Which Mughal emperor built the city called Maksudabad, later popularly known as Murshidabad?

The correct answer is B, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan. The Mughal throne passed from Babur, who ruled from 1526 to 1530, to his son Humayun from 1530 to 1540 and again from 1555 to 1556, then to Akbar from 1556 to 1605, to Jahangir from 1605 to 1627, to Shah Jahan from 1628 to 1658 and to Aurangzeb from 1658 to 1707. Option B places four of these in exactly that order and is therefore correct. Option A is wrong because it puts Jahangir, a grandson of Humayun, before both Akbar and Humayun. Option C is wrong because it reverses the line completely, beginning with Shah Jahan and ending with his great-grandfather Humayun. Option D is wrong because Humayun ruled before Akbar, not after Shah Jahan, and Jahangir came before Shah Jahan rather than last. Fixing the six reigns in order is the safest preparation for this question type.

The correct answer is A, Alamgir II. The Battle of Plassey was fought in 1757 between Robert Clive of the East India Company and Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal. The Mughal emperor on the throne at Delhi in that year was Alamgir II, who ruled from 1754 to 1759 and was by then a powerless figure controlled by his nobles. Option B is wrong because Siraj-ud-Daulah was the Nawab of Bengal and the defeated party at Plassey, not the Mughal emperor. Option C is wrong because Mir Qasim, usually written Mir Qasim or Mir Kasim, was a later Nawab of Bengal who fought at Buxar in 1764 and never held the imperial throne. Option D is wrong because Shah Alam II became emperor in 1759, two years after Plassey, and it was he who lost Buxar and granted the diwani of Bengal to the Company in 1765.

The correct answer is C, Muhammad Shah. Muhammad Shah, who ruled from 1719 to 1748, was nicknamed Rangila for his love of music, painting and pleasure while the empire fell apart around him. His reign saw the Marathas press into north India and Nadir Shah of Persia win the Battle of Karnal in 1739 and sack Delhi, carrying away the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor. Option A is wrong because Farrukhsiyar, who ruled from 1713 to 1719, is remembered instead for the farman of 1717 that gave the English trading privileges in Bengal. Option B is wrong because Rafi-ud-Darajat held the throne for only a few months in 1719 and carries no such nickname. Option D is wrong for the same reason: Rafi-ud-Daula, also called Shah Jahan II, ruled briefly in 1719 under the control of the Sayyid brothers.

The correct answer is B, Shah Alam II. The Third Battle of Panipat was fought in 1761 between Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan and the Marathas, who were defeated. Shah Alam II was the reigning Mughal emperor from 1759 to 1806, though he held little real power and was away from Delhi at the time. Option A is wrong because Akbar II ruled from 1806 to 1837, long after 1761, and is remembered for giving Ram Mohan Roy the title of Raja. Option C is wrong because Bahadur Shah I, the son of Aurangzeb, ruled from 1707 to 1712, half a century before the battle. Option D is wrong because Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor, came to the throne in 1837 and was deposed after the revolt of 1857. Tie the three Panipats to 1526, 1556 and 1761 to avoid this trap.

The correct answer is B, Ibrahim Lodi. At the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last sultan of the Lodi dynasty of Delhi, who was killed on the field. The victory ended the Delhi Sultanate and founded Mughal rule in India, and Babur owed it largely to his field artillery and the tulughma tactic of encircling flanks. Option A is wrong because Rana Sanga of Mewar was defeated the next year, in 1527, at the Battle of Khanwa. Option C is wrong because Hemu was the Afghan commander defeated at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 by Akbar's regent Bairam Khan, thirty years later. Option D is wrong because Medini Rai was defeated at Chanderi in 1528. Learning these four names with their years and battles settles a whole family of questions.