Indian History Previous Year Questions (PYQ) with Answers – Page 2

The correct answer is D, Zabt. Under Akbar, each province was divided into revenue circles, each with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops, and this system was called zabt. Akbar's revenue minister Todar Mal carried out a careful survey of crop yields, prices and the area cultivated over ten years, from 1570 to 1580. On the basis of this data, tax was fixed in cash on each crop. Zabt worked only where Mughal officials could survey the land and keep careful accounts, so it was not possible in provinces such as Gujarat and Bengal. A is wrong because zat was the rank of a mansabdar that fixed his position and salary, not a tax system. B is wrong because iqta was a land assignment under the Delhi Sultans, and its holders were called iqtadars or muqtis. C is wrong because a jagir was the revenue assignment given to a mansabdar in place of a cash salary. Exam tip: Todar Mal, ten-year survey 1570 to 1580, crop-wise cash rates, zabt.

The correct answer is D, Sulaiman and Kirthar hills. These hills in the north-west of the subcontinent, now in Pakistan, are among the places where people first began to grow wheat and barley. NCERT's Class 6 history book says this happened about 8000 years ago, when people here also began rearing sheep, goats and cattle and started living in villages. Mehrgarh, a fertile plain near the Bolan Pass in this region, is one of the earliest farming villages known to us. A is wrong because the Nilgiri hills in the far south are not linked with the first wheat and barley farming. B is wrong because the Garo hills in the north-east are named as a place where agriculture developed, but not as the home of the earliest wheat and barley. C is wrong because the Malabar area on the south-west coast is not where wheat and barley farming began. Exam tip: first wheat and barley, Sulaiman and Kirthar hills; oldest farming village, Mehrgarh near the Bolan Pass.

The correct answer is D, It was founded in 1928 at Amritsar in Punjab. This is the untrue statement, because the HSRA was founded at Firozeshah Kotla in Delhi, not at Amritsar. In 1928 Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and other young revolutionaries met at the Firozeshah Kotla ground in Delhi and turned the Hindustan Republican Association into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. The word 'Socialist' showed that they wanted freedom along with a society free from exploitation. In December 1928 its members shot the police officer Saunders at Lahore to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. A is a true statement, since Saunders was killed by Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. B is true, because Bhagat Singh and his comrades set up the organisation. C is true, because Firozeshah Kotla in Delhi is exactly where it was founded. Exam tip: HRA founded 1924 at Kanpur; HSRA founded 1928 at Firozeshah Kotla, Delhi.

The correct answer is C, 18 years and 14 years. The 1929 Act fixed these as the lowest ages at which men and women could marry. It is also called the Sarda Act, after Har Bilas Sarda, who moved the bill in the Central Legislative Assembly. The Act was passed in 1929 and came into force on 1 April 1930, and it applied to people of all religions. NCERT's history book treats it as a milestone in the long campaign of reformers against child marriage. Independent India raised the limits to 21 years for men and 18 years for women in 1978, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 later replaced the old law. A is wrong because the Act did not fix 17 years for men and 15 years for women. B is wrong because 20 and 18 were never the ages set by this Act. D is wrong because 21 and 18 came only with the 1978 amendment, not in 1929. Exam tip: Sarda Act 1929, boys 18 and girls 14; amendment of 1978, 21 and 18.

The correct answer is D, Tarabai Shinde. She wrote Stripurushtulna, meaning 'A Comparison between Women and Men', in Marathi in 1882. Tarabai Shinde was a woman educated at home in Poona, and her book openly criticised the social differences between men and women. It asked why the same society that forgave men punished women so harshly, which is why it is counted among the first feminist writings in India. NCERT's Class 8 history book mentions her book alongside the work of Pandita Ramabai. A is wrong because Periyar started the Self-Respect Movement in the Tamil region and attacked caste and Brahmanical texts. B is wrong because Pandita Ramabai, a great Sanskrit scholar, wrote about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women and started a widows' home at Poona. C is wrong because Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an association for widow remarriage in the Telugu-speaking areas of Madras Presidency. Exam tip: Tarabai Shinde, Stripurushtulna (1882); Jyotirao Phule, Gulamgiri (1873).

