Which battle is called the foundation of British political power in India?

The correct answer is B, Porus. Porus ruled the Paurava kingdom between the Jhelum and the Chenab and fought Alexander on the Hydaspes, the Greek name for the Jhelum. Alexander won, but he was impressed by the Indian king's courage, restored his kingdom to him and made him an ally. A is wrong because Ambhi, the king of Taxila, surrendered without a fight and helped Alexander against Porus; he is the opposite example. C is wrong because Chandragupta Maurya rose to power after Alexander's withdrawal and later defeated Seleucus, Alexander's general, not Alexander himself. D is wrong because Dhananand was the Nanda ruler of Magadha whose large army is said to have frightened Alexander's soldiers into refusing to march beyond the Beas; the two never met in battle. Remember the pair: Hydaspes equals Jhelum, and the Indian side is Porus.

The correct answer is B, Muhammad Ghori. Ghori had been defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan at the First Battle of Tarain in 1191 and returned the next year with a better organised army of mounted archers; the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 ended in the defeat and death of Prithviraj and opened north India to Turkish rule. A is wrong because Prithviraj won the first battle of 1191, not the second, and this swap is the commonest trap in the topic. C is wrong because Mahmud of Ghazni raided India between 1000 and 1027 and never fought at Tarain; his seventeen raids ended with the sack of Somnath. D is wrong because Qutbuddin Aibak was Ghori's commander and later the founder of the Slave dynasty; he fought in the campaign but the victory is recorded for Ghori. Tarain, now Taraori, lies in Haryana near Karnal.

The correct answer is B, Babur and Ibrahim Lodi. Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi, the last Sultan of the Lodi dynasty, on the field of Panipat in 1526, using the tulughma flanking division and field guns served by Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa Rumi, and founded the Mughal Empire. A is wrong because Babur fought Rana Sanga of Mewar at Khanwa in 1527, a year later and at a different place, after which he took the title Ghazi. C is wrong because Akbar, or rather his regent Bairam Khan, fought Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556. D is wrong because Ahmad Shah Abdali fought the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. All three Panipat battles are in the options of such questions, so match the pair of combatants before picking a year.

The correct answer is A, the Battle of Chausa, fought in 1539 near Buxar in Bihar, where Sher Shah Suri routed Humayun, who escaped across the Ganga with the help of a water carrier. The following year Sher Shah defeated him again at Kannauj, also called Bilgram, and Humayun left India for about fifteen years while the Sur dynasty ruled Delhi. B is wrong because the Battle of Ghaghra of 1529 was fought by Babur against the Afghans of Bihar and Bengal and Nusrat Shah. C is wrong because Chanderi in 1528 was Babur's battle against Medini Rai of Malwa. D is wrong because Khanwa in 1527 was Babur's victory over Rana Sanga of Mewar. All four are Mughal era battles, but only Chausa and Kannauj involve Humayun and Sher Shah.

The correct answer is B, Bairam Khan. Akbar was only about thirteen years old in 1556, and his regent Bairam Khan commanded the army that defeated Hemu, the able general of the Sur side who had captured Delhi and crowned himself Hemchandra Vikramaditya. The victory restored Mughal rule barely a year after Humayun's death. A is wrong because, although Akbar was present in the camp, the command and the credit belong to Bairam Khan, who ruled as regent until 1560. C is wrong because Man Singh of Amber served Akbar later and is remembered for leading the Mughal army at Haldighati in 1576. D is wrong because Todar Mal was Akbar's revenue minister, famous for the zabti or bandobast land revenue system, not a battlefield commander here.