1. Question: Who defeated the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat?

1) The British 2) The Afghans 3) The Mughals 4) The Rajputs

2. Question: Who completed the construction of Qutb Minar at Delhi?

1) Babur 2) Qutb-ud-din Aibak 3) Iltutmish 4) Humayun

3. Question: Who was the first Mughal emperor of India?

1) Ibrahim Lodhi 2) Sher Shah 3) Akbar 4) Babar

4. Question: Who built the Taj Mahal in India?

1) Akbar 2) Jahangir 3) Shah Jahan 4) Aurangzeb

5. Question: Who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913?

1) Debendranath Tagore 2) Rabindranath Tagore 3) Mohammad Iqbal 4) Mirza Galib

6. Question: Who was the first royal convert to Buddhism?

1) Chandragupta Maurya 2) Ashoka 3) Ajatashatru 4) Akbar

7. Question: During the reign of which emperor is the poet Kalidasa accepted to have lived?

1) Bimbisara 2) Akbar 3) Chandragupta Vikramaditya 4) Ashoka

8. Question: During the 1857 mutiny who was the queen of Jhansi's trusted general?

1) Hyder Ali 2) Tantia Tope 3) Bhagat Singh 4) Chandrasekhar Azad

9. Question: The daughter of what general of Alexander's army married Chandragupta Maurya?

1) Seleukos Nikator 2) Diomedes 3) Ptolemaius 4) Clitus

10. Question: What king was the first to use rockets in warfare?

1) Hyder Ali 2) Shah Jahan 3) Jehangir 4) Tipu Sultan

11. Question: The Brihadeeswara temple at Tanjore was built by an emperor of what dynasty?

1) Chola 2) Mughal 3) Chera 4) Pandya

12. Question: What ruler is referred to as the 'Mad Monarch'?

1) Mohammad bin Tughlaq 2) Ashoka 3) Akbar 4) Hyder Ali

13. Question: What theory of ancient Indian history has recently been disproved?

1) Gypsy migration theory 2) Aryan invasion theory 3) Theory of origin of Vedas 4) None of the above

14. Question: What age in Indian History is referred to as the 'Golden Age'?

1) Ancient 2) Maurya 3) Gupta 4) Mughal

15. Question: Everyone knows 'The Taj Mahal'. It was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan, but for whom?

1) Jahani Mahal 2) Farida Mahal 3) Mumtaz Mahal 4) Toba Begum

16. Question: Under which Indian emperor's reign was the Jama Masjid in Delhi built?

1) Jehangir 2) Shah Jahan 3) Akbar 4) Aurangzeb

17. Question: Which Muslim saint lived in the place where Fatehpur Sikri was built?

1) Ali Malik 2) Salim Chisti Sheikh 3) Jainulabdeen Shah Badar 4) Muhammed Bin Tughlaq

18. Question: Name the Rajput princess whom Akbar married.

1) Noor Jehan 2) Jodha Bai 3) Mumtaz Mahal 4) Jija Bai

19. Question: Late Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia was the Maharani of

1) Gwalior 2) Bhopal 3) Surat 4) Jaipur

20. Question: Which was the largest and richest among the princely states of pre-Independence period?

1) Mysore 2) Gwalior 3) Jaipur 4) Hyderabad

21. Question: 'Ramtanu' was the original name of

1) Birbal 2) Tansen 3) Kabir 4) Tulsidas

22. Question: Which Indian city was known in ancient times as 'Saket'?

1) Lucknow 2) Faizabad 3) Allahabad 4) Patna

23. Question: The first to start a joint stock company to trade with India were the

1) Portuguese 2) Dutch 3) French 4) Danes

24. Question: Who among the following is said to have witnessed the reigns of eight Delhi Sultans?

1) Ziauddin Barani 2) Shams-i-Siraj Afif 3) Minhaj-us-Siraj 4) Amir Khusro

25. Question: The capital of the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was

1) Amritsar 2) Patiala 3) Kaputhala 4) Lahore

26. Question: Which Mughal Emperor was deported to Rangoon by the British?

1) Bahadur Shah I 2) Bahadur Shah II 3) Akbar Shah I 4) Shah Jahan

27. Question: Which Indian city was gifted by the Portuguese as dowry to Charles II, the King of England, when he got married to the sister of the King of Portugal in 1662?

