The Mughal Empire Class 7 History Extra Questions and Answers

1: Guerilla warfare was started by 13: Name the Rajput clan that
the Marathas in the deccan during refused to accept the suzerainty of
the reign of ____________. Mughals for a long time.
Answer: Aurangzeb Answer: Sisodiya
2: Prince Akbar rebelled against 14: The immediate threat in the year
whom? 1500 to the Mughal authority was
Answer: Aurangzeb the _________.
3: Name the Mughal ruler who Answer: Afghans
followed the coparcenary inheritance. 15: Red Fort in Delhi was
Answer: Humayun constructed by__________.
4: Mughals permanently lost Answer: Shah Jahan
Qandhar during the reign of 16: Who was Bairam Khan?
___________. Answer: guardian of Akbar
Answer: Shah Jahan 17: What was the real name of
5: In which year the battle of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan?
Chanderi was fought? Answer: Khurram
Answer: 1528 18: Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi
6: Chittor was the capital of was defeated by Akbar?
__________. Answer: False
Answer: Sisodiya Rajputs 19: Name the Mughal emperor who
7: When was the First Battle of seized power from the hands of his
Panipat fought? regent Bairam Khan.
Answer: 1526 Answer: Akbar
8: Who wrote Ain-i-Akbari? 20: Who was the first Mughal
Answer: Abul Fazl emperor?
9: The real name of Nur Jahan, the Answer: Babar
queen of Jahangir was Mehrunnisa. 21: Akbar became emperor at the age
True/False of ______ years.
Answer: True Answer: 13 years
10: Who constructed Fatehpur-Sikri? 22: What do you understand by Zabt?
Answer: Akbar Answer: revenue system
11: What is the name of the policy of 23: Qandhar was the bone of
peaceful co-existence adopted by contention between Mughals and
Akbar? ________.
Answer: Sulh-i-kul Answer: Safavids
12: The dynasty, which reigned India 24: Jahangir struck silver coins
for maximum number of years was bearing the name of his queen
Mughal. True/False Nurjahan. True/False
Answer: True Answer: True
25: The Sisodiya Rajputs were ruling
over Ajmer. True/False
Answer: False 39: The system in which elder son
26: Who was Genghis Khan? succeeds father after death was
Answer: The founder of the Mongol _____________.
Empire. Answer: primogeniture inheritance
27: When did the great Timurid 40: Coparcenary inheritance means
Sultan, Timur Lane died? division of the empire among
Answer: 1403 brothers. True/False
28: When did Timur Lane invaded Answer: True
India? 41: Name The Maratha Chieftain
Answer: 1398 who escaped from Agra and declared
29: Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi himself as an independent king.
at__________. Answer: Shivaji
Answer: Panipat 42: In what form does the
30: Name the Mansabdars who were Mansabdars received salaries?
allotted jagirs in their own region. Answer: Jagirs
Answer: Rajputs 43: Akbar Nama was written
31: Name the autonomous state by___________.
founded by Saadat Khan. Answer: Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Answer: Awadh 44: Between whom the battle of
32: During the reign of Babur and Khanua was faught?
Humayun, majority of the nobles Answer: Ranthambor
were of ___________ origin. 45: Name the place captured by
Answer: Turkish Akbar after the capture of the
33: Who founded the kingdom of Sisodiya capital Chittor.
Hyderabad? Answer: Qandahar
Answer: Nizam – ul- Mulk Short Extra Questions and Answers
34: Where the religious discussions 1. When did Humayun recapture
conducted by Akbar were held? Delhi?
Answer: Ibadat Khana Answer: He recaptured Delhi in
35: Name the Mughal ruler who has 1555.
followed the coparcenary inheritance. 2. Who was the first Mughal emperor
Answer: Humayun of India?
36: Mansab stands for ____________. Answer: Babur was the first Mughal
Answer: one rank emperor (1526- 1530).
37: What determined the position of 3. Who started guerrilla warfare in
a Mansabdars? the Deccan?
