Answer: B

Explanation:

Shortly after the death of Mahatma Buddha, the practice of council started for the purpose of collecting his teachings, reciting them etc. These are called Dhamma councils. According to Buddhist tradition, the first Buddhist council was held in Rajagriha after Parinirvana. The second Buddhist council took place in Vaishali. According to Mahavansa, the king of Magadha at that time was Kalashoka. The third Buddhist council was organized in Pataliputra under the patronage of Ashoka. The fourth Buddhist council was organized in Kundalvana of Kashmir during the reign of Kushana ruler Kanishka, and not in Pataliputra. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

Vasumitra presided over the Fourth Buddhist Council and Ashvaghosha became its vice-president. Mahasanghika had dominance in this assembly. Here the difficult parts of Buddhist texts were given due consideration and commentaries were written on each Pitaka and they were compiled into commentaries called 'Vibhashasatra'. At this time Buddhism got divided into two sects called Hinayana and Mahayana. Hence statement 2 and 3 are correct.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Milinda-Panho is a Buddhist text written in Pali language, which was composed around 100 BC. It describes the conversation between Buddhist monk Nagasena and Indo-Greek ruler Milinda. Hence, pair 1 is correctly matched.

'Malavikagnimitra' is a five-act play, in which the love story of Malavika and Agnimintra is described. Agnimitra was the son of the Sunga ruler, Pushyamitra Sunga. The author of 'Maalavikagnimitra' is Kalidasa. Hence pair 2 is correctly matched.

Mrichchakatikam is an ancient Sanskrit text. The author of this book is Sudraka. This play written by Shudraka gives information about the cultural history of the Gupta period. Hence pair 3 is not correctly matched.

The author of the play 'Devichandraguptam' is Visakhadutta. It is a historical play, which describes the cleverness of Chanakya against the enemies of Chandragupta. Hence, pair 4 is not correctly matched.

Answer: C

Explanation:

The Sunga dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga. After killing the last ruler of the Sunga dynasty, Devbhuti, his minister Vasudeva established the Kanva dynasty in 75 BC. Kanva dynasty was a Brahmin dynasty. It had only four rulers Vasudev, Bhumimitra, Narayan and Susarman.

The last ruler of the Sunga dynasty, Susarman, was assassinated by Simuka in 30 BC and established a new Brahmin dynasty, the Andhra Satavahanas. Hence both statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Answer: A

Explanation:

Along with Buddhist texts, Jain texts have also been an important literary source, which have been composed in Prakrit language. Hence statement 1 is correct.

Jain literary sources were finally compiled not in the seventh century AD, but in the sixth century in Vallabhi city of Gujarat. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

There are many such excerpts from Jain texts, on the basis of which we get help in reconstructing the political history of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh during Mahavira period. There are repeated references to trade and traders in this text. Hence statement 3 is correct.

Answer: A

Explanation:

The Chola period composition 'Tirumurai' has been termed as the 'fifth Veda'. Tirumurai was compiled in the early twelfth century. It is listed as a sacred text written by Alwar and Nayanar saints.