derek-thomas/squad-v1.1-t5-question-generation huggingface dataset:
Muslim rule started in parts of north India in the 13th century when the Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206 CE by the Central Asian Turks. The Delhi Sultanate ruled the major part of northern India in the early 14th century, but declined in the late 14th century when several powerful Hindu states such as the Vijayanagara Empire, Gajapati Kingdom, Ahom Kingdom, as well as Rajput dynasties and states, such as Mewar dynasty, emerged. The 15th century saw the emergence of Sikhism. In the 16th century, Mughals came from Central Asia and gradually covered most of India. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Maratha Empire, Sikh Empire and Mysore Kingdom to exercise control over large areas of the subcontinent.

Question: What group founded the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century? Question: When did the Delhi Sultanate decline in its rule of northern India? Question: What belief system began in the 15th century? Question: What empire covered most of India in the 16th century? Question: During what century did the Mughal empire decline?
From the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, large areas of India were annexed by the British East India Company of British Empire. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the British provinces of India were directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic stagnation. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched with the leading party involved being the Indian National Congress which was later joined by other organizations. The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.

Question: What company annexed large areas of India in the 18th and 19th centuries? Question: What effect did Company rule in India produce in 1857? Question: After the Rebellion who administered the British provinces of India? Question: The rapid development of what did British rule cause in India? Question: What party was the leader in the Indian independence movement of the 20th century?
Romila Thapar notes that the division into Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to "ruling dynasties and foreign invasions", neglecting the social-economic history which often showed a strong continuity. The division into Ancient-Medieval-Modern periods overlooks the fact that the Muslim conquests occurred gradually during which time many things came and went off, while the south was never completely conquered. According to Thapar, a periodisation could also be based on "significant social and economic changes", which are not strictly related to a change of ruling powers.[note 1]

Question: Who remarked Indian history is too devoted to the ranking of dynasties and invasions? Question: What type of history period is often neglected in Indian histories? Question: What facet of social and economic conditions are displayed by Indian history? Question: What type of conquests were gradual in nature? Question: What part of India was never completely conquered?
Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in central India indicate that India might have been inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been dated back two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of the subcontinent. The ancient history of the region includes some of South Asia's oldest settlements and some of its major civilisations. The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the palaeolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley. Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal.

Question: What type of remains were found in the Narmada Valley? Question: By what era was India inhabited by humans of some form? Question: From how long ago do tools date in India? Question: What type of resident lived at the site in Soan River Valley? Question: Where in the subcontinent is the oldest archaeological site?
The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent was followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed semipermanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya Pradesh, India. Early Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by the Bhirrana findings (7500 BCE) in Haryana, India & Mehrgarh findings (7000–9000 BCE) in Balochistan, Pakistan.

Question: What geologic period came after the Mesolithic period in India? Question: What happened in India during the Neolithic period? Question: How long ago did the last ice age happen in India? Question: When did settlements appear in Madhya Pradesh? Question: During what time span were there findings of habitation in India and Pakistan?
The Mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilisation on the subcontinent. The civilisation included urban centres such as Dholavira, Kalibangan, Ropar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, as well as Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan. The civilisation is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoreyed houses and is thought to have had some kind of municipal organization.

Question: When did the Mature Indus Civilization thrive? Question: What stage of civilization did the Mature Indus represent? Question: Of what were the early cities of the Mature Indus civilization built? Question: How high were the buildings in the Mature Indus ? Question: What kind of organization did the Mature Indus have?
The Vedic period is named after the Indo-Aryan culture of north-west India, although other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity during this period. The Vedic culture is described in the texts of Vedas, still sacred to Hindus, which were orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in India. The Vedic period, lasting from about 1750 to 500 BCE, and contributed the foundations of several cultural aspects of Indian subcontinent. In terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period.