Answer: zat rank Answer: Marathas started guerrilla
38: Higher, the zat rank, higher was warfare.
the position of the mansabdars in the 4. Who was Jahangir?
court. True/False Answer: Jahangir was the great
Answer: True Mughal Emperor, and he was the son
of Akbar.
5. Who gave shelter to Humayun 15. Who was Jahangir’s mother?
when he fled to Iran? Answer: The mother of Jahangir was
Answer: In Iran Humayun received a Kachhwaha princess, daughter of
help from the Safavid Shah. the Rajput ruler of Amber
6. Who was the author of Akbar (modernday Jaipur).
Nama and Ain-Akbari? 16. Who was Shah Jahan’s mother?
Answer: Abul Fazl was the author of Answer: The mother of Shah Jahan
Akbar Nama and Ain-i-Akbari. was a Rathor princess, daughter of
7. How did Humayun die? the Rajput ruler of Marwar
Answer: Humayun died as a result of (Jodhpur).
an accidental fall in his building. 17. What is the rule of
8. At what age did Akbar became the primogeniture?
emperor of the Mughal Empire? Answer: In law, primogeniture is the
Answer: At the age of 13, Akbar rule of inheritance whereby father’s
became the emperor of the Mughal estate descends to the eldest son.
Empire. 18. When did Mehrunnisa receive the
9. Who was the regent of Akbar? title Nur Jahan?
Answer: Bairam Khan was the Answer: Mehrunnisa married the
regent of Akbar Emperor Jahangir in 1611 and
10. Who defeated the Sultan of Delhi, received the title Nur Jahan.
Ibrahim Lodi and where? 19. What was the Mughal tradition of
Answer: Babur defeated and killed succession?
Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat Answer: They followed the Mughal
in 1526. and Timurid custom of coparcenary
11. Who were defeated in the battle inheritance, or a division of the
of Chanderi by Babur? inheritance amongst all the sons.
Answer: Rajputs was defeated in the 20. Who was Babur?
battle of Chanderi by Babur. Answer: Babur, the first Mughal
12. What was jagir? emperor (1526- 1530), succeeded to
Answer: Mansabdars received their the throne of Ferghana in 1494 when
salaries as revenue assignments he was only 12 years old.
called jagirs. 21. What was known as zabt?
13. What forced Humayun to flee to Answer: Each province was divided
Iran? into revenue circles with its own
Answer: Sher Khan defeated schedule of revenue rates for
Humayun at Chausa (1539) and individual crops. This revenue
Kanauj (1540), forcing him to flee to system was known as zabt.
Iran. 22. What was the name that Prince
14. Who was Genghis Khan? Khurram assumed after he ascended
Answer: Genghis Khan was the ruler the throne?
of the Mongol tribes, China and Answer: After the death of Jahangir,
Central Asia. He died in 1227. Prince Khurram ascended to the
throne in 1627 and was named Shah 28. Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji when
Jahan. he came to accept Mughal authority.
23. Who was victorious in the conflict What was the consequence of this
over succession amongst the Shah insult?
Jahan’s sons? Answer: As a result of this, Shivaji
Answer: Aurangzeb was victorious escaped from Agra, declared himself
and his three brothers, including an independent king and resumed
Dara Shukoh, were killed. his campaigns against the Mughals.
24. What were the central provinces 29. Why was it a difficult task for
under the control of the Mughals? rulers of Middle Ages to rule the
Answer: The central provinces under Indian subcontinent?
the control of the Mughals were- Answer: Ruling as large a territory
Lahore, Panipat, Delhi, Mathura, as the Indian subcontinent with such
Agra, Amber, Ajmer, Fatehpur Sikri, a diversity of people and cultures was
Chittor, Ranthambhor and an extremely difficult task for any
Allahabad. ruler to accomplish in the Middle
25. What was zat? Ages.
Answer: Rank and salary were 30. What helped the Mughals to
determined by a numerical value extend their influence over many
called zat. The higher the zat, the kings and chieftains?
more prestigious was the noble’s Answer: The careful balance between
position in court and the larger his defeating but not humiliating their
salary. opponents enabled the Mughals to
26. What was the role of the extend their influence over many
zamindar in Mughal administration? kings and chieftains.
