With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaul were well known as
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) ports handling foreign trade
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). ·