Medieval Administration and Economy Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Potato and maize were not cultivated in India during the Sultanate period, so the codes are 1 and 4, option (C). Both are crops of the Americas that came to the Old World after the voyages of Columbus, and they reached India with the Portuguese and other Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Barley and sesame were grown in India from ancient times and in the Sultanate period. So (A) and (B), which include barley, and (D), which includes sesame, are wrong.

Answer: B

The correct matching is Jalaluddin Khalji with the execution of Sidi Maula (iii), Alauddin Khalji with the conquest of Malwa and Gujarat (iv), Ghiyasuddin Tughluq with the conquest of Bengal (i), and Firuz Shah Tughluq with the Department of Public Works (ii), which is code (B). Sidi Maula, a dervish, was executed in the reign of Jalaluddin. Alauddin's armies conquered Gujarat and Malwa, Ghiyasuddin's campaign brought Bengal under Delhi, and Firuz set up a public works department. Codes (A), (C) and (D) misplace the first three.

Answer: B

The Sayyid sequence after Khizr Khan is Mubarak Shah (1421 to 1434), Muhammad Shah (1434 to 1443) and Alauddin Alam Shah (1443 to 1451), which is (i), (iii), (ii), option (B). Alam Shah, the last Sayyid, gave up the throne to Bahlul Lodi. Option (A) puts Alam Shah before Muhammad Shah, (C) reverses the order of the three, and (D) puts Mubarak Shah last, so all three are wrong.

Answer: A

Noboru Karashima is the historian who described the political economy of sixteenth century Vijayanagara as feudal, option (A). From a study of thousands of inscriptions he argued that the Nayakas, the military chiefs of the empire, grew into feudal lords holding land by service. He criticised Burton Stein, whose theory in option (B) is that of a segmentary state, with ritual sovereignty and no strong central control, which is different. K.V. Ramesh and N. Venkataramanayya wrote on Vijayanagara inscriptions and history but are not known for this view, so (C) and (D) are wrong.

Answer: C

The official key is (C): the assertion is true and the reason is false. Humayun, like his father Babur and like the Surs who ruled for a time, did not recognise a power politically above him, and he was willing to press his claim to rule independently. The reason is the problem: the sources do not show Humayun taking the title of Khalifa, since the Mughal ruler styled himself Padshah and claimed legitimacy from descent from Timur and Chingiz. So (A) and (B), which accept the reason, are wrong, and (D) denies the assertion.

Answer: D

The assertion is false and the reason is true, option (D). During the seventeenth century the arrival of the European companies increased India's exports, since the Dutch, English and French bought large quantities of textiles, indigo, saltpetre and spices for sale abroad, so it is wrong that the trade was adversely affected. The reason, that large quantities of silver came to India, is true, because the companies paid for exports mostly with silver. Options (A), (B) and (C) accept the assertion and so are wrong.

Answer: A

The Nazim was not associated with the administration of cities, option (A). The Nazim, or governor, in Mughal usage was concerned with a province or a suba, though the word was used for officials of more than one rank. In the cities the Kotwal looked after law, order and the police, the Qazi dealt with justice according to law, and the Mir-i-Adl was the official who dealt with justice at the court. Hence (B), (C) and (D) were associated with the city administration in the key and (A) is the exception.

Answer: C

The historian who spoke of the tripartite relationship between zamindars, jagirdars and peasants as the reason for the crisis and decline of the Mughal Empire is Satish Chandra, option (C), in his study of the Mughal court politics and the jagirdari crisis. Stephan P. Blake wrote on the patrimonial-bureaucratic state of the Mughal empire, M. Athar Ali on the Mughal nobility, and C.A. Bayly on the eighteenth century and the rise of regional economies. The key gives Satish Chandra, so (A), (B) and (D) are wrong.

Answer: D

The statements that are not correct are (iii) and (iv), option (D). Shivaji could not withstand the Mughal attack under Jai Singh: by the Treaty of Purandar in 1665 he gave up twenty-three forts. Bijapur and Golconda were annexed by Aurangzeb in 1686 and 1687, years after Shivaji's death in 1680, so they were not annexed to weaken him. Statement (i), that he could check the Deccan powers from entering his swaraj, and (ii), that he plundered Surat in 1664, are correct. So (A), (B) and (C) include a correct statement.

Answer: C

The pair that is not correctly matched is Jama-i-Kamil, option (C). The ahdi was a gentleman trooper, an imperial cavalryman under the emperor's direct command, the ashraf were persons of noble birth, and the siwanah nigar was a news reporter of the Mughal government, so (A), (B) and (D) are correct. In Mughal revenue terms jama is the amount assessed, so the pairing of Jama-i-Kamil with an assessment at the normal rate is the one the key treats as wrong.