Answer: Zamindar in Mughal 31. What do you mean by the term
administration collected tax from mansabdar?
peasants. They acted as Or
intermediaries between peasants and What do you know about Mansabdari
the ruler. In some areas the System?
zamindars exercised a great deal of Answer: The term mansabdar refers
power. to an individual who holds a mansab,
27. Explain the term Dogma and meaning a position or rank. It was a
Bigot. grading system used by the Mughals
Answer: Dogma – A statement or an to fix (1) rank, (2) salary and (3)
interpretation declared as military responsibilities.
authoritative with the expectation 32. What were the military
that it would be followed without responsibilities of mansabdars?
question. Answer: The mansabdar’s military
Bigot – An individual who is responsibilities required him to
intolerant of another person’s maintain a specified number of
religious beliefs or culture. sawar or cavalrymen. The
mansabdar brought his cavalrymen was finally annexed and the Bijapur
for review, got them registered, their forces sued for peace.
horses branded and then received Long Extra Questions and Answers
money to pay them as salary. 1. What were the main features of
33. What power did the nobles sulh-i kul?
exercise during Akbar reign? Or
Answer: Akbar’s nobles commanded Write short notes on Akbar’s
large armies and had access to large religious policy.
amounts of revenue. While they were Answer: Akbar introduced the idea of
loyal the empire functioned sulh-i kul or “universal peace”. Its
efficiently but by the end of the main features were:
seventeenth century many nobles This idea of tolerance did not
had built independent networks of discriminate between people of
their own. Their loyalties to the different religions in his realm.
empire were weakened by their own Instead it focused on a system of
self-interest. ethics – honesty, justice and peace –
34. What was the relationship that was universally applicable.
between the mansabdar and the 2. Why was it important for the
jagir? Mughals to recruit mansabdars from
Answer: Mansabdars received their diverse backgrounds and not just
salaries as revenue assignments Turanis and Iranis?
called jagirs. Most mansabdars did Answer: As the empire expanded to
not actually reside in or administer encompass different regions the
their jagirs. They only had rights to Mughals recruited diverse bodies of
the revenue of their assignments people. From a small nucleus of
which was collected for them by their Turkish nobles (Turanis) they
servants while the mansabdars expanded to include Iranians, Indian
themselves served in some other part Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs,
of the country. Marathas and other groups. Those
35. Write about the major campaigns who joined Mughal service were
and events of Shah Jahan reign. enrolled as mansabdars.
Answer: Mughal campaigns 3. Write a short note on ‘Babur’?
continued in the Deccan under Shah Answer: (i) Babur, the first Mughal
Jahan. The Afghan noble Khan emperor (1526-1530), succeeded to
Jahan Lodi rebelled and was the throne of Ferghana in 1494 when
defeated. Campaigns were launched he was only 12 years old.
against Ahmadnagar; the Bundelas (ii) He was forced to leave his
were defeated and Orchha seized. In ancestral throne due to the invasion
the north-west, the campaign to seize of another Mongol group, the Uzbegs.
Balkh from the Uzbegs was (iii) After years of wandering he
unsuccessful and Qandahar was lost seized Kabul in 1504. In 1526 he
to the Safavids. In 1632 Ahmadnagar defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim
Lodi, at Panipat and captured Delhi rulers. From their mother’s side they
and Agra. were descendants of Genghis Khan
4. Write short note on Humayun. (died 1227), ruler of the Mongol
Answer: (i) Humayun divided his tribes, China and Central Asia. From
inheritance according to the will of their father’s side they were the
his father. His brothers were each successors of Timur (died 1404), the
given a province. The ambitions of ruler of Iran, Iraq and modern-day
his brother Mirza Kamran weakened Turkey. However, the Mughals did
Humayun’s cause against Afghan not like to be called Mughal or
competitors. Sher Khan defeated Mongol. This was because Genghis
Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Khan’s memory was associated with
Kanauj (1540), forcing him to flee to the massacre of innumerable people.
