Indian History Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The region that stayed free of Mughal rule under Akbar was Mewar.

Although Akbar took Chittorgarh in 1568, Maharana Pratap refused to submit, fought at Haldighati in 1576 and recovered most of Mewar before his death in 1597. Mewar accepted Mughal overlordship only in 1615, under Jahangir.

Dhundhar (Amber) allied with Akbar in 1562 and Hadoti (Bundi) submitted in 1569. Bijapur was a Deccan sultanate, not a region of Rajputana.

Answer: C

The statement that is not correct is In battle of Tunga, Maratha had the upper hand.

The battle of Tunga (1787), near Jaipur, was fought between the Rajput forces of Jaipur and Jodhpur under Sawai Pratap Singh and Vijay Singh and the Maratha army of Mahadji Scindia. The Rajputs had the better of it and Scindia had to withdraw, so the Marathas did not have the upper hand.

The battle of Patan (1790) was again between the Rajputs and the Marathas, and this time Mahadji Scindia's army, led by the French commander de Boigne, won decisively. So statements A, B and D are correct.

Answer: D

The ancient name of Jaisalmer is Mand.

The Jaisalmer region was known in ancient times as Mand (Maad). Its folk music gives its name to the Maand style of singing, best known through the song 'Kesariya Balam'.

Vagad is the old name of the Banswara and Dungarpur region, Hadoti is the Kota-Bundi region of the Hada Chauhans, and Shekhawati is the region of Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu.

Answer: B

The tools were discovered by Seton Karr.

H. W. Seton-Karr found Palaeolithic stone tools in the Jhalawar region in the early twentieth century, one of the first discoveries of Stone Age tools in Rajasthan.

V. N. Misra worked later, from the 1950s, on prehistoric sites along the Berach and Gambhiri rivers and at Bagor, and C. A. Hackett is linked with early finds in the Jaipur and Indragarh area. Neither made the Jhalawar discovery.

Answer: C

The civilisation is Kalibangan.

At Kalibangan, a Harappan site on the dry bed of the Ghaggar in Hanumangarh district, houses were built mainly of sun-dried mud bricks, with fired bricks used for drains, wells and bathing platforms. The site also shows the earliest ploughed field found in the subcontinent.

Ahar and Gilund belong to the Ahar-Banas chalcolithic culture of south-eastern Rajasthan, where houses were built of stone and mud with mud-plastered walls. Ganeshwar is a copper-age site in Sikar known for its copper objects.

Answer: A

The court poet was Chandra Bardai.

Chand Bardai was the court poet and friend of Prithviraj III (Prithviraj Chauhan) of Ajmer and Delhi. He is credited with Prithviraj Raso, the epic poem on the king's life, one of the earliest works of Hindi literature.

Banabhatta was the court poet of Harshavardhana in the seventh century, Harihara was a Kannada poet, and Ramanuja was a Vaishnava philosopher. None was linked to Prithviraj's court.

Answer: D

The gallery was set up by Maharana Jagat Singh.

Maharana Jagat Singh I of Mewar (r. 1628-1652) established a painting workshop in the Udaipur palace known as 'Chitron ki Ovari' or 'Tasviran ro Karkhano', where court artists produced illustrated manuscripts. His reign is counted as a golden period of Mewar painting.

Amar Singh and Uday Singh are earlier Maharanas of Mewar, and Jai Singh is a later one; the workshop is credited to Jagat Singh's reign.

Answer: B

The Vishnoi (Bishnoi) sect was founded by Jambhoji.

Guru Jambheshwar (Jambhoji) founded the Bishnoi sect in 1485 at Samrathal Dhora, near Bikaner. Its 29 principles (bis plus nau, from which the name comes) include protecting trees and animals, which is why the Bishnois are known for conservation.

Dhanna and Pipa were Bhakti saints of Rajasthan who followed Ramananda, and Harbhuji was a folk deity of Marwar. None founded the Bishnoi sect.

Answer: D

The battle of Khanwa was fought between Babur and Rana Sanga.

At Khanwa, near Fatehpur Sikri, on 17 March 1527, Babur defeated the confederacy of Rajput chiefs led by Rana Sanga (Sangram Singh) of Mewar. The victory secured the new Mughal power in north India, a year after Panipat. Babur used field artillery and the Turkish tactic of tulughma against the Rajput cavalry.

Ibrahim Lodi was defeated at the first battle of Panipat in 1526. Medini Rai, one of Sanga's allies, was defeated by Babur afterwards at Chanderi in 1528. Jai Singh is not linked with Khanwa.

Answer: B

The last ruler of the Rawal branch was Ratan Singh.

The Guhil rulers of Mewar at Chittor were styled Rawal until the early 14th century. Rawal Ratan Singh was defending Chittor when Alauddin Khalji besieged and took it in 1303, and the Rawal line ended with him. Mewar was later recovered by Hammir of the Sisodia branch, whose rulers were styled Rana.

Jaitra Singh was an earlier Rawal of the 13th century, before Ratan Singh. Amar Singh belongs to the later Sisodia Ranas (Amar Singh I was Maharana Pratap's son). Neither ended the Rawal branch.