Delhi Sultanate: previous-year questions

Answer: (C) Fatehpur

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-88), the great builder among the Delhi Sultans, founded Firozabad (Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi), Fatehabad, Hissar (Hisar-i-Firoza), Jaunpur (named after his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq, whose earlier name was Jauna Khan) and Firozpur. Fatehpur is not among his foundations; the best-known Fatehpur, Fatehpur Sikri, was built by Akbar from 1571. Other Firoz facts for the exam: canals from the Yamuna and Sutlej, an irrigation tax (haqq-i-sharb), Diwan-i-Khairat (charity) and Diwan-i-Bandagan (department of slaves), jizya extended to Brahmins, two Ashokan pillars brought to Delhi from Topra and Meerut, and his autobiography Futuhat-i-Firozshahi.

Answer: (B) Alauddin

Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316) was the first Sultan of Delhi to keep a large permanent standing army paid in cash from the royal treasury instead of by iqta (land assignments); a trooper with one horse received 234 tankas a year. To make this pay sufficient he fixed prices through his market regulations, and to prevent fraud he introduced dagh (branding of horses) and chehra (descriptive rolls of soldiers). The others are known for different things: Iltutmish organised the iqta system and issued the silver tanka and copper jital; Balban created the Diwan-i-Arz (military department) and followed a policy of 'blood and iron'; Muhammad bin Tughlaq tried token currency and shifted the capital to Daulatabad.

Answer: (C) Muhammad-bin-Qasim

In 712 CE the Umayyad general Muhammad bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir of Sind and conquered Sind and Multan. Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori raided India centuries later, and Tajuddin Yildiz was Ghori's slave-commander.

Answer: (D) Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khalji was the first Delhi Sultan to send armies deep into South India, through his general Malik Kafur, against Devagiri, Warangal, the Hoysalas and Madurai. Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban were occupied with consolidating the north.

Answer: (B) Ibrahim Lodi

Ibrahim Lodi was the last Sultan of Delhi; his defeat by Babur at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 ended the Sultanate. Daulat Khan Lodi was governor of Punjab and Alam Khan Lodi was Ibrahim's uncle and rival; both invited Babur.

Answer: (B) Qutub-Uddin Aibak

Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Muhammad Ghori's slave-general, took charge of his Indian conquests after Ghori's death in 1206 and founded the Delhi Sultanate. Bakhtiyar Khalji conquered Bihar and Bengal under Aibak, while Yildiz and Qabacha ruled Ghazni and Multan.

Answer: (A) Prithviraj Chauhan

In the First Battle of Tarain (1191) Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori. Ghori won the second battle at the same place in 1192, which makes (B) the tempting wrong option; Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmud of Ghazni belong to earlier centuries.

Answer: (A) Al Beruni

Al-Biruni, who came to India with Mahmud of Ghazni, wrote Tahqiq-i-Hind (Kitab-ul-Hind) describing Indian society, religion and science. Al-Masudi was a 10th-century Arab traveller, Hasan Nizami wrote Taj-ul-Maasir, and Khafi Khan was an 18th-century Mughal historian.

Answer: (A) Amir Khusrau

Amir Khusrau wrote Khazain-ul-Futuh, an account of Alauddin Khalji's conquests. Hasan Nizami wrote Taj-ul-Maasir, Khafi Khan wrote Muntakhab-ul-Lubab, and Badauni wrote Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh.

Answer: (C) Ibrahim Lodi

Ibrahim Lodi (1517–26) was the last Sultan of Delhi; he was defeated and killed by Babur at the First Battle of Panipat on 21 April 1526. The Sultanate's five dynasties in order are: Mamluk or Slave (1206–90), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–51) and Lodi (1451–1526), the Lodis being the only Afghan dynasty. Bahlul Lodi founded the Lodi dynasty; Sikandar Lodi founded Agra (1504) and introduced the Gaz-i-Sikandari measure; Firuz Tughlaq (1351–88) is remembered for canals, new towns and making the jizya a separate tax.

Answer: (D) Amir Khusru

Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), disciple of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, called himself "Tuti-i-Hind", the Parrot of India. He served at the courts of several Delhi Sultans from Balban to Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, is credited with developing qawwali and associated with the sitar and tabla, and wrote Khazain-ul-Futuh, Tughlaq Nama, Nuh Sipihr and Ashiqa in Persian and Hindavi. Jimutavahana wrote the Dayabhaga (the Bengal school of Hindu inheritance law); Al-Biruni came with Mahmud of Ghazni and wrote Kitab-ul-Hind; and Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, came in Muhammad bin Tughlaq's reign and wrote the Rihla.