Iran. It was also linked with the Uzbegs,
(ii) In Iran Humayun received help their Mongol competitors. On the
from the Safavid Shah. He other hand, the Mughals were proud
recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died the of their Timurid ancestry, not least of
next year after an accident in this all because their great ancestor had
building. captured Delhi in 1398.
5. How were the debates with 7. How important was the income
religious scholars important in the from land revenue to the stability of
formation of Akbar’s ideas on the Mughal Empire?
governance? Answer: The main source of income
Answer: Akbar’s interaction with available to Mughal rulers was from
people of different faiths made him land revenue. The Mughal Empire
realise that religious scholars who was very large and therefore for
emphasised ritual and dogma were administration and maintaining law
often bigots. Their teachings created and order, a huge amount of revenue
divisions and disharmony amongst was needed which comes from the
his subjects. This eventually led land revenue. The land revenue was
Akbar to the idea of sulh-i kul or also needed for salaries of the
“universal peace”. This idea of soldiers and officials and welfare
tolerance did not discriminate works for the common people. The
between people of different religions enormous wealth and resources
in his realm. Instead it focused on a commanded by the Mughal elite
system of ethics – honesty, justice made them an extremely powerful
and peace – that was universally group of people in the late
applicable. seventeenth century. Thus, we can
6. Why did the Mughals emphasise say that land revenue played a
their Timurid and not their Mongol crucial role in the stability of the
descent? Mughal Empire.
Answer: The Mughals were 8. How were the Mughal different
descendants of two great lineages of from their predecessors?
Answer: In contrast to their zabt. It was prevalent in those areas
predecessors, the Mughals created an where Mughal administrators could
empire and accomplished what had survey the land and keep very
hitherto seemed possible for only careful accounts.
short periods of time. From the latter 11. Give a brief account of Akbar
half of the sixteenth century they Nama and Ain-i Akbari.
expanded their kingdom from Agra Answer: Abul Fazl wrote a three-
and Delhi, until in the seventeenth volume history of Akbar’s reign,
century they controlled nearly all of titled Akbar Nama. The first volume
the subcontinent. They imposed dealt with Akbar’s ancestors and the
structures of administration and second volume recorded the events of
ideas of governance that outlasted Akbar’s reign. The third volume is
their rule, leaving a political legacy the Ain-I Akbari. It deals with
that succeeding rulers of the Akbar’s administration, household,
subcontinent could not ignore. army, the revenues and the
9. How did Babur become the ruler of geography of his empire. It also
Delhi? provides rich details about the
Answer: Babur, the first Mughal traditions and culture of the people
emperor (1526-1530), succeeded to living in India. The most interesting
the throne of Ferghana in 1494 when aspect about the Ain-i Akbari is its
he was only 12 years old. He was rich statistical details about things
forced to leave his ancestral throne as diverse as crops, yields, prices,
due to the invasion of another wages and revenues.
Mongol group, the Uzbegs. After 12. Write about the Mughal relations
years of wandering he seized Kabul with other rulers.
in 1504. In 1526 he defeated the Answer: Mughal rulers campaigned
Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at constantly against rulers who
Panipat and captured Delhi and refused to accept their authority. But
Agra. He captured Delhi and led the as the Mughals became powerful
foundation of Mughal Empire. many other rulers also joined them
10. Write a brief note on the Land voluntarily. The Rajputs are a good
Revenue System of Akbar. example of this. Many of them
Answer: Akbar’s revenue minister, married their daughters into Mughal
Todar Mal, carried out a careful families and received high positions.
survey of crop yields, prices and But many resisted as well. The
areas cultivated for a 10-year period, Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept
1570- 1580. On the basis of this data, Mughal authority for a long time.
