Mahmud of Gujarat received the title Begarha because he
- A.captured the two forts of Girnar and Champaner
- B.defeated two Sultans of Delhi
- C.ruled for two separate terms
- D.built two capital cities on the coast
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, captured the two forts of Girnar and Champaner. In Gujarati be garh means two forts, and Mahmud took both the hill fort of Girnar in Junagadh and the fort of Champaner in the east of his kingdom, founding the towns of Mustafabad and Muhammadabad beside them. Option B is wrong because Mahmud fought the Sultanate of Malwa, the Bahmanis and the Portuguese rather than two Sultans of Delhi, whose power had by then shrunk to the area around the capital. Option C is wrong because he had a single long reign of more than half a century and no interruption of rule. Option D is wrong because the name has nothing to do with capital cities; a popular but mistaken explanation connects the name with his moustache, and examiners offer such choices as distractors.
Read the full article: Provincial Kingdoms of Medieval India: Rulers and Capitals
Practice Questions
View allWho founded the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur?
- A.Malik Sarwar
- B.Ibrahim Shah
- C.Dilawar Khan Ghuri
- D.Zafar Khan
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Read the full explanation →Which medieval Indian city was known as the Shiraz of the East for its scholars and learning?
- A.Mandu
- B.Jaunpur
- C.Gaur
- D.Ahmedabad
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Under the Sharqi sultans, and especially Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, Jaunpur attracted so many scholars of Persian and Arabic, theologians and musicians that it was compared with Shiraz, the city of learning and poetry in Iran.
Read the full explanation →The city of Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 on the bank of the Sabarmati by which ruler?
- A.Muzaffar Shah I
- B.Mahmud Begarha
- C.Ahmad Shah I
- D.Bahadur Shah
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He moved the capital of Gujarat from Anhilwara Patan to a new city on the Sabarmati in 1411, named it after himself, and built there the Jama Mosque and the ceremonial Teen Darwaza.
Read the full explanation →Zain-ul-Abidin, the greatest ruler of medieval Kashmir, is popularly known as
- A.Butshikan
- B.Bud Shah
- C.Shah-i-Bangalah
- D.Malik-us-Sharq
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He abolished the jizya, recalled the Brahmins who had fled, had the Mahabharata and Kalhana's Rajatarangini translated into Persian, and settled artisans from Samarkand who introduced paper-making, shawl weaving and carpet weaving.
Read the full explanation →Which ruler of Malwa shifted the capital from Dhar to Mandu and renamed it Shadiabad?
- A.Dilawar Khan Ghuri
- B.Hoshang Shah
- C.Mahmud Khalji I
- D.Baz Bahadur
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The son of Dilawar Khan Ghuri moved the seat of government from the plains town of Dhar to the hill fort of Mandu, renamed it Shadiabad, the city of joy, and built the Jama Mosque there; his own tomb at Mandu is the first building in India faced entirely in…
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