Medieval Administration and Economy Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The Assertion is true and the Reason is false. Firuz Shah Tughluq's reign was undistinguished in military terms, since his campaigns against Bengal were failures and he gave up conquest. But the Reason is false: he did subdue Nagarkot, besieging it for months in 1361 until its ruler submitted, and he restored the ruler as a tributary. Options A and B accept the Reason, and option D denies the Assertion. The answer is option C.

Answer: D

In the Mughal system of administration the Mir Bakshi was the Paymaster General. He headed the military department, kept the muster rolls of the mansabdars and soldiers, and arranged payment of the army, and he recommended mansabdars to the emperor. The commander-in-chief role is not his title, the mint was under another officer, and the Treasury was the charge of the Diwan. The answer is Paymaster General.

Answer: B

The true statement is that Madad-i-Maash grants were made hereditary by Aurangzeb. Under Akbar and Jahangir such grants lapsed at death, but Aurangzeb allowed them to be held in a family. Indigo was grown in Bayana and Sarkhej, among other places, and not only in Delhi and Agra, Altamgha grants were hereditary and not transferable, and Kashmir was assessed by crop sharing and not by the zabti system. The answer is that Madad-i-Maash grants were made hereditary by Aurangzeb.

Answer: A

The month proportion system of revenue was introduced under Shah Jahan, the Nizamshahi of Ahmadnagar was extinguished in 1636, the Mughals made a treaty with Bijapur and Golkunda in 1636, and the Mughal occupation of Balkh came in 1646. So the order is (ii), (iii), (iv), (i), option A. Options B, C and D put Balkh or the 1636 treaty before the month proportion system. The answer is option A.

Answer: B

Shaista Khan captured Chittagong in 1666, Prince Akbar fled to the Deccan in 1681, Aurangzeb conquered Golkunda in 1687, and Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699. So the order is (iii), (i), (ii), (iv), option B. Options A and D start with Akbar's flight, which is after Chittagong, and option C starts with the Golkunda conquest. The answer is option B. The dates make the sequence clear because the Golkunda conquest followed Prince Akbar's rebellion by a few years, and the Khalsa came in the last years of the century.

Answer: B

Both statements are true, but the Reason is not the correct explanation, so option B is keyed. The number of Rajput mansabdars in the nobility declined in the later part of Aurangzeb's reign, and he did assign many jagirs to Deccani nobles. But the Reason does not explain the Assertion: jagirs given to Deccani nobles say nothing of why Rajput numbers fell, so the key treats the two as separate facts. Option A would make the Reason the cause, and C and D deny a true statement. The answer is option B.

Answer: C

The Mughal emperors of the eighteenth century in order were Jahandar Shah (1712), Muhammad Shah (1719 to 1748), Ahmad Shah (1748 to 1754) and Alamgir II (1754 to 1759). So the order is (iii), (iv), (ii), (i), option C. Options A and B start with Ahmad Shah or Alamgir II, who came later, and option D reverses the last two. The answer is option C. Muhammad Shah is the one who reigned during the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, which fixes his place after Jahandar Shah.

Answer: C

The Mongol leader keyed here is Targi (Targhi). He led the Mongol invasion of 1303 while Alauddin's army was engaged at Chittor, kept the Delhi region under siege for about two months and forced Alauddin to take shelter in the fortified camp at Siri before the Mongols withdrew. The official key treats that as a defeat of Alauddin. Qutlugh Khwaja led the invasion of 1299, and Qadar and Iqbalmand were other Mongol commanders of the period, but Alauddin's forces are generally credited with checking them. The answer is Targi.

Answer: C

Diwan-i-Khalsa was the revenue department that looked after the khalisa lands, that is, the land under the direct control of the State, whose revenue went straight to the imperial treasury. Land under continuous cultivation and fallow land are classes of land use rather than the field of this department. Revenue-free land granted as rewards was held under grants such as madad-i-maash and was outside the khalisa. The answer is the land under the direct control of the State, option C.

Answer: C

A hundi is a bill of exchange, a dastak is a permit issued to European traders for tax exemption, a sanad is a Mughal imperial order and a dadani is an advance paid to primary producers. That gives (ii) (iv) (i) (iii), which is code C. Code A pairs dastak with the advance, and codes B and D pair hundi with the advance, so each puts at least one term against the wrong meaning.