A quiz on History and myth I had done in Delhi

1. History and Mythology Quiz

2. The Dravidian languages have no cognates
outside the subcontinent.
Some research however links it to an ancient
language outside India, raising controversies
about immigration and settlement into India.
Which Kingdom/people are we talking about ?

3. The Elamites who ruled in Iran from 4000 BC. The Elamo-
Dravidian language family is a hypothesised language family
that links the Dravidian languages of India to the extinct
Elamite language of ancient Elam ( Eelam ?). The extinct
Harappan language may also be part of this family.

4. Who was the "the little gentleman in the black velvet
waistcoat” many Jacobites toasted ?

5. A mole.
William III of England, who had ousted James II on the
throne during the glorious revolution of 1688, died
because his horse had stumbled into a mole's burrow.

6. Looking for a name

7. Chyawan
Amla, the rejuvenating fruit is the essential ingredient of Chyawan
prasha

8. The Iron One with yellow beard and yellow hair.
He, Lord of Tawny Coursers, Lord of fleet-foot Mares,
will bear his Bay Steeds safely over all distress.
His yellow-coloured jaws, like ladles move apart, what
time, for strength, he makes the yellow-tinted stir,
When, while the bowl stands there, he grooms his
Tawny Steeds, when he hath drunk strong drink, the
sweet juice that he loves.
Who is being described, and where ?

9. Indra in the Rigveda

10. These fruits are called Chinani and Chinarajaputra in
Sanskrit. There is an interesting story of their
introduction to India.
In the 2nd century AD, Kanishka, battling the Chinese on
his northern borders in Central Asia, held a Chinese
prince hostage in Kashmir. The prince missed his native
fruits and introduced their cultivation.
Which fruits ?

11. Peaches, and pears

12. In a treaty with the Hittites on a cuneiform
tablet, they invoked the gods Indra, Mitra and
Varuna. Who are these people responsible for
the oldest written records in a language akin to
Sanskrit?

13. Mitanni – A people who ruled in Northern
Mesopotamia in about 1500 BC.

14. Some features of this religion :
* An immersion in water at initiation
* A hymn beginning with the words
‘‘Thou hast redeemed us too by shedding the eternal
blood.’"
* The birth of the savior on December 25th
* 12 companions of the redeemer
Which religion ?

15. Mithraism : a modified Persian religion popular with
the Roman soldiers in particular.
Christianity shares many more features with it.

16. Which modern city is named after an incident in
the Ramayana which supposedly took place
there, and which sparked off Sita’s abduction ?

17. Nasik – the site of Panchvati and Tapovan, where
Shurpanakha’s nose (Nasika) was cut off.

18. According to Jain tradition, this kingdom was
destroyed when 2 princes took refuge here after
refusing to give up the Elephant “sprinkler”, who
would spray the court ladies with water, and an 18
strand pearl necklace, to their half brother. To pursue
this war, a city was built which played a major role in
the country for the next 1000 years.
Which kingdom and which city ?

19. The Licchavi kingdom based in Vaishali.
Pataliputra was built by Ajatashatru to facilitate
the war.

20. The tallest building ever built in the world right
until the 20th century – it rose to a height of 600-
700 feet as per descriptions of ancient chinese
travelers.
The remains of the base found tend to
corroborate the descriptions.
What are we talking about ?

21. The Stupa built by Kanishka in Peshawar during
the second century AD.
The remains today are found in Shahji ki Deri
Three Chinese reports are known (by Faxian,
who visited India between 399–412 CE, Sung Yun
who visited India in 518 CE, Xuanzang who
visited India in 630 CE).

22. This country is named after an animal not found
there in historical times. This animal is repeated
in themes across the country.
The name is the legacy of the settlers who still
dominate it, and still call themselves after the
animal.

23. Sinhala Desha, Ceylon or Sri Lanka was named
after Vijay Singh, who legendarily emigrated
there from India in the 5th century BC.
The Lion or Sinha gave its name to the Sinhalas
though there are no lions in Sri Lanka.

24. In 2007, an international team of researchers using
satellite photographs and other modern techniques
concluded that this city had been the largest
preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate
infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of
at least 1,000 square kilometres. Although the size of
its population remains a topic of research and debate,
newly identified agricultural systems may have
supported up to one million people.
Which City ?