The correct answer is A, Bimbisara. Bimbisara founded the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha and began Magadha's rise as the strongest of the sixteen Mahajanapadas. His capital was Rajagriha, today's Rajgir in Nalanda district, and he was a contemporary and admirer of Gautama Buddha. He grew his power through marriages: with the Kosala princess who brought Kashi as dowry, with Chellana of the Licchavis of Vaishali, and with Khema of Madra. He also conquered Anga, the region around present-day Bhagalpur, which gave Magadha control of trade on the Ganga. Option B is wrong because Brihadratha founded the older dynasty of Magadha, the one to which Jarasandha belonged. Option C is wrong because Ajatashatru was Bimbisara's son and successor, not the founder. Option D is wrong because only one ruler, Bimbisara, founded the dynasty. Exam tip: the Haryanka line runs Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, Udayin, and Udayin shifted the capital to Pataliputra.

The correct answer is B, 2 and 3 only. Shakyamuni and Tathagata are titles of the Buddha, while Nayaputta is a name of Mahavira. Shakyamuni means 'the sage of the Shakyas', the clan of Kapilavastu into which Siddhartha was born. Tathagata means 'the one who has thus gone', and the Buddha used it for himself in the Pali texts. Nayaputta (Nataputta) means 'son of the Naya or Jnatrika clan', and Buddhist texts call Mahavira Nigantha Nataputta. Option A is wrong because Nayaputta is the one name in the list that does not belong to the Buddha. Option C is wrong because it adds Nayaputta to the two real epithets. Option D is wrong because two of the three names are genuine epithets of the Buddha. Other titles of the Buddha include Sugata and Bhagavat, while Mahavira is also called Jina and Vardhamana. Exam tip: Shakyamuni and Tathagata for the Buddha, Nigantha Nataputta for Mahavira.

The correct answer is C, 1856. Lord Dalhousie annexed Awadh in February 1856, in the last weeks of his term as Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. The ground given was misgovernment, not the Doctrine of Lapse: Nawab Wajid Ali Shah had heirs, so the British simply declared his rule corrupt and removed him, sending him to Calcutta. The move angered the many sepoys of the Bengal Army who came from Awadh, and it became one of the causes of the Revolt of 1857, in which Begum Hazrat Mahal led the fight at Lucknow. A is wrong because 1857 is the year of the Revolt itself, which broke out a year after the annexation. B is wrong because in 1850 Dalhousie was taking smaller states under the Doctrine of Lapse, such as Satara in 1848 and Jhansi in 1853, but Awadh was not yet touched. D is wrong because 1858 is the year the Government of India Act ended Company rule and the Crown took over. Exam tip: Awadh 1856 on the charge of misgovernment; Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur under the Doctrine of Lapse.

The correct answer is B, Lord Metcalfe. As acting Governor-General, Sir Charles Metcalfe repealed the licensing regulations of 1823 through the Press Act of 1835, so he is called the 'Liberator of the Indian Press'. The 1823 regulations had been imposed by acting Governor-General John Adam, and they made every printing press take a government licence, which could be withdrawn at will. Metcalfe replaced this with a simple rule: a printer or publisher only had to declare where the press was. Papers like to set the trap of Ripon here, because he too freed the press, but decades later. A is wrong because Lord Lytton did the opposite; he passed the Vernacular Press Act of 1878, called the 'gagging Act'. C is wrong because Lord Ripon repealed Lytton's Vernacular Press Act in 1882, not the 1823 regulations. D is wrong because Lord Ellenborough, Governor-General from 1842 to 1844, is known for the annexation of Sindh, not for press freedom. Exam tip: Adam 1823 gagged the press, Metcalfe 1835 freed it, Lytton 1878 gagged it again, Ripon 1882 freed it.

The correct answer is D, Indo-Greeks. The Indo-Greek kings who ruled the north-west of India from about the second century BCE were the first in Indian history to issue coins that carried the name and portrait of the ruler, with Greek legends on one side and Prakrit in the Kharoshthi script on the other. The coins of Menander (Milinda), who appears in the Buddhist text Milindapanho, are the best known. This practice of putting the ruler's head and name on coins was later followed by the Kushanas and the Guptas. These coins are also the main source for the names of more than thirty Indo-Greek kings, most of whom are known from nothing else. A, the Mauryas, used punch-marked silver coins with symbols but no names or portraits. B, the Pushyabhutis of Thanesar and Kanauj, the dynasty of Harsha, came much later, in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. C, the Guptas, issued beautiful gold dinars with royal portraits, but they followed the Indo-Greek and Kushana example. Exam tip: first coins with rulers' names and images, Indo-Greeks; first large gold coinage, Kushanas; punch-marked coins, Mauryas.

