Q20. Which Mughal emperor established the Maktab Khana for literary translations?
[Practice – SSC CGL]
- (A) Akbar
- (B) Babur
- (C) Aurangzeb
- (D) Alamgir II
Answer: (A) Akbar
Explanation: Akbar patronized the Maktab Khana, a translation establishment bringing Sanskrit and other Indian works into Persian. Translations encouraged exchanges among scholars and became subjects for illustrated manuscripts. The programme reflected intellectual curiosity within Akbar’s court.
Q19. Which Sanskrit mathematical text was translated into Persian during Akbar’s reign?
[Practice – SSC CHSL]
- (A) Lilavati
- (B) Arthashastra only
- (C) Aryabhatiya only
- (D) Surya Siddhanta only
Answer: (A) Lilavati
Explanation: Bhaskara II’s mathematical treatise Lilavati was translated into Persian under Mughal patronage during Akbar’s reign. The translation programme reached beyond epics and religious literature, showing how the court sought mathematical and scientific knowledge from Sanskrit traditions.
Q18. Which painting subject became especially important in the albums of Jahangir’s court?
[Practice – SSC MTS]
- (A) Naturalistic portraits and fauna
- (B) Only geometric wall tiles
- (C) Only abstract calligraphy
- (D) Only temple sculpture
Answer: (A) Naturalistic portraits and fauna
Explanation: Jahangir’s albums featured portraits, unusual animals, flowering plants and refined calligraphy. Individual folios could be assembled into albums rather than bound into lengthy narratives. The emphasis on collecting and connoisseurship shaped this distinctive phase of Mughal painting.
Q17. Who was the court musician traditionally associated with Akbar and the Hindustani musical tradition?
[Practice – RRB NTPC]
- (A) Tansen
- (B) Amir Khusrau
- (C) Swati Tirunal
- (D) Tyagaraja
Answer: (A) Tansen
Explanation: Tansen, also known as Miyan Tansen, served in Akbar’s court and became an emblematic figure in Hindustani classical music. Musical traditions credit him with influential compositions and ragas. Accounts of his extraordinary abilities often mix historical memory with legend.
Q16. Which work is Babur’s autobiographical memoir, written originally in Chagatai Turkish?
[Practice – RRB Group D]
- (A) Baburnama
- (B) Akbarnama
- (C) Padshahnama
- (D) Shahjahan-nama
Answer: (A) Baburnama
Explanation: Babur’s memoir, widely known as the Baburnama, was written in Chagatai Turkish. It contains observations on politics, landscape, gardens, plants and daily life. Its detailed descriptions give historians valuable insight into early Mughal literary and aesthetic interests.
Q15. Which Mughal-era practice involved binding a collection of individual paintings and calligraphic specimens?
[Practice – WBCS]
- (A) Muraqqa album-making
- (B) Casting bronze cannons
- (C) Building stepwells
- (D) Carving stupas
Answer: (A) Muraqqa album-making
Explanation: A muraqqa is an album containing paintings and calligraphic pieces, often framed by ornamented borders. Mughal collectors valued exquisite individual folios, especially under Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Albums encouraged comparison of artists, subjects and decorative techniques.
Q14. Which features together most closely describe mature Shah Jahan-era Mughal architecture?
[Practice – CGPSC]
- (A) White marble, symmetry and refined inlay
- (B) Only rough mud walls
- (C) Only wooden halls
- (D) Complete rejection of floral ornament
Answer: (A) White marble, symmetry and refined inlay
Explanation: Shah Jahan-era monuments frequently feature polished marble, tightly balanced compositions, delicate floral carvings and coloured stone inlay. These elements were used selectively rather than universally. The Taj Mahal and private pavilions of the Red Fort demonstrate the aesthetic.
Q13. Which patron commissioned the Jama Masjid of Shahjahanabad in Delhi?
[Practice – UPSC CDS]
- (A) Shah Jahan
- (B) Humayun
- (C) Akbar
- (D) Jahangir
Answer: (A) Shah Jahan
Explanation: Shah Jahan commissioned Delhi’s great Jama Masjid, constructed in the mid-seventeenth century. Its expansive courtyard, striped domes and tall minarets complement the nearby Red Fort and establish the mosque as a key monumental focus of Shahjahanabad.
Q12. Which artistic feature indicates the influence of Indian architecture on many Mughal palaces?
[Practice – UPSC NDA]
- (A) Carved brackets supporting projecting eaves
- (B) Greek Doric temples
- (C) Roman concrete amphitheatres
- (D) Gothic stained-glass walls
Answer: (A) Carved brackets supporting projecting eaves
Explanation: Mughal palaces often used richly carved brackets and projecting eaves drawn from established Indian construction traditions. These worked alongside Persian-derived arches and domes. Their combination is especially visible in the red sandstone buildings of Fatehpur Sikri.
Q11. Which painter is most closely linked with the Mughal depiction of the dodo bird?
[Practice – MPPSC]
- (A) Ustad Mansur
- (B) Raja Ravi Varma
- (C) Nainsukh
- (D) Abanindranath Tagore
Answer: (A) Ustad Mansur
Explanation: Ustad Mansur created a celebrated early depiction of the dodo, an extinct flightless bird from Mauritius. His careful drawing of rare animals reflected Jahangir’s fascination with natural history and helped preserve visual evidence of species seen at the Mughal court.