Question: For what culture is the Vedic period named? Question: Where was the Indo-Aryan culture located? Question: In what language did  the Vedic culture speak? Question: What sacred texts are some of the oldest in India? Question: What was the duration of the Vedic culture?
At the end of the Rigvedic period, the Aryan society began to expand from the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, into the western Ganges plain. It became increasingly agricultural and was socially organised around the hierarchy of the four varnas, or social classes. This social structure was characterized both by syncretising with the native cultures of northern India, but also eventually by the excluding of indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure. During this period, many of the previous small tribal units and chiefdoms began to coalesce into monarchical, state-level polities.

Question: When did the Aryan culture begin its expansion? Question: Into what area did the Aryan culture expand? Question: What were the Aryan social classes called? Question: What did the Aryans label as impure in the indigenous peoples in order to exclude them from certain social classes? Question: What groupings formed up into larger monarchical groups?
The Kuru kingdom was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in northwestern India, around 1200 – 800 BCE, as well as with the composition of the Atharvaveda (the first Indian text to mention iron, as śyāma ayas, literally "black metal"). The Kuru state organized the Vedic hymns into collections, and developed the orthodox srauta ritual to uphold the social order. When the Kuru kingdom declined, the center of Vedic culture shifted to their eastern neighbours, the Panchala kingdom. The archaeological Painted Grey Ware culture, which flourished in the Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh regions of northern India from about 1100 to 600 BCE, is believed to correspond to the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms.

Question: What was the first state size society in the Vedic period? Question: At the beginning of what age are the dates of the Kuru kingdom? Question: What is the dating of the Kuru kingdom? Question: What is the first Indian text to mention iron? Question: When the Kuru kingdom declined, to what kingdom did Vedic culture go?
In addition to the Vedas, the principal texts of Hinduism, the core themes of the Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are said to have their ultimate origins during this period. The Mahabharata remains, today, the longest single poem in the world. Historians formerly postulated an "epic age" as the milieu of these two epic poems, but now recognize that the texts (which are both familiar with each other) went through multiple stages of development over centuries. For instance, the Mahabharata may have been based on a small-scale conflict (possibly about 1000 BCE) which was eventually "transformed into a gigantic epic war by bards and poets". There is no conclusive proof from archaeology as to whether the specific events of the Mahabharat have any historical basis. The existing texts of these epics are believed to belong to the post-Vedic age, between c. 400 BCE and 400 CE. Some even attempted to date the events using methods of archaeoastronomy which have produced, depending on which passages are chosen and how they are interpreted, estimated dates ranging up to mid 2nd millennium BCE.

Question: What were the principle texts of Hinduism? Question: In what language were the Vedas ? Question: What were the core epics of the Vedas? Question: Which Vedic text is the longest single poem on Earth? Question: On what type of clash is the Mahabharata thought to have been based?
During the time between 800 and 200 BCE the Shramana-movement formed, from which originated Jainism and Buddhism. In the same period the first Upanishads were written. After 500 BCE, the so-called "Second urbanization" started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain, especially the Central Ganges plain. The Central Ganges Plain, where Magadha gained prominence, forming the base of the Mauryan Empire, was a distinct cultural area, with new states arising after 500 BC[web 1] during the so-called "Second urbanization".[note 3] It was influenced by the Vedic culture, but differed markedly from the Kuru-Panchala region. It "was the area of the earliest known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800 BC was the location of an advanced neolithic population associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar". In this region the Shramanic movements flourished, and Jainism and Buddhism originated.

