Medieval Indian History MCQs

Notes:
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb built the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) in the Red Fort complex in Delhi. It is a white marble mosque built around 1659-1660 AD.

Notes:
Malik Ghazi Shahna was the architect of Firoz Shah Tughlaq and held the gold staff of office.

Notes:
The finance minister of Akbar, Raja Todar Mal introduced the Dahasala system, a system of taxation. In this system, the land cultivation and price of the produce was calculated for a period of 10 years and one tenth of this part was the part of state for one year. This new system could give per Bigha Revenue to the different regions.

Notes:
Kallimullah (1524-1527) was the last ruler of Bahmani dynasty.

Notes:
A Moroccan traveller, Ibn Butula (1333-1347 AD) visited India during the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. His book Rehla (the Travelogue) throws a lot of light on the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq and the geographical, economic and social conditions in India.

Notes:
The literal meaning of word Mansab is “official appointment of rank and emoluments”. Every important officer of Akbar held a Mansab or a rank in the imperial cadre and his rank was measured on how many horsemen he commanded. Thus, it was a military rank also. These Mansabdars were paid in Zat and Sawar. Zat was a fixed personal salary while sawar was paid as per their rank or number of horsemen to be controlled by them.
Akbar classified the office holders into total 33 grades ranging from mansabs of 10 to 10 thousand. However, these all were broadly categorized into three types as follows:

• Those who commanded 10 to 400 horsemen were commonly called mansabdars(officers).
• Those who commanded 500 to 2500 horsemen were amirs (nobles)
• Those in higher ranks belonged to the category of umara-i-kabiror umara-i-azim (grandees).

The highest amir in the third category was honored with the title of amir-ul-umara.

Notes:
Fine arts, primarily architecture, made progress during the period of the Delhi Sultanate. The architecture of the period of the Sultanate can be divided into three categories for the sake of convenience. First is the Delhi or the Imperial style of architecture which grew under the patronage of Sultans of Delhi. It includes all those buildings which were constructed by different Sultans. The other is provincial style of architecture which grew under the patronage of provincial ruling dynasties which were mostly Muslims.
Features:
• Corbelled arches are constructed by laying stone blocks on top of each other
• The facade was decorated with Arabic calligraphy and vegetal motifs
• They used limestone, brick and plaster

Notes:
Mahmud Gawan (1411, Iran – 1481) was a Prime Minister in the Bahamani Sultanate of Deccan.

Notes:
• After completing his studies Acquaviva was chosen by his superiors for the prestigious and challenging Indian missions.He travelled to Lisbon, starting point for the voyage east. There he was ordained a priest and sailed for India in 1578.
• In January 1615, Sir Thomas Roe presented his credentials to the emperor Jahangir as the Ambassador of the King of England. The objective of Thomas Roe was to finish what was left unfinished by Captain Hawkins.
• Jean-Baptiste Tavernier was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668.

Notes:
A Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati, but later, they became the de facto leaders of the Marathas, and the Chatrapati was reduced to a nominal ruler.
The member of Shivaji’s Astha Pradhana who looked after foreign affairs was Sumant.
Sachiv was the minister in charge of royal correspondence.
Pandit Rao – religious matter.