Which of the following is an ancient town of India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Madurai
Ancient towns have a history of over 2,000 years and grew as religious and cultural centres: Varanasi, Prayag (Allahabad), Pataliputra (Patna) and Madurai. Lucknow and Agra are medieval towns, and Surat is a modern town that began as a European trading port.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2024 on 17-05-2024 (Slot 1), and in CUET (UG) 2023 on 30-05-2023 (Slot 2) and 27-05-2023 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Ancient Towns … There are number of towns in India having historical background spanning over 2000 years. Most of them developed as religious and cultural centres. Varanasi is one of the important towns among these. Prayag (Allahabad), Pataliputra (Patna), Madurai are some other examples of ancient towns in the country.…” “Medieval Towns … About 100 of the existing towns have their roots in the medieval period. Most of them developed as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms. These are fort towns which came up on the ruins of ancient towns. Important among them are Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra and Nagpur.…” “Modern Towns … The British and other Europeans have developed a number of towns in India. Starting their foothold on coastal locations, they first developed some trading ports such as Surat, Daman, Goa, Pondicherry, etc. The British later consolidated their hold around three principal nodes – Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras), and Kolkata (Calcutta) – and built them in the British style.…” |