Gujarat GK Questions

Gujarat came into existence on 1 May 1960 after the division of which state?

• Saurashtra State
• Bombay State
• Kutch State
• Central Provinces

Answer: Bombay State. The Bombay Reorganisation Act split Bombay State into Gujarat and Maharashtra, so both states celebrate their foundation day on 1 May.

Who was the first Chief Minister of Gujarat?

• Balwantrai Mehta
• Hitendra Desai
• Jivraj Narayan Mehta
• Chimanbhai Patel

Answer: Jivraj Narayan Mehta. Dr Jivraj Narayan Mehta became the first Chief Minister in 1960. Balwantrai Mehta, known for the panchayati raj report, was the second.

Gir National Park is the only wild home in the world of which animal?

• Asiatic lion
• Indian wild ass
• Bengal tiger
• One-horned rhinoceros

Answer: Asiatic lion. Asiatic lions live in the wild only in the Gir landscape of Saurashtra. The Indian wild ass is found in the Little Rann of Kutch.

The Statue of Unity, the world's tallest statue, honours which leader?

• Mahatma Gandhi
• B. R. Ambedkar
• Subhas Chandra Bose
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Answer: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The 182 m statue of Sardar Patel stands at Ekta Nagar (Kevadia), facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada. It was unveiled on 31 October 2018.

Which Harappan site in Gujarat is famous for its brick dockyard?

• Lothal
• Dholavira
• Rangpur
• Surkotada

Answer: Lothal. Lothal, near the Gulf of Khambhat in Ahmedabad district, has a large brick basin widely read as a dockyard, showing that Harappans traded by sea.

Which Harappan city in Kutch was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021?

• Lothal
• Kalibangan
• Dholavira
• Rakhigarhi

Answer: Dholavira. Dholavira, on Khadir island in the Great Rann of Kutch, is known for its water-storage reservoirs and a large signboard in the Indus script.

Rani ki Vav, the stepwell pictured on the Rs 100 note, is in which town?

• Modhera
• Vadnagar
• Siddhpur
• Patan

Answer: Patan. Rani ki Vav in Patan was built in the 11th century by Queen Udayamati in memory of King Bhima I of the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty. It became a UNESCO site in 2014.

Which city became India's first UNESCO World Heritage City in 2017?

• Jaipur
• Ahmedabad
• Varanasi
• Surat

Answer: Ahmedabad. The walled city of Ahmedabad, on the Sabarmati, was listed for its pols (old neighbourhoods), carved wooden houses and Indo-Islamic mosques and monuments.

Gandhi's Dandi March of 1930 began from which place?

• Sabarmati Ashram
• Kochrab Ashram
• Porbandar
• Bardoli

Answer: Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi set out from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 and reached Dandi, on the coast of today's Navsari district, on 5 April to break the salt law.

In which town is the Amul dairy cooperative headquartered?

• Mehsana
• Anand
• Vadodara
• Rajkot

Answer: Anand. Amul is based in Anand. Verghese Kurien built on its cooperative model to lead Operation Flood, which made India the world's largest milk producer.

Alang, in Bhavnagar district, is famous for what?

• Salt pans
• Diamond cutting
• Ship-breaking
• Oil refining

Answer: Ship-breaking. Alang is one of the world's largest ship-breaking yards. Old ships are beached there at high tide and dismantled for steel. Diamond cutting is centred in Surat.

The Somnath temple, traditionally counted first among the 12 Jyotirlingas, stands on which coast?

• Gulf of Kutch
• Gulf of Khambhat
• Konkan coast
• Saurashtra coast

Answer: Saurashtra coast. Somnath is at Prabhas Patan on the southern Saurashtra coast in Gir Somnath district. The present temple was rebuilt after Independence with Sardar Patel's backing.

Which bird is the state bird of Gujarat?

• Greater flamingo
• Indian peafowl
• Sarus crane
• Great Indian bustard

Answer: Greater flamingo. Huge flamingo colonies breed in the Great Rann of Kutch, giving the area its nickname 'Flamingo City'. The peacock is India's national bird.

Which Indian state has the longest mainland coastline?

• Andhra Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Tamil Nadu
• Gujarat

Answer: Gujarat. Gujarat has India's longest coastline, wrapping around the Gulf of Kutch, the Saurashtra peninsula and the Gulf of Khambhat. That is why it has so many ports.

Who founded the city of Ahmedabad in 1411?

• Mahmud Begada
• Sultan Ahmed Shah
• Akbar
• Siddhraj Jaisinh

Answer: Sultan Ahmed Shah. Sultan Ahmed Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate founded Ahmedabad on the banks of the Sabarmati. His grandson Mahmud Begada later made Champaner his capital.