The correct answer is C, Gandhar. Buddhist texts list sixteen mahajanapadas of the sixth century BCE, and Gandhara, in the north-west covering the Peshawar and Rawalpindi region, had its capital at Taxila (Takshashila), near present-day Islamabad in Pakistan. Taxila stood on the Uttarapatha trade route and grew into a famous centre of learning linked in tradition with Panini, Chanakya and the physician Jivaka. Its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gandhara later became famous for the Gandhara school of art under the Kushanas. A, Kuru, had its capital at Indraprastha, near Delhi, with Hastinapur as another centre. B, Kasi, had Varanasi as its capital. D, Avanti, in Malwa, had Ujjain as its capital, with Mahishmati in the south. Exam tip: learn them in pairs, Gandhara with Taxila, Avanti with Ujjain, Kosala with Shravasti, Vatsa with Kaushambi, and Magadha with Rajgir and later Pataliputra.

The correct answer is B, Bindusara. Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya and became the second ruler of the Mauryan Empire in about 297 BCE, ruling till about 273 BCE. Greek writers called him Amitrochates, from the Sanskrit 'Amitraghata', which means slayer of enemies. He kept up friendly ties with the Greek kingdoms of West Asia, and the Greek ambassador Deimachus lived at his court at Pataliputra. He is said to have extended the empire into the Deccan, and his son Ashoka served as viceroy at Ujjain before taking the throne. A is wrong because Kumaragupta I was a Gupta ruler of the fifth century CE, remembered for founding Nalanda. C is wrong because Ashoka was Bindusara's son and succeeded him in about 273 BCE, being crowned in 268 BCE. D is wrong because Kanishka was a Kushan king who ruled from 78 CE, the year the Saka era begins. Exam tip: the Mauryan order is Chandragupta (322 BCE), Bindusara (297 BCE), Ashoka (273 BCE); father, son, grandson.

The correct answer is B, Mughal's Rule in India. On 21 April 1526 Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last Sultan of Delhi, at Panipat in present-day Haryana, and this victory ended the Delhi Sultanate and started Mughal rule in India. Babur's army was much smaller, but he won with field guns handled by the Ottoman experts Ustad Ali and Mustafa and with the 'tulughma' tactic of encircling the enemy from the flanks. Ibrahim Lodi died on the battlefield, the only Delhi Sultan to die in battle. Panipat saw two more decisive battles: 1556, when Akbar's general Bairam Khan defeated Hemu, and 1761, when Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas. A is wrong because the French never ruled India; their power ended with the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. C is wrong because British East India Company rule began after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. D is wrong because the Delhi Sultanate began in 1206 with Qutb-ud-din Aibak and actually ended at Panipat in 1526. Exam tip: Panipat 1526 Babur beats Ibrahim Lodi; 1556 Akbar beats Hemu; 1761 Abdali beats the Marathas.

The correct answer is B, Parantaka I. Parantaka I (907 to 955 CE), son of Aditya I, crushed the Pandya king Maravarman Rajasimha II and his Sri Lankan allies at the battle of Vellur, or Vellore, around 915 CE, and took the title Maduraikonda, 'captor of Madurai'. His reign is also remembered for the Uttaramerur inscriptions of 919 and 921 CE, which describe how village assemblies were elected by lot, and for covering the Nataraja shrine at Chidambaram with gold. Late in his rule he lost the battle of Takkolam (949 CE) to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III, where his son Rajaditya was killed. Option A is wrong because Rajaraja I (985 to 1014 CE) came later and is known for the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur. Option C is wrong because Rajendra I led the Ganga expedition and took the title Gangaikonda Chola. Option D is wrong because Vijayalaya founded the imperial Chola line by capturing Thanjavur around 850 CE, before this battle. Exam tip: Vellur = Parantaka I (Maduraikonda), Takkolam = Chola defeat by Krishna III.

The correct answer is C, Ghiyas ud din Balban. Balban, who ruled from 1266 to 1287, brought the Persian court customs of sijda, bowing low before the Sultan, and paibos, kissing his feet, into the Delhi court. They went with his idea of kingship, in which the Sultan was Zill-i-Ilahi, the shadow of God on earth, a person set far above his nobles. He also celebrated the Persian festival of Nauroz, broke the power of the group of forty nobles known as the Chalisa, and used a policy of blood and iron against rebels. Option A is wrong because Muhammad bin Tughlaq is remembered for token currency and the shift of the capital to Daulatabad. Option B is wrong because Nasir-ud-din Mahmud was the mild ruler under whom Balban held real power as naib. Option D is wrong because Qutb-ud-din Aibak founded the Slave dynasty and was called Lakh Baksh. Exam tip: Balban - sijda, paibos, Nauroz and Zill-i-Ilahi.

