प्राचीन भारतीय गुप्त राजवंश के समय के संदर्भ में, नगर घंटाशाला, कदूरा तथा चौल किस लिए विख्यात थे ?
Read this question in English
With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaul were well known as
(a) ports handling foreign trade · (b) capitals of powerful kingdoms · (c) places of exquisite stone art and architecture · (d) important Buddhist pilgrimage centres
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (a) विदेशी व्यापार करने वाले बंदरगाह
UPSC's key is (a), ports handling foreign trade. Gupta-period India traded by sea with the Mediterranean world, Southeast Asia and China, and Chaul (Cheul) appears in the Maharashtra Gazetteer as an ancient trading emporium.
- ✓ (a) Gupta-period India traded by sea with the Mediterranean world, Southeast Asia and China. Chaul (Cheul) appears in the Maharashtra Gazetteer as an ancient trading emporium, with a fifth-century Kanheri inscription naming it. UPSC's official key gives this option; we could not confirm the role of Ghantasala and Kadura from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
- ✗ (b) The Gupta capital was Pataliputra (present-day Patna), an inland city, not any of these towns.
- ✗ (c) The Gupta age's famous stone art is at Sarnath, Udayagiri and the Deogarh temple, not at these three towns.
- ✗ (d) The sacred places of the Buddha's life are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinagara; these three towns are not pilgrimage centres.
Remember · Gupta-age India traded by sea; Chaul (Cheul) was an ancient trading emporium on the Konkan coast.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 7 “exporting textiles, spices, ivory and gemstones. The Indian Ocean trade network connected Indian ports to distant markets.”
- NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 7 “The Gupta Empire was the most powerful and flourished from the 3rd to the 6th century CE, with its capital at Pataliputra (present-day Patna).”
- NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Chapter 7 “Sarnath (near Varanasi in present-day Uttar Pradesh), known for its exquisite sculptures of the Buddha”
- NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 6 “Deogarh (in Lalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh) was built in the early sixth century CE.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “where he attained enlightenment (Bodh Gaya), where he gave his first sermon (Sarnath) and where he attained nibbana (Kusinagara). Gradually, each of these places came to be regarded as sacred.”
- Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Kolaba District: Cheul (Internet Archive copy) ↗ “In the fifth century it again occurs as Cemula in one of the Kanheri cave inscriptions”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·