1. Babur belonged to which Central Asian ruling house?
2. Which ruler united Iran and Turan under one rule after the disintegration of the Mongol empire?
3. In whose time did Samarqand and Herat become cultural centres of West Asia?
4. Consider the following statements regarding the decline of Timurid power in the late fifteenth century:
(I) The Timurid tradition of partitioning the empire weakened it
(II) The Uzbeks thrust into Trans-Oxiana from the north
(III) The Safavid dynasty began to dominate Iran from the west
Which of the above is/are correct?
5. Which sect of Islam did the Safavid dynasty support?
6. Who defeated and killed the Uzbek chief Shaibani Khan near Merv in 1510?
7. In which year did Babur succeed to Farghana?
8. Consider the following statements about Babur's early career:
(I) He conquered Kabul in 1504
(II) He recovered Samarqand with Iranian military help but chafed under Iranian control
(III) Shah Ismail was defeated by the Ottoman sultan in 1514, leaving the Uzbeks masters of Trans-Oxiana
Which of the above is/are correct?
9. Who occupied Bhira after Babur returned to Kabul following its capture in 1518-19?
10. Daulat Khan Lodi was the governor of which region?
11. Who succeeded Sikandar Lodi as ruler of Delhi?
12. Consider the following statements regarding the invitations extended to Babur before his invasion of India:
(I) Daulat Khan Lodi's son, Dilawar Khan, led an embassy inviting Babur to displace Ibrahim Lodi
(II) A messenger from Rana Sanga also arrived around the same time inviting Babur to invade India
Which of the above is/are correct?
13. Within how many weeks of crossing the Indus in 1525 did Babur become master of the Punjab?
14. In which year was the Battle of Panipat fought?
15. Consider the following pairs regarding the Battle of Panipat:
(I) Babur's device of lashing carts together – called a Rumi (Ottoman) device
(II) Ibrahim Lodi's forces – estimated at 100,000 men and 1000 elephants
(III) Babur's force crossing the Indus – 12,000 men
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
16. Who were the two Ottoman master-gunners in Babur's service at Panipat?
17. According to the account, to what did Babur give a large part of the credit for his victory at Panipat?
18. Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the Battle of Panipat along with how many of his men, as estimated in the account?
19. What is described as the real importance of the Battle of Panipat, rather than being politically decisive by itself?
20. In which year was the Battle of Khanwa fought?
21. Against whom did Babur fight at the Battle of Khanwa?
22. Consider the following statements regarding the Battle of Khanwa:
(I) Babur declared the war against Rana Sanga to be a jihad
(II) Babur emptied wine jars and banned the sale of wine to demonstrate his piety before the battle
(III) Babur assumed the title of ghazi after the victory
Which of the above is/are correct?
23. Who was the ruler of Mewat that joined Rana Sanga against Babur?
24. Which younger brother of Ibrahim Lodi rallied to Rana Sanga in the hope of regaining the throne of Delhi?
25. What happened to Rana Sanga after his defeat and escape from the Battle of Khanwa?
26. At which river crossing did Babur face the combined forces of the Afghans and Nusrat Shah of Bengal in 1529?
27. Who was the ruler of Bengal that backed the Afghan sardars against Babur, and had married a daughter of Ibrahim Lodi?
28. Babur died while on his way to which city?
29. Consider the following statements regarding the significance of Babur's advent into India:
(I) For the first time since the downfall of the Kushan empire, Kabul and Qandhar became integral parts of an empire comprising north India
(II) His control of Kabul and Qandhar strengthened India's foreign trade with China and the Mediterranean
(III) He smashed the power of the Lodis and the Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga
Which of the above is/are correct?
30. What effect did Babur's introduction of a skilled combination of artillery and cavalry have on Indian polity, according to the account?
