Indian History

Q.1. Which of the following women authored the biography of Humayun during Mughal period?  [A] Gulbadan Begum [B] Jahanara Begum [C] Zebun-nissah Begum [D] Noorjahan Begum Q.2. Who among the following Mughal emperors discontinued the practice of inscribing Islamic creed (Kalima) on coins?  [A] Akbar [B] Jahangir [C] Shahjahan [D] Aurangzeb Q.3. Who among the following assumed the title of Islam Shah Suri? [A] Jalal Khan [B] Sikandar Shah Suri  [C] Firuz Shah Suri [D] Sher Shah Suri Q.4. Who had introduced Ain-i-Dahsala system of land revenue assessment during the reign of Akbar? [A] Raja Todar Mal [B] Birbal [C] Raja Man Singh [D] Murshid Quili Khan Q.5. Who among the following accepted Din-i-Ilahi? [A] Raja Man Singh [B] Birbal [C] Raja Tansen [D] Raja Todarmal Answer:  Q.1 (A)  Ahval-i-Humayun Badshah or Humayun-Nama was written by Babur's daughter and Humayun’s half- sister, Gulbadan Begam, who stayed with Akbar, son and successor of Humayun, from 1556 to ...

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier  (1605–1689)  was a French traveller and a merchant in gems who made six voyages to India between 1630 and 1668 during the reign of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Being a dealer of diamonds made him well equipped to elaborately discuss about diamonds and diamond mines of India.  His travel account, entitled Travel in India, first appeared in 1676. His another book Le Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier- The Six Voyages of J. B. Tavernier was also published in 1676, and translated into English by Dr. C. V. Ball in 1889.  The gem-studded Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taoos), commissioned by Shah Jahan and housed in the Diwan-i-Khas in the Red Fort of Delhi, was described by Tavernier as “the richest and most superb throne which has ever been seen in the world.” The Peacock Throne was taken to Persia by Nadir Shah who invaded India during the reign of Raushan Akhtar who ascended the Mughal throne under the title of Muhammad Shah in 1719.  Tavernier died in...

Bughra Khan was the second son of Balban of the Slave dynasty of the Delhi Sultunate. During his father's reign, Bughra Khan was placed in charge of the territories of Samana and Sunam. He and his elder brother Muhammad Khan were successfully to keep the Mongols at bay but in A.D. 1285 Muhammad was killed during his fight against the Mongols.  When Balban proceeded towards Bengal in 1281 to crush the rebellion of Tughral Tughan Khan (Governor of Bengal) he took Bughra Khan with him. The rebellion was suppressed and Tughril Khan was killed. Bughra Khan was appointed governor of the Bengal province. When Balban died in 1287 pleasure loving Bughra Khan declined to be the Delhi Sultan and instead became an independent ruler of Bengal. So Balban was succeeded by Bughra Khan's son Kaiqubad on the throne of Delhi Sultanate.  Written in verse in 1289, Qiran-us-sadin (the first historical masnavi of Amir Khusrau, the mediaeval Sufi mystic and poet) describes the much talked about meeti...

Ludovico di Varthema and King of Khambat / Image Credit   Ludovico di Varthema  was an Italian traveller, adventurer and soldier who came to India via Alexandria, Cairo, Damascus, Mecca, Aden and Hormuz. He has left behind a vivid account of the cities and customs and manners of the people  Apart from visiting the Adil Shahi capital of Bijapur in South India, Varthema visited the mighty Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar. His description of the  Vijayanagar  city contains very interesting and valuable information. His voluminous travel account, The Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema, provides a detailed account of Goa, Calicut and other ports on the west coast of India. Ludvico Di Varthema was knighted by the Portuguese for joining their services in India. According to him,  Gujarat's  Muzaffarid dynasty ruler  Mahmud Shah (1459-1511), also known as Mahmud Begada, had a long beard that reached his girdle, and he tied his very long moustaches behind his h...

Atala Mosque / Image Credit    In May 2024 a petition was filed in a local court in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh that the 14th-century Atala Mosque be declared a “Atala Devi Mandir”. The mosque was built by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi (1401-1408). Petitioners say that according to historical records the mosque was built on the site of a temple of Atala Devi.   Who was Ibrahim Shah Sharqi? Ibrahim Shah Sharqi was a ruler of the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur, north of Varanasi in the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This dynasty was founded by Malik Sarwar, a eunuch belonging to Sultan Firuz Tughluq. Malik Sarwar’s astonishingly fast rise to power can be attributed to the chaos that ruled supreme after the death of Firuz in 1388. He was made wazir of the Delhi sultanate by Firuz’s younger son, Muhammad Shah (1390-93) who conferred on him the title of Sultanush-Sharq (Ruler of the Eastern Kingdom).  Malik Sarwar’s rise continued and in 1394 was appointed governor of Jaunpur,...

