Which one of the following pairs of travellers and their nationality is not correctly matched ?
- A.Ibn Battuta - Moroccan
- B.Duarte Barbosa - Portuguese
- C.Jean Baptiste Tavernier - Dutch
- D.Niccolao Manucci - Venetian
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Jean Baptiste Tavernier - Dutch. Tavernier was a French gem merchant, not Dutch, so this pair is wrong.
Jean Baptiste Tavernier travelled to India six times between about 1640 and 1667, during the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. He traded in diamonds and described the Golconda mines, the Peacock Throne and Indian trade in his book Travels in India. The famous blue diamond later called the Hope Diamond passed through his hands. Another Frenchman of the same period, François Bernier, was a physician at the Mughal court.
A is correctly matched: Ibn Battuta came from Tangier in Morocco and served Muhammad bin Tughlaq; his travel book is the Rihla. B is correctly matched: Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese official who described the Vijayanagara empire in the early sixteenth century. D is correctly matched: Niccolao Manucci was a Venetian who served Dara Shikoh and wrote Storia do Mogor.
Exam tip: Tavernier and Bernier were French; Manucci and Nicolo Conti were Italian; Barbosa and Domingo Paes were Portuguese.
Practice Questions
View allWhich one of the following statements about Bipin Chandra Pal is correct?
- A.He was a member of the moderate group of Congress.
- B.He was a member of the extremist group of Congress.
- C.He was the Minister of Defence in the first Government of independent India.
- D.He was the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Show answer
Bipin Chandra Pal was one of the leading Extremists, the "Pal" of the famous trio Lal-Bal-Pal. The trio were Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab, Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra and Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal.
Read the full explanation →The Theosophical Society was led by
- A.A. O. Hume
- B.Arthur Griffith
- C.Annie Besant
- D.Lord Dufferin
Show answer
Annie Besant became the international president of the Theosophical Society in 1907 and led it until her death in 1933.
Read the full explanation →Statement I : King Ashoka abolished capital punishment and disbanded his army.
Statement II : After Kalinga War, Ashoka was remorseful and became a Buddhist.
- A.Both the statements are individually true and Statement II is the correct explanation of Statement I
- B.Both the statements are individually true but Statement II is not the correct explanation of Statement I
- C.Statement I is true but Statement II is false
- D.Statement I is false but Statement II is true
Show answer
Ashoka turned to Buddhism after the Kalinga war, but he neither abolished the death penalty nor disbanded his army. The Kalinga war, fought around 261 BCE in the eighth year of his reign, left over a lakh dead, and in Rock Edict XIII Ashoka records his deep remorse.
Read the full explanation →In the first century AD, which among the following was not a major item of Indian exports to Rome?
- A.Pepper
- B.Spikenard
- C.Tortoiseshell
- D.Nutmeg
Show answer
Nutmeg comes from the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of present-day Indonesia, and it was not one of the main goods India sent to Rome.
Read the full explanation →The Hunter Commission (1882) appointed to survey the state of education in India
- A.deprecated University education
- B.overruled the Despatch of 1854
- C.endorsed the Despatch of 1854 with greater emphasis on primary education
- D.criticized the grants-in-aid system of schooling
Show answer
The commission upheld Wood's Despatch but asked the state to give special care to the spread of primary education. The Indian Education Commission was appointed in 1882 by Lord Ripon under the chairmanship of Sir William Wilson Hunter, to review how far the Despatch of 1854 had been carried out.
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