SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 10 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 23 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Gautamiputra Satakarni titled Rajaraja and Maharaja is related to which of the following dynasties?

(a)Satavahana
(b)Shaka
(c)Shunga
(d)Pandya

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Gautamiputra Satakarni was a Satavahana king, of the dynasty that ruled the Deccan from Pratishthana — modern Paithan, on the Godavari — after the Mauryas.

The name itself is the clue. Satakarni is a Satavahana royal name, and Gautamiputra, 'son of Gautami', is the metronymic style this dynasty used, naming a king after his mother.

What we know of his reign comes largely from the Nashik inscription issued by that mother, Gautami Balashri, which recites his titles and credits him with defeating the Shaka ruler Nahapana.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Shaka — The Shakas were his enemies, not his house. Nahapana was a Shaka satrap in the western Deccan, and Gautamiputra restruck Nahapana's silver coins after beating him.
(c)
Shunga — The Shungas ruled Magadha in the north from about the 2nd century BCE, founded by Pushyamitra Shunga after he displaced the last Mauryan. Wrong region, and no Satakarni among their kings.
(d)
Pandya — The Pandyas were a Tamil kingdom of the far south, ruling from Madurai and famed for pearls. Satavahana territory lay north of them, across the Deccan.

Concept

The Satavahanas filled the vacuum the Mauryas left in the Deccan, ruling roughly from the 1st century BCE into the 3rd century CE, with Pratishthana and later Amaravati among their centres.

They issued lead and potin coins, wrote their inscriptions in Prakrit using the Brahmi script, and endowed Buddhist monks — the rock-cut caves at Karle and Nashik belong to that patronage.

Gautamiputra Satakarni is their high point, and the titles the question quotes, Rajaraja and Maharaja, belong to the praise-language used for him.

The dynasty is identifiable from the name alone, which is the exam-useful point.

A metronymic such as Gautamiputra or Vasishthiputra marks a Satavahana ruler. When SSC gives you a ruler's name and asks for the house, start with the naming convention before you reach for a date.

Key facts

Gautamiputra Satakarni belonged to the Satavahana dynasty of the Deccan.
The Satavahana capital was Pratishthana, modern Paithan in Maharashtra.
The Nashik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri is the main source for his reign.
He defeated the Shaka ruler Nahapana and restruck his coins.

Study next

Satavahana coinage, administration and Buddhist cave patronageThe Shaka-Satavahana conflict and Rudradaman's Junagadh inscriptionThe post-Mauryan kingdoms, from the Shungas and Kanvas to the Kushanas

Common traps

Reading Satakarni as a Shaka name because the Shakas dominate his story
Placing the Satavahanas in the north alongside the Shungas
Crediting the Nashik inscription to the king rather than to his mother

Dynasty-from-a-ruler's-name is a standing format in this cycle: 09 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.19 does it with Mahendravarman I, 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.7 with Vindhyashakti, and 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.25 with the coins of Vasudeva I.

Fix one ruler, one capital and one source per dynasty and the whole format collapses.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.