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UPSC Prelims 2026 GS Paper 1, question 15

Topic: Ancient history

Q15

Which of the following pairs of the king and his dynasty in early historical Tamilakam is/are not correctly matched ?

  1. Senguttuvan : Chera

  2. Udiyanjeral : Chola

  3. Nedunjeliyan : Pandya

Select the answer using the code given below :

  1. (a) 1 and 2
  2. (b) 2 onlyCorrect answer
  3. (c) 1 and 3
  4. (d) 3 only

Solution.

Answer: (b) 2 only

  1. Pair 1 is correctly matched: Senguttuvan (the 'Red Chera' celebrated in the Silappadikaram) was a ruler of the Chera dynasty.
  2. Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: Udiyanjeral was the earliest known ruler of the Chera dynasty (celebrated in Padirruppattu), not the Chola dynasty.
  3. Pair 3 is correctly matched: Nedunjeliyan (victor of the Battle of Talaiyalanganam) was a celebrated Pandya king.

Trap: The stem asks which pair is not correctly matched, so only Pair 2 is selected.