SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 13 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 13 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.

What title did many Kushana rulers adopt to signify their divine status?

(a)Rajadhiraja
(b)Chakravartin
(c)Devaputra
(d)Maharajadhiraja

Answer

Why

Correct — C. NCERT's Class 12 history notes that many Kushana rulers adopted the title devaputra, 'son of god', possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.

Of the four titles, only devaputra makes a claim of divine descent. The others claim rank over other kings → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Rajadhiraja — Rajadhiraja means 'king of kings', a claim of supremacy over other rulers. Kanishka's Mathura inscription pairs it with devaputra, but only devaputra carries the divine claim.
(b)
Chakravartin — Chakravartin, literally a 'wheel-turner', is the ideal universal ruler. It claims dominion over the world, not divine descent.
(d)
Maharajadhiraja — Maharajadhiraja, 'great king of kings', is the grand title of the Guptas, assumed by Chandragupta I. It claims paramount rank, not divinity.

Concept

The Kushanas ruled a kingdom stretching from Central Asia into north-west India. NCERT uses them as its example of 'divine kings', rulers who claimed high status by identifying with deities.

The evidence is in their coins and sculpture. Colossal statues of Kushana rulers were installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura, and titles such as devaputra appear in their inscriptions.

Kushana inscriptions stack several titles on one king: Kanishka's Mathura inscription reads Maharaja Rajadhiraja Devaputra. The stem asks which one signified divine status, and that is devaputra.

Key facts

Many Kushana rulers adopted the title devaputra, 'son of god' (NCERT Class 12, Themes in Indian History Part I).
NCERT links the title to Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.
Colossal statues of Kushana rulers were found in a shrine at Mat near Mathura.
Kanishka's Mathura inscription styles him Maharaja Rajadhiraja Devaputra.

Study next

Kanishka and the fourth Buddhist councilKushana gold coinage and the deities on itThe Mathura and Gandhara schools of art

Common traps

Picking Rajadhiraja because the Kushanas did use it: it claims rank, and the stem asks for the divine title.
Picking Maharajadhiraja by confusing the Kushanas with the Guptas, whose grand title it was.

The Kushanas are also asked through coins and art: 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.25 keys Vasudeva I as a Kushana king, and 26 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.5 keys the Kushana period for the Mathura school's Brahmanical sculptures.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: History — all 218 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.