19 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 markWhich two brothers founded the Vijayanagara Empire, and in what year, according to tradition and inscriptions?
(A) Harihara and Bukka, 1336(B) Krishnadeva Raya and Rama Raya, 1509(C) Sangama and Saluva, 1485(D) Harihara and Rama Raya, 1565 - 1 markWho was Colin Mackenzie, who brought the ruins of Hampi to light in 1800?
(A) A Portuguese ambassador(B) An engineer and antiquarian employed by the English East India Company(C) A local raja(D) A Persian traveller - 1 markWho initially controlled the horse trade, before the Portuguese arrived on the west coast in 1498?
(A) Chinese traders(B) Local peasants(C) Dutch traders(D) Arab traders, with local kudirai chettis also taking part - 1 markWhich of Vijayanagara’s four ruling dynasties came first, and which came last?
(A) Sangama first, Aravidu last(B) Saluva first, Tuluva last(C) Tuluva first, Sangama last(D) Aravidu first, Saluva last - 1 markAccording to the chapter, what actually caused the defeat at Rakshasi-Tangadi (Talikota)?
(A) A permanent state of Hindu-Muslim religious war(B) Rama Raya’s own adventurous policy of playing one Sultan against another(C) Famine and economic collapse(D) An internal popular uprising - 1 markWhat are the two major categories of sources used to reconstruct the history of Vijayanagara?
(A) Only colonial gazetteers(B) Only genealogical ballads(C) Only coins and numismatics(D) Royal/nayaka inscriptions and travellers’ accounts - 1 markThe mahanavami dibba rises from a base of about what area to what height?
(A) 5,000 sq ft to 20 ft(B) 11,000 sq ft to 40 ft(C) 20,000 sq ft to 60 ft(D) 8,000 sq ft to 25 ft
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Agricultural land was deliberately enclosed within Vijayanagara’s fortification walls.
Reason (R): This let the city sustain itself with food during a long siege instead of relying only on stored granaries.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): The collapse of the central imperial structure of Vijayanagara was hastened during the seventeenth century.
Reason (R): During the seventeenth century, many nayakas established independent kingdoms.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of 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) Sangama (ii) Saluva (iii) Tuluva (iv) Aravidu
List II: (1) Held the centre from 1542, ruling into the late seventeenth century (2) The first ruling dynasty, until 1485 (3) Krishnadeva Raya’s dynasty, from 1503 (4) Military commanders, 1485-1503, who supplanted the Sangamas
(A) i-1, ii-2, iii-3, iv-4(B) i-2, ii-4, iii-3, iv-1(C) i-3, ii-1, iii-4, iv-2(D) i-4, ii-3, iii-2, iv-1 - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Raya gopuram (ii) Mandapa (iii) Amara-nayaka (iv) Hindu Suratrana
List II: (1) “Hindu Sultan”, a title of the Vijayanagara kings (2) A royal gateway that dwarfed the central shrine’s own tower (3) A military-revenue officer governing territory on the raya’s behalf (4) An elaborate pillared pavilion in a temple
(A) i-2, ii-4, iii-3, iv-1(B) i-1, ii-2, iii-3, iv-4(C) i-3, ii-1, iii-4, iv-2(D) i-4, ii-3, iii-1, iv-2
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: The battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (Talikota) resulted from Rama Raya’s own shifting alliance policy.
Statement II: Vijayanagara and the Deccan Sultanates were locked in a permanent, unbroken state of religious war.
(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 dynasties of Vijayanagara in chronological order.
1. Tuluva
2. Sangama
3. Aravidu
4. Saluva
(A) 4-2-1-3(B) 2-1-4-3(C) 2-4-1-3(D) 3-1-4-2 - 1 markArrange the following landmarks in the discovery and conservation of Vijayanagara in chronological order.
1. Alexander Greenlaw takes the first detailed photographs of the remains at Hampi
2. Colin Mackenzie visits Vijayanagara
3. Hampi declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO
4. J.F. Fleet begins documenting the inscriptions on the temple walls
(A) 2-1-4-3(B) 1-2-4-3(C) 2-4-1-3(D) 4-2-1-3
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe amara-nayaka system is likely to have been derived from the Delhi Sultanate’s ______ system.
(A) iqta(B) mansabdari(C) zamindari(D) jagirdari
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following traveller-country pairs is INCORRECT?
(A) Nicolo de Conti: Italy(B) Abdur Razzaq: ambassador sent by the ruler of Persia(C) Domingo Paes: Russia(D) Afanasii Nikitin: Russia
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
“A king should improve the harbours of his country and so encourage its commerce that horses, elephants, precious gems, sandalwood, pearls and other articles are freely imported… He should arrange that the foreign sailors who land in his country on account of storms, illness and exhaustion are looked after in a suitable manner… Make the merchants of distant foreign countries who import elephants and good horses be attached to yourself by providing them with daily audience, presents and allowing decent profits. Then those articles will never go to your enemies.”
— Krishnadeva Raya, Amuktamalyada (Source 2)
— Krishnadeva Raya, Amuktamalyada (Source 2)
- 1 markAccording to the passage above (Krishnadeva Raya, Amuktamalyada), how should a king handle his ports and trade?
