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Indian History Mixed Quiz: Set 90

  • 20 questions
  • 20 minutes
  • Difficulty: Medium
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About this quiz

Set 90 of the Indian History mixed quiz has 20 multiple-choice questions from 14 different topics of the subject: Bhakti and Sufi Movements, The Ahom Kingdom and Medieval North-East India, British Land Revenue Systems and Economic Impact and more. 12 of them were asked in real previous-year papers. A topic quiz checks one chapter; this set revises the whole subject at once, the way an exam paper does, where the next question can come from any chapter. Every question carries an explanation of why the correct option is right and why the others are wrong. Keep to the timer, read the explanations at the end, and go back to the notes of any topic where you slipped.

Questions in this quiz

20 questions with answers and explanations

Q1.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2020, Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements about the Lingayats :

1. They bury their dead

2. They are great believers in the caste system, especially in the theory of purity and pollution

3. They are against child marriage and favour widow remarriage

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A.1 and 2
  2. B.1 only
  3. C.2 and 3
  4. D.1 and 3
Show answer
Correct answer: D. 1 and 3

Lingayats bury their dead and opposed child marriage while accepting widow remarriage, but they rejected the caste system and ideas of pollution.

Q2.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2026, GS Paper IEasy

Which one of the following statements with regard to the Moidams, built by the Tai-Ahom kingdom and inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is/are correct ? 1. They acted as army fortresses. 2. They were recreation centres of the Royals and Nobles. 3. They were burial grounds of the Royals and Nobles. 4. They were battle drill centres of the Royals and Nobles. Select the answer using the code given below :

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.1 and 3
  3. C.3 only
  4. D.2 and 4
Show answer
Correct answer: C. 3 only

The Moidams are the mound-burials of the Ahom royal family and nobles at Charaideo in Assam. The Tai-Ahoms, who ruled the Brahmaputra valley for about six centuries from the 13th century, buried their kings, queens and nobles in vaulted chambers covered by large earthen mounds.

Q3.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2025, GKHard

Consider the following statements about the Bengal countryside at the time of the Permanent Settlement :

1. The zamindars' troops were disbanded.

2. Within the villages, the power of jotedars was more effective than that of zamindars.

3. The East India Company made a rule that the property of women would not be taken over.

4. Adhiyars were sharecroppers on the land owned by bargadars.

Which of the statements given above are correct ?

  1. A.1, 2 and 4
  2. B.1, 2 and 3
  3. C.2, 3 and 4
  4. D.1 and 3 only
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 1, 2 and 3

Statement 4 is wrong because adhiyars and bargadars were both sharecroppers who worked the land of the jotedars. After the Permanent Settlement of 1793 by Lord Cornwallis, the Company tried to tame the zamindars: their troops were disbanded, their customs duties abolished and their courts placed under Company collectors.

Q5.Indian HistoryHard

Open competition for recruitment to the covenanted civil service in India was introduced by which Act?

  1. A.Charter Act, 1813
  2. B.Charter Act, 1833
  3. C.Charter Act, 1853
  4. D.Government of India Act, 1858
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Charter Act, 1853

It ended the patronage of the Court of Directors over appointments and laid down that recruitment to the covenanted civil service would be by open competition, which was thrown open to Indians as well; the committee under Macaulay that framed the scheme reported in 1854.

Q6.Indian HistoryMedium

Which commission recommended the establishment of a central bank for India, a recommendation that took shape as the Reserve Bank of India?

  1. A.Fowler Commission
  2. B.Chamberlain Commission
  3. C.Hilton Young Commission
  4. D.Babington Smith Committee
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Hilton Young Commission

The Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance of 1926, named after its chairman Edward Hilton Young, recommended that the functions of currency and credit be taken away from the Government and handed to a central bank; the recommendation was carried out by the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934…

Q7.Indian HistoryMedium

Which commission's report led to the establishment of the first Public Service Commission in India in 1926?

  1. A.Aitchison Commission
  2. B.Islington Commission
  3. C.Lee Commission
  4. D.Welby Commission
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Lee Commission

The Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India of 1923–24, under Viscount Lee of Fareham, recommended rates of Indianisation for the services and the immediate setting up of a Public Service Commission; it was established in 1926 and became the Federal Public Service Commission under the Government of…

Q8.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC CAPF · CAPF 2018, Paper IMedium

Which of the following statements about town planning in British India in early 19th century is/are correct? 1. The funds for town improvement were also raised through public lotteries. 2. The threats of epidemics gave an impetus to town planning in the early decades of 19th century. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Both 1 and 2

In early nineteenth-century Calcutta, lotteries paid for town improvement, and the fear of disease pushed the British towards planning. After Lord Wellesley's Minute of 1803 on the need for town planning in Calcutta, many committees were set up to improve the city.

