Taxila was the capital of which one among the following Mahajanapadas of ancient India?
- (a)Kuru
- (b)Kasi
- (c)Gandhar
- (d)Avanti
Correct — C, Gandhar (Gandhara). Taxila, known in Sanskrit as Takshashila, was the capital of the Gandhara mahajanapada, which lay in the north-west of the subcontinent around present-day Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Taxila was also one of the ancient world's most famous seats of learning. (Gandhara's other important city was Pushkalavati.)
- (a)Kuru — The Kuru mahajanapada was centred in the Delhi-Haryana region; its capital was Indraprastha (with Hastinapura as an earlier centre), not Taxila.
- (b)Kasi — Kasi's capital was Varanasi (Kashi) on the Ganga in the middle-Ganga plain — far to the south-east of Taxila.
- (d)Avanti — Avanti lay in the Malwa region of central India; its capitals were Ujjain (northern part) and Mahishmati (southern part), not Taxila.
By the 6th century BCE northern India was organised into sixteen mahajanapadas (great territorial states). A recurring exam theme is matching each mahajanapada to its capital. Gandhara, on the north-west frontier, had Taxila (Takshashila) as its capital and premier city of learning.
Anchor the mahajanapada to its capital and region. Taxila sits in the far north-west, between the Indus and Jhelum rivers — the same region as Gandhara. The distractors are all famous mahajanapadas with their own well-known capitals (Kuru-Indraprastha, Kasi-Varanasi, Avanti-Ujjain), so knowing any one of those pairings quickly rules it out.
- Gandhara mahajanapada — capital Taxila (Takshashila); other major city Pushkalavati.
- Taxila lay in the north-west (present Rawalpindi-Peshawar region, Pakistan) and was a renowned ancient centre of learning.
- Kuru capital = Indraprastha (earlier Hastinapura); Kasi capital = Varanasi.
- Avanti capitals = Ujjain (north) and Mahishmati (south).
- Confusing Taxila (Gandhara) with the capitals of other north/central mahajanapadas.
- Mixing up Avanti's two capitals (Ujjain and Mahishmati).
- Assuming the most powerful mahajanapada (Magadha) is linked to Taxila.
NDA/UPSC ask you to pair a mahajanapada with its capital, or to locate an ancient city like Taxila by region/river — memorise capitals and their regions together.
Between which of the following was the ancient town of Takshasila located?
- (a) Indus and Jehelum
- (b) Jhelum and Chenab
- (c) Chenab and Ravi
- (d) Ravi and Beas
Answer(a) Indus and Jehelum
Same subject — the ancient city of Taxila (Takshashila). UPSC located it between the Indus and Jhelum, exactly the north-west Gandhara region that this NDA question links Taxila to.
Which one of the following was initially the most powerful city state of India in the 6th century B.C.?
- (a) Gandhar
- (b) Kamboj
- (c) Kashi
- (d) Magadh
Answer(c) Kashi
Same mahajanapada theme — identifying and ranking the 6th-century-BCE mahajanapadas (Gandhara, Kashi, Magadha), the pool this NDA capital question is drawn from.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following was the capital of the Avanti mahajanapada?
- (a)Rajagriha
- (b)Ujjain
- (c)Kaushambi
- (d)Shravasti
Answer(b) Ujjain — Ujjain (Ujjayini) was the capital of northern Avanti (Mahishmati being the southern capital).
- practice — not a real PYQ
The ancient seat of learning Taxila is located in which present-day country?
- (a)India
- (b)Nepal
- (c)Pakistan
- (d)Afghanistan
Answer(c) Pakistan — Taxila lies in the Rawalpindi region of Punjab, Pakistan.