Medieval Indian History MCQs

Notes:
In 1293 A.D., Marco Polo, an Italian traveller visited Motupalli, a famous sea port during Kakatiya Dynasty. He wrote about the prosperity and power of the kingdom under Rudrammadevi.  Polo visited India twice, in 1287-78 and 1291-92. He landed on the Coromandel Coast in 1292 after a two-year trip by sea across the Indian Ocean. He joined the Tamil Pandya kingdom around Tanjore.  Polo wrote about his experiences in the book The book of Sir Marco Polo. He described the Kakatiya Empire’s extensive diamond and muslin exports. He said that these exports were likely used by his patron, the Great Kublai Khan of Yuan China.

Notes:
Vijayanagara Empire or Karnata Empire or Kingdom of Bisnegar was established in 1336 by Harihara-I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty. Its ruins are located in current day Hampi in Karnataka. Four dynasties – Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva and Aravidu – ruled Vijayanagar from A.D. 1336 to 1672.
The most important temples of Vijaynagar Empire include Vitthalaswamy and the Hazara Ramaswamy temples at Hampi. The Tadapatri and Parvati temples at Chidambaram, Varadaraja and Ekambaranatha temples at Kanchipuram.

Notes:
Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer known for his lyrics written in praise of Krishna. He was a disciple of Vallabhacharya.

Notes:
In 1669-70, the Jats of Mathura region rose under the leadership of a local Zamindar Gokul. Religion was main factor behind this revolt because Abdul Nabi, local officer of imperial Mughal government, had destroyed the temples of Hindus and disrespected their women.
We note here that Jat uprising occurred at a time Mughal government was by no means weak or imbecile. The Mughal army pursued the Jats and the leader Gokul was captured and executed. However, the rebel did not subdue completely. Taking advantage of the civil war amongst the sons of Shahjahan, the Jats again rose in arms and this rebellion finally culminated in establishment of sovereign Jat Kingdom under Raja Surajmal with Bharatpur its capital

Notes:
Malik Muhammad Jayasi completed his work Padmavat during Sher Shah’s reign.

Notes:
Akbar had a committee of scholars with cross lingual expertise. Some of them were Naqeeb Khan, Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni, Mulla Sheri and Sultan Haji Thanesari.

• In that era Mahabharat was translated into Persian and was renamed as Razm Namah (Saga of the Battlefield).
• Ramayana was translated by Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni. Badayuni also took up the task of Singhasan Batisi into Persian , which was later titled Khurd Afza in Persian.
• Atharva Veda was translated by Haji Ibrahim Sirhindi. Rajataringini by Kalhana was translated by Maulana Shah Mohammad Shahabadi. Panchtantra were rendered into Persian by Mulla Hussain Waiz and it was called Anwar-i-Suhaili.
• Panchatantra was also translated in Persian by Maulana Husain Faizi and its translated name was Yar-i-Danish. 
• Abul Fazal, Vazeer of Akbar and author of Akbarnama had translated Panchatantra in persian as Anvar-i-Saadat.

Notes:
Azimabad was the name of modern-day Patna during the eighteenth century, prior to the British Raj. It was revived by Sher shah suri.

Notes:
Qutub Shahi of Golconda was not an independent kingdom. The Qutub Shahi dynasty ruled Golconda from 1518, initially as a breakaway state from the Bahmani Sultanate. It lost independence after Aurangzeb’s Mughal conquest in 1687, becoming a Mughal suba. Later, as the Nizam’s state and under British paramountcy post-1858, it was a princely state until 1948.

Notes:
Silhara dynasty ruled the region around present-day Mumbai between 9th and 13th century. They were vassals of Rastrakutas. Kapardin is considered to be the founder of this dynasty and the princes of this dynasty held the title Tagara-puradhishvara. Tagara was an ancient place near Osmanabad.

Notes:
Baiju Bawra was a dhrupad musician from medieval India.He was one of the court musicians of Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalher (now Gwalior).