Q60. Who invaded Sindh in 712 CE?
[SSC CGL — 2021]
A. Qutb-ud-din Aibak
B. Muhammad Ghori
C. Mahmud of Ghazni
D. Muhammad-bin-Qasim
Answer: D. Muhammad-bin-Qasim
Explanation: Qasim’s conquest represents the earliest successful Arab territorial expansion in the subcontinent, much earlier than the Turkish invasions of Mahmud and Muhammad Ghori.
Q59. Muhammad Ghori’s seizure of Tabarhinda in 1191 directly threatened the territory of which ruler?
[SSC CGL — 2021]
A. Prithviraj Chauhan
B. Rana Kumbha
C. Hemu
D. Maharana Pratap
Answer: A. Prithviraj Chauhan
Explanation: Tabarhinda or Bhatinda lay within Prithviraj’s sphere. Ghori’s occupation therefore precipitated the confrontation that produced the First Battle of Tarain.
Q58. Prithviraj Chauhan fought Muhammad Ghori at which battlefield?
[SSC CGL — 2021]
A. Chausa
B. Tarain
C. Talikota
D. Khanwa
Answer: B. Tarain
Explanation: Two major battles occurred at Tarain near present-day Taraori in Haryana: Prithviraj won in 1191, while Ghori achieved the decisive victory in 1192.
Q57. In which year was the First Battle of Tarain fought?
[SSC MTS — 2021]
A. 1157
B. 1191
C. 1204
D. 1213
Answer: B. 1191
Explanation: Tarain I took place in 1191 and ended in Ghori’s defeat. The Second Battle, fought in 1192, proved far more consequential politically.
Q56. Who won the First Battle of Tarain?
[Delhi Forest Guard — 2021]
A. Muhammad Ghori
B. Prithviraj Chauhan
C. Qutb-ud-din Aibak
D. Jayachandra
Answer: B. Prithviraj Chauhan
Explanation: Prithviraj’s forces routed Ghori’s army in 1191. Ghori survived, prepared a new campaign and defeated the Chauhan forces the following year.
Q55. Mahmud of Ghazni defeated which dynasty while extending his power towards Punjab?
[CMAT — 2021]
A. Hindu Shahis
B. Cholas
C. Senas
D. Hoysalas
Answer: A. Hindu Shahis
Explanation: The Hindu Shahi rulers Jayapala and Anandapala offered major resistance to the Ghaznavids in Afghanistan and Punjab before Mahmud consolidated his position there.
Q54. Who wrote Kitab-al-Hind?
[RPSC Assistant Professor — 2021]
A. Ibn Battuta
B. Al-Biruni
C. Marco Polo
D. Amir Khusrau
Answer: B. Al-Biruni
Explanation: Al-Biruni’s work systematically examined Indian intellectual and social traditions and remains an indispensable source for India during the Ghaznavid period.
2020
Q53. Mahmud of Ghazni’s first major invasion against the Hindu Shahis occurred around which year?
[SSC JE — 2020]
A. 1001 CE
B. 1101 CE
C. 1192 CE
D. 1206 CE
Answer: A. 1001 CE
Explanation: In 1001 Mahmud defeated Hindu Shahi ruler Jayapala near Peshawar/Waihind, beginning a series of major Ghaznavid campaigns into the Indian subcontinent.
Q52. How many invasions of India are traditionally attributed to Mahmud of Ghazni?
[SSC CHSL — 2020]
A. 7
B. 12
C. 17
D. 25
Answer: C. 17
Explanation: Standard Indian history accounts traditionally count seventeen Ghaznavid expeditions between roughly 1000 and 1027, including campaigns against Punjab, Mathura, Kannauj and Somnath.
Q51. Which of the following works comes earliest chronologically?
[UPPCS Preliminary Examination — 2020]
A. Kitab-ul-Hind
B. Prithviraj Raso
C. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri
D. Fatawa-i-Jahandari
Answer: A. Kitab-ul-Hind
Explanation: Al-Biruni’s eleventh-century Kitab-ul-Hind predates texts associated with the later Ghurid and Delhi Sultanate periods, including Tabaqat-i-Nasiri and Barani’s works.