Q9.Indian HistoryEasy

Which Gupta ruler is described as Sarvarajochchetta, the uprooter of all kings?

  1. A.Chandragupta I
  2. B.Samudragupta
  3. C.Chandragupta II
  4. D.Skandagupta
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Samudragupta

The Allahabad pillar inscription, a prashasti composed by his court poet Harisena, lists his campaigns in the Ganga valley, the Deccan and the frontier states and calls him Sarvarajochchetta; the same inscription gives him Kaviraja for his learning, and his coins show him playing the veena.

Q11.Indian HistoryEasy

Who led the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712 CE?

  1. A.Hajjaj bin Yusuf
  2. B.Muhammad bin Qasim
  3. C.Mahmud of Ghazni
  4. D.Muhammad Ghori
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Muhammad bin Qasim

He was the young Arab commander sent into Sindh in 712 CE, who captured Debal, crossed the Indus and defeated and killed Dahir at the battle of Raor, and then took Brahmanabad, Alor and Multan.

Q13.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2021, GKHard

Which one of the following statements about the British Indian Medical Service (IMS) is not correct ?

  1. A.IMS began in 1764.
  2. B.It recruited health professionals by means of a competitive examination.
  3. C.Indians were never admitted to IMS.
  4. D.The IMS was at first meant to look after the troops.
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Indians were never admitted to IMS.

This is false: Indians entered the service through its open examination from the 1850s. The medical service of the East India Company began in Bengal in 1764, and the separate presidency services were later joined into a single Indian Medical Service in 1896.

Q15.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2025, GKMedium

Chronologically arrange the formation of the following political associations, beginning from the earliest:

1. Poona Sarvajanik Sabha

2. Indian Association

3. Madras Mahajan Sabha

4. Bombay Presidency Association

Select the answer using the code given below:

  1. A.1, 2, 3, 4
  2. B.4, 3, 2, 1
  3. C.1, 2, 4, 3
  4. D.3, 4, 1, 2
Show answer
Correct answer: A. 1, 2, 3, 4

The four bodies were founded in 1870, 1876, 1884 and 1885 respectively, which is the order of the question. The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was set up in 1870, and Justice M.G.

Q16.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2023, GS Paper IHard

Consider the following dynasties : 1. Hoysala 2. Gahadavala 3. Kakatiya 4. Yadava How many of the above dynasties established their kingdoms in early eighth century AD?

  1. A.Only one
  2. B.Only two
  3. C.Only three
  4. D.None
Show answer
Correct answer: D. None

All four rose much later, between the 10th and 12th centuries, mostly as feudatories who broke away from the declining Western (Kalyani) Chalukyas or the Pratiharas.

Q17.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-II 2022, GKMedium

What were Manigramam and Nanadesi in early medieval India?

  1. A.Cluster of non-revenue paying villages
  2. B.Village-level community groups
  3. C.Guilds of Indian merchants
  4. D.Literary societies in the capital towns
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Guilds of Indian merchants

Manigramam and Nanadesi were powerful trade guilds of south India in the early medieval period. In the age of the Pallavas, Cholas and later Chalukyas, merchants organised themselves into guilds that ran long-distance and overseas trade.

Q18.Indian HistoryAsked in: CDS · CDS-I 2021, GKMedium

Which one of the following statements with regard to ryotwari settlement is not correct ?

  1. A.In southern and western India, the ryotwari settlement was adopted.
  2. B.Ryotwari was in principle a direct contract between the ryot and the state.
  3. C.It means a tax contract valid for usually 30 years.
  4. D.In principle, it strengthened the former elite, the zamindars and weakened the peasantry.
Show answer
Correct answer: D. In principle, it strengthened the former elite, the zamindars and weakened the peasantry.

The ryotwari system was meant to do the opposite: it bypassed the zamindars and dealt with the peasant directly. The ryotwari settlement was worked out by Alexander Read and Thomas Munro and introduced in the Madras Presidency in 1820, and later extended to the Bombay Presidency.

Q19.Indian HistoryEasy

The Sedition Committee of 1918, whose report led to the passing of the Rowlatt Act, was headed by:

  1. A.Sir Sidney Rowlatt
  2. B.Lord William Hunter
  3. C.Sir Alexander Muddiman
  4. D.Sir Harcourt Butler
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Sir Sidney Rowlatt

The Sedition Committee of 1918, appointed under the English judge Sir Sidney Rowlatt, examined revolutionary conspiracies in India and recommended special powers for the executive, which Parliament granted in the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly the Rowlatt Act, allowing detention without trial; Gandhi's Rowlatt Satyagraha followed.

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