Medieval India — Delhi Sultanate & Mughal Era

Why This Chapter Matters

SSC CGL History papers lean hard on medieval India. In the last several years, Tier-1 papers have carried anywhere between 4 and 7 questions from this single stretch of history, usually about who built which monument, which battle ended which dynasty, and which Mughal emperor issued which policy. This is also the topic where a well-prepared aspirant can pick up guaranteed marks, because the facts are finite and repeat across years. You are not being asked to interpret medieval politics. You are being asked to remember which Sultan built the Qutub Minar's upper floors and which battle brought Babur to Delhi.

The single biggest mistake aspirants make here is mixing up dynasties and their founders, especially inside the Delhi Sultanate, where five dynasties ruled in under 320 years and several sultans share similar-sounding names (Iltutmish, Balban, Alauddin Khilji, Muhammad bin Tughlaq — a lineup that blurs together under exam pressure). The second common trap is muddling Mughal emperors' religious policies: which one was tolerant, which one reversed that tolerance, and in what order. This chapter gives you anchors for both, plus the Vijayanagara-Bahmani story, the Bhakti-Sufi movements, and the rise and administration of the Marathas under Shivaji.

The Delhi Sultanate — Five Dynasties, One Throne

The Delhi Sultanate ran from 1206 to 1526, a period of roughly 320 years, and saw power pass through five distinct dynasties: Slave (Mamluk), Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, and Lodi. Muhammad Ghori's invasions broke the last major Hindu resistance in north India — his general Qutbuddin Aibak established the Sultanate after Ghori's death in 1206, ruling from Delhi.

Memory hook: Remember the five dynasties as "Slow Khilji Tugs Say Lodi" — Slave, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi, in that exact chronological order.

The Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty (1206–1290)

Qutbuddin Aibak founded this dynasty. He began construction of the Qutub Minar in Delhi (completed later by his successors) and also started the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, the earliest surviving mosque in India built by Sultanate rulers. Aibak died in 1210 after a fall from his horse while playing chaugan (an early form of polo).

Iltutmish (1211–1236) is the dynasty's real consolidator. He secured recognition from the Caliph of Baghdad, giving his rule religious legitimacy, and he introduced the Iqta system — assigning land revenue rights to nobles (iqtadars) in exchange for military service, the administrative backbone of the Sultanate for centuries. He also introduced two important coins: the silver tanka and the copper jital.

Razia Sultan (1236–1240), Iltutmish's daughter, became the only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate. Nobles resented a woman on the throne, and she was eventually overthrown and killed.

Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266–1287) ruled with an iron hand. He introduced the Persian court custom of sijda (prostration) and paibos (kissing the ruler's feet), and he built up a rigid, centralized bureaucracy to check the power of the nobility, particularly the group of forty nobles called the Chahalgani or Chalisa, whom he ruthlessly suppressed.

Exam trap: Do not confuse Iltutmish (introduced the Iqta system) with Balban (introduced the theory of kingship as "God's shadow on Earth" and crushed noble power). Papers frequently swap their contributions in wrong options.

The Khilji Dynasty (1290–1320)

Jalaluddin Khilji founded the dynasty in 1290, but the dynasty is remembered chiefly for his nephew and successor, Alauddin Khilji (1296–1316), who murdered his uncle to seize the throne.

Alauddin Khilji is the Sultanate's most tested ruler for economic policy. He introduced market control regulations (Market Reforms) to fix prices of essential goods, primarily to maintain a large, affordable standing army for his campaigns. He set up officers called Shahna-i-Mandi to supervise markets, and maintained state granaries to control grain supply during shortages. He was also the first Delhi Sultan to launch major campaigns into south India through his general Malik Kafur, bringing the Sultanate's influence as far as the Pandya kingdom in Tamil Nadu. Alauddin also successfully repelled repeated Mongol invasions, a real threat during his reign.

Memory hook: Think of Alauddin Khilji as India's first price-control economist wearing a crown — market regulation plus military conquest, together.

The Tughlaq Dynasty (1320–1414)

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq founded the dynasty in 1320. His son, Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–1351), is the most experimented-with — and most exam-tested — ruler of the Sultanate, remembered for bold but poorly executed schemes:

• Transfer of capital from Delhi to Devagiri (renamed Daulatabad) in the Deccan, intended to better govern the south, but reversed after enormous hardship to the population forced to migrate both ways.
• Token currency, introducing copper/brass coins meant to circulate at the value of silver coins, an idea ahead of its time but ruined by rampant forgery since anyone could mint the coins.
• Plans for a tax hike in the Doab region during a famine, worsening unrest.