31. What is the title of Babur's famous memoirs?
32. In which year did Humayun succeed Babur?
33. Which of Humayun's brothers was given charge of Kabul and Qandhar, and later also occupied Lahore and Multan?
34. Consider the following statements regarding Humayun's early campaigns:
(I) In 1532, Humayun defeated Afghan forces at Dadrah
(II) He then besieged the fort of Chunar, held by Sher Khan
(III) Sher Khan was allowed to retain Chunar after sending one of his sons to Humayun as a hostage
Which of the above is/are correct?
35. Chunar was described in the account as the gateway to which region?
36. In which year did Bahadur Shah ascend the throne of Gujarat?
37. What name did Humayun give to the new city he built at Delhi?
38. Consider the following statements regarding Humayun's Gujarat campaign:
(I) Bahadur Shah abandoned Chittor and fortified himself at Mandsor, then fled to Mandu after spiking his guns
(II) Humayun was the 41st man to scale the walls of the fort of Champaner
(III) Bahadur Shah eventually fled to Kathiawar
Which of the above is/are correct?
39. After the Gujarat victory, Humayun placed the province under the command of which brother?
40. How did Bahadur Shah of Gujarat eventually die?
41. What was Sher Khan's original name?
42. Consider the following statements regarding the rise of Sher Khan:
(I) He acquired administrative experience managing his father's jagir at Jaunpur
(II) He received the title "Sher Khan" for killing a tiger, or for services rendered
(III) He emerged as the master of Bihar in all but name even before the death of Babur
Which of the above is/are correct?
43. How many elephants did Sher Khan's army reportedly include when he defeated the king of Bengal and extracted an indemnity?
44. Which fort did Sher Khan capture by treachery, using it to keep his family in safety, before invading Bengal a second time?
45. In which battle did Humayun suffer a disastrous defeat to Sher Khan in March 1539?
46. In which battle of May 1540 did Sher Khan decisively defeat Humayun, ending Mughal rule in north India for the time being?
47. At whose court did Humayun ultimately take shelter, with whose help he recaptured Qandhar and Kabul in 1545?
48. In which year did Humayun recover Delhi following the breakup of the Sur empire?
49. How did Humayun die shortly after recovering Delhi?
50. Who was the powerful ruler of Marwar that Sher Shah confronted at the Battle of Samel?
51. In which year was the Battle of Samel fought, between Ajmer and Jodhpur?
52. Consider the following statements regarding the Battle of Samel:
(I) Sher Shah dropped letters near Maldeo's camp addressed to Rajput commanders to sow suspicion
(II) Some Rajput sardars, refusing to retreat, attacked Sher Shah's centre with a small force of about 10,000
(III) Superior numbers and Afghan gunfire eventually defeated the Rajput charge
Which of the above is/are correct?
53. Where did Maldeo take shelter and eventually die after his defeat at Samel?
54. Sher Shah died in 1545 during the siege of which fort, after a gun burst and severely injured him?
55. Which imperial road did Sher Shah restore, running from the Indus to Sonargaon in Bengal?
56. At what interval did Sher Shah build a sarai for the convenience of travellers on his roads?
57. At how many places in his entire empire did Sher Shah permit customs duty to be levied on goods?
58. What metals did Sher Shah's reformed coinage use in place of the earlier debased mixed-metal coins?
59. What fraction of the produce constituted the state's share of land revenue under Sher Shah's system?
60. What was the document called that recorded the area sown, crop type, and amount each peasant had to pay under Sher Shah?
61. Consider the following statements regarding Sher Shah's land revenue system:
(I) He insisted on measurement of the sown land rather than guesswork
(II) A crop rate called "ray" laid down the state's share of different crop types
(III) A cess of two and a half seers per bigha was levied to guard against famine
Which of the above is/are correct?
62. What was the name of Sher Shah's system of recording a soldier's descriptive roll and branding his horse with the imperial sign?
63. Where did Sher Shah build his own tomb during his lifetime, regarded as a masterpiece of architecture?
64. What is the surviving structure of the city Sher Shah built on the bank of the Yamuna near Delhi known as?
65. Who succeeded Sher Shah as ruler of the Sur empire and ruled till 1553?
66. Which famous Hindi work was completed during Sher Shah's reign under his patronage?
