Q10. Which phrase best expresses Akbar’s idea of sulh-i-kul?
[RRB NTPC, 2019]
(A) Peace with all
(B) Tax-free military service
(C) Rule only through hereditary nobles
(D) Permanent abolition of trade
Answer: (A) Peace with all
Explanation: Sulh-i-kul expressed a preference for peace and equitable cooperation among groups of different beliefs. It helped legitimize Akbar’s varied ruling coalition and provided a principle for governance beyond a narrowly defined religious elite.
Q9. Which method was prevalent for levying land revenue in the Deccan during Akbar’s reign?
[UPPSC Civil Services Prelims, 2017]
(A) Kankut
(B) Number of ploughs
(C) Zabt
(D) Ghallabakshi
Answer: (B) Number of ploughs
Explanation: The number-of-ploughs method could be used in Deccan regions under Akbar because detailed crop-by-crop surveys were not always feasible there. The principal zabt arrangement developed most effectively in well-recorded northern provinces.
Q8. Which battle–year pair involving the Mughal period is correctly matched?
[CGPSC Prelims, 2016]
(A) Chausa — 1538
(B) Kannauj — 1539
(C) Haldighati — 1576
(D) Khajwa — 1657
Answer: (C) Haldighati — 1576
Explanation: Haldighati was fought in 1576 between Mughal forces under Raja Man Singh and Maharana Pratap’s forces. Chausa occurred in 1539, Kannauj in 1540 and Khajwa in 1659, making their alternative year pairings incorrect.
Q7. During whose reign was the Mughal zabt revenue-settlement system introduced?
[WBCS Preliminary, 2015]
(A) Alauddin Khalji
(B) Sher Shah
(C) Akbar
(D) Shah Jahan
Answer: (C) Akbar
Explanation: Zabt is particularly associated with revenue reforms during Akbar’s reign. Officials developed measured assessment, crop classifications and cash rates. Sher Shah had earlier undertaken influential land-revenue reforms, but the mature Mughal zabt method belonged to Akbar.
Q6. Ain-i-Dahsala was concerned with which subject?
[RPSC Senior Teacher (Social Science), 2015]
(A) Judicial punishment
(B) Army recruitment
(C) Religious ritual
(D) Land revenue assessment
Answer: (D) Land revenue assessment
Explanation: The dahsala arrangement used an average of agricultural yield and prices across ten years to help set land-revenue demand. The approach is associated with Akbar and Todar Mal and aimed to stabilize the state’s assessment process.
Q5. Consider: (I) Not all mansabdars were exclusively military officers; (II) high civil officers could also hold mansabs. Which is correct?
[RPSC RAS Preliminary, 2013]
(A) Both false
(B) Both true
(C) I true, II false
(D) I false, II true
Answer: (B) Both true
Explanation: Mansabdari was a graded imperial service, not merely an army roster. Officials could hold high civil positions while retaining their mansabs. This flexibility connected bureaucracy, rank and military responsibility to the authority of the emperor.
Q4. Which of Jahangir’s associates rebelled against him: (I) Khurram, (II) Mahabat Khan, (III) Khusrau?
[UPPSC Civil Services Prelims, 2013]
(A) I alone
(B) II alone
(C) I and III only
(D) All three
Answer: (D) All three
Explanation: Prince Khusrau rebelled early in Jahangir’s reign; Prince Khurram later challenged his father; and Mahabat Khan mounted a dramatic intervention in court politics. Together these episodes reveal tensions between imperial succession, noble factions and personal military followings.
Q3. What was the principal language of Mughal imperial administration?
[UPPSC Assistant Engineer, General Studies, 2013 — 2013]
(A) Persian
(B) Urdu
(C) Turkish
(D) Arabic
Answer: (A) Persian
Explanation: Persian was the central language of Mughal bureaucratic correspondence and major official histories. Babur’s own memoir was originally written in Chagatai Turkic, but the mature empire depended heavily on Persianate scribal and documentary conventions.
Q2. Who was Mughal emperor when the English East India Company was founded in 1600?
[UPPSC Civil Services Prelims, 2012 — 2012]
(A) Akbar
(B) Jahangir
(C) Shah Jahan
(D) Aurangzeb
Answer: (A) Akbar
Explanation: The East India Company received its English charter in 1600, during Akbar’s reign in India. Commercial relations became increasingly important under later Mughal emperors, but the company’s initial formation did not itself confer territorial government in India.
Q1. What was the principal distinction between a zamindar and a state-appointed amil?
[Practice • classical Mughal administration revision — 2011]
(A) Zamindars held locally rooted rights; amils were revenue-collection officials
(B) Both were always emperors
(C) Amils were exclusively military generals
(D) Zamindars were forbidden from collecting revenue
Answer: (A) Zamindars held locally rooted rights; amils were revenue-collection officials
Explanation: Zamindars could possess hereditary and locally grounded claims to land revenue and authority, whereas amils acted as administrative revenue collectors in assigned jurisdictions. Their duties sometimes intersected, creating both cooperation and conflict at village and district levels.
