Medieval Indian History MCQs

Notes:
Mongol invasions were repulsed by Zafar Khan who was military general in the reign of Allauddin Khilji. In 1298, as per order of Sultan Allauddin Khilji , about 30,0000 New Muslims were slaughtered in a day, as he suspected them of being involved in a conspiracy against him and of being a threat to his power. (Mongolians who settled near Delhi and accepted Islam were called “New Muslims”).

Notes:
The battle of Khanwa was fought between Rana of Mewar, Sangram Singh (Rana Sanga ) and Babur on the bank of river Pilikhar in 1527 AD. In this battle, Babur defeated Rana Sanga and this decisive victory consolidated Mughal power in India.

Notes:
Sultan Mahmud Ghazni died at Ghazni in 1030 AD.

Notes:
In 1580 AD, Akbar divided the entire kingdom into 12 Parganas. The administration in each Suba or Pargana was almost duplicated. Each Suba had a Subedar (Governor),a Diwan, a Bakshi, a Sadar, a Qazi and also a waqia navis. The job of the waqia navis was to document the events. The peace and security was the job of Kotwal.

Notes:
The emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, Devaraya II (also called Praudh Devraya) assumed the title of ‘Gajabetegara’ that literally means “Hunter of elephants”, an honorific that explained his addiction to hunting elephants or a metaphor referring to his victories against enemies who were “as strong as elephants.

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:
Under Deccan sultanates, and the Maratha empire, the Patil was the village headman and the most important Vatandar of the village. His main duties were to be the collector of revenue, as well as being the head of police and justice.

Notes:
Mansabdari system was introduced in 1595–96.It was a combined status showing a noble’s civil and military capacity. The Mansabdari System was introduced by Mughal emperor Akbar as new administrative machinery and revenue system.

Notes:
One consistent feature found in the history of southern India was the growth of small regional kingdoms rather than large empires because of absence of vast areas of fertile land. The Chola Empire of the South emerged in the middle of the 9th century A.D., covered a large part of Indian peninsula, as well as parts of Sri Lanka and the Maldives Islands. The first important ruler to emerge from the dynasty was Rajaraja Chola I and his son and successor Rajendra Chola. Rajaraja carried forward the annexation policy of his father. He led armed expedition to distant lands of Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Notes:
Humayun-Nama, Ain-i-Akbari and Akbarnama were written in the 16th century. Tuzk-e-Jahangiri was written in the 17th century.

• Akbar asked his aunt to write whatever she remembered about her brother’s life. Gulbadan Begum took the challenge and produced a document titled Ahwal Humayun Padshah Jamah Kardom Gulbadan Begum bint Babur Padshah amma Akbar Padshah. It came to be known as Humayun-Nama.
• The Ain-i-Akbari or the “Administration of Akbar”, is a 16th-century detailed document recording the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu’l Fazl in the Persian language.
• The Akbarnama which translates to Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, commissioned by Akbar himself by his court historian and biographer, Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar’s court.