His cousin, Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388), reversed many of these harsh measures, built canals for irrigation, founded new cities including Firozabad, and is remembered for reviving old Ashokan pillars — he had two Ashokan pillars transported to Delhi.

Exam trap: Muhammad bin Tughlaq is often called "an ill-starred idealist" in exam-style descriptions — a ruler whose ideas were sound in theory (decentralization, a token currency similar to modern fiat money) but disastrous in execution. If a question describes a Sultan with "good intentions, poor implementation," the answer is almost always Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

The Sayyid and Lodi Dynasties (1414–1526)

The Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451), founded by Khizr Khan, ruled a weakened, shrinking Sultanate — real power over most of north India had already slipped away by this point.

The Lodi dynasty (1451–1526) was the only Afghan (Pashtun) dynasty to rule Delhi. Bahlul Lodi founded it; his grandson Ibrahim Lodi was the last Sultan of Delhi, defeated and killed by Babur at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, which ended the Delhi Sultanate and opened the door to Mughal rule.

Administration of the Delhi Sultanate

Across all five dynasties, certain administrative features stayed roughly consistent, even as individual sultans reshaped details. The Sultan was head of state and commander of the army, assisted by a council of ministers called the Majlis-i-Khalwat in some periods, with the Wazir (chief minister, in charge of finance and general administration) as the most powerful office below the throne. The Ariz-i-Mumalik supervised the army and military recruitment, while the Sadr-us-Sudur looked after religious and charitable matters, including grants of land to scholars and religious institutions. Provinces were called iqtas, governed by iqtadars who collected revenue in exchange for maintaining troops for the Sultan, a system that balanced central control against the practical need to keep distant regions defended.

Land revenue during the Sultanate period was generally assessed as a share of the produce, most commonly around one-third to one-half depending on the ruler and region, collected in cash or kind. Alauddin Khilji is remembered for tightening this collection sharply and removing many revenue-farming intermediaries, a move that filled his treasury but caused real hardship among cultivators. The Sultanate also relied on a network of spies and intelligence officers called barids, reporting directly to the Sultan on the conduct of nobles and provincial governors, a check against rebellion in a court that saw more than one sultan murdered by ambitious subordinates.

Exam trap: Students often assume the Wazir and the Ariz-i-Mumalik held the same portfolio. They did not — the Wazir handled finance and civil administration, the Ariz-i-Mumalik handled military recruitment and organization. Keep the two separate in your mind: one manages money, the other manages soldiers.

Sultanate-Era Architecture

Delhi Sultanate rulers introduced Indo-Islamic architectural elements — the true arch, the dome, and the use of mortar — that blended with existing Indian building traditions. The Qutub Minar, begun by Qutbuddin Aibak and completed in stages by Iltutmish and later Firoz Shah Tughlaq (who repaired storm damage to its upper stories), stands as the tallest brick minaret in the world and remains one of the most frequently pictured monuments in GK papers. The Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque beside it was built partly using material from demolished Hindu and Jain temples, a common practice of the era that later structures moved away from as building techniques matured.

Alauddin Khilji added the Alai Darwaza, the southern gateway to the Qutub complex, notable for being among the earliest structures in India to use a true dome and true arch throughout, rather than the corbelled (stepped) arches seen in earlier Indian construction. The Tughlaq period favoured plainer, sturdier, fortress-like architecture — Tughlaqabad, built by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, is a good example, with massive sloping walls designed as much for defence as display.

Memory hook: Picture Sultanate architecture on a timeline of "getting fancier" — Aibak's mosque reused temple pillars, Iltutmish added grace, Alauddin brought the true arch and dome, and by the Tughlaqs the style turned austere and fortress-like again, a swing back toward function over decoration.

The Deccan — Vijayanagara and Bahmani Kingdoms

While Delhi's dynasties rose and fell in the north, two powerful kingdoms shaped the Deccan and south India.

The Vijayanagara Empire was founded in 1336 by brothers Harihara and Bukka on the banks of the Tungabhadra river, with its capital at Hampi (in present-day Karnataka). The empire reached its peak under Krishnadeva Raya (1509–1529) of the Tuluva dynasty, a patron of Telugu and Sanskrit literature who authored the Telugu work Amuktamalyada and maintained the "Ashtadiggajas," eight great poets at his court. Vijayanagara's economy thrived on trade, particularly with the Portuguese, who bought horses and spices through the port at Goa region. The empire finally collapsed after its defeat in the Battle of Talikota (1565) against a confederacy of Deccan Sultanates.

