UPSC STATIC QUIZ – Ancient & Medieval India : 4 January 2024

Solution: d)

The Tripartite Struggle for control of northern India took place in the ninth century. The struggle was between the Pratihara Empire, the Pala Empire and the Rashtrakuta Empire. Towards the end of the successor of Nagabhata II of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty, he successfully attacked Kanauj and established control there.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

According some scholars, his conversion to Buddhism was gradual and not immediate. About 261 B.C. Asoka became a Sakya Upasaka (lay dsicple) and two and a half years later, a Bikshu (monk). Then he gave up hunting, visited Bodh-Gaya, and organized missions. This shows that he gradually accepted Buddhism.

Maski is a town and an archaeological site in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka. The site came into prominence with the discovery of a minor rock edict of Emperor Ashoka by C. Beadon in 1915. It was the first edict of Emperor Ashoka that contained the name Ashoka in it instead of the earlier edicts that referred him as Devanampiye piyadasi.

Asoka’s inscriptions mention the southernmost kingdoms – Cholas, Pandyas, Satyaputras and Keralaputras – as border-states. Therefore, these states remained outside the Mauryan Empire.

Solution: c)

Mongols under Chengiz Khan (died in 1227) invaded India during the reign of Iltutmish (1211-36) but did not enter deep in India as Iltutmish refused to give shelter to the Persian king, Khwarizm Shah, whom Chengiz Khan was chasing.

Solution: c)

Who were the Mughals?

The Mughals were descendants of two great lineages of rulers. From their mother’s side they were descendants of Genghis Khan (died 1227), the Mongol ruler who ruled over parts of China and Central Asia. From their father’s side they were the successors of Timur (died 1404), the ruler of Iran, Iraq and modern-day Turkey.

However, the Mughals did not like to be called Mughal or Mongol. This was because Genghis Khan’s memory was associated with the massacre of innumerable people. It was also linked with the Uzbegs, their Mongol competitors. On the other hand, the Mughals were proud of their Timurid ancestry, not least of all because their great ancestor had captured Delhi in 1398.

They celebrated their genealogy pictorially, each ruler getting a picture made of Timur and himself.

Solution: d)

In the Mughal empire, zamindars had hereditary rights of collecting land revenues which could go up to 25 percent of the revenue. They generally made collection from the individual peasants at rates fixed by tradition or by themselves and paid a fixed tax to the state. The difference between their collections and the amount paid to the state was their personal income.

If the state demand reached the maximum that the peasant could pay, a deduction of 10 percent was made from the total amount of revenue and paid to the Zamindars as malikana.