Answer: (A) Alauddin Khalji

Alauddin Khalji led the first Muslim expedition into the Deccan when, as governor of Kara, he raided Devagiri (Yadava king Ramachandra) in 1296. As Sultan (1296–1316) he sent Malik Kafur on campaigns between 1307 and 1311 against Devagiri, Warangal (Kakatiyas), Dwarasamudra (Hoysalas) and Madurai (Pandyas). His aim was tribute and wealth rather than annexation. Muhammad bin Tughlaq later annexed the Deccan and shifted his capital to Daulatabad (1327). Balban was occupied with the Mongol frontier, and Firuz Tughlaq undertook no Deccan campaign.

Answer: (B) Balban

Balban (1266–87) was the first Sultan to adopt a systematic north-west frontier policy against the Mongols. He built and garrisoned a line of forts (Bhatinda, Sunam, Samana, Dipalpur), placed the frontier under able commanders such as Sher Khan and later his son Prince Muhammad (killed fighting the Mongols in 1285), and kept a strong army at Delhi instead of pursuing new conquests. He is also known for the policy of "blood and iron", breaking the Chahalgani (the Forty) and introducing sijda and paibos. Iltutmish had merely avoided Chengiz Khan by diplomacy; Alauddin Khalji repelled later Mongol raids.

Answer: (A) Babur and Ibrahim Lodi

The First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526) was fought between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi; Babur's artillery and the tulughma flanking tactic won the day, ending the Delhi Sultanate and founding Mughal rule. Babur then defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar at Khanwa (1527), Medini Rai at Chanderi (1528) and the Afghans at Ghaghra (1529). Sher Khan (Sher Shah) fought Humayun, not Babur, at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540). Akbar and Hemu fought the Second Battle of Panipat (1556), and the Third (1761) was between Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas.

Answer: (C) Sikandar Shah

The Adina Mosque at Pandua (Malda district) was built by Sultan Sikandar Shah (1358–90) of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty, in the years around 1370, and was then the largest mosque in the subcontinent. Pandua was the capital of the Bengal Sultanate before Gaur. Alauddin Husain Shah (1493–1519) is known for his patronage of Bengali literature and for monuments at Gaur such as the Chhota Sona Masjid of his reign; Firuz Shah Tughlaq twice invaded Bengal but failed to subdue it, the second time against Sikandar Shah himself; and Zain-ul-Abidin was the tolerant "Budshah" of Kashmir.

Answer: (C) Ghiyassudin Balban

Balban, who stressed the king's divine status as Zil-i-Ilahi (shadow of God), introduced the Persian court customs of sijda (prostration) and paibos (kissing the monarch's feet). He also started the Persian festival of Nauroz at court. Qutbuddin Aibak, founder of the Slave dynasty, was known as Lakh Baksh for his generosity and began the Qutb Minar. Alauddin Khalji is known for his market control reforms, and Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.

Answer: (C) 1206 AD

The Delhi Sultanate began in 1206 when Qutbuddin Aibak became independent ruler after the death of Muhammad Ghori, founding the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty. Aibak ruled from Lahore and died in 1210 after a fall while playing chaugan (polo). His successor Iltutmish made Delhi the capital. The other years do not mark the founding.

Answer: (A) Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khalji built the Alai Darwaza in 1311 as the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque complex at the Qutb, and it is noted for the first true dome in India (the first true arch is in Balban's tomb). Muhammad bin Tughlaq is remembered for his token currency and the shift of capital to Daulatabad. Sikandar Lodi founded the city of Agra in 1504 and introduced the measuring rod Gaz-i-Sikandari. Ibrahim Lodi lost to Babur at Panipat in 1526.

Answer: (C) Muhammad Bin Tughlaq

Muhammad bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri, renamed Daulatabad, in 1327, and later had to move back. Alauddin Khalji had earlier conquered Devagiri and built the Siri fort in Delhi. Bakhtiyar Khalji was a general who conquered Bihar and western Bengal, taking Nadia from Lakshmana Sena. Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri as his capital.

Answer: (A) Alauddin Khilji

Alauddin Khalji fixed the prices of grain, cloth, horses and other goods in Delhi to maintain a large army cheaply, enforcing them through officers such as the Shahna-i-Mandi. Balban is known for his 'blood and iron' policy and the customs of sijda and paibos. Babur founded the Mughal empire in 1526. Sikandar Lodi founded Agra and introduced the Gaz-i-Sikandari measure.