The Bahmani Kingdom was founded in 1347 by Alauddin Bahman Shah (also called Hasan Gangu), who had rebelled against Muhammad bin Tughlaq's rule. Ruling from Gulbarga and later Bidar, the Bahmani Sultanate was in near-constant conflict with Vijayanagara over the fertile Raichur Doab and the Krishna-Godavari delta region. By the early 16th century, the Bahmani kingdom itself splintered into five smaller Deccan Sultanates — Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Berar, and Bidar — which together defeated Vijayanagara at Talikota.

Memory hook: Vijayanagara and Bahmani were neighbours who fought for centuries over the same fertile strip of land, much like two adjoining farms endlessly disputing the same water channel.

Vijayanagara's administration divided the empire into provinces under governors called Nayakas, who held considerable local autonomy in exchange for military support and tribute to the central treasury, a system that gave the empire flexibility but also planted the seeds of fragmentation once central authority weakened. Foreign travellers left valuable eyewitness accounts of the empire's wealth: the Italian traveller Nicolo Conti visited in the early 15th century, the Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes described Krishnadeva Raya's Vijayanagara as a city as large and prosperous as Rome, and the Persian ambassador Abdur Razzaq wrote admiringly of its markets. These accounts are why the empire's grandeur is treated as documented fact rather than exaggeration in exam material.

Architecturally, Vijayanagara developed a distinct temple style, visible today in the ruins at Hampi, marked by tall ornamented gateway towers called gopurams and elaborately carved pillared halls called mandapas. The Vittala Temple at Hampi, with its famous stone chariot and musical pillars that produce different notes when struck, is the single most photographed structure from the empire and a favourite for picture-based GK questions.

Bhakti and Sufi Movements

Medieval India saw two parallel spiritual movements that both stressed personal devotion over ritual, and both are commonly tested for their key figures.

The Bhakti movement emphasized direct, emotional devotion to a personal god, cutting across caste lines. Key figures include Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita philosophy, south India), Kabir (a weaver-poet who blended Hindu and Islamic ideas and rejected idol worship and caste), Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism, born 1469 in Talwandi), Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengal, devotion to Krishna), Mirabai (Rajasthani princess-poet devoted to Krishna), and Tulsidas (author of the Awadhi Ramcharitmanas).

The Sufi movement was Islam's mystical, devotional strand, organized into orders called silsilahs. The two most prominent silsilahs in India were the Chishti order, associated with Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (whose dargah stands at Ajmer) and later Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, and the Suhrawardi order, which was more willing to engage with state power than the Chishtis.

Exam trap: Do not confuse Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer, Chishti order, arrived in India around the late 12th century) with Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi, also Chishti order, but a later, separate figure). Both are Chishti saints but different people with different shrines.

Arrival and Consolidation of the Mughals

Babur (Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur), a Central Asian ruler descended from Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's side, defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat (1526) using superior artillery and the tactic of using carts as a defensive barrier (the "Ottoman" or Rumi technique). He followed this with victory over Rana Sanga of Mewar at the Battle of Khanwa (1527), securing his hold on north India. Babur ruled until 1530 and wrote the memoir Baburnama.

Humayun (1530–1556) inherited an unstable empire and lost it entirely to the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri, who defeated him at the battles of Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540), forcing Humayun into 15 years of exile. Sher Shah Suri, in that interim, built an efficient administrative system: he introduced the Rupiya (a silver coin, ancestor of the modern rupee), built the Grand Trunk Road, and organized a strong revenue and postal system, all later absorbed into Mughal administration. Humayun eventually reclaimed Delhi in 1555 but died within a year after falling from his library stairs.

Akbar (1556–1605) is the empire's true architect. He came to the throne as a teenager and won the decisive Second Battle of Panipat (1556) against Hemu, a general fighting for the Sur remnants. Akbar's reign is remembered for:

• Religious policy: abolition of the jizya (tax on non-Muslims) in 1564, and the policy of Sulh-i-kul ("peace with all"), promoting tolerance across faiths. He founded a syncretic order, Din-i-Ilahi, blending elements of multiple religions, though it attracted very few followers.
• Administration: the Mansabdari system, ranking nobles and officials by numerical ranks of zat (personal status) and sawar (number of cavalry they had to maintain), which formed the backbone of Mughal military-administrative organization.
• Land revenue: the Zabti/Dahsala system, developed under his finance minister Raja Todar Mal, calculating average revenue over the previous ten years to set a fair, stable assessment.
• Architecture: Fatehpur Sikri (his short-lived capital), the Buland Darwaza, and Humayun's Tomb (started by his stepmother but completed early in his reign), which introduced the Persian garden-tomb style later perfected in the Taj Mahal.

