UPSC Prelims 2020 GS Paper I · Q97 of 99 History medium

With reference to the history of India, consider the following pairs : Famous Place Present State 1. Bhilsa — Madhya Pradesh 2. Dwarasamudra — Maharashtra 3. Girinagar — Gujarat 4. Sthanesvara — Uttar Pradesh Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?

  1. (a) 1 and 3 only ✓ UPSC's answer
  2. (b) 1 and 4 only
  3. (c) 2 and 3 only
  4. (d) 2 and 4 only

Why the answer is (a)

• Bhilsa is modern Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, near Sanchi (pair 1 correct).

• Girinagar is Girnar/Junagadh in Gujarat, site of Ashoka's rock edict and Rudradaman's inscription (pair 3 correct).

• Dwarasamudra, the Hoysala capital, is Halebidu in Karnataka, not Maharashtra (pair 2 wrong).

• Sthanesvara is Thanesar in Haryana, Harsha's early capital, not Uttar Pradesh (pair 4 wrong).

• Hence 1 and 3 only, option (a).

Why the other options are wrong

(b) 1 and 4 only
Pair 4 is wrong: Sthanesvara is in Haryana.
(c) 2 and 3 only
Pair 2 is wrong: Dwarasamudra is in Karnataka.
(d) 2 and 4 only
Pairs 2 and 4 are both wrong.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2020, held on 4 October 2020. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

Practise this paper free