Question: During what time were the first Upanishads written? Question: What philosophical movement appeared during 800-200 BCE? Question: What was the origins of the Shramana movement? Question: What period started after 500 BCE? Question: Where was the central location of the Muayan Empire?
In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned in Vedic, early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 500 BCE. sixteen monarchies and "republics" known as the Mahajanapadas—Kashi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Shurasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja—stretched across the Indo-Gangetic Plain from modern-day Afghanistan to Bengal and Maharashtra. This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Question: By what age had many small states covered the subcontinent? Question: How many small states covered the Ganges Plain of India? Question: What were the sixteen kingdoms called? Question: What second period did the rise of the small kingdoms show? Question: What was the first major urbanization in India?
Many smaller clans mentioned within early literature seem to have been present across the rest of the subcontinent. Some of these kings were hereditary; other states elected their rulers. Early "republics" such as the Vajji (or Vriji) confederation centered in the city of Vaishali, existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted in some areas until the 4th century CE. The educated speech at that time was Sanskrit, while the languages of the general population of northern India are referred to as Prakrits. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, by the time of Gautama Buddha. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha. The Life of Gautam Budhha was mainly associated with these four kingdoms.

Question: Where was the Vajji confederation located? Question: How early did the small republic states exist in India? Question: Until what century did the republic states endure in India? Question: In what language did the educated Indian speak? Question: What was the general population's common language ?
The 7th and 6th centuries BC witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of the Vedas). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the Self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Mundaka launches the most scathing attack on the ritual by comparing those who value sacrifice with an unsafe boat that is endlessly overtaken by old age and death.

Question: When were the earliest Upanishads composed? Question: Of what philosophical system do the Upanishads form the basis? Question: What are the Upanishads called in Hinduism? Question: What part of the Hinduism belief system did the Upanishads attack? Question: What worship system is central to Hinduism?
Increasing urbanisation of India in 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or shramana movements which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira (c. 549–477 BC), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent icons of this movement. Shramana gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara, and the concept of liberation. Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.

Question: What did the shramana movements challenge? Question: Who was the founder of Jainism? Question: What prominent icon founded Buddhism? Question: What belief system taught the idea of samsara? Question: What path did Buddha find to soothe the strictness of Sramana religions?
Magadha (Sanskrit: मगध) formed one of the sixteen Mahā-Janapadas (Sanskrit: "Great Countries") or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges; its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra (modern Patna). Magadha expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal with the conquest of Licchavi and Anga respectively, followed by much of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. The ancient kingdom of Magadha is heavily mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas. A state of Magadha, possibly a tribal kingdom, is recorded in Vedic texts much earlier in time than 600 BC. Magadha Empire had great rulers like Bimbisara and Ajatshatru.

Question: Of what was Magadha one of sixteen? Question: How does the Sanskrit translate Maha-Janapadas? Question: Where was the center of Magadha? Question: Where were there early records of the Magadha kingdom? Question: What time do the texts locating Magadha kingdom predate?
The earliest reference to the Magadha people occurs in the Atharva-Veda where they are found listed along with the Angas, Gandharis, and Mujavats. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism, and two of India's greatest empires, the Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire, originated from Magadha. These empires saw advancements in ancient India's science, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy and were considered the Indian "Golden Age". The Magadha kingdom included republican communities such as the community of Rajakumara. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called Gramakas. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions.

Question: Where is the earliest mention of Magadha people? Question: In the development of which religions did Magadha participate? Question: Where was the location origin of the Maurya and Gupta empires? Question: Due to advances in science and culture, what are the Magadha region empires considered to represent? Question: What were local villages' assemblies called in the Magadha kingdoms?
In 530 BC Cyrus the Great, King of the Persian Achaemenid Empire crossed the Hindu-Kush mountains to seek tribute from the tribes of Kamboja, Gandhara and the trans-India region (modern Afghanistan and Pakistan). By 520 BC, during the reign of Darius I of Persia, much of the northwestern subcontinent (present-day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, as part of the far easternmost territories. The area remained under Persian control for two centuries. During this time India supplied mercenaries to the Persian army then fighting in Greece.

Question: What Persian king wanted tribute from the tribes of northern India? Question: What king ruled Persia in 520 BC? Question: By 520 BC what empire ruled the northwestern Indian subcontinent? Question: How long did the Persian empire control the northern India subcontinent? Question: What did India supply to the Persian war efforts against Greece?
By 326 BC, Alexander the Great had conquered Asia Minor and the Achaemenid Empire and had reached the northwest frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There he defeated King Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab. Alexander's march east put him in confrontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha and the Gangaridai of Bengal. His army, exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing larger Indian armies at the Ganges River, mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) and refused to march further East. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, and learning about the might of Nanda Empire, was convinced that it was better to return.

