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?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 and 3 only
Only Bhilsa (Madhya Pradesh) and Girinagar (Gujarat) are matched correctly. Dwarasamudra is today's Halebidu in Karnataka, and Sthanesvara is today's Thanesar in Haryana.
- ✓ 1. Bhilsa, the old name of the town beside the river Betwa, is Vidisha, in Madhya Pradesh.
- ✗ 2. Dvarasamudra, a Hoysala capital, is today's Halebidu, in the present State of Karnataka, not Maharashtra.
- ✓ 3. Girinagar is another name for Girnar, the sacred hills at Junagadh in Gujarat.
- ✗ 4. Sthaneshvara, the early capital of the Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) dynasty of Harshavardhana, is present-day Thanesar in Haryana, not Uttar Pradesh.
Remember · Bhilsa = Vidisha (MP); Dwarasamudra = Halebidu (Karnataka); Girinagar = Girnar/Junagadh (Gujarat); Sthanesvara = Thanesar (Haryana).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- District Vidisha, Government of Madhya Pradesh (vidisha.nic.in): About District ↗ “This new town was known as Bhailaswamin or Bhillaswamin, the name of the place was later corrupted to ‘Bhilsa’ or Bhelsa.”
- NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 4 “Velapura (today's Belur) and Dvarasamudra (today's Halebidu) became the Hoysalas' capitals.”
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas ↗ “the three most representative Hoysala-style temple complexes constructed between the 12th and 13th centuries in the present State of Karnataka, namely the Channakeshava Temple in Belur, the Hoysalesvara Temple in Halebidu”
- District Junagadh, Government of Gujarat (junagadh.nic.in): Girnar ↗ “Girnar, also known as Girinagar or Revatak Parvata, is a group of mountains in the Junagadh District of Gujarat, India, situated near Junagadh.”
- NCERT Class 7 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 3 “He belonged to the Pushyabhuti (or Vardhana) dynasty, whose earlier capital was Sthaneshvara (present-day Thanesar in Haryana).”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·