Matsya Mahajanapada of 6th century B.C was located in:

The answer is B) Rajasthan. The Matsya Mahajanapada lay to the south-west of the Kuru kingdom, covering the present Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaipur area. Its capital was Viratnagar, today's Bairat in Jaipur district, where Ashokan Buddhist remains were later found. The core concept is the sixteen Mahajanapadas of the 6th century BC, the first large territorial states that replaced the Janapadas of the Later Vedic period. Mains answers on urbanisation, the second urbanisation and the rise of Magadha often start from this map.

• A) Western Uttar Pradesh: This was the heartland of the Kuru Mahajanapada, centred on Hastinapur and the Delhi-Meerut region, not Matsya.
• C) Bundelkhand: This area belonged to the Chedi Mahajanapada, with Shuktimati as its capital.
• D) Rohilkhand: This was part of the Panchala Mahajanapada, split into North Panchala (Ahichchhatra) and South Panchala (Kampilya).

Trap: Aspirants often place Matsya near Mathura because of the Shurasena association, or confuse the Kuru and Panchala regions of UP with Matsya. Matsya is in Rajasthan, to the south-west of Kuru.