Indian History Questions: Mughal Empire 1

1. Babur–namah or Tuzuk –i-Baburi is the Wakai or Memoirs (autobiography) of the first Mughal emperor Babur. In which language was it written?
(a) Arabic
(b) Persian
(c) Turkish or Turki
(d) Pushto

2. Who among the following foreigners was not impressed with the state of public security in Mughal Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan?
(a) Nicholas Withington
(b) Peter Mundy
(c) William Hawkins
(d) William Finch

3. Who among the following foreign traveler was eyewitness to the Dara Sikhoh’s public humiliation in Delhi by his brother Aurangzeb after war of succession?
(a) Travernier
(b) Munucci
(c) Francois Bernier
(d) Dr. Gemelli-Carreri

4. Sir Thomas Roe was sent as accredited ambassador of the King of England, James I to the Mughal court of
(a) Akbar
(b) Jahangir
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

5. In the war of succession Dara Shikoh was finally defeated by Aurangzeb in the battle of
(a) Deorai
(b) Samugarh
(c) Dharmat
(d) Khajwah

6. Which of the following is not a historical work of the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar?
(a) Akbarnamaha of Abul Fazal
(b) Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh of Badauni
(c) Padshahnama of Amin Kazwini
(d) Tabaqat-i-Akbari of Nizam-ud-din Ahmad

7. Which of the following has been described as Aurangzeb’s height of political unwisdom?
(a) Imprisonment of Shivaji at Agra
(b) Waging unnecessary and ruinous wars in the North-west frontier
(c) Execution of the ninth Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur in 1675
(d) Attempt to annex Marwar

8. Which of the following historical works was not written during the reign of Mughal emperor Auranzeb?
(a) Alamgirnamah of Mirza Muhammad Kazim
(b) Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh by Sujan Rai Khatri
(c) Nushka-i-Dilkusha by Bhimsen
(d) Amal-i-Salih by Muhammad Salih

9. Who among the following was the last great royal patron of Mughal school of painting?
(a) Akbar
(b) Jahangir
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

10. Who amog the following Mughal emperors was an accomplished veena player?
(a) Humayun
(b) Akbar
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Aurangzeb

Answers: 
1-C; Turkish or Turki was Babur’s mother tongue.

2-b; While Flinch came to India during Akbar’s reign, Nicholas Withington and William Hawkins visited India during his son Jahangir’s reign. Peter Mundy, an English merchant-traveller, has also left a detailed account of the horrors of famine that took place in Gujarat and Deccan from 1630-1632 during Shah Jahan’s reign.

3-C; Bernier writes about the disgrace faced by Dara: "The crowd assembled was immense; and everywhere I observed the people weeping, and lamenting the fate of Dara in the most touching language. . . . From every quarter I heard piercing and distressing shrieks . . . men, women and children wailing as if some mighty calamity had happened to themselves.”

4-b: Sir Thomas Roe stayed at Jahangir's court from the end of 1615 till the end of 1618.

5-a; Battle of Dharmat took place on the 15th April, 1658. Dharmat is fourteen miles from Ujjain. Battle of Samugarh took place on 29th May, 1658. Muran, another brother of Aurangzeb aiming for the Mughal throne was defeated by his in the battle of Khajwah, near Allahabad, on the 5th January, 1659. The battle of Deorai was fought for three days( 12th-]4th April, 1659) resulting in the defeat of Dara. Deorai is four miles south of Ajmer.

6-c; Padshahnama of Amin Kazwini was written during the reign of Shah Jahan. Other important works during the reign of Akbar are Tarikh-i-Alfi of Mulla Daud, Akbarnamah of Faizi Sarhindi and Maasir-i-Rahimi of Abdul Baqi.

7-d;

8-d; Other historical works of Aurangzeb’s period are Muntakhab-ul-Lubab of Khafi Khan, Maasir-i-Alamgiri of Muhammad Saqi and Fatuhat-i-Alamgiri of Ishwar Das. Since Aurangzeb was opposed to the idea of writing of histories of his reign, Muntakhab-ul-Lubab was written by Khafi Khan in secrecy.

9-c;

10-d;