Rohtas Fort Jhelum Punjab / Image Credit Located near Dina city in the Jhelum district in Pakistan, Rohtas Fort (also called Qila Rohtas) was built in the 16th century on the instructions of Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri who did not live longer to see its completion which was overseen in the later years by his son Islam Shah, popularly known as Salim Shah.  The construction of Rohtas Fort started in 1541 under the supervision of Sher Shah's official Todar Mal who later on joined the Mughal Empire under Akbar as its finance minister. The construction of this gigantic fort was undertaken by Sher Shah to keep the refractory tribes of Gakkhars in check and guard the northern frontier boundary of Sur Empire. The fort was named by him after his famous strong fortress of the same name in Bihar. Qila Rohtas was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  The Gakkhars ruled in the mountainous region between the upper courses of the Jhelum and the Indus. 

Grave of Muhammad Ghori / Image Credit After Mahmud of Ghazni, the next prominent invader on India was Muhammad Ghori, who took the title of Mu'izzuddin Muhammad ibn Sam after he became sultan.  The actual name of Muhammad Ghori was Shahab-ud-din. The dynasty to which he belonged was Ghurid dynasty which supplanted the Ghaznavids in Afghanistan when he conquered the last Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186 by defeating its ruler, Khusrau Malik, who was executed in 1191. His dynasty was so named as his family belonged to the territory of Ghor in Afghanistan. He conquered several territories but remained a loyal subordinate  to his brother Ghiyas-ud-din, the Ghur Sultan,  until the latter's death in 1202 after which he became the Sultan and ruled until his murder in 1206. Muizuddin  made his first Indian expedition in 1175 AD. these invasions were on the Muslim states of Multan and the fortress of Uch. During the reign of Chalukya or Solanki ruler Bhima II (1178-...

Jama Masjid Shamsi, Badaun / Image Credit Today, Budaun may be a non- descript town in the district of the same name in the western Uttar Pradesh, history weighs heavily on it.  About 235 km from Delhi, Budaun came into prominence when it became a centre of power during the reign of  Iltutmish  of the Slave Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish, who ruled from AD 1210 to 1236, served as the governor of Badaun under the Delhi Sultan Qutab ud-din Aibak before becoming the Sultan. It was at Badaun where Tajuddin Yalduz, successor of Muhammad of Ghor in Ghazni and a rival of Iltutmish, was beheaded on the instruction of the latter in 1216. The imposing Shamsi mosque in the town was commissioned by Iltutmish.  Budaun was the birthplace of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (1236-1325), one of the most famous Sufi saints of Chisti order. His Dargah in Delhi attracts a large number of visitors.  Alauddin Alam Shah , the last ruler of Sayyid Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, found ...

The founder of the Chisti Sufi order in India, Muinud-din-Chisti was also known as Khwaja Ajmeri. Headquartered in Ajmer in Rajasthan, Chisti Sufi order attracted devotees from both Muslims and Hindus and continue to do so. Moinuddin Chishti came from Sistan with the Muslim invasion, eventually arriving in Ajmer where he died in 1236. Thousands of Sufi devotees travel to the shrine of Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer for the annual Urs. Disciples of Moinuddin Chisti  Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki The most important disciple of Moinuddin Chisti, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki popularized the Chisti order in Delhi. He had come to Delhi some time after 1221. He died in 1235. His tomb is in Mehrauli in Delhi and it is said that Qutub Minar takes its name from this Sufi saint.  Hamiduddin Nagauri Another prominent disciple of Moinuddin Chisti, Hamiduddin Nagauri was instrumental in initiating Chisti order in Nagaur in Rajasthan.

