Mahmud of Ghazni plundered the Somnath temple in Gujarat in which year?
- A.1001 CE
- B.1008 CE
- C.1018 CE
- D.1025 CE
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, 1025 CE. The raid on the Somnath temple on the coast of Saurashtra was the richest of all the expeditions of Mahmud of Ghazni and the one for which he is most remembered in Indian history. Option A is wrong because 1001 CE is the year of the battle of Waihind, in which he defeated the Hindu Shahi ruler Jaipal and opened Punjab to Ghazni. Option B is wrong because 1008 CE is the second battle at Waihind, against Anandpal, the son of Jaipal, after which the Hindu Shahi kingdom collapsed. Option C is wrong because 1018 CE is the year he sacked Mathura and Kanauj in the Ganga Yamuna doab, an earlier and separate raid. The Somnath raid is also asked as the expedition from which Mahmud carried away the greatest wealth, and the temple is placed at Prabhas Patan on the Saurashtra coast of present day Gujarat.
Read the full article: Arab and Turkish Invasions of India: Dates and Battles
Practice Questions
View allWho led the Arab conquest of Sindh in 712 CE?
- A.Hajjaj bin Yusuf
- B.Muhammad bin Qasim
- C.Mahmud of Ghazni
- D.Muhammad Ghori
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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.
Read the full explanation →Which ruler of Sindh was defeated and killed by the Arabs at the battle of Raor?
- A.Dahir
- B.Jaipal
- C.Anandpal
- D.Jaichand
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He was the Brahman ruler of Sindh who refused to compensate the Arabs for the ships plundered by the pirates of Debal, and he fell fighting Muhammad bin Qasim at Raor in 712 CE, after which Sindh passed under Umayyad rule.
Read the full explanation →The Chach Nama is the chief source for which event of Indian history?
- A.The raids of Mahmud of Ghazni
- B.The Arab conquest of Sindh
- C.The second battle of Tarain
- D.The founding of the Slave dynasty
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The Chach Nama, a Persian translation of an older Arabic account, narrates the rule of the Chach family of Sindh, the attack on the Arab ships at Debal and the campaign of Muhammad bin Qasim, and remains the main source for 712 CE.
Read the full explanation →Who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni to India and wrote the Kitab ul Hind?
- A.Alberuni
- B.Firdausi
- C.Amir Khusrau
- D.Ibn Battuta
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The Central Asian scholar Abu Rayhan Alberuni came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni, learnt Sanskrit, and wrote Tahqiq i Hind, known as Kitab ul Hind, which describes Indian religion, society, astronomy and mathematics and is the most valuable account of eleventh century India.
Read the full explanation →What was the outcome of the first battle of Tarain, fought in 1191?
- A.Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan
- B.Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori
- C.The battle ended without a result
- D.Jaichand defeated Muhammad Ghori
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In the first battle of Tarain in 1191 the Rajput army of Prithviraj Chauhan III of Ajmer and Delhi broke the Ghurid centre, Ghori himself was wounded and carried away by a follower, and he withdrew to Ghazni.
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