20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markIn which region was Al-Biruni born in 973?
(A) Khwarizm (present-day Uzbekistan)(B) Ghazni(C) Baghdad(D) Multan - 1 markInto how many chapters is the Kitab-ul-Hind divided?
(A) 60(B) 80(C) 70(D) 90 - 1 markHow old was Ibn Battuta when he set out from Tangier, by his own account?
(A) eighteen(B) twenty(C) twenty-five(D) twenty-two - 1 markWhat was the horse-relay postal service Ibn Battuta described called?
(A) dawa(B) uluq(C) harkara(D) karkhana - 1 markFor how many years did Bernier stay in India?
(A) twelve(B) ten(C) eight(D) fifteen - 1 markWho built the concept of “oriental despotism” directly on Bernier’s account of Mughal India?
(A) Karl Marx(B) Montesquieu(C) Voltaire(D) Adam Smith
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Al-Biruni’s account of the caste system reflects everyday social reality in eleventh-century India exactly as it was lived.
Reason (R): He relied almost entirely on Brahmanical Sanskrit texts, which describe the varna system from the Brahmana point of view.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Mughal India had no private property in land.
Reason (R): No Mughal official document describes the state as the sole owner of all land; land revenue was in fact a tax on the crop, not rent on the land.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Al-Biruni (ii) Ibn Battuta (iii) Bernier (iv) Ibn Juzayy
List II: (a) served as qazi of Delhi and the Maldives (b) wrote the Kitab-ul-Hind (c) wrote Travels in the Mogul Empire (d) wrote down the Rihla as dictated to him
(A) i-a, ii-b, iii-d, iv-c(B) i-d, ii-c, iii-a, iv-b(C) i-b, ii-a, iii-c, iv-d(D) i-c, ii-d, iii-b, iv-a - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Kitab-ul-Hind (ii) Rihla (iii) Travels in the Mogul Empire (iv) Oriental despotism
List II: (a) Montesquieu (b) Al-Biruni (c) Ibn Battuta (dictated) (d) Bernier
(A) i-a, ii-b, iii-c, iv-d(B) i-d, ii-a, iii-b, iv-c(C) i-b, ii-d, iii-c, iv-a(D) i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: Al-Biruni’s account of caste closely follows the Brahmanical textual tradition.
Statement II: He relied almost entirely on texts such as the Vedas, Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali and the Manusmriti.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markStatement I: Bernier described Mughal cities as “camp towns” that would collapse once the imperial court moved on.
Statement II: All Mughal towns in fact depended entirely on the imperial court’s presence for their survival.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following events in chronological order.
1. Ibn Battuta reaches Sind
2. Ibn Battuta sets off from Tangier
3. Ibn Battuta is appointed qazi of Delhi
4. Ibn Battuta is sent as envoy to China
(A) 2-3-1-4(B) 2-1-3-4(C) 1-2-3-4(D) 4-1-2-3 - 1 markArrange the following events in chronological order.
1. Bernier travels in India
2. Al-Biruni taken to Ghazni after Mahmud’s invasion of Khwarizm (1017)
3. Ibn Battuta serves as qazi of Delhi
(A) 2-1-3(B) 1-2-3(C) 3-2-1(D) 2-3-1
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe science of measurement, one of the subjects covered in the Kitab-ul-Hind, is called ______.
(A) metrology(B) astronomy(C) alchemy(D) iconography - 1 markMerchants in western India organised into bodies called mahajans, each led by a sheth; in Ahmedabad, the head of the whole collective body was called the ______.
(A) nagarsheth(B) hakim(C) wakil(D) qazi
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following is NOT one of this chapter’s three central travellers?
(A) Al-Biruni(B) Ibn Battuta(C) Marco Polo(D) Francois Bernier
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
“The highest caste are the Brahmana, of whom the books of the Hindus tell us that they were created from the head of Brahman… the Brahmana are the choice part of the whole genus… The next caste are the Kshatriya, who were created… from the shoulders and hands of Brahman… After them follow the Vaishya, who were created from the thigh of Brahman. The Shudra, who were created from his feet…” Al-Biruni adds that despite this ranking, the groups “live together in the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings.”