After Muhammad Shah 's  death in A.D. 1445, his son, Alauddin Alam Shah (reigned 1445–51), succeeded him to the throne of the Sayyid Dynasty, the fourth in the line of five dynasties that comprised Delhi Sultanate that ruled from 1206 to 1526. Alauddin Alam Shah was more inefficient than his father. Such was his fondness for gratification and aversion to work that he abdicated the throne in favour of Afghan Buhlul Khan Lodi (reigned 1451–89), the governor of Lahore and Sirhind, in 1451 and retired to Badaun (now in Uttar Pradesh), where he died in 1478.  Alam Shah’s only claim to fame lies in the field of architecture. He constructed his father’s tomb which is located in the Lodhi Gardens in central Delhi. He lies buried in a tomb in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh where his mother was also buried.  The tombs of Alam Shah and his mother are an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument. 

If there is an absolute must see in Jaipur, it has to be the Amber Fort. A fine specimen of the Rajput architecture, the Amber (pronounced Amer) Fort -Palace is a classical example of romantic forts for which Rajasthan is famous all over the world.  The Amber Fort is one of the six hill forts of Rajasthan which have been recognised as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Amber was the capital of the Kachhwaha rulers till 1727 A.D when Jaipur was made capital in place of Amber by Sawai Jai Singh II, who founded the Jaipur city.  The construction of the Amber Fort was commenced in 1592 by Man Singh I, one of the foremost generals of the greatest Mughal emperor Akbar, and completed by his successor Jai Singh I. Made of red sandstone and marble and located high on a hill, the Amber Fort consists of a sprawling collection of fairytale buildings including palaces, halls, pavilions as well as temples and gardens. The spectacular reflection of the Amber Fort in the waters of the Maota Lake...

Junagarh Fort in Bikaner / Incredibleindia.org History of Bikaner in Rajasthan is the history of its Rathore rulers. Bikaner is named after its founder Rao Bika, son of Jodhpur’s founder Rao Jodha. Rao Bika, a Rajput chieftain of the Rathore clan, founded the princely state of Bikaner in 1486. In this endeavor he was assisted by his brave uncle  Rawat Kandhal who was killed in  1490 in  the Battle of  Sahawa in which  the Delhi Sultanate forces were then led by  Sarang Khan, Governor of Hisar during the  Lodhi dynasty.  Battle of Sahawa, Rawat Kandhal and Sarang Khan / Image Credit The area that constitutes the present day region of Bikaner was once a barren land known as “jungledesh”. Another ruler Rao Lunakaran ,  who ruled from 1505 to 1526, built Shri Laxminath Temple in Bikaner.  After his death in a battle with Nawab of Narnaul , the reins of the kingdom passed on to his son Rao Jait Singh who was born on 31 October 1489 and rule...

A replica of Raigad Fort has been made as backdrop at the venue of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade in Kevadiya (now known as Ekta Nagar) in Gujarat to showcase the stories of incredible valour, heroic deeds and innovative warfare techniques of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Originally called Rairi,  the fort of Raigad is part of the 12 forts nominated by India for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)  World Heritage under the title “Maratha Military Landscapes of India”.  Among the 12 nominated forts, Raigad is the classic example of Maratha architecture and best representation of the capital fort on a hill, well integrated with the physiography of the hill with the most developed typologies of structures within the fort. Grant Duff (1789 – 1858), a British administrator-historian of the Maratha period, had compared Raigad to the Rock of Gibraltar and labeled Raigad as the Gibraltar of the East. Why did Shivaji Maharaj select the Raigad Fort...

Taj Mahal is an architectural feat that marks a height of Mughal architecture.  Synonymous with beauty and elegance, the world beating landmark of Taj Mahal was built by the order of fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1631 and 1648 in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who was his third wife. Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 in childbirth at the age of 39 at Burhanpur,     Taj Mahal is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Taj Mahal was the result of the labour of over 12, 000 workers, over a period of 22 years. The cost incurred on the construction in those times was 50 (5 million) Rupees. Sometimes, the design of Taj Mahal is credited to a Venetian, Gernimo Verrones. According to whispers, Shah Jahan had its architects blinded, so that they could never again replicate a monument so grand and majestic. However, these claims are not verified and not confirmed by the historians.