Jahangir (1605–1627), Akbar's son, is remembered for his love of art and justice (the legendary golden "chain of justice" outside his palace, allowing any subject to seek redress), his marriage to Nur Jahan, who wielded significant political influence, and for granting the English East India Company trading rights through ambassador Sir Thomas Roe in 1615.

Shah Jahan (1628–1658) presided over the empire's architectural peak: the Taj Mahal at Agra (built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, completed around 1653), the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi, and the ornate Peacock Throne. He shifted the capital from Agra to the newly built Shahjahanabad (old Delhi).

Aurangzeb (1658–1707) is the last of the "great" Mughals and the most exam-tested for policy reversal. He came to power after a bitter war of succession against his brother Dara Shikoh. Unlike Akbar, Aurangzeb reimposed the jizya in 1679 and pursued a more orthodox religious policy, which strained relations with several communities including the Marathas, Rajputs, and Sikhs. His reign was also marked by nearly constant warfare in the Deccan against the Marathas, which drained the treasury without delivering a decisive victory. After his death in 1707, the empire entered rapid decline.

Memory hook for Mughal order: "Be Humble, All Jahans Shine Alone" — Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb.

Exam trap: Akbar abolished jizya (1564); Aurangzeb reimposed it (1679). This single fact pair is one of the most repeated questions in SSC history sections — get the direction right.

Mughal Architecture — Quick Reference

Mughal buildings evolved from Babur's simple structures to Shah Jahan's marble perfection, then to Aurangzeb's more austere style as the treasury thinned.

Monument	Built by	Location	Notable feature
Humayun's Tomb	Commissioned under Akbar's early reign	Delhi	First major garden-tomb, Persian style
Fatehpur Sikri	Akbar	near Agra	Buland Darwaza, abandoned due to water scarcity
Agra Fort (rebuilt)	Akbar	Agra	Red sandstone fort
Taj Mahal	Shah Jahan	Agra	White marble mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal
Red Fort	Shah Jahan	Delhi	Seat of Mughal power, Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas
Jama Masjid	Shah Jahan	Delhi	One of India's largest mosques
Bibi ka Maqbara	Aurangzeb (for his wife)	Aurangabad	Often called a modest echo of the Taj Mahal

The Rise of the Marathas

While the Mughals dominated the north and fought endlessly in the Deccan, a new regional power rose under Shivaji Bhonsle (1630–1680). Shivaji built a compact, mobile, and disciplined state carved largely out of Bijapur and Mughal territory in the Western Ghats.

Shivaji's early career included capturing the fort of Torna (1646) and the killing of the Bijapuri general Afzal Khan in 1659 using a concealed "tiger claw" weapon (bagh nakh) during a staged meeting, a famous episode in Maratha lore. He was crowned as an independent sovereign, taking the title Chhatrapati, at Raigad in 1674, with an elaborate coronation ceremony that asserted his status as a Hindu king independent of Mughal or Bijapuri overlordship.

Shivaji's administration was notably systematic for its time. He organized his council of ministers into the Ashtapradhan, a group of eight ministers, with the Peshwa (prime minister) at its head — a post that would, decades later, eclipse the Chhatrapati's own authority under Shivaji's successors. His revenue system relied on Chauth (a tax equal to one-quarter of the revenue of a territory, collected as a form of protection payment) and Sardeshmukhi (an additional levy claimed as the hereditary right of the chief revenue collector of the region), both later used extensively as the Marathas expanded across India in the 18th century. He also built and maintained a strong navy along the Konkan coast, unusual for an Indian ruler of that era, to guard against European and Siddi naval threats.

Memory hook: Think of Shivaji's Ashtapradhan as a modern cabinet of eight ministers — an "eight-member board" running a startup kingdom with the Peshwa as the chief executive.

Exam trap: Chauth and Sardeshmukhi are often confused. Chauth is the base one-fourth levy; Sardeshmukhi is the additional charge (traditionally around one-tenth more) claimed on top of it. Questions sometimes swap these definitions in the wrong options.