25. Angkor, the capital of the Khmer kingdom in Cambodia.

26. The building on the left (model) was built 300 years before the
building on the right.
Who built the earlier building, and where was it located ?

27. It is a model of the astronomical observatory built by Ulugh
Beg, Timur’s grandson, in Samarkand in 1424.
Raja Jaisingh’s Jantar Mantar was built in 1724.
Ran into somebody whose Portuguese astronomer ancestor
had been invited by Raja Jaisingh to build the Jantar Mantar.

28. An interesting origin has been suggested for the
word “alas”, based on the mourning cry of
somebody for his beloved.
Who is mourning for whom ?

29. Hercules, crying out for Hylas, his arms bearer, when he
was abducted by nymphs in Mysia. Hercules abandoned
the Argonauts to search for him.

30. What is the origin of the place name Kandahar ?

31. The name "Kandahar" is believed to be a
transliteration of Alexandria
(Alexandria >> Iskanderiya >> Kandahar).
Alexander the Great founded the city in 330 BC
and named it Alexandria in Arachosia. It was an
important city - Ashoka erected two rock edicts
here – one in Greek, and one in Greek + Aramaic.

33. Persephone, Theseus, Herakles and Orpheus.
They all returned from the Underworld Alive.

35. All name origins for countries in South
America.
Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela

37. All invented by Thomas Jefferson
The revolving Chair, the moldboard plough,
The polygraph and the wheel Cipher.

39. The Museion at Alexandria.
Euclid – 5 postulates
Claudius Ptolemy – earth centric view of the universe
Archimedes – Archimedes principle
Eratosthenes – calculation of the circumference of the earth.

41. Builders of Famous walls.
Antonine, Qin Shi Huang, Walter Ulbricht, Hadrian

42. “He asked my name; I told him Ahmed ibn Bagr, a
Circassian from Kuneitra….They took me upstairs to
the Bey’s room….The Bey cursed me with horrible
threats.. Whispered to the corporal to take me out
and teach me everything…a whip...he made it
whistle over my ear, taunting me that before the
tenth cut I would howl for mercy, and at the
twentieth beg for the caresses of the Bey.”
Who is this ?

43. T E Lawrence, recounting torture in Palestine.

44. “From the billowing incinerator on the embassy roof rained
twenty, fifty and one hundred dollar bills. Most were charred;
some were not.. An embassy official said that more than five
million dollars were being burnt… The swishing of the rotors now
drowned the sounds of dusk; the crump of artillery, the cries of
women…Inside the embassy itself there was champagne foaming
on to polished desks, as several of the embassy staff tried
systematically to wreck their own offices…pouring bottles of
scotch on to the carpet..”
What is happening ?

45. The evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon in ‘75
Eyewitnesss account by John Pilger

46. 1. English
2. French
3. Occitan
4. Italian
5. Latin
6. Greek
7. Saraiki dialect (he wrote a
grammar)
8. Hindustani
9. Marathi
10. Urdu
11. Arabic
12. Persian
13. Pushtu
14. Sanskrit
15. Portuguese
16. Spanish
17. German
18. Icelandic
19. Swahili
20. Amharic
21. Fan
22. Egba
23. Asante
24. Hebrew
25. Aramaic
26. Many other West African & Indian
dialects
By the end of his life, he spoke at least 25 languages – or maybe
40, if distinct dialects are counted, some of them well enough to
disguise himself as a native,
The languages reflect his travels and his translations.
Who are we talking about ?

47. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)
Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated
translation of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights), bringing the Kama Sutra to
publication in English, and journeying as the first European to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in
search of the source of the Nile.

48. How were Chiang Kai Shek and Dr. Sun Yat Sen
related ?

49. Sun Yat-sen was married to Soong Ching-Ling. Soong Ching-Ling's
sister, Soong May-Ling, was married to Chiang Kai-shek, and thus
the two leaders were brothers-in-law through marriage to the
Soong sisters.

50. What is the origin of the name “easter “ ?

51. The name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon
goddess, originally of the dawn, and later of Fertility. The Indian
equivalent is Ushas.
Another word origin from Eostre is Estrogen.

52. The Goddess Saraswati in her Iranian cognate, was a demoness
who devoured children. She morphed into a major goddess in
another mythology in a fusion with Demeter.
Who ?

