SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 6 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which Rashtrakuta king defeated Parantaka I of the Chola dynasty?

(a)Krishna I
(b)Dantidurga
(c)Krishna III
(d)Govinda III

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The Rashtrakuta king Krishna III defeated the Chola forces of Parantaka I at the Battle of Takkolam, fought in 948–949.

The Chola crown prince Rajaditya was killed there, struck by an arrow from Krishna III's Western Ganga ally Butuga II. Krishna III took the epithet Tanjaiyunkonda, 'conqueror of Tanjore' → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Krishna I — Krishna I (756–774) is the Rashtrakuta king who commissioned the Kailasa temple at Ellora, nearly two centuries before Takkolam.
(b)
Dantidurga — Dantidurga founded Rashtrakuta power in the 8th century by defeating the Badami Chalukya king Kirtivarman II, long before Parantaka I ruled the Cholas.
(d)
Govinda III — Govinda III (793–814) is known for northern campaigns against the Pratihara Nagabhata II and the Pala Dharmapala. He died nearly a century before Parantaka I's reign.

Concept

The Rashtrakutas ruled the Deccan from the mid-8th to the late 10th century. The distractors each belong to an earlier chapter: Dantidurga founded the dynasty, Krishna I built at Ellora, and Govinda III fought in the north during the Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj.

Krishna III (939–967) was the last great ruler. After Takkolam, Chola resistance collapsed, and his Karhad plates claim he advanced as far as Rameswaram.

The Chola army at Takkolam was led by Parantaka I's son Rajaditya, so 'defeated Parantaka I' means defeating his kingdom's forces, not the king in person on the field.

Key facts

Battle of Takkolam (948–949): the Rashtrakuta Krishna III defeated the Cholas under Parantaka I.
The Chola crown prince Rajaditya was killed at Takkolam.
Krishna I (756–774) commissioned the Kailasa temple at Ellora.
Govinda III (793–814) campaigned in the north against Nagabhata II and Dharmapala.

Study next

The Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj: Palas, Pratiharas and RashtrakutasThe Western Gangas as Rashtrakuta feudatoriesThe Chola revival under Rajaraja I and Rajendra I

Common traps

Picking Krishna I because the name matches: Krishna I built at Ellora in the 8th century, Krishna III fought the Cholas in the 10th.
Assuming Parantaka I died at Takkolam: the prince killed there was his son Rajaditya.

Here a battle is tested through the king who won it. Rashtrakuta kings are also asked at 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.11, where Krishna I is the builder of the Kailasa temple at Ellora.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: History — all 154 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.