Indian History Mixed Quiz: Set 41

The correct answer is C, Magadha. Magadha was the first power of ancient India to use elephants in war on a large scale, taking them from the forests of its east Indian heartland. Magadha grew from a mahajanapada into an empire under rulers such as Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, Mahapadma Nanda and later the Mauryas, and its strength rested on the fertile Ganga plains, the iron mines near Rajgir and these war elephants. Its early capital Rajagriha, today Rajgir, was later shifted to Pataliputra, which guarded the river routes of the Ganga. Greek accounts of the Nanda and Mauryan armies record thousands of elephants, and the peace Chandragupta Maurya made with Seleucus included a gift of 500 elephants. A is wrong because the Kushans of the first and second centuries CE are known for cavalry and gold coins. B is wrong because the Cholas of the far south are remembered for their navy and their temples. D is wrong because the Shungas came after the Mauryas and ruled a much smaller realm. Exam tip: remember the four props of Magadha - iron, fertile land, rivers and war elephants.

The correct answer is A, Slave Dynasty. Razia Sultan was the daughter of Iltutmish, and Iltutmish belonged to the Slave dynasty, also called the Mamluk dynasty or the Ilbari Turks. She ruled Delhi from 1236 to 1240 and is the only woman to have sat on the throne of the Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish named her his successor over his own sons, and she took the administration in hand, gave up the veil, held open court and led the army in person. The Turkish nobles, the group of forty, would not accept a woman ruler; she was overthrown and killed in 1240. B is wrong because the Khilji dynasty came to power only in 1290 under Jalaluddin Khilji. C is wrong because the Lodhi dynasty ruled from 1451 to 1526 and was the last house of the Sultanate. D is wrong because the Mughal empire was founded by Babur in 1526, nearly three centuries after her. Exam tip: Razia, daughter of Iltutmish, Slave dynasty, 1236 to 1240.

The correct answer is D, Pulakesin II. The Chalukya ruler Pulakesin II stopped Harshavardhana on the banks of the Narmada and kept him out of the Deccan. Pulakesin II ruled from Vatapi, that is Badami, between about 609 and 642 CE and was the greatest of the Chalukyas of Badami. His Aihole inscription, composed by his court poet Ravikirti, records this victory over Harsha. He also received the Persian embassy of Khusrau II, but was later defeated and killed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I. A is wrong because Mangalesha was his uncle and predecessor, whom Pulakesin II removed from the throne. B is wrong because Vikramaditya I was his son, who ruled after him and recovered Badami from the Pallavas. C is wrong because Kirtivarman I ruled earlier, long before Harsha came to power. Exam tip: tie the names together - the Aihole inscription of Ravikirti records Pulakesin II stopping Harsha at the Narmada.

The correct answer is D, Dadabhai Naoroji. Dadabhai Naoroji set up the East India Association in London in 1866 to place Indian questions before the British public and members of Parliament, and branches of it were soon opened in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. He had already started the London Indian Society a year earlier. Called the Grand Old Man of India, he wrote Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, in which he explained the drain of wealth from India to Britain, became the first Indian elected to the British House of Commons in 1892 and presided over the Indian National Congress three times. Option A is wrong because Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society in 1905. Option B is wrong because George Yule was the first English president of the Congress, at Allahabad in 1888. Option C is wrong because Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress in 1885. Exam tip: London Indian Society 1865 and East India Association 1866, both of Dadabhai Naoroji.

The correct answer is A, Tughlaq. Ghazi Malik was the title of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, who founded the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate in 1320. He was governor of Dipalpur under the Khiljis and won the throne by defeating Khusrau Khan, the usurper who had ended Khilji rule. He built the fortified city of Tughlaqabad near Delhi, and in 1325 his son Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq succeeded him. The dynasty ruled till 1414, and its best known rulers were Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq and Firoz Shah Tughlaq. B is wrong because the Khilji dynasty was founded by Jalaluddin Khilji in 1290 and its strongest ruler was Alauddin Khilji. C is wrong because the Sayyid dynasty was founded by Khizr Khan in 1414, after the Tughlaqs. D is wrong because the Lodi dynasty was founded by Bahlul Lodi in 1451 and was the last dynasty of the Sultanate. Exam tip: keep the order of the five Delhi Sultanate dynasties ready - Slave, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi.

