Gujarat GK: Formation, Geography, Heritage and PYQs

The correct answer is B, 1 May 1960. On that day the bilingual State of Bombay was divided under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960 into a Gujarati speaking Gujarat and a Marathi speaking Maharashtra, so both states share their formation day. Option A is wrong because 1 November 1956 is the day the States Reorganisation Act came into force, which created states such as Kerala and Karnataka but kept Bombay bilingual. Option C is wrong because 1 April 1936 is the day Odisha was carved out as a separate province, a favourite distractor in this set. Option D is wrong because 15 August 1947 is Independence Day, when Gujarat was still part of Bombay Province and the princely states of Saurashtra and Kachchh were separate. The Mahagujarat movement was the agitation that led to the division.

The correct answer is C, Gandhinagar. It is a planned city laid out in numbered sectors on the bank of the Sabarmati and named after Mahatma Gandhi, and it took over as capital after the state was formed. Option A is wrong, though it is the commonest mistake: Ahmedabad was the first capital of the new state and is still its largest city, its commercial centre and the seat of the Gujarat High Court, but not the capital. Option B is wrong because Surat, on the Tapi, is the centre of diamond polishing and textiles and was an important port of the Mughal period. Option D is wrong because Vadodara, the old Baroda of the Gaekwads, is a major industrial and cultural city but never the capital of the state. The pair to remember is first capital Ahmedabad, present capital Gandhinagar.

The correct answer is D, Gujarat. Its coast runs for about 1,600 km, longer than that of any other state, because the Saurashtra peninsula and the Kachchh region give it two deep gulfs, the Gulf of Kachchh in the north west and the Gulf of Khambhat in the south east. Option A is wrong because Tamil Nadu has a long eastern coastline but a shorter one than Gujarat. Option B is wrong because Andhra Pradesh has the longest coastline on the eastern seaboard yet still less than Gujarat. Option C is wrong because Maharashtra, with the Konkan coast, comes after both in length. Note the trap in the wording: among union territories and islands the answer would change, and the longest coastline of any state remains Gujarat.

The correct answer is B, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The statue stands 182 metres tall at Kevadia, now Ekta Nagar, near the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada, and it was unveiled on 31 October 2018, the leader's birth anniversary; the name recalls his work in integrating the princely states. Option A is wrong because Gandhi, though born in Gujarat at Porbandar, is commemorated there by Kirti Mandir and by the Sabarmati Ashram, not by this statue. Option C is wrong because the tall statues connected with Dr Ambedkar stand elsewhere and none of them is this one. Option D is wrong because no statue of this scale commemorates Nehru. Ask yourself three things together in such questions: the person, the height of 182 metres and the place, Kevadia on the Narmada.

The correct answer is C, Gujarat. Gir lies in the Junagadh region of the Saurashtra peninsula and is the last place where the Asiatic lion survives in the wild; the lion is the state animal of Gujarat. Option A is wrong because Rajasthan is known for the tiger reserves of Ranthambhore and Sariska and for the Keoladeo bird park at Bharatpur. Option B is wrong because Madhya Pradesh has Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Kuno, and Kuno has been discussed as a second home for lions, which is the reason this option looks attractive. Option D is wrong because Maharashtra has Tadoba and Melghat, both tiger reserves. Along with Gir, remember the Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kachchh and the Blackbuck National Park at Velavadar.

The correct answer is A, the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat, where the Marine National Park was the first of its kind in India, protecting coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass, sponges and a rich bird life across a group of islands. Option B is wrong because the Gulf of Mannar off Tamil Nadu is famous as a biosphere reserve with great marine diversity, and it is the option most often chosen by mistake. Option C is wrong because the Gulf of Khambhat, on the other side of the Saurashtra peninsula, has heavy tides and silt and holds no marine national park. Option D is wrong because the Gulf of Aden lies between Yemen and Somalia, outside India altogether. Keep the pairing clear: first marine national park in the Gulf of Kachchh, marine biosphere reserve in the Gulf of Mannar.

The correct answer is A, Patan. Rani ki Vav, the queen's step well, was built in the Solanki period on the bank of the Saraswati at Patan, is carved in seven descending storeys with hundreds of sculptures, and appears on the hundred rupee note. Option B is wrong because Modhera, not far away, has the Sun Temple of the Solankis with its own tank, but the World Heritage step well is at Patan. Option C is wrong because Champaner Pavagadh, inscribed earlier in 2004, is an archaeological park of mosques, temples and fortifications near Vadodara. Option D is wrong because Dholavira, inscribed in 2021, is the Harappan city in Kachchh known for its reservoirs. Patan is also the home of the Patola double ikat sari, which makes the town doubly examinable.

The correct answer is B, the Solankis, also called the Chalukyas of Gujarat, who ruled from Anhilwad Patan and built the temple to Surya at Modhera with its stepped tank, assembly hall and sanctum aligned so that light falls within it. Option A is wrong because the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan are remembered for the rock cut Kailasa temple at Ellora. Option C is wrong because the Palas ruled Bengal and Bihar and are associated with Buddhist monasteries such as Vikramshila and with the Pala school of art. Option D is wrong because the Gaekwads were Maratha rulers of Baroda in a much later period and had no part in the temple. The Solanki period is also the period of Rani ki Vav, so the two monuments are often paired in a question.

The correct answer is B, the Narmada. The Sardar Sarovar Dam stands on the Narmada in Narmada district of Gujarat, is the largest irrigation and power project of the state and carries canals into Saurashtra and Kachchh; the Statue of Unity was built nearby at Kevadia. Option A is wrong because the dam on the Tapi in Gujarat is the Ukai dam, near Surat. Option C is wrong because the Dharoi dam stands on the Sabarmati, the river that flows past Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. Option D is wrong because the Kadana dam is on the Mahi. Learn the four pairs together, Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada, Ukai on the Tapi, Dharoi on the Sabarmati and Kadana on the Mahi, because matching questions use exactly these four.

The correct answer is A, Kachchh. Dholavira stands on Khadir island in the Rann of Kachchh and is known for its careful division into citadel, middle town and lower town, its series of stone water reservoirs and the so called signboard of large Harappan letters. Option B is wrong because the Dangs is the forested hill district of southern Gujarat, the home of Saputara, with no Harappan city. Option C is wrong because Saurashtra has its own Harappan sites, such as Rojdi and Rangpur, and Lothal lies north east of it, but Dholavira is in Kachchh. Option D is wrong because Charotar is the fertile tract around Anand and Nadiad, known for dairying rather than for archaeology. Remember the two famous pairs, Lothal for the dockyard and Dholavira for the reservoirs.