53. The important Buddhist Goddess of fertility, Hariti, who
developed in Central Asia. Note the Cornucopia.

54. No man can serve two masters:…Ye cannot serve God and X."
Matthew 6:19–21,24 (KJV)
This entity mentioned in the New testament was commonly
interpreted as a Syriac god of riches. No trace or mention of him
has however been found outside the Bible.

55. Mammon.

57. Flood Myth
Deucalion and Pyrrha
Mt. Ararat
Gilgamesh

58. Many famous Indians derive their name from this mythical
Avestan King.
According to the Shahnama he divided the people into four
groups:
The priests, who conducted the worship of Hormozd
The warriors, who protected the people by the might of their arms
The farmers, who grew the grain that fed the people
The artisans, who produced goods for the ease and enjoyment of the people
His name is the cognate of a well known Indian god, followed by the Avestan
version of “Shreshta”
Who ?

59. Jamshed
Jam and shid, corresponding to the Avestan names Yima and
Xšaēta. Xšaitah meant "bright, shining" or "radiant" and is
probably cognate with the Sanskrit word "Shrestha“
There are also a few functional parallels between Avestan Yima
and Sanskrit Yama, for instance, Yima was the son of Vivaŋhat,
who in turn corresponds to the Vedic Vivasvat, "he who shines
out", a divinity of the Sun. Both Yamas in Iranian and Indian myth
guard Hell with the help of two four-eyed dogs.

61. Creatures Born from Drops of Blood
Kali swallowing the demons born from Raktabija
Snakes in Libya produced from the blood dripping from Medusa’s
severed head
Anemones produced from Adonis’s Blood

63. False accusations of Rape
Joseph and Potiphar’s wife from the Bible
Hippolytus, son of Theseus accused by Phaedra
Kunala, son of Ashoka accused by Tissaraksha

65. Kinnar

66. Connect -
Phra Lak Phra Lam
Yama Zatdaw
Maharadia Lawana
Paumachariyam

67. Different names for the Ramayan
Laos - Phra Lak Phra Lam
Burma (Myanmar) - Yama Zatdaw
Philippines - Maharadia Lawana
Jain - Paumachariyam

68. This famous work of literature was
commissioned by a ruler to provide himself
divine antecedents and also a foundation myth
for his empire.
It is now arguably that language’s most studied
epic.
The ruler, the epic and the author.

69. The Aeneid by Virgil was commissioned by Augustus. Virgil took the
disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, and fashioned this into a
compelling founding myth or national epic that at once tied Rome to
the legends of Troy, explained the Punic wars, glorified traditional
Roman virtues and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as
descendants of the founders, heroes and gods of Rome and Troy.

71. Elihu Yale (April 5, 1649 – July 8, 1721) was a British merchant
and philanthropist, Governor of the East India Company
settlement in Madras and a benefactor of the Collegiate School of
Connecticut, which in 1718 was renamed Yale College in his
honor.

73. The River origin Myths –
The Saraswati, Brahmaputra, Yamuna and Ganga

74. Whose last words to his enemies?
"I have studied, given gifts,
ruled the sea-girt earth,
Placed my foot on the heads
of my enemies'
I have achieved the peak of power.
Who is there more fortunate than me?
I go to heaven
with my friends and followers,
And all of you stay back here
with grieving minds
and shattered hearts."

75. Duryodhana

76. Connect .

77. Krishna showed his Vishvarupa.

78. The foundation myth of this kingdom, has been borne out by the
genetic analysis of males, specially from the aristocracy bearing
the “Indian marker.”
Which kingdom, and the name of the founder ?

79. Cambodia (the khmer Kingdom) & Kaundinya.
In the foundation myth a Brahmin from India called Kaundinya
landed there and married the Nage Princess Soma. Many Khmer
kings claim descent from him.
Many Cambodians belong to the Y chromosome group
Haplogroup H, which denotes Indian descent.

80. A rare theme in Indian myth and history connects these.

81. Widow Remarriage
(In each case with the elder brother’s wife)
Chandragupta married Dhruva devi, the widow of Ramagupta
Mandodari, the widow of Ravana married Vibhishan
Tara, the widow of Vali married Sugriva

82. Thank You