The correct answer is A, Nizam Shahis : Bijapur, which is the mismatched pair. The Nizam Shahis ruled from Ahmadnagar, founded by Malik Ahmad in 1490, while Bijapur belonged to the Adil Shahis of Yusuf Adil Shah. All five Deccan Sultanates grew out of the break-up of the Bahmani kingdom between about 1490 and 1518, and four of them joined hands to crush Vijayanagara at the battle of Talikota in 1565. Bijapur is remembered for the Gol Gumbaz, Golconda for its fort and diamonds, and Ahmadnagar for Chand Bibi’s defence against the Mughals. Option B is a correct pair, because the Barid Shahis held Bidar, the last Bahmani capital. Option C is a correct pair, because the Qutb Shahis of Quli Qutb Shah ruled Golconda and later founded Hyderabad. Option D is a correct pair, because the Imad Shahis held Berar, the first province to break away and the first to be annexed by Ahmadnagar. Exam tip: Ahmadnagar Nizam Shahi, Bijapur Adil Shahi, Golconda Qutb Shahi, Bidar Barid Shahi, Berar Imad Shahi.

The correct answer is D, Guru Angad. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, chose his devoted follower Bhai Lehna as his successor and gave him the name Guru Angad, setting aside the claim of his own sons. Guru Angad became the second Sikh Guru in 1539 and is remembered for giving the Gurmukhi script its present form, the script in which the Sikh scriptures were later written, and for spreading the langar, the free community kitchen. A is wrong because Guru Ram Das was the fourth Guru and is known for founding the city of Amritsar. B is wrong because Guru Amar Das was the third Guru, who came after Guru Angad and not straight after Guru Nanak. C is wrong because Guru Har Rai was the seventh Guru, of a much later period. Exam tip: fix the first three in order - Nanak, Angad, Amar Das - and link Guru Angad with the Gurmukhi script.

The correct answer is C, which is the statement that is not correct. The Kushana gold coins were struck on the same weight standard as the Roman aureus of the time, not on a different one, because the dynasty traded briskly with the Roman world and found it convenient to match that standard. The other three statements are sound. The Indo-Greeks issued the first Indian coins that carry the ruler’s name along with his portrait, a sharp change from the earlier punch-marked coins, which bore only symbols. The Kushanas, from Vima Kadphises and Kanishka onwards, issued the first gold coins in India in any quantity, with deities such as Shiva and the Buddha on the reverse. And their gold coins have indeed been found at many sites across north India and Central Asia, which is the clearest proof of how far their trade reached. Exam tip: punch-marked coins are the earliest, Indo-Greek coins the first with royal portraits, Kushana coins the first gold, and the Guptas issued the most gold coins.

The correct answer is B, E. V. Ramasamy Naicker, known as Periyar. He began the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 to free the non-Brahmin castes from priestly domination and ritual, promoting marriages without priests, widow remarriage and the use of Tamil in place of Sanskrit. Option A is wrong because C. Rajagopalachari was a Congress leader of the same province whose programme was the national movement and prohibition, not an anti-caste movement of this kind. Option C is wrong because Sri Narayana Guru worked in Kerala and founded the SNDP Yogam in 1903, two decades earlier. Option D is wrong because Jyotiba Phule belonged to Maharashtra and to an earlier generation, founding the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 and dying in 1890. Periyar's work later shaped the Justice Party and Dravidian politics, and he is remembered as the leading voice of non-Brahmin assertion in the south.

The correct answer is D, Kakatiya. Rudramadevi ruled the Kakatiya kingdom from Warangal, called Orugallu then, in what is now Telangana, in the second half of the thirteenth century. Her father Ganapatideva had no son and named her his successor, so she governed in her own right, took the male title Rudradeva in inscriptions and led her armies herself, holding off rebel nobles and the Yadavas of Devagiri. She was followed by her grandson Prataparudra II, the last Kakatiya ruler, whose Warangal fell to the armies of Delhi in the fourteenth century. Option A is wrong because the Cholas ruled from Thanjavur in the Tamil country. Option B is wrong because the Vakatakas were an early Deccan dynasty of the third to fifth centuries, linked to the Guptas by marriage. Option C is wrong because the Western Gangas ruled from Talakad in Karnataka and built the Gommateshwara statue at Shravanabelagola. Exam tip: Kakatiyas means Warangal, Ganapatideva, Rudramadevi and the thousand-pillar temple at Hanamkonda.

