Sangam age & early South India

Answer: (a) Andhra

Dhanyakataka is the old name of Amaravati, in the Andhra region (present-day Andhra Pradesh). It was the site of the great Amaravati stupa and served as a capital of the Satavahanas.

• ✓ (a) The Andhra Pradesh government's own history of Amaravati says Dhanyakataka–Amaravati was the capital city of the Satavahanas, and NCERT shows Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) as a major Buddhist site with a famous sculpted stupa.
• ✗ (b) Gandhara lay in the north-west, around Taxila and Peshawar (NCERT), far from Amaravati; it is known for Buddha images based on Greek models.
• ✗ (c) Kalinga is modern-day Odisha (NCERT); it is linked with Ashoka's war, not with Dhanyakataka.
• ✗ (d) Magadha, in present-day Bihar (NCERT), had Rajgir as its early capital; it is not the region of Dhanyakataka.

Remember · Dhanyakataka = Amaravati (Andhra): great Buddhist stupa and Satavahana capital.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) ports

All three were seaports of the early Tamil kingdoms. Korkai served the Pandyas' overseas trade, Poompuhar (Puhar or Kaveripattinam) was the Chola port at the mouth of the Kaveri, and Muchiri, the port that Greek and Roman writers called Muziris, lay on the Chera coast of Kerala. Ports are the one description that fits all three.

• ✓ (b) NCERT lists Korkai among the ports through which the Pandyas traded with Southeast Asia, and names Poompuhar (Kaveripattinam) and Muziris among the major ports of early historical India, linked by trade routes to inland towns such as Kanchipuram and Madurai.
• ✗ (a) Puhar did double as a Chola capital in the Sangam period, but Madurai was the Pandya capital and Korkai and Muchiri were trading harbours, so 'capital cities' is not the shared identity of the three.
• ✗ (c) Iron and steel working in the early Tamil country is associated with inland sites such as Kodumanal, not with these coastal towns.

Remember · Sangam-age ports: Korkai (Pandya, Gulf of Mannar), Puhar/Poompuhar/Kaveripattinam (Chola, Kaveri mouth), Muchiri/Muziris (Chera, Kerala coast); Arikamedu near Puducherry.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter) · Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) A king defeated in a battle committing ritual suicide by starving himself to death

Vattakirutal (Tamil vaṭakkiruttal, literally sitting facing north) was the Sangam-age practice of fasting until death, chiefly by a king or hero who felt disgraced, for instance by defeat or a wound in the back. It is described in Puṟanāṉūṟu poems.

• ✓ (d) The Tamil Virtual Academy notes that the Chera king Perum Cheralathan, hurt in the back in his battle with Karikala, thought it a disgrace and starved himself to death, and calls this act vatakkiruttal. It also records that the poet Pisiranthaiyar died with his friend King Kopperuncholan when Kopperuncholan died this way.
• ✗ (a) Women bodyguards have nothing to do with the term; it names a form of voluntary death.
• ✗ (c) Girls guarding fields is a scene from love poetry, not the meaning of this word.
• ✗ (b) Scholars debating in a royal court is not what the term means; vatakkiruttal is a fast unto death.

Remember · Vatakkiruttal: Sangam-age ritual fast unto death facing north, by a king or hero who felt disgraced; Perum Cheralathan and Kopperuncholan are the famous cases.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error