tax was fixed on each crop in cash. Once defeated, however, they were
Each province was divided into honourably treated by the Mughals,
revenue circles with its own schedule given their lands (watan) back as
of revenue rates for individual crops. assignments (watan jagir). The
This revenue system was known as careful balance between defeating
but not humiliating their opponents Sisodiya capital of Chittor was seized
enabled the Mughals to extend their and in 1569 Ranthambhor.
influence over many kings and (ii) 1570-1585 – military campaigns
chieftains. in Gujarat were followed by
13. Why did the peasantry suffer campaigns in the east in Bihar,
tremendously in the last years of Bengal and Orissa. These campaigns
Aurangzeb’s reign? were complicated by the 1579-1580
Answer: In Akbar’s reign these jagirs revolt in support of Mirza Hakim.
were carefully assessed so that their (iii) 1585-1605 – expansion of Akbar’s
revenues were roughly equal to the empire. Campaigns were launched in
salary of the mansabdar. By the north-west. Qandahar was seized
Aurangzeb’s reign this was no longer from the Safavids, Kashmir was
the case and the actual revenue annexed, as also Kabul, after the
collected was often less than the death of Mirza Hakim. Campaigns in
granted sum. There was also a huge the Deccan started and Berar,
increase in the number of Khandesh and parts of Ahmadnagar
mansabdars, which meant a long were annexed.
wait before they received a jagir. 15. Write a short note on Akbar’s
These and other factors created a administrative policies?
shortage in the number of jagirs. As Answer: The broad features of
a result, many jagirdars tried to administration were laid down by
extract as much revenue as possible Akbar and were elaborately
while they had a jagir. Aurangzeb discussed by Abul Fazl in his book,
was unable to control these the Akbar Nama, in particular in its
developments in the last years of his last volume, the Ain-i Akbari. Abul
reign and the peasantry therefore Fazl explained that the empire was
suffered tremendously. divided into provinces called subas,
14. What were the major campaigns governed by a subadar who carried
and events of Akbar reign? out both political and military
Answer: Akbar was 13 years old functions. Each province also had a
when he became emperor. His reign financial officer or diwan. For the
can be divided into three periods. maintenance of peace and order in
(i) 1556-1570 – Akbar became his province, the subadar was
independent of the regent Bairam supported by other officers such as
Khan and other members of his the military paymaster (bakhshi),
domestic staff. Military campaigns the minister in charge of religious
were launched against the Suris and and charitable patronage (sadr),
other Afghans, against the military commanders (faujdars) and
neighbouring kingdoms of Malwa the town police commander (kotwal).
and Gondwana, and to suppress the He was interested in the religion and
revolt of his half-brother Mirza social customs of different people. So,
Hakim and the Uzbegs. In 1568 the he followed the principle of
governance called sulh-i kul or recognise the Mughal emperor in
“universal peace”. This idea of Delhi as their master, by the
tolerance did not discriminate eighteenth century the provinces of
between people of different religions the empire had consolidated their
in his realm. Instead it focused on a independent political identities.
system of ethics – honesty, justice
and peace – that was universally
applicable.
16. Write a note on the Mughal
Empire in the seventeenth century
and after?
Answer: (i) The administrative and
military efficiency of the Mughal
Empire led to great economic and
commercial prosperity. International
travellers described it as the fabled
land of wealth. But these same
visitors were also appalled at the
state of poverty that existed side by
side with the greatest opulence.
(ii) The Mughal emperors and their
mansabdars spent a great deal of
their income on salaries and goods.
This expenditure benefited the
artisans and peasantry who supplied
them with goods and produce. But
the scale of revenue collection left
very little for investment in the
hands of the primary producers – the
peasant and the artisan.
(iii) The enormous wealth and
resources commanded by the Mughal
elite made them an extremely
powerful group of people in the late
seventeenth century. As the
authority of the Mughal emperor
slowly declined, his servants
emerged as powerful centres of power
in the regions. They constituted new
dynasties and held command of
provinces like Hyderabad and
Awadh. Although they continued to