The correct answer is C, Allan Octavian Hume. A retired officer of the Indian Civil Service who had served in the North-Western Provinces, Hume issued an appeal to the graduates of Calcutta University in 1883, organised the body he called the Indian National Union, and brought its first session together at Bombay in December 1885, where it took the name Indian National Congress; he served as its general secretary for many years. Option A is wrong because John Morley was Secretary of State for India and is remembered for the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, which came long after the founding. Option B is wrong because Edwin Montagu was a later Secretary of State, associated with the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919 and the declaration of 1917. Option D is wrong because Gilbert Elliot is the family name of Lord Minto, a Viceroy, and a Viceroy would never have convened a nationalist organisation.

The correct answer is C, 17. Mahmud of Ghazni, who ruled the Ghaznavid kingdom from 998 to 1030, is recorded as having led seventeen raids into India between about 1000 and 1027. His aim was plunder and not permanent rule, so he carried away treasure and left no settled administration east of the Punjab. The best known of the raids destroyed the Somnath temple in Gujarat in 1025; earlier he had defeated Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi dynasty in 1001 and sacked the rich temple towns of Mathura, Thanesar and Kanauj. The scholar Al-Beruni, who wrote the Kitab-ul-Hind, and the poet Firdausi belonged to his court. A is wrong because five is far short of the recorded total. B is wrong because fifteen is the figure most often confused with the right one. D is wrong because seven is not the accepted count either. Exam tip: Mahmud of Ghazni made 17 raids and struck Somnath in 1025, while Muhammad Ghori's win at Tarain in 1192 began Turkish rule.

The correct answer is C, Yusuf Meher Ali. The socialist leader Yusuf Meherally, who had been Mayor of Bombay, coined the words Quit India, just as he had coined Simon Go Back in 1928, and the Congress adopted the phrase for its resolution of 8 August 1942. Option A is wrong although it is tempting, because Gandhi gave the movement its other and more famous call, Do or Die, in his speech at Gowalia Tank; the name of the movement itself was not his coinage. Option B is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru moved and defended the resolution in the All India Congress Committee but did not invent the slogan. Option D is wrong because Aruna Asaf Ali is remembered for hoisting the national flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August 1942 and for leading the underground movement, not for the slogan. Keep the two names apart: Meherally the slogan, Gandhi the call.

The correct answer is B, Nagabhata-I. Nagabhata I founded the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty in the middle of the eighth century, with his power centred on Avanti and Ujjain in western India. He is remembered mainly for stopping the Arab armies that pushed in from Sindh, a check that the Pratiharas were praised for long after. His successors Vatsaraja, Nagabhata II and Mihira Bhoja made the dynasty one of the three great powers of the age, and the Pratiharas, the Palas of Bengal and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan fought the long tripartite struggle for Kannauj, which the Pratiharas finally held. A is wrong because Narasimhadeva I was an Eastern Ganga ruler of Odisha who built the Sun Temple at Konark. C is wrong because Harshavardhana belonged to the Vardhana dynasty of Thanesar and Kannauj. D is wrong because Ramachandra was the last important Yadava king of Devagiri. Exam tip: Nagabhata I founded the Pratiharas; Mihira Bhoja was their greatest ruler.

The correct answer is A, Linlithgow. The Joint Parliamentary Committee that examined the White Paper on Indian constitutional reform was chaired by Lord Linlithgow, and its report of 1934 became the draft of the Government of India Act of 1935. The chain a paper setter tests runs in this order: the Simon Commission of 1927, the three Round Table Conferences of 1930 to 1932, the White Paper of March 1933, the Joint Parliamentary Committee under Linlithgow, and then the Act. The same Linlithgow came to India as Viceroy in 1936 and stayed till 1943, so the man who shaped the Act also worked it. B is wrong because Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, presided over the Round Table Conferences and announced the Communal Award. C is wrong because Winston Churchill led the Conservative revolt against the bill. D is wrong because Clement Attlee was a member of the Simon Commission and later announced the transfer of power. Exam tip: Linlithgow - Joint Parliamentary Committee 1933-34, then Viceroy 1936-43.