Decline of the Mughal Empire

Aurangzeb's death in 1707 left an empire exhausted by decades of Deccan warfare and an overstretched treasury. His successors, often called the "later Mughals," were largely weak or short-reigned. Key markers of decline include:

• Nadir Shah's invasion (1739), in which the Persian ruler sacked Delhi and carried away the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
• Ahmad Shah Abdali's repeated invasions through the 1750s and 1760s, culminating in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761), where Abdali's forces decisively defeated the Marathas, who had by then become the empire's real power brokers.
• The steady rise of regional, semi-independent powers — the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh, and the Marathas — who nominally acknowledged the Mughal emperor but ruled independently in practice.

By the mid-18th century, the Mughal emperor in Delhi was a figurehead in all but name, setting the stage for European trading companies, especially the British, to step into the power vacuum — the subject of your next chapter.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Delhi Sultanate: 1206–1526, five dynasties — Slave, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi.
• Qutbuddin Aibak founded the Slave dynasty and began the Qutub Minar.
• Iltutmish introduced the Iqta system and secured Caliph recognition.
• Razia Sultan was the only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
• Balban introduced sijda and paibos and crushed the Chahalgani nobles.
• Alauddin Khilji introduced market price controls and used general Malik Kafur for Deccan campaigns.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq attempted capital transfer to Daulatabad and introduced token currency.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq reversed harsh policies and transported Ashokan pillars to Delhi.
• Lodi dynasty was the only Afghan dynasty to rule Delhi; Ibrahim Lodi was the last Sultan.
• First Battle of Panipat (1526): Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi, ends the Delhi Sultanate.
• Vijayanagara Empire founded 1336 by Harihara and Bukka; capital at Hampi.
• Krishnadeva Raya was Vijayanagara's greatest ruler, wrote Amuktamalyada.
• Battle of Talikota (1565) ended Vijayanagara's dominance.
• Bahmani Kingdom founded 1347 by Alauddin Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu).
• Bahmani kingdom split into five Deccan Sultanates by the early 16th century.
• Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, was born in 1469.
• Kabir blended Hindu and Islamic devotional ideas and rejected idol worship.
• Moinuddin Chishti's dargah is at Ajmer; Nizamuddin Auliya's shrine is in Delhi.
• Babur founded the Mughal Empire after the First Battle of Panipat (1526).
• Humayun lost his kingdom to Sher Shah Suri after Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540).
• Sher Shah Suri introduced the Rupiya and built the Grand Trunk Road.
• Akbar abolished jizya in 1564 and introduced Sulh-i-kul and Din-i-Ilahi.
• Todar Mal developed the Zabti/Dahsala revenue system under Akbar.
• Mansabdari system ranked nobles by zat and sawar.
• Jahangir gave trading rights to Sir Thomas Roe (English East India Company) in 1615.
• Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, and Jama Masjid.
• Aurangzeb reimposed jizya in 1679 and fought prolonged wars in the Deccan.
• Shivaji was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674.
• Shivaji's council of eight ministers was called the Ashtapradhan.
• Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were Maratha revenue levies on neighbouring territories.
• Third Battle of Panipat (1761): Ahmad Shah Abdali defeats the Marathas.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Delhi Sultanate Dynasties at a Glance

Dynasty	Founder	Period	Best-known ruler
Slave (Mamluk)	Qutbuddin Aibak	1206–1290	Iltutmish
Khilji	Jalaluddin Khilji	1290–1320	Alauddin Khilji
Tughlaq	Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq	1320–1414	Muhammad bin Tughlaq
Sayyid	Khizr Khan	1414–1451	(weak, transitional)
Lodi	Bahlul Lodi	1451–1526	Ibrahim Lodi (last Sultan)

Table 2: Mughal Emperors and Their Signature Contributions

Emperor	Reign	Signature contribution
Babur	1526–1530	Founded empire, First Battle of Panipat
Humayun	1530–1556 (with exile)	Lost and regained throne; wrote in exile
Akbar	1556–1605	Sulh-i-kul, Mansabdari, Dahsala revenue system
Jahangir	1605–1627	Chain of justice, Sir Thomas Roe embassy
Shah Jahan	1628–1658	Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid
Aurangzeb	1658–1707	Reimposed jizya, prolonged Deccan wars

Practice MCQs

Q1. Who founded the Slave (Mamluk) dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate? (a) Iltutmish (b) Qutbuddin Aibak (c) Balban (d) Razia Sultan