- 1 markAccording to this passage, from which part of Brahman’s body were the Vaishya said to have been created?
(A) the head(B) the shoulders and hands(C) the thigh(D) the feet
Passage
“Many are little more than sand, or barren mountains, badly cultivated, and thinly populated… The poor people, when they become incapable of discharging the demands of their rapacious lords, are not only often deprived of the means of subsistence, but are also made to lose their children, who are carried away as slaves. Thus, it happens that the peasantry, driven to despair by so excessive a tyranny, abandon the country.”
- 1 markAccording to this passage, what happens to peasants’ children when the peasants cannot meet their lords’ demands?
(A) they are educated by the state(B) they are carried away as slaves(C) they inherit the land instead(D) they are sent to work in the karkhanas
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Al-Biruni’s exact itinerary across India is known in full detail.
(ii) Al-Biruni probably travelled widely across Punjab and northern India.
(A) both are true(B) only (i) is true(C) only (ii) is true(D) both are false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (A) Al-Biruni was born in 973 in Khwarizm, present-day Uzbekistan, then a major centre of learning.
- (B) The Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, runs to 80 chapters, on subjects ranging from religion and philosophy to metrology.
- (D) Ibn Battuta’s own account gives his age at departure as twenty-two.
- (B) The horse-post, run by royal horses stationed every four miles, was called uluq; the foot-post, with three stations per mile, was called dawa.
- (A) Bernier spent twelve years in India, from 1656 to 1668.
- (B) Montesquieu built the idea of oriental despotism, that Asian rulers held absolute authority with no private property at all, directly on Bernier’s account.
Assertion-Reason
- (D) A is false: Al-Biruni’s account reflects the Brahmanical, textual view of caste, not necessarily how it worked day to day. R is true: he relied almost entirely on Brahmanical texts such as the Vedas, Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali and the Manusmriti.
- (D) The Reason directly contradicts the Assertion. Abu’l Fazl described land revenue as “remunerations of sovereignty”, a payment for the ruler’s protection, not proof of state ownership of land, so A is false and R is true.
Match the Following
- (C) Al-Biruni wrote the Kitab-ul-Hind, Ibn Battuta served as qazi of Delhi and the Maldives, Bernier wrote Travels in the Mogul Empire, and Ibn Juzayy wrote down the Rihla as Ibn Battuta dictated it to him.
- (D) Al-Biruni wrote the Kitab-ul-Hind, Ibn Battuta dictated the Rihla, Bernier wrote Travels in the Mogul Empire, and Montesquieu developed oriental despotism from Bernier’s account.
Statement-Based Questions
- (A) Both are true and Statement II explains Statement I: his account follows Brahmanical tradition precisely because those were almost the only texts he used.
- (C) Statement I is true, that is exactly Bernier’s claim. Statement II is false: towns came in many kinds (manufacturing, trading, port, sacred and pilgrimage towns), so Bernier’s ‘camp town’ picture is an oversimplification.
Chronological Ordering
- (B) Ibn Battuta set off from Tangier about 30 years before his return home in 1354 (so c. 1325), set off for India in 1332-33 and reached Sind (1333), was later appointed qazi of Delhi, and was sent as envoy to China in 1342: the order is 2-1-3-4.
- (D) Al-Biruni was taken to Ghazni in 1017 (eleventh century), Ibn Battuta served as qazi of Delhi in the fourteenth century, and Bernier travelled in India in the seventeenth: the order is 2-3-1.
Fill in the Blanks
- (A) Metrology, the science of measurement, is one of the many subjects the Kitab-ul-Hind covers.
- (A) In Ahmedabad, the collective head of the merchant community was called the nagarsheth.
Odd One Out
- (C) Marco Polo is mentioned only as a comparison for Ibn Battuta; the chapter’s three anchor travellers are Al-Biruni, Ibn Battuta and Bernier.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) The passage states the Vaishya “were created from the thigh of Brahman.”
- (B) The passage says such peasants “are also made to lose their children, who are carried away as slaves.”
True / False
- (C) Statement (i) is false, his exact itinerary is unclear. Statement (ii) is true: he probably travelled widely across Punjab and northern India.
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