The Padshahnama, the official history of the reign of Shah Jahan, was written by:

The correct answer is B, Abul Fazl, one of the nine jewels of Akbar’s court, who wrote the Akbarnama in three volumes; the Ain-i-Akbari is its third volume and is a gazetteer of the empire in five books, describing the departments, the provinces, the revenue, the coinage, the army and the customs of the people. Option A is wrong because Abdul Qadir Badauni wrote the Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, also called the Tarikh-i-Badauni, which criticises Akbar’s religious policy and is read as a counterweight to Abul Fazl. Option C is wrong because Nizamuddin Ahmad wrote the Tabaqat-i-Akbari, another history of the same reign. Option D is wrong because Faizi, Abul Fazl’s brother, was the poet laureate of the court and wrote verse, not this administrative record. The safest way to hold this set is to remember that one reign produced three histories with three tempers: Abul Fazl writing as an admirer, Badauni as a critic, and Nizamuddin Ahmad as a plain annalist.

The correct answer is A, Minhaj-us-Siraj, also known as Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani, who wrote the work in the reign of Nasiruddin Mahmud of the Slave dynasty and named it after that sultan. It traces history from the beginning of the world down to his own day and is the main source for the early sultans of Delhi, including Razia. Option B is wrong because Hasan Nizami wrote the Tajul-Maasir, taken as the first official history of the Sultanate, covering Qutbuddin Aibak and Iltutmish. Option C is wrong because Ziauddin Barani belongs to the Tughlaq period and wrote the Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi and the Fatwa-i-Jahandari. Option D is wrong because Amir Khusrau was the poet of the Khalji court and wrote the Khazain-ul-Futuh among many other works. Note too that Minhaj held judicial office under the sultans, so his account reflects what the court itself believed about the succession of rulers after Iltutmish.

The correct answer is B, Amir Khusrau, the poet called Tuti-i-Hind or the parrot of India, who served under several sultans of Delhi; the work is also known as the Tarikh-i-Alai after Alauddin’s title. His other works include the Qiran-us-Sadain on the meeting of Bughra Khan and Kaiqubad, the Miftah-ul-Futuh on Jalaluddin Khalji, the Nuh Sipihr in praise of India, and the Tughlaq Nama. Option A is wrong because Shams-i-Siraj Afif wrote a Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi on the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq. Option C is wrong because Abbas Khan Sarwani wrote the Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi on Sher Shah Suri. Option D is wrong because Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi wrote the Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi on the Sayyid dynasty. Khusrau also wrote in Hindavi besides Persian and is remembered for his contribution to Indian music, so when his name appears in a paper it is worth recalling the whole list of his works at once, because the examiner may pick any single title from it.

The correct answer is C, Gulbadan Begum, a daughter of Babur and a half-sister of Humayun, who wrote the Humayun-nama at Akbar’s request. Its value lies in what the official chronicles leave out: the life of the household, the journeys of the women of the family and the quarrels among the princes, described by someone who was present. Option A is wrong because Nur Jahan, Jahangir’s queen, wielded great political influence and had coins struck in her name but wrote no chronicle. Option B is wrong because Jahanara, Shah Jahan’s daughter, wrote on Sufism and built in Delhi and Agra, but not this book. Option D is wrong because Zeb-un-Nissa, Aurangzeb’s daughter, was a poet who wrote under the pen name Makhfi. Remember also that Gulbadan Begum wrote at Akbar’s own request, which is the reason the book survives at all, and that Abul Fazl drew on it while compiling the Akbarnama, so a chronicle by a woman of the household became a source for the official history itself.

The correct answer is C, Chagatai Turkish, which was Babur’s mother tongue; the memoirs are also called the Tuzuk-i-Baburi, and Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan translated them into Persian during Akbar’s reign, which is how they reached the wider Mughal court. Option A is wrong because Persian was the official language of the Mughal administration and of almost every other chronicle of the period, which is exactly why this question is asked. Option B is wrong because Arabic was used for religious and legal scholarship rather than for imperial memoirs. Option D is wrong because Urdu as a literary language developed much later, long after Babur’s time. Note the contrast with Jahangir, whose own memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, were written in Persian. The Baburnama is prized as much for its plain description of the fruits, birds, rivers and seasons of Hindustan as for its account of the battles of Panipat and Khanua, and that mixture of natural observation with campaign narrative is what makes it unlike the official chronicles that followed.