UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 1 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Kakatiya Seaport Motupalli
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectMedieval History
- TopicRegional Kingdoms
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom?
Show answer
Answer: B. Motupalli
Verdict
The answer is Motupalli. It was the chief seaport of the Kakatiya kingdom.
Analysis
Motupalli, on the Andhra coast, served as the principal port of the Kakatiyas of Warangal and was visited by the Venetian traveller Marco Polo, whose account is one of the main external witnesses to its trade. Kakinada and Machilipatnam are both historic Andhra ports but rose to prominence in later centuries under Golconda and European commerce rather than under the Kakatiyas. Nelluru is an inland centre of the far south of the Andhra country and was not the kingdom's maritime outlet.
Source
Romila Thapar, Early India: From the Origins to A.D. 1300, page 384.
How to crack it
This is an unconventional question, so the honest approach is elimination by association rather than recall. Machilipatnam is so strongly tied to the later Dutch and English factory period that it is the obvious plant, and obvious options in an unconventional question are usually wrong. If Marco Polo's visit rings a bell, that is the single hook that identifies Motupalli, since medieval ports are best remembered through the traveller who described them. If neither hook is available, this is a fair question to leave blank.