After defeating the Shakas, coins of which metal were introduced by Chandragupta II?
- (a)Gold
- (b)Silver
- (c)Copper
- (d)Bronze
Correct — B, Silver. After defeating the Western Kshatrapa (Shaka) rulers of Gujarat-Malwa-Saurashtra (c. late 4th / early 5th century CE), Chandragupta II annexed their territory and began issuing silver coins there in the Kshatrapa style — his own bust and legend replacing the satrap's — because silver, not gold, was the region's established currency metal. His silver coins are treated by historians as the strongest numismatic evidence of this conquest.
- (a)Gold — The Guptas are famous for gold coins ('dinara', on the Kushan weight standard) — but that gold tradition predates this conquest; the coinage specifically introduced after the Shaka victory was silver, continuing the region's own currency.
- (c)Copper — Gupta copper coinage was minor and localised, not the coinage associated with the Shaka conquest.
- (d)Bronze — Not a standard Gupta coinage metal, and not linked to the Shaka-conquest coinage.
Gupta emperors from Chandragupta I onward struck gold coins (dinara) modelled on Kushan prototypes, showing the king in poses such as archer or tiger-slayer. When Chandragupta II defeated the Western Kshatrapas — Shaka satraps who had ruled Gujarat-Saurashtra-Malwa for centuries on their own long-running silver-coin tradition — he did not simply extend gold coinage there; he issued silver coins imitating the Kshatrapa format, continuing the region's existing currency for smoother administration and trade.
The trap is defaulting to 'gold' because 'Gupta coins' is most famously associated with gold. The qualifier 'after defeating the Shakas' is the cue that flips the answer to silver — a region-specific, conquest-linked coinage decision, not the general imperial gold currency.
- Chandragupta II defeated the Western Kshatrapa (Shaka) rulers of Gujarat-Malwa-Saurashtra, c. late 4th / early 5th century CE
- He then issued silver coins in that region, continuing the Kshatrapas' own silver-coin tradition
- Gupta gold coins ('dinara') were a separate, older imperial coinage line, distinct from this conquest-linked silver issue
- Chandragupta II is traditionally identified with the title Vikramaditya
- Assuming all Gupta coinage was gold — the post-Shaka silver issue is a distinct, region-specific fact
- Confusing Chandragupta II's Shaka victory with Samudragupta's earlier, different campaigns
MPPSC/UPSC pair 'ruler ↔ coinage metal/type'; the phrase 'after defeating the Shakas' signals silver, not the default gold.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Gupta gold coins, modelled on the earlier Kushan standard, were known as:
- (a)Dinara
- (b)Drachma
- (c)Pana
- (d)Kahapana
Answer(a) Dinara.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which title, linked to his victory over the Shakas, is traditionally associated with Chandragupta II?
- (a)Vikramaditya
- (b)Ashokaditya
- (c)Devaputra
- (d)Chakravartin
Answer(a) Vikramaditya.