Which of the following reasons would you give to discuss the decline of Indian iron and steel metallurgy under colonial India? A. Iron and steel was imported from England. B. New forest laws prohibited people from entering reserved forests to collect wood.

The correct answer is C, 1991. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics broke up in 1991: a failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August that year destroyed the centre's authority, the republics declared independence one after another, and on 25 December 1991 Gorbachev resigned. The next day the Soviet flag came down from the Kremlin and fifteen separate countries took the place of the USSR, with Russia as its successor state. Most of them joined the Commonwealth of Independent States formed by the Alma-Ata declaration of December 1991. Option A is wrong because 1990 saw only the reunification of Germany and the first stirrings of sovereignty in the republics. Option B is wrong because 1989 was the year the Berlin Wall fell and eastern Europe turned away from communism, while the Soviet Union itself stayed intact. Option D is wrong because by 1992 the break-up was already complete. Exam tip: Berlin Wall falls 1989 → Germany reunited 1990 → USSR dissolved 1991, ending the Cold War.

The correct answer is D, B R Ambedkar. On 20 March 1927 Dr B R Ambedkar led thousands of Dalits to the Chavdar tank at Mahad in Maharashtra and drank its water, asserting the right of the depressed classes to use a public water source. Upper-caste groups later purified the tank with cow dung and curd, and in December that year Ambedkar returned to Mahad and publicly burnt the Manusmriti. The day is remembered as Social Empowerment Day, and Mahad is called the first collective act of Dalit assertion in modern India. Option A is wrong because Jyotirao Phule died in 1890, long before 1927, though his Satyashodhak Samaj of 1873 prepared the ground. Option B is wrong because E V Ramaswamy Naicker, called Periyar, led the Self-Respect Movement and the Vaikom Satyagraha in the south. Option C is wrong because K Kelappan, known as Kerala Gandhi, led the Guruvayur Satyagraha of 1931. Exam tip: Mahad 1927 and Kalaram temple 1930 — both led by Ambedkar.

The correct answer is A, Death. In early Buddhist art the Buddha was never shown in human form, so the events of his life were carved as symbols, and the stupa stands for his mahaparinirvana, that is his death at Kushinagar. A stupa is a domed mound raised over relics; Ashoka is said to have built many of them, and those at Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati are the best known. This code of symbols is fixed, and examiners return to it again and again. Option B is wrong because the first sermon at Sarnath is shown by the wheel, the dharmachakra, usually with two deer beside it for the deer park. Option C is wrong because the birth at Lumbini is shown by the lotus and the bull. Option D is wrong because the great departure from home is shown by a horse, while enlightenment at Bodh Gaya is shown by the Bodhi tree. Exam tip: lotus for birth, horse for renunciation, Bodhi tree for enlightenment, wheel for the first sermon and stupa for death.

The correct answer is C, Abul Fazl. Abul Fazl, one of the navaratnas of Akbar's court, wrote the Akbarnama in Persian, and its third volume is the Ain-i-Akbari, a detailed account of the empire's provinces, revenue, army, offices, crops and prices. It remains the single most used source for Akbar's administration. Option A is wrong because Badauni wrote the Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, a history hostile to Akbar's religious policy. Option B is wrong because Gulbadan Begum, Babur's daughter, wrote the Humayun-nama about her brother's reign. Option D is wrong because Faizi, the brother of Abul Fazl, was the poet laureate of the court and translated works into Persian, but did not write the Ain-i-Akbari. Matching a chronicle to its author is a standard question, so keep these four pairs ready.

The correct answer is B, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is the architect named in the Mughal record as the chief designer of the Taj Mahal, the tomb Shah Jahan raised at Agra for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. He is also associated with the Red Fort at Shahjahanabad. Option A is wrong because Ustad Isa appears in later tradition and popular accounts rather than in the contemporary evidence, and is not the answer papers accept. Option C is wrong because Mir Abdul Karim was an architect of Jahangir's reign who worked on other imperial projects. Option D is wrong because Makramat Khan was a superintendent of construction who managed the work rather than designed it. Keep the Taj Mahal linked to Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal, Agra and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, and remember that it is built of white marble on a red sandstone plinth.