing that both examinations keep returning to.
When did Charaka Samhita originate?
- (a) 6th Century BCE
- (b) 3rd to 2nd Century BCE
- (c) 4th Century BCE
- (d) 5th Century BCE
Answer(b) 3rd to 2nd Century BCE
Dates one of the very texts in this chronology, and its bracket is earlier than the one most modern scholarship gives — a direct illustration of why these exam datings are conventions.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is the earliest of these works?
- (a)Charaka Samhita
- (b)Ashtadhyayi
- (c)Natyashastra
- (d)Sangam literature
Answer(b) Ashtadhyayi — Panini's grammar is placed between the sixth and fourth centuries before the common era, earlier than any of the others.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Natyashastra, the foundational treatise on drama, dance and music, is traditionally attributed to
- (a)Bharata
- (b)Panini
- (c)Charaka
- (d)Patanjali
Answer(a) Bharata — the sage to whom Hindu tradition ascribes the text, although its actual author is unknown.