Q2. The Iqta system, assigning land revenue rights to nobles for military service, was introduced by: (a) Alauddin Khilji (b) Balban (c) Iltutmish (d) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Q3. Which Delhi Sultan introduced market price control regulations to maintain a large army? (a) Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (b) Alauddin Khilji (c) Firoz Shah Tughlaq (d) Jalaluddin Khilji

Q4. Muhammad bin Tughlaq's attempt to shift his capital was from Delhi to: (a) Lahore (b) Devagiri (Daulatabad) (c) Agra (d) Multan

Q5. The Vijayanagara Empire was founded on the banks of which river? (a) Krishna (b) Godavari (c) Tungabhadra (d) Kaveri

Q6. Which battle in 1526 ended the Delhi Sultanate and established Mughal rule? (a) Battle of Khanwa (b) First Battle of Panipat (c) Battle of Talikota (d) Battle of Chausa

Q7. Sher Shah Suri, who defeated Humayun, is best remembered administratively for: (a) Founding Din-i-Ilahi (b) Introducing the Rupiya and building the Grand Trunk Road (c) Building the Taj Mahal (d) Introducing the Mansabdari system

Q8. Akbar's revenue system based on average produce and prices over the previous ten years was called: (a) Ryotwari system (b) Permanent Settlement (c) Zabti/Dahsala system (d) Ijara system

Q9. Which Mughal emperor reimposed the jizya tax in 1679 after it had been abolished by his great-grandfather? (a) Jahangir (b) Shah Jahan (c) Aurangzeb (d) Akbar

Q10. Shivaji was crowned Chhatrapati at which fort in 1674? (a) Torna (b) Raigad (c) Panhala (d) Pratapgad

Q11. In Shivaji's administration, the council of eight ministers was known as: (a) Diwan-i-Khas (b) Ashtapradhan (c) Mansabdari (d) Chahalgani

Q12. Which Deccan battle in 1565 led to the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire? (a) Battle of Talikota (b) Battle of Khanwa (c) Battle of Panipat (d) Battle of Haldighati

Q13. The founder of the Bahmani Kingdom, who had earlier rebelled against Muhammad bin Tughlaq, was: (a) Krishnadeva Raya (b) Alauddin Bahman Shah (Hasan Gangu) (c) Malik Kafur (d) Zafar Khan

Q14. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) was fought between the Marathas and: (a) Nadir Shah (b) Ahmad Shah Abdali (c) Aurangzeb (d) Sher Shah Suri

Q15. Which pair of Maratha revenue levies were collected from territories neighbouring Maratha-controlled lands? (a) Zamindari and Jagirdari (b) Chauth and Sardeshmukhi (c) Jizya and Zakat (d) Kharaj and Ushr

Answer Key

Q	Answer	Reason
1	(b)	Qutbuddin Aibak, Ghori's general, founded the Slave dynasty in 1206 after Ghori's death.
2	(c)	Iltutmish institutionalized the Iqta system, the Sultanate's core administrative tool.
3	(b)	Alauddin Khilji fixed market prices through officers like Shahna-i-Mandi to fund his army.
4	(b)	Muhammad bin Tughlaq shifted the capital to Devagiri, renamed Daulatabad, then reversed it.
5	(c)	Harihara and Bukka founded Vijayanagara on the Tungabhadra, with Hampi as capital.
6	(b)	The First Battle of Panipat (1526) saw Babur defeat Ibrahim Lodi, ending the Sultanate.
7	(b)	Sher Shah Suri's Rupiya and Grand Trunk Road outlived his short-lived Sur dynasty.
8	(c)	The Zabti/Dahsala system, developed with Raja Todar Mal, averaged ten years of revenue data.
9	(c)	Aurangzeb reimposed jizya in 1679, reversing Akbar's 1564 abolition.
10	(b)	Shivaji's coronation as Chhatrapati took place at Raigad in 1674.
11	(b)	The Ashtapradhan was Shivaji's council of eight ministers, headed by the Peshwa.
12	(a)	The Battle of Talikota (1565) against the allied Deccan Sultanates broke Vijayanagara's power.
13	(b)	Alauddin Bahman Shah, also called Hasan Gangu, founded the Bahmani Kingdom in 1347.
14	(b)	Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
15	(b)	Chauth (one-fourth of revenue) and Sardeshmukhi (an additional levy) funded Maratha expansion.