Medieval Administration and Economy Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The answer is Razia Sultana.

Razia, the daughter of Iltutmish, ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1236 to 1240. She is regarded as the first woman ruler of India, and she was the only woman ever to sit on the throne of Delhi.

Ahilyabai Holkar ruled Malwa in the eighteenth century and Rani Lakshmibai was the queen regent of Jhansi in the nineteenth, both centuries after Razia. Indira Gandhi was India's first woman Prime Minister, an elected head of government rather than a ruler.

Answer: D

The key gives Muhammad Tughlaq as the ruler who separated the offices of the Wali and the Amir, a measure in line with his many administrative experiments in provincial government, including dual governorships. This is option D.

Balban, Alauddin Khalji and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq are known for other reforms: Balban for his spy system and his court discipline, Alauddin for market control and the standing army, and Ghiyasuddin for revenue and postal arrangements.

Answer: B

The remark about wheat and barley in Delhi and corals and pearls in Gujarat is attributed in the Mirat-i-Sikandari to Sikandar Lodi, option B. It is quoted as his comparison of the two kingdoms and refers to Gujarat's wealth from its many ports and its sea trade.

Khizr Khan, Babur and Humayun are not the Delhi ruler to whom the chronicler gives the saying, and Humayun's contact with Gujarat was a military campaign against Bahadur Shah, not a remark on its ports.

Answer: C

The correct matching is Mahmudi with the Gujarat Sultanate, Rupaiah with the Sur kingdom, Pagoda with Vijayanagar and Tanka with the Delhi Sultanate: a-iv, b-i, c-iii, d-ii, option C. The Mahmudi was a silver coin of the Gujarat sultans, Sher Shah's silver rupaiya was the model for the later rupee, the pagoda was Vijayanagara's gold coin, and the tanka was the silver coin of the Delhi sultans.

Options A, B and D give the Mahmudi to the Sur or Delhi rulers, or the Pagoda to Delhi, which does not match.

Answer: D

The statement that is not true is that Zainul-Abidin abolished the post of Shaikh ul-Islam, option D. The key treats the post as continuing in his reign, even though he is remembered as a tolerant ruler who limited the Saiyids' power.

Statement A is true because the sultan kept the Saiyids from taking dictatorial power. Statement B and statement C are accepted as true: he took the title Amir ul-Muminin and encouraged agriculture, including canals and the spread of farming in the valley.

Answer: B

The idea of 'protopatrimonialism' for Vijayanagara is associated with Burton Stein, who also described the 'segmentary state', option B. He held that the Vijayanagara state was a loosely knit structure in which the king's authority was shared with local chiefs.

N. Karashima wrote on south Indian social and economic history through inscriptions, K.A. Nilakanta Sastri stressed the king's central authority, and B.A. Saletore wrote on social and political life in Vijayanagara, so none of them put forward this view.

Answer: C

All four statements are correct, option C according to the key. Akbar abolished the jaziya in 1564, it is described as being re-imposed in 1575 and again abolished in 1579-80, and Aurangzeb re-imposed the tax in 1679, the best known of these steps.

Options A, B and D leave out one or more of the statements and so are incomplete.

Answer: C

The key gives the order (ii), (iii), (i), (iv): the Dagh (branding) system, the creation of the twelve Subahs in 1580, the conquest of Orissa in 1592, and the dual rank of Zat and Sawar in 1595. This is option C.

Options A and D put the Subahs or the Orissa conquest first, ahead of the Dagh system, and B puts the dual rank before the Dagh, none of which suits the dates.

Answer: C

The Mughals invaded the Ahom and the Koch kingdoms, so (iii) and (iv), option C. Koch Bihar was subdued under Jahangir, and Mir Jumla's invasion of the Ahom kingdom came under Aurangzeb, followed by the Ahoms' recovery at Saraighat.

The Dimasa and Meitei are not counted as targets of Mughal invasion by the key, so A, B and D are wrong.

Answer: B

Both statements are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A), as keyed. Balban's theory of kingship was a strong, harsh one, summed up in the phrase blood and iron, with the king's power derived from divine will and enforced by the army and spies. The prestige of the crown had fallen under Iltutmish's weak successors, which is why Balban set out to restore it by stern rule.

The options calling (A) wrong or (R) wrong, or denying the link between them, do not follow the key.