Deck 20: The Mughal Empire: Muslim Rulers and Hindu Subjects, 1400-1750

Question 1

The desire for a new Mongol empire, now allied with Islam, created opportunities for military action to unite and settle the nomadic tribes of Chaghatay, leading to the rise in the fourteenth century of _________, or Tamerlane.

A) Genghis Khan
B) Bayazid
C) Temur Gurgan
D) Miran Shah

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A particular problem for the long term health of Humayun's dynasty was the _________, or the creation of a regular system for previously improvised or ad hoc activities or things, of traditional nomadic succession practices among the House of Timur's rulers.

A) deinstitionalisation
B) institute
C) institutionalization
D) colonization

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In the wake of the collapse of the Mongol Empire, the largest in world history, the Central Asian heartland of the Turkic peoples evolved into a _________, many of whose rulers claimed descent from Genghis Khan.

A) tribe
B) city state
C) chiefdom
D) patchwork of smaller states

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Under Akbar's leadership, the Mughal armies were able to bring the eastern, southern and western flanks of their lands into their fold and again anchoring Islam in the former areas of its influence, the heartland of Northern India, or _________.

A) Hindustan
B) Bihar
C) Agra
D) Ajmir

Question 5

Because of the difficulties involved in Humayun's own succession to the throne, his death was kept a secret for several weeks, while the court worked out plans for a ___________, or the setting up of a guardian for an underage or incapacitated monarch to rule in his or her stead, for the emperor's son, fourteen-year-old