The Mughal Empire: Battles, Builders & Rulers: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. In the First Battle of Panipat (1526), Babur defeated which ruler?
- A. Rana Sanga
- B. Hemu
- C. Ibrahim Lodi
- D. Sher Shah Suri
Answer: Ibrahim Lodi
Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last Lodi Sultan of Delhi, using field artillery and the 'tulughma' flanking tactic, laying the foundation of the Mughal Empire. Babur wrote his memoirs, the Baburnama, in Chagatai Turkic.
2. In the Battle of Khanwa (1527), Babur defeated which ruler?
- A. Rana Sanga
- B. Ibrahim Lodi
- C. Maharana Pratap
- D. Hemu
Answer: Rana Sanga
At Khanwa, near Fatehpur Sikri, Babur defeated a Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga of Mewar, securing Mughal control over north India. Two years later, in 1529, Babur defeated the Afghans at the Battle of Ghaghra.
3. Which ruler defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540) and founded the Sur dynasty?
- A. Islam Shah Suri
- B. Sher Shah Suri
- C. Bahlul Lodi
- D. Hemu
Answer: Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri drove Humayun out of India and, in a short reign, introduced a silver coin called the 'rupiya' and improved the great highway linking Sonargaon in Bengal with the north-west, today's Grand Trunk Road. Humayun regained his throne only in 1555, a decade after Sher Shah's death.
4. In the Second Battle of Panipat (1556), the Mughal army of the young Akbar defeated whom?
- A. Ibrahim Lodi
- B. Rana Sanga
- C. Sher Shah Suri
- D. Hemu
Answer: Hemu
Hemu, the general and minister of the Sur ruler Adil Shah, had captured Delhi, but was defeated at Panipat by the Mughal forces commanded by Bairam Khan, Akbar's regent. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali.
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5. The mansabdari system, which graded Mughal officials by rank and the cavalry they maintained, was introduced by which emperor?
- A. Akbar
- B. Babur
- C. Jahangir
- D. Aurangzeb
Answer: Akbar
Under Akbar, every official held a 'mansab' (rank) expressed in two numbers, 'zat' (personal rank) and 'sawar' (cavalry to be maintained). Akbar's finance minister Raja Todar Mal devised the 'zabti' or 'dahsala' system of land revenue based on measured land and average produce.
6. Akbar built the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri to commemorate his conquest of which region?
- A. Bengal
- B. Mewar
- C. Gujarat
- D. Kashmir
Answer: Gujarat
The Buland Darwaza, the towering gateway of the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, was built to mark Akbar's conquest of Gujarat in 1573. Fatehpur Sikri, briefly Akbar's capital, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.
7. Who is generally regarded as the chief architect of the Taj Mahal?
- A. Mirak Mirza Ghiyas
- B. Ustad Ahmad Lahori
- C. Abul Fazl
- D. Raja Todar Mal
Answer: Ustad Ahmad Lahori
Ustad Ahmad Lahori is generally credited as the chief architect of the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan in memory of Mumtaz Mahal. Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, is often described as an architectural forerunner of the Taj.
8. Which invader carried away Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne from Delhi in 1739?
- A. Ahmad Shah Abdali
- B. Timur
- C. Babur
- D. Nadir Shah
Answer: Nadir Shah
Nadir Shah of Persia defeated the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah at Karnal and sacked Delhi in 1739, taking away the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The Peacock Throne had been commissioned by Shah Jahan for his court.
9. Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of England's King James I, stayed at the court of which Mughal emperor?
- A. Akbar
- B. Shah Jahan
- C. Jahangir
- D. Aurangzeb
Answer: Jahangir
Thomas Roe was at Jahangir's court from 1615 to 1619 and helped the English East India Company gain trading rights, including at Surat. Before him, Captain William Hawkins had also visited Jahangir's court in 1609.
10. After the revolt of 1857, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II 'Zafar', was exiled by the British to which city?
- A. Rangoon
- B. Mandalay
- C. Port Blair
- D. Colombo
Answer: Rangoon
Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried by the British and exiled to Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar), where he died in 1862 and is buried. He was also a noted Urdu poet who wrote under the pen name 'Zafar'.