UPSC Prelims 2014— Question 41

Correct answer: Option B. Mahattara and Pattakila were designations associated with local administration and village headmen in parts of medieval/early Indian administrative history. They were not titles for military officers, Vedic ritual specialists or craft-guild chiefs. The question tests knowledge of historical local institutions. Option A: Incorrect. This option does not match the verified answer because its proposition, location, institution, sequence, or combination conflicts with the relevant fact tested in the question. The option reads: “military officers” Option B: Correct. This option is consistent with the governing fact or the valid combination identified in the question. The option reads: “village headmen” Option C: Incorrect. This option does not match the verified answer because its proposition, location, institution, sequence, or combination conflicts with the relevant fact tested in the question. The option reads: “specialists in Vedic rituals” Option D: Incorrect. This option does not match the verified answer because its proposition, location, institution, sequence, or combination conflicts with the relevant fact tested in the question. The option reads: “chiefs of craft guilds” The key Prelims lesson is to test each proposition independently before selecting the combination. Where the question uses words such as 'only', 'all', 'none', 'always' or a precise institutional/geographical association, a single inaccurate component is sufficient to eliminate the option. The answer recorded here follows the official answer key for the question-paper series represented by the uploaded source and has been cross-checked against an independent published key. The explanation is intended for conceptual revision rather than as a reproduction of any third-party solution.