Question: When did Alexander the Great reach India? Question: Who did Alexander defeat in the area now Pakistan? Question: At what battle did Alexander beat King Porus? Question: Where did Alexander's army finally mutiny? Question: The strength of what empire's army pushed Alexander to retreat?
The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE) was the first empire to unify India into one state, and was the largest on the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the Mauryan Empire stretched to the north up to the natural boundaries of the Himalayas and to the east into what is now Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, to the Hindu Kush mountains in what is now Afghanistan. The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha (in modern Bihar) when he overthrew the Nanda Dynasty. Chandragupta's son Bindusara succeeded to the throne around 297 BC. By the time he died in c. 272 BC, a large part of the subcontinent was under Mauryan suzerainty. However, the region of Kalinga (around modern day Odisha) remained outside Mauryan control, perhaps interfering with their trade with the south.

Question: What was the first empire to unify India? Question: What was the time span of the Mauryan Empire? Question: Who formed the Maurya Empire in Magadha? Question: What dynasty did Chandragupta Maurya defeat? Question: In what year did Chandraguta's son come to the throne?
The Arthashastra and the Edicts of Ashoka are the primary written records of the Mauryan times. Archaeologically, this period falls into the era of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society. However, the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government. Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society, usury was customary. A significant amount of written records on slavery are found, suggesting a prevalence thereof. During this period, a high quality steel called Wootz steel was developed in south India and was later exported to China and Arabia.

Question: What are the basic written records of the Mauryans? Question: What is the archaeological period of the Mauryan Empire? Question: What organization closely monitored business dealings in the Mauryan Empire? Question: What metal was developed in south India during the time of the Mauryan Empire? Question: To where was wootz steel exported?
During the Sangam period Tamil literateure flourished from the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE. During this period the 3 Tamil Dynasties Chera dynasty, Chola dynasty and the Pandyan Dynasty ruled parts of southern India. The Sangam literature deals with the history, politics, wars and culture of the Tamil people of this period. The scholars of the Sangam period rose from among the common people who sought the patronage of the Tamil Kings but who mainly wrote about the common people and their concerns. Unlike Sanskrit writers who were mostly Brahmins, Sangam writers came from diverse classes and social backgrounds and were mostly non-Brahmins. They belonged to different faiths and professions like farmers, artisans, merchants, monks, priests and even princes and quite few of them were even women.

Question: During what period did Tamil literature thrive? Question: What was the extent of the Sangam period? Question: How many Tamil dynasties ruled during the Sangam period? Question: In what part of India did the Tamil dynasties rule? Question: How were Tamil writers different from earlier Sanskrit writers?
The Śātavāhana Empire was a royal Indian dynasty based from Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar (Pune) and Prathisthan (Paithan) in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward. Sātavāhanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan dynasty, but declared independence with its decline. They are known for their patronage of Hinduism and Buddhism which resulted in Buddhist monuments from Ellora (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to Amaravati. The Sātavāhanas were one of the first Indian states to issue coins struck with their rulers embossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India. They had to compete with the Shunga Empire and then the Kanva dynasty of Magadha to establish their rule. Later, they played a crucial role to protect a huge part of India against foreign invaders like the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. In particular their struggles with the Western Kshatrapas went on for a long time. The notable rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri Yajna Sātakarni were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the Western Kshatrapas and to stop their expansion. In the 3rd century CE the empire was split into smaller states.

Question: What empire covered most of India from 230 BCE? Question: Of what were the Satavahanas patrons? Question: What did the Satavahanas issue embossed with their king's head? Question: From what did the Satavahana Empire protect much of India? Question: When was the Satavahana Empire divided into smaller states?