The Golconda Fort is located in which present-day state?

The correct answer is C, Shah Jahan, who built the Red Fort of red sandstone as the citadel of his new capital Shahjahanabad, completing it in 1648; the Diwan-i-Aam, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Rang Mahal and the Moti Masjid stand inside, and it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2007. Option A is wrong because Akbar built the Agra Fort and the city of Fatehpur Sikri, both also in red sandstone, which is why he is the strongest distractor here. Option B is wrong because Jahangir built no fort of this scale; the Jahangiri Mahal that carries his name stands inside Agra Fort and was built in Akbar's reign. Option D is wrong because Aurangzeb added the Moti Masjid within the Red Fort but did not build the fort itself. The Prime Minister of India hoists the national flag at this fort on Independence Day.

The correct answer is A, Chittorgarh Fort, which spreads over the largest area of any fort in the country and holds within it palaces, tanks and temples as well as the Vijay Stambha and the Kirti Stambha. Option B is wrong on the measure being asked: Kumbhalgarh is famous for the length of its wall, held to be among the longest in the world, which is a different superlative and the commonest confusion in this question. Option C is wrong because Gwalior Fort, though called a pearl among the forts of Hind by Babur, is smaller, and is remembered for the Man Mandir palace of Raja Man Singh Tomar. Option D is wrong because Mehrangarh at Jodhpur, founded by Rao Jodha in 1459, is remembered for its cliff-top position above the blue city. Both Chittorgarh and Kumbhalgarh are part of the Hill Forts of Rajasthan inscribed in 2013.

The correct answer is B, Chittorgarh Fort. The Vijay Stambha was raised by Rana Kumbha of Mewar to mark a victory, and the Kirti Stambha, the tower of fame, stands in the same fort, so a question may ask for either. Option A is wrong because the feature named in questions on Amber, near Jaipur, is the Sheesh Mahal or hall of mirrors, the fort itself having been built up by Raja Man Singh I. Option C is wrong because Ranthambore is remembered for its isolated hill and for lying inside a tiger reserve rather than for a tower. Option D is wrong because Junagarh at Bikaner, built by Raja Rai Singh, is a fort of the plains with no such monument. All of these except Junagarh and Mehrangarh belong to the group of six inscribed as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan.

The correct answer is B, Sawai Pratap Singh, who had the Hawa Mahal built in 1799 as a screen of small windows and jharokhas through which the women of the household could watch the processions in the street below without being seen. Option A is wrong because Sawai Jai Singh II founded Jaipur itself and began the City Palace and the observatory, the Jantar Mantar, several decades earlier; he is the natural wrong answer because his name is attached to the city. Option C is wrong because Raja Man Singh I belongs to Amber, the older seat of the house. Option D is wrong because Maharaja Umaid Singh built the Umaid Bhawan palace at Jodhpur in the twentieth century, as relief work during a famine. The Hawa Mahal is built of pink and red sandstone, in keeping with the rest of the old city.

The correct answer is B, Raigad, which Shivaji made his capital and where his coronation took place in 1674, the ceremony at which he took the title Chhatrapati. Option A is wrong because Pratapgad is remembered for his meeting with Afzal Khan, the encounter in which the Bijapur commander was killed. Option C is wrong because Sinhagad is remembered for its capture under Tanaji Malusare, who died in the assault. Option D is wrong because Shivneri is the fort where Shivaji was born, which makes it the most tempting answer of the four; birthplace and capital are deliberately offered together in this question. His sea forts, Sindhudurg among them, and the island fort of Murud-Janjira held by the Siddis, which was never taken, are asked in the same group.