Question

When and where did Pulakesin II defeat Harshavardhana?
a.In the summer of 647 CE on the banks of river Yamuna
b.In the summer of 618 CE on the banks of river Ganga
c.In the winter of 647 CE on the banks of river Yamuna
d.In the winter of 618 CE on the banks of river Narmada

Answer 1

Hint: When Pulakeshin II defeated Harsha, he entered into a treaty with him, with a particular river, near the battleground, designated as the border between the Chalukya Empire and the empire of Harshavardhana.

Complete solution: Before proceeding with the details and explanation of this question, the trivia here is, that the date and venue of this battle was fixed centuries after decoding a copper plate!
Now we shall proceed with the details of Pulakeshin II and Harshavardhana and this battle which determined the fate of these two rulers.
Pulakeshin II, who ruled from the Chalukya capital of Badami (present day Bagalkot in Karnataka), challenged Harsha’s conquests. The former had established himself as ‘king cardinal’ of the south, exactly the way Harsha had done in the north.now, in north India, the state reverted into tiny republics and monarchical states ruled by Gupta rulers after the disintegration of the glorious Gupta Empire.
Harsha took the meticulous task and united all the small provinces right from Punjab to central India, and their representatives crowned him king at an assembly in April 606 giving him the title of Maharaja, thus establishing his own empire in the north india.
Harsha marched with a gigantic force to Kannauj (present day Madhya Pradesh) to take up the challenge by Pulakeshin II. We know that Kannauj is situated on the banks of river Narmada. And since there is only one alternative with the river narmada, option d, winter of 618 CE, on the banks of river narmada is the correct answer.

Note: Narmada river is of high geographical importance, the present major city of Jabalpur (in Madhya Pradesh) is located on the banks of this river. In this particular question, the location of the battle is of more importance, to that extent that if you know the location, you know the correct answer at once, as there was just one alternative with that.