UPSC Static Quiz – History : 5 June 2026

Solution: B

• Mahmud of Ghazni is well known for issuing silver coins (dirhams) that carried bilingual legends, with Sanskrit on one side and Arabic on the other. This numismatic practice reflects the transitional political and cultural phase of early medieval India, when Islamic rulers governed regions with a deeply entrenched Indic socio-religious milieu.
• Mahmud’s Indian campaigns brought large parts of north-western India under Ghaznavid control. To ensure smooth fiscal administration and local acceptability, he continued familiar monetary conventions while asserting Islamic sovereignty.
• As a result, some of his silver coins bore Sanskrit legends, often invoking titles like Avyaktameka (a term associated with monotheistic interpretation within Indian philosophical traditions), alongside Arabic inscriptions proclaiming Islamic faith or the Caliph’s name.
• This was not religious syncretism but a pragmatic strategy to legitimise authority among local populations accustomed to Sanskrit epigraphy.

Solution: C

• Aryabhatiya → 1. Translated to Arabic as Sindhind
  The Aryabhatiya was among the earliest Indian astronomical works transmitted to the Islamic world. Its astronomical tables and methods reached West Asia through translations broadly referred to as Sindhind (from Siddhānta), profoundly shaping early Abbasid astronomy and calendrical computations.
• Khandakhadyaka → 2. Translated to Arabic as Arkand
  Brahmagupta’s Khandakhadyaka (a concise astronomical handbook) was rendered into Arabic as Arkand. It influenced Islamic zīj traditions, especially in planetary calculations and eclipse theory.
• Panchatantra → 3. Translated to Arabic as Kalila wa Dimna
  The Panchatantra entered the Arabic literary canon as Kalila wa Dimna, becoming a cornerstone of ethical and political didactic literature across the Islamic world and later Europe.

Solution: A

• Assertion (A) is True: After conquering Sindh in 712 AD, the Arab forces failed to expand into the Indian heartland (Gangetic plains, Malwa) for nearly three centuries. Islamic rule remained confined to Sindh and Multan.
• Reason (R) is True: The primary reason for this containment was the military resistance offered by the Rajput clans, specifically the Gurjara-Pratiharas (under Nagabhata I) and the Chalukyas (Battle of Rajasthan, 738 AD). They effectively defeated the Arab armies and prevented them from crossing into Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The resistance by the Pratiharas (R) is the direct cause of the Arab failure to expand (A).

Solution: B

• Option (b) is Correct:The Patta (Title Deed) was issued by the government to the cultivator. It contained details of the land holding and the tax payable.
• Option (a) refers to ‘Qabuliyat’:The Qabuliyat (Acceptance) was the counterpart document signed by the peasant agreeing to the terms of the Patta.
• Option (c) refers to ‘Jaribana’.
• Option (d) refers to ‘Bahi’ or general records.
• The Patta-Qabuliyat system was a key mechanism to formalize the rights and liabilities of the peasantry, protecting them from arbitrary extortion.

Solution: D

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The tomb of Sher Shah Suri at Tomb of Sher Shah Suri is an outstanding example of Indo-Islamic funerary architecture, noted for its massive scale, use of red sandstone, and harmonious proportions. However, it is not the first example of a double-dome structure in India. Experiments with double domes had already begun under the Delhi Sultanate, especially during the Lodi period. Sher Shah’s tomb represents a refinement and confident use of existing architectural ideas rather than a chronological “first.”
• Statement 2 is incorrect. Rohtas Fort was not intended to function as a capital city. It was built primarily as a strategic military fort to control the Grand Trunk route, suppress the Gakhar chiefs, and prevent Humayun’s possible return from the northwest. Its massive walls, limited civic architecture, and lack of urban planning features clearly indicate a defensive-military purpose rather than an administrative or imperial capital.
• Statement 3 is also incorrect. The Qila-i-Kuhna Mosque was constructed by Sher Shah Suri himself, not by Humayun. It stands within Purana Qila and is one of the finest surviving Sur-period monuments, displaying a synthesis of Lodi and early Mughal stylistic elements. There is no credible historical evidence to suggest that it was built by Humayun and merely renovated by Sher Shah.