1) Mumbai 2) Pondicherry 3) Panaji 4) Chennai

28. Question: Which of the following musical instruments is of Indian origin?

1) Flute 2) Sitar 3) Violin 4) Tabla

29. Question: Ellora in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) is famous for ancient caves representing Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Of these, the largest number pertains to

1) Buddhism 2) Hinduism 3) Jainism 4) Zorastrianism

30. Question: Kautilya and Panani were the products of which one of the following ancient Indian universities?

1) Nalanda 2) Vikramashila 3) Vallabhi 4) Taxila

31. Question: 'Ramtanu' was the original name of

1) Birbal 2) Tansen 3) Kabir 4) Tulsidas

32. Question: The mausoleum of Babar is located in

1) Afghanistan 2) Pakistan 3) India 4) Iran

33. Question: Mughal painting reached its zenith under

1) Humayun 2) Akbar 3) Jahangir 4) Shah Jahan

34. Question: Which Mughal Emperor was deported to Rangoon by the British?

1) Bahadur Shah I 2) Bahadur Shah II 3) Akbar Shah I 4) Shah Jahan

List of Mughal Emperors

Emperor BirthReign Period

Death Notes

Zahiruddin Mohammed Babur

February 14, 1483

1526-1530

December 26, 1530

Founder of the Mughal Dynasty.

Nasiruddin Mohammed Humayun

March 6, 1508

1530-1540

January 1556

Reign interrupted by Suri Dynasty. Youth and inexperience at ascension led to his being regarded as a less effective ruler than usurper, Sher Shah Suri.

Sher Shah Suri 14721540-1545

May 1545Deposed Humayun and led the Suri Dynasty; introduced tight, effective administration policies that would later be adopted by Akbar.

Islam Shah Suri c.15001545-1554

15542nd and last ruler of the Suri Dynasty, with less control of the empire than his father; claims of sons Sikandar and Adil Shah were eliminated by Humayun's restoration.

Humayun (restored)

March 6, 1508

1555-1556

January 1556

Restored rule was more unified and effective than initial reign of 1530-1540; left unified empire for his son, Akbar.

Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar

November 14, 1542

1556-1605

October 27, 1605

Akbar added the most territory to the Empire and is regarded as the most illustrious ruler of the Mughal Dynasty; he married Jodhaa, a princess,

from Rajputana like him. Jodhaa was a Hindu and many opposed at first, but under him, harmonic Muslim/Hindu relations were at their highest.

Nuruddin Mohammed Jahangir

October 1569

1605-1627

1627

Jahangir set the precedent for sons rebelling against their Emperor fathers. Opened first relations with the British East India Company. Reportedly was an alcoholic and his wife Empress Nur Jahan became the real power behind the throne and competently ruled in his place.

Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan

January 5, 1592

1627-1658

1666Under him, Mughal art and architecture reached their zenith; constructed the Taj Mahal, Jahangir mausoleum and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. Deposed and imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb.

Moinuddin Mohammed Aurangzeb Alamgir

October 21, 1618

1658-1707

March 3, 1707

Much less extravagant or tolerant of Hindus and Hinduism than his predecessors; brought the empire to its greatest physical extent and imposed Islamic Sharia on the Mughal Empire. Extreme policies left many enemies to undermine the empire after his death.

Bahadur Shah Ia.k.a Shah Alaam I

October 14, 1643

1707-1712

February 1712

First of the Mughal emperors to preside over a steady and severe decline in the empire's control and power. After his reign, the emperor became a progressively insignificant figurehead.

Jahandar Shah 16641712-1713

February 1713

He was merely a puppet in the hands of his Chief Minister Zulfikar Khan. The acts of Jahandar Shah brought down the prestige of the Mughal Empire.

Furrukhsiyar 16831713-1719

1719In 1717 he granted a firman to the English East India Company granting them duty free trading rights for Bengal, and confirmed their position in India.

Rafi Ul-Darjat Unknown 1719 1719  

Rafi Ud-Daulata.k.a Shah Jahan II

Unknown 1719 1719  

Nikusiyar Unknown 1719 1743  

Mohammed Ibrahim

Unknown 1720 1744  

Mohammed Shah 1702

1719-1720, 1720-1748

1748 Suffered the invasion of Nadir-Shah of Persia in 1739.

Ahmad Shah Bahadur

1725 1748-54 1754  

Alamgir II 1699 1754- 1759  

1759

Shah Jahan III UnknownBriefly in 1759

1770s  

Shah Alaam II 17281759-1806

1806Suffered the invasion of Ahmed-Shah-Abdali in 1761; granted the 'Nizami' of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the BEIC in 1765, formally accepted the protection of the BEIC in 1803.

Akbar Shah II 17601806-1837

1837 titular figurehead under British protection

Bahadur Shah II 17751837-1857

1862 Deposed by the British and exiled to Burma following the Great Mutiny.