(A) Trade should be discouraged(B) Only local merchants should be permitted(C) Trade should be encouraged so that horses, elephants, gems and other goods are freely imported(D) Ports should be closed
Passage
“The king made a tank… at the mouth of two hills so that all the water which comes from either one side or the other collects there; and, besides this, water comes to it from more than three leagues (approximately 15 kilometres) by pipes which run along the lower parts of the range outside… In order to make this tank the said king broke down a hill… In the tank I saw so many people at work that there must have been fifteen or twenty thousand men, looking like ants…”
— Domingo Paes (Source 4)
— Domingo Paes (Source 4)
- 1 markAccording to the passage above, from where, and from what distance, was water brought to the tank?
(A) Only from a nearby well(B) By pipes, from more than three leagues (approximately 15 kilometres) away(C) Directly from the river, with no pipes at all(D) Only from rainwater harvesting
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Amara-nayakas spent some of the revenue on temples and irrigation works.
(ii) The king never transferred them between territories.
(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) Tradition and epigraphic evidence credit two brothers, Harihara and Bukka, with founding the Vijayanagara Empire in 1336, ruling over peoples who spoke different languages and followed different religious traditions.
- (B) The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by Colonel Colin Mackenzie, an engineer and antiquarian employed by the English East India Company, who prepared the first survey map of the site.
- (D) The horse trade was initially controlled by Arab traders, and local communities of merchants called kudirai chettis (horse merchants) also participated. From 1498 the Portuguese arrived on the west coast; their superior military technology, especially muskets, made them important players in the politics of the period.
- (A) The Sangama dynasty exercised control until 1485, followed by the Saluvas (1485-1503) and then the Tuluvas (from 1503); by 1542 the Aravidu dynasty held the centre, ruling until the late seventeenth century.
- (B) Relations between the Sultans and the rayas were not always or inevitably hostile; it was the adventurous policy of Rama Raya, who tried to play off one Sultan against another, that led the Sultans to combine together and decisively defeat him.
- (D) Sources include a large number of inscriptions of the kings of Vijayanagara and their nayakas recording donations to temples, and the accounts of travellers such as Nicolo de Conti, Abdur Razzaq, Afanasii Nikitin, Duarte Barbosa, Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz.
- (B) The mahanavami dibba is a massive platform rising from a base of about 11,000 sq ft to a height of 40 ft; there is evidence that it supported a wooden structure, and its base is covered with relief carvings.
Assertion-Reason
- (A) Both statements are true, and R directly explains why the expensive, deliberate choice of enclosing farmland was made instead of relying only on granaries, so R correctly explains A.
- (A) Both statements are true. The chapter says that during the seventeenth century many nayakas established independent kingdoms, and that this hastened the collapse of the central imperial structure, so R correctly explains A.
Match the Following
- (B) The Sangama dynasty was the first, until 1485 (i-2); the Saluvas were military commanders who supplanted them, 1485-1503 (ii-4); the Tuluvas, Krishnadeva Raya’s dynasty, ruled from 1503 (iii-3); and the Aravidu dynasty held the centre from 1542 (iv-1).
- (A) The raya gopuram was a royal gateway that dwarfed the central shrine’s tower (i-2); a mandapa was an elaborate pillared pavilion (ii-4); an amara-nayaka governed territory on the raya’s behalf (iii-3); and Hindu Suratrana was a royal title (iv-1).
Statement-Based Questions
- (C) Statement I is true. Statement II is false: Krishnadeva Raya supported rival claimants within the Sultanates, and the Sultan of Bijapur once helped settle a Vijayanagara succession dispute, so relations were not one of permanent religious war.
Chronological Ordering
- (C) The Sangama dynasty came first and ruled till 1485 (2); the Saluvas followed and remained in power till 1503 (4); then the Tuluvas, Krishnadeva Raya’s dynasty (1); and by 1542 control had shifted to the Aravidu (3): order 2-4-1-3.
- (A) Mackenzie visited in 1800 (2), Greenlaw took the first detailed photographs in 1856 (1), Fleet began documenting the inscriptions in 1876 (4), and UNESCO declared Hampi a World Heritage site in 1986 (3): order 2-1-4-3.
Fill in the Blanks
- (A) The amara-nayaka system is likely to have been derived from the iqta system of the Delhi Sultanate, which gave amara-nayakas territory to govern on the raya’s behalf.
Odd One Out
- (C) Domingo Paes came from Portugal, not Russia; Afanasii Nikitin was the traveller from Russia. The other three pairs are correct according to the chapter.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) According to Krishnadeva Raya, a king should improve the harbours of his country and encourage its commerce so that horses, elephants, precious gems, sandalwood and pearls are freely imported.
- (B) According to Paes, water came to the tank from more than three leagues (approximately 15 kilometres) away by pipes, and the king broke down a hill to build the tank.
True / False
- (B) (i) is true: amara-nayakas spent some revenue on the maintenance of temples and irrigation works. (ii) is false: kings occasionally asserted their control by transferring amara-nayakas from one place to another.
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