Previous Year Question
‘Prithivyah Pratham Veer’ was the title of
Samudragupta
Rajendra-I
Amoghavarsha
Gautamiputra Shatkarni
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
None of the four options given in this question was accepted as a demonstrably correct answer.
Many general books and later solved-question compilations give Samudragupta as the answer. This appears to arise from confusion between Samudragupta's extensive military achievements and a different expression such as ‘Prithivyama-Pratiratha/Prithivyam Apratiratha’, interpreted as having no rival on earth.
However, reliable epigraphic evidence establishing ‘Prithivyah Pratham Veer’ as a documented title of Samudragupta was not found.
The dispute concerning the answer key of UPPSC PCS 2016 reached the Allahabad High Court. This History question was referred to a senior faculty expert from the Department of History, University of Allahabad.
After expert examination, the Commission deleted the question, because none of the options could be established as correct. The expert appointed by the Court was also of the same opinion.
The candidates argued in favour of Samudragupta by referring to books that associated him with an expression such as ‘Prithivyama-Pratiratha’, meaning one having no rival on earth. However, the Court specifically observed that even those books did not establish that Samudragupta had been conferred the precise title ‘Prithivyah Pratham Veer’.