The correct answer is D, Chin Khilich Khan. Chin Qilich Khan, better remembered by his title Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, was a Mughal noble appointed governor of the Deccan by Muhammad Shah. Tired of court intrigue at Delhi, he returned to the south, defeated his rival Mubariz Khan at Shakar Kheda in 1724 and from then on ruled the Deccan as an independent prince in all but name, founding the Asaf Jahi or Nizam dynasty of Hyderabad that lasted until 1948. He kept the forms of Mughal loyalty, struck coins in the emperor’s name, yet appointed his own officers and made war and peace on his own. Option A is wrong because Asaf Jah II, that is Nizam Ali Khan, was a later ruler of the same line, not its founder. Option B is wrong because Bahadur Shah was the Mughal emperor who ruled from 1707 to 1712. Option C is wrong because Alivardi Khan made himself independent in Bengal, not Hyderabad. Exam tip: Hyderabad 1724 Chin Qilich Khan, Awadh 1722 Saadat Khan, Bengal Murshid Quli Khan.

The correct answer is C, 1945. The last election to the Central Legislative Assembly set up under the Government of India Act of 1919 was held in the winter of 1945, after the Second World War ended and the Labour government in Britain moved towards a settlement with Indian leaders. The Congress won almost all the general seats and the Muslim League almost all the seats reserved for Muslims, and that verdict shaped the negotiations of 1946, the Cabinet Mission plan and the Constituent Assembly chosen by the provincial legislatures. The Act of 1935 reorganised the provinces, but the central legislature kept working under the 1919 Act until independence. A is wrong because no central election was held in 1930, the year of the Civil Disobedience Movement. B is wrong because the election of 1934 was the previous one, not the last. D is wrong because 1947 brought independence with no fresh central election. Exam tip: link the 1945-46 elections with the sharp communal division before Partition.

The correct answer is B, Cholas. Puhar, also called Kaveripattinam, was the great port of the early Cholas of the Sangam age.

The town stood where the Kaveri meets the Bay of Bengal, and Karikala, the best known early Chola ruler, is credited with developing it. Sangam poetry and the Tamil epic Silappadikaram describe its warehouses, its separate quarter for foreign merchants and its trade in pepper, pearls and fine cloth with Rome and South East Asia. Uraiyur was the inland capital of the early Cholas while Puhar served as the coastal capital and port.

A is wrong: the Cheras of the Kerala coast used Muziris and Tondi as their ports. C is wrong: the Pandyas ruled from Madurai and their port was Korkai, famous for pearls. D is wrong: the Vakatakas ruled in the Deccan and had no port on this coast.

Exam tip: pair them up, Chola with Puhar and Uraiyur, Chera with Muziris and Vanji, Pandya with Korkai and Madurai.

The correct answer is C. Under the putting out system the merchant handed the raw material to the weaver and took back the finished cloth at a price he himself fixed, which was low.

This is how cloth was produced before factories came up. A merchant or clothier gave yarn, and sometimes the loom as well, to artisans who worked in their own homes, and paid them a piece rate for the cloth. The weaver owned no raw material and had no buyer of his own, so he could not bargain, while the merchant controlled supply, quality and price. In Bengal under the East India Company this hardened into the advance or dadni system, which tied weavers to the Company's agents and ruined many of them.

A is wrong: there was no open bidding, as the merchant set the terms. B is wrong: the cloth was made for the market, not for the weaver's own use. D is wrong: the weaver did not buy yarn in the open market.

Exam tip: putting out means the merchant's raw material, the artisan's home labour and the merchant's price.

The correct answer is C, Both 1 and 2. Wood's Dispatch of 1854, sent by Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control, is called the Magna Carta of English education in India, and both statements describe it correctly. It fixed English as the medium of instruction for higher education while keeping the vernacular languages for the primary stage, and it specifically pressed the government to promote the education of women and to open schools of a vocational and technical kind. It also asked each province to set up a department of public instruction, recommended universities on the model of London University, and favoured grants-in-aid to private schools. Acting on it, the universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were founded in 1857. Option A is wrong because it leaves out the Dispatch's clear support for female and vocational education. Option B is wrong because it denies the recommendation on English as the medium for higher studies. Option D is wrong because both statements are true. Exam tip: Wood's Dispatch 1854 led to the three universities of 1857.