The correct answer is C, 1784. Pitt's India Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1784, named after Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and it separated the commercial work of the East India Company from its political work. Trade stayed with the Court of Directors, while a Board of Control of six members, answerable to the British government, took charge of civil, military and revenue matters in India. This began the dual government of the Company and the Crown, which lasted until the Government of India Act of 1858, and the term British possessions in India was used for the first time. The Act corrected the weaknesses of the Regulating Act of 1773, which had made Warren Hastings the Governor-General of Bengal. Option A is wrong because 1818 is the year the Third Anglo-Maratha War ended. Option B is wrong because no India Act was passed in 1792. Option D is wrong because 1802 is the year of the Treaty of Bassein. Exam tip: Regulating Act 1773, then Pitt's India Act 1784 with its Board of Control and dual government.

The correct answer is B, 1240. Razia Sultan was removed from the throne of Delhi in 1240 and killed the same year. She was the daughter of Iltutmish, who named her his successor over his sons, and she ruled from 1236 to 1240, the only woman ever to sit on the throne of the Delhi Sultanate. She gave up the veil, held court in men's dress and rode into battle herself, and she raised Jamaluddin Yaqut, an Abyssinian noble, to high office, which the Turkish nobles of the Chalisa resented. Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, rose in revolt; Razia married him, but both were defeated by the supporters of her brother Bahram Shah and killed near Kaithal. Option A is wrong because 1244 falls in the reign of Alauddin Masud Shah. Option C is wrong because 1238 falls in the middle of her own rule. Option D is wrong because 1236 is the year she came to the throne. Exam tip: Razia ruled 1236-1240; the Turkish nobles of the Chalisa brought her down.

The correct answer is B, Mathura. Mathura on the Yamuna became the second capital of the Kushanas, while Purushapura, today's Peshawar, was the main one. Under Kanishka, the greatest Kushana ruler, whose reign is usually dated from 78 CE, the empire stretched from Central Asia to the Ganga valley, and Mathura served as its eastern seat of power. The Mathura school of sculpture flourished here in red sandstone and made some of the earliest images of the Buddha, alongside the Gandhara school of the north-west. A famous headless statue of Kanishka was found at Mathura. The Kushanas also issued fine gold coins and Kanishka convened the fourth Buddhist council in Kashmir. Option A is wrong because Kannauj was the capital of Harshavardhana in the seventh century. Option C is wrong because Purushpur, or Peshawar, was the first and chief capital, not the second. Option D is wrong because Pataliputra was the Mauryan and later Gupta capital. Exam tip: Kushanas had Purushapura first and Mathura second, with Kanishka starting the Saka era in 78 CE.

The correct answer is B, Third. The Third Anglo-Maratha War, fought in 1817-18 under Lord Hastings, ended Maratha power. Peshwa Baji Rao II was beaten at Khadki, Koregaon and Ashti, the office of Peshwa was abolished, and his lands around Poona were taken over and joined to the Bombay Presidency. Baji Rao II was pensioned off to Bithur near Kanpur, and a small kingdom was carved out at Satara for a descendant of Shivaji. With this the East India Company became the paramount power in India. Option A is wrong because there was no fourth Anglo-Maratha war; the Marathas fought three. Option C is wrong because the Second War of 1803-05 followed the Treaty of Bassein and cost the Marathas Orissa, Delhi and Agra, but the Peshwa stayed on his seat. Option D is wrong because the First War of 1775-82 ended in the Treaty of Salbai, which restored the position as it was before the war. Exam tip: Salbai 1782, Bassein 1802, Peshwaship abolished 1818.

The correct answer is C, Lal Kot. Lal Kot was built by the Tomara Rajputs before the Delhi Sultanate began. The Tomara king Anangpal is credited with raising this fort in the 11th century, and it is counted as the first of the 'cities of Delhi'. Later the Chauhans under Prithviraj Chauhan enlarged it into Qila Rai Pithora. When Qutbuddin Aibak took Delhi, the Sultans first ruled from here, and the Qutb Minar complex in Mehrauli stands inside this old fort area. Option A is wrong because Siri was built by Alauddin Khalji around 1303 as a garrison city against the Mongols. Option B is wrong because Jahanpanah was built by Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, who walled in the area between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri. Option D is wrong because Tughlakabad was built by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty, in the 1320s. Exam tip: Lal Kot (Tomara) → Siri (Khalji) → Tughlakabad (Ghiyasuddin) → Jahanpanah (Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq).