1. Who, along with Bukka, founded the Vijayanagara kingdom?
2. Which guru is credited with readmitting Harihara and Bukka to Hinduism after their conversion to Islam?
3. In which year is Harihara's coronation as the Vijayanagara king traditionally placed?
4. Who founded the Bahmani kingdom?
5. In which year was the Bahmani kingdom founded?
6. Which port in the Konkan was an important outlet for horses imported from Iran and Iraq into the Deccan?
7. Bukka I's assault on which fortress, where he slaughtered the entire garrison in 1367, triggered a major Bahmani invasion of Vijayanagara territory?
8. The Vijayanagara-Bahmani war of 1367 marked the first recorded use of which weapon by both sides?
9. Consider the following statements regarding the treaty that ended the 1367 Vijayanagara-Bahmani war:
(I) It restored the earlier arrangement of sharing the Tungabhadra doab
(II) It stipulated that helpless and unarmed inhabitants should not be slaughtered in future wars
(III) Its provisions were fully implemented in all subsequent wars
Which of the above is/are correct?
10. Which fort did the Bahmani sultan fix as the boundary with Warangal, promising no further encroachment?
11. Which Vijayanagara ruler wrested Belgaum and Goa from the Bahmani kingdom in the west?
12. Which Vijayanagara ruler reigned from 1404 to 1422?
13. Which town did Deva Raya I cede in dowry to Firuz Shah Bahmani following his defeat and the ensuing marriage alliance?
14. How many Muslim cavalrymen did Deva Raya II enlist while reorganizing the Vijayanagara army?
15. Which Italian traveller visited Vijayanagara in 1420 and described its circumference as sixty miles?
16. Which Persian traveller visited Vijayanagara during the reign of Deva Raya II and described it as having three hundred ports?
17. Consider the following statements regarding Deva Raya I's public works:
(I) He constructed a dam across the Tungabhadra river to bring canals into the city
(II) He built a dam on the river Haridra for irrigation
Which of the above is/are correct?
18. Which Bahmani ruler is described as well-versed in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi, and fond of the natural sciences?
19. During whose reign did Deccani Brahmans first become dominant in Bahmani administration, particularly in revenue matters?
20. Near which city did Firuz Shah Bahmani build an observatory to encourage the pursuit of astronomy?
21. Consider the following statements regarding the principal Bahmani ports under Firuz Shah Bahmani:
(I) Chaul and Dabhol attracted trading ships from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea
(II) These ports brought in luxury goods from various parts of the world
Which of the above is/are correct?
22. In 1419, which Bahmani ruler was defeated by Deva Raya I, a setback that led him to abdicate in favour of his brother?
23. Which Bahmani ruler, associated with the sufi saint Gesu Daraz, is referred to as a "wali" (saint)?
24. Ahmad Shah I shifted the Bahmani capital from Gulbarga to which city after annexing Warangal?
25. Consider the following pairs regarding the origin and career of Mahmud Gawan:
(I) Origin — Iranian, initially a trader
(II) Title granted — Malik-ut-Tujjar
(III) Position attained — Prime Minister (Peshwa)
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
26. Mahmud Gawan's deep raid into Vijayanagara territory demonstrated Bahmani military strength by reaching as far as which city?
27. Which two western coastal ports did Mahmud Gawan overrun, dealing a heavy blow to Vijayanagara's trade?
28. In the dispute over Berar between the Bahmani kingdom and Malwa, which ruler's active help allowed Mahmud Gawan to prevail?
29. Into how many provinces (tarafs) did Mahmud Gawan divide the Bahmani kingdom for administrative reform?
30. A Bahmani noble maintaining a contingent of 500 horses received what annual salary under Mahmud Gawan's reforms?
31. What term was used for the tract of land set apart in each Bahmani province for the sultan's own expenses?
32. In which city did Mahmud Gawan build a famous three-storeyed madarasa decorated with coloured tiles?
33. Consider the following statements regarding the nobility of the Bahmani kingdom:
(I) Nobles were divided into the long-established Deccanis and foreign newcomers called afaqis or gharibs
(II) Mahmud Gawan, as a newcomer himself, found it difficult to win the confidence of the Deccanis
(III) Mahmud Gawan's policy of conciliation fully ended the party strife among nobles
Which of the above is/are correct?
34. In which year was Mahmud Gawan executed after his opponents poisoned the young sultan's ears against him?
35. Following the intensified strife after Mahmud Gawan's execution, the Bahmani kingdom split into how many principalities?
36. Consider the following statements regarding the five Bahmani successor states:
(I) Golconda, Bijapur and Ahmadnagar played a leading role in Deccan politics until absorbed into the Mughal empire
(II) Berar and Bidar were also among the five successor states
Which of the above is/are correct?
37. After confusion following Deva Raya II's death, who usurped the throne as the king's minister and founded a new dynasty?
38. Which dynasty was founded by Krishna Deva, under which Krishna Deva Raya later ruled?
39. During which period did Krishna Deva Raya rule Vijayanagara?
40. Consider the following statements regarding the challenges faced by Krishna Deva Raya at the start of his reign:
(I) He had to re-establish internal law and order
(II) He had to deal with the successor states of the Bahmani kingdom and Orissa
(III) He had to contend with the growing power of the Portuguese
Which of the above is/are correct?
41. Krishna Deva first compelled which ruler to restore Vijayanagara territories up to the river Krishna?
42. In the battle of 1520, whom did Krishna Deva Raya decisively defeat after overrunning Raichur and Mudkal?
43. Which Italian traveller spent years at Krishna Deva Raya's court and described him as "a great ruler and a man of much justice, but subject to sudden fits of rage"?
44. Which foreign traveller praised Krishna Deva Raya's religious toleration, noting that every man could live according to his own creed without enquiry into his faith?
45. In which year did Krishna Deva Raya die, after which a succession struggle broke out among his minor sons' relations?
46. Who ascended the Vijayanagara throne in 1543 while real power lay with a triumvirate led by Rama Raja?
47. Rama Raja entered into a commercial treaty with the Portuguese to stop the supply of which commodity to the Bijapur ruler?
48. Consider the following pairs regarding the alliance that defeated Vijayanagara in 1565:
(I) Bijapur — combined with Ahmadnagar and Golconda against Vijayanagara
(II) Battle site — Bannihatti, near Talikota
(III) Rama Raja — surrendered peacefully and was released
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
49. In which year was the Battle of Bannihatti (also called the Battle of Talikota or Rakshasa-Tangadi) fought?
50. What is the alternative name for the Battle of Bannihatti besides the Battle of Talikota?
51. Which Vijayanagara chief minister/regent was captured and immediately executed after the Battle of Bannihatti?
52. Krishna Deva Raya authored a work on polity in which language?
53. Below the rajya or mandalam (province) level, what was the district-level administrative unit called in the Vijayanagara kingdom?
54. What was the sub-district level administrative unit called, below the nadu, in the Vijayanagara kingdom?
55. Consider the following statements regarding provincial governors in the Vijayanagara kingdom:
(I) They held their own courts and appointed their own officers
(II) They maintained their own armies and were allowed to issue their own coins of small denominations
(III) They served a fixed, uniform term set by the central government
Which of the above is/are correct?
56. What term was used for the territory with a fixed revenue granted by the Vijayanagara king to military chiefs?
57. What were the military chiefs who held amaram grants and had to maintain troops for the state called?
58. Consider the following statements regarding land tax rates under Vijayanagara rule, per inscriptional evidence:
(I) One-third of the produce was levied on kuruvai rice during winter
(II) One-fourth was levied on sesame, ragi and horsegram
(III) One-sixth was levied on millet and other crops on dry land
Which of the above is/are correct?
59. Besides the land tax, which of the following was NOT mentioned among the additional taxes levied under Vijayanagara rule?
60. Which sixteenth-century traveller observed that under Vijayanagara rule, "the land is overstocked with people, but those in the country are very miserable while the nobles are extremely affluent"?
61. Of the kingdom's total estimated income of 12,000,000 pardaos, what approximate share did the central Vijayanagara government actually receive?
62. Which Portuguese prince, from 1418, sent ships annually to explore Africa's western coast in search of a sea route to India?
63. Consider the following statements regarding Prince Henry's objectives:
(I) To oust the Arabs and the Venetians from the eastern trade
(II) To convert the "heathens" of Africa and Asia to Christianity
Which of the above is/are correct?
64. In 1453, the Pope issued a Bull granting Portugal "in perpetuity" whatever lands it discovered beyond which point in Africa up to India?
65. Who rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, laying the basis for direct trade links between Europe and India?
66. Consider the following statements regarding navigational tools used for the Portuguese voyages:
(I) The mariner's compass was known to the Chinese earlier but was not widely used by them
(II) The astrolabe was widely used by the Arabs, Indians and others before the Portuguese voyages
Which of the above is/are correct?
67. In which year did Vasco da Gama land at Calicut?
68. Who guided Vasco da Gama's ships from the African coast to Calicut?
69. Which ruler of Calicut welcomed the Portuguese and allowed them to load pepper and drugs, despite hostility from the local Arab merchant colony?
70. Consider the following statements regarding early Portuguese trade policy in India:
(I) The Portuguese rulers treated eastern trade as a royal monopoly
(II) This monopoly excluded rival European nations but not private Portuguese traders
Which of the above is/are correct?
71. In 1509, the Portuguese won a decisive naval victory over a combined fleet sent by the Sultan of Egypt joined by ships of which ruler?
72. Which Portuguese governor's son was killed in the initial engagement before the decisive 1509 naval victory?
73. Who succeeded as governor of Portuguese possessions in the east and advocated dominating oriental commerce through a network of forts backed by a strong navy?
74. In which year did Albuquerque capture Goa from Bijapur?
75. Consider the following pairs regarding Portuguese overseas forts and their locations:
(I) Colombo — Sri Lanka
(II) Achin — Sumatra
(III) Malacca — controlling the gulf between the Malay peninsula and Sumatra
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
76. At the mouth of which sea did the Portuguese establish a station on the island of Socotra?
77. The Portuguese failed to capture which port, leaving the Red Sea outside their control?
78. In 1529, the Ottoman Turks posed a major threat to which European capital, seen as key to Central Europe's defence?
79. In 1529, a strong Ottoman fleet under Sulaiman Rais was despatched to aid which ruler?
80. Which Ottoman official, appointed governor of Diu, later earned renown as a master-gunner and repulsed a Portuguese attack on Daman and Diu in 1531?
81. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat granted which island to the Portuguese in order to secure their alliance against the Mughals?
82. In which year did Bahadur Shah of Gujarat drown after a scuffle with the Portuguese governor aboard a ship during negotiations?
83. In 1538, a large Ottoman fleet under an aged commander besieged which Portuguese-held port before retiring after two months?
84. In 1551, which Ottoman commander, assisted by the Zamorin of Calicut, attacked the Portuguese forts at Muscat and Ormuz?
85. In which year did the Portuguese and Ottomans reach an agreement to share the spice and Indian trade and avoid clashing in Arab waters?
86. Which two Deccan sultans allied in 1570 to attack Portuguese positions, with the Zamorin of Calicut also drawn into the alliance?
87. Consider the following statements regarding Portuguese impact on Asian trade:
(I) They were able to fully monopolize the pepper and spice trade to Europe throughout the sixteenth century
(II) Gujarati traders continued to dominate much of the Indian textile trade despite Portuguese efforts
(III) The Portuguese opened up India's trade with Japan, from which copper and silver were obtained
Which of the above is/are correct?
88. Which two agricultural products, among others such as tobacco and peanut, did the Portuguese help transmit to India from Central America?