Mast of a Portuguese Ship at Bandel Church, Hooghly / Image Credit   Portugal was the first European power to establish factories and trading settlements in India in the early 16th century. In 1579–80, a Portuguese captain named Pedro Tavares received a firman from Mughal emperor to establish a city in Bengal for the Portuguese. The Portuguese were also allowed to preach their religion.  As a consequence, a Portuguese colony was established at Hughli (in 1579 AD). The famous church of Bandel in Hooghly was built by the Portuguese.  The friendly attitude of Akbar towards the Portuguese was continued by his son and next Mughal emperor Jahangir.   Jahangir died in October 1627 and after a short interregnum marked by violent conflict among the other claimants for the throne, his son Shah Jahan became emperor in 1628 by eliminating all other possible contenders to the throne.  Shahryar Mirza (youngest son of Jahangir), Dawar Bakhsh (Grandson of Jahangir and Khus...

Dutch East India Company (VOC) / Image Credit The Amboyna Massacre, as it came to be called in England, took place in 1623 in Amboyna, an important clove-producing island in modern-day Indonesia. 10 Englishmen, 10 Japanese, and one Portuguese were executed by the local authorities of Dutch East India Company.  Portuguese were the common enemy of the English and the Dutch when the last two entered the East.  However, the commercial rivalry between the English and the Dutch led to the massacre at Amboyna (currently Amboyna). Spice trade has been very lucrative throughout the history. In the ‘Age of Discovery’ (a period of European overseas exploration from the 15th to 17th century), the European powers - Dutch, Portuguese, English and Spanish, had been in a fierce struggle for supremacy of the spice trade.  The English poet and dramatist John Dryden had written a dram called Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants in 1673. 

Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur (Karnataka) / Image Credit   The most famous monument in Karnataka’s Bijapur, Gol Gumbaz (Round Dome) is the tomb of Mohammed Adil Shah (1627 -56), the seventh ruler of Adil Shahi Dynasty, one of the five succession states that came into existence after disintegration of the Bahmani Sultanate of Deccan. Bijapur was established in the 10th–11th centuries during the reign of Kalyani Chalukyas (Western Chalukyas) and was known as Vijayapura (city of victory).  Built by the ruler himself in his lifetime, this gigantic mausoleum is an engineering marvel known for perfect stereophonic acoustics. Its huge round dome is world’s second largest in size only to the dome of St Peter's Basalica in Rome. The external diameter of this hemispherical dome is about 44 metres.   Every sound in the central chamber of the monument is echoed seven times. Another feature of this ambitious monument of the Adil Shahi Dynasty is the whispering gallery, where even the ...

Chennakeshava temple of Aralaguppe / Image Credit Dedicated to Vishnu, the Chennakeshava temple of Aralaguppe is a Hoysala era shrine.  Located at the small town of Aralaguppe in the Tumkur district of Karnataka, the temple is located 60 km from the Hassan city. It was built in the middle of the 13th century by the Hoysala ruler Vira Someshwara (1235–1263 CE).  Dedicated to Vishnu, the Chennakeshava temple of Aralaguppe is a Hoysala era shrine.  Located at the small town of Aralaguppe in the Tumkur district of Karnataka, the temple is located 60 km from the Hassan city. It was built in the middle of the 13th century by the Hoysala ruler Vira Someshwara (1235–1263 CE). 

Zaibunissa Palace / Image Credit Mughal princess Zeb-un-Nisa was the eldest child of sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. She was a poetess of considerable merit and wrote under the pen name of Makhfi (meaning Hidden One in Persian). She produced a brilliant collection of beautiful poems which were published after her death in 1702 as Diwan-i-Makhfi. Born in 1738 in Daulatabad in Deccan, Zeb-un-Nisa seems to be antithetical to what Auranzeb stood for.  Strained relationship between Zeb-un-Nisa and Aurangzeb had led the father to imprison the daughter for the last 20 years of her life at Salimgarh Fort which lies adjacent to the Red Fort  in Delhi. Her grandfather, the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, had betrothed her to Sulaiman Shikoh, the eldest son of Dara Shikoh, elder brother of Aurangzeb. The marriage, however, did not take place. This is because as soon as Shah Jahan fell ill in September, 1657, it sparked a deadly war of succession among his four sons – Dara Shikoh, Shuja,...

Ghateshwar Mahadev, Badoli / Image Credit Built in the tenth century AD by the Gurjara Pratihara rulers, Badoli Temples are nine temples located near Rawerbhata in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan. Of these eight temples is situated within a walled enclosure. The ninth temple is about 1 kilometre from the complex of eight temples.  Four temples are dedicated to Shiva, two to Durga and one each to Shiva-Trimurti, Vishnu and Ganesha. Dedicated to Shiva, Ghateshwara Mahadeva Temple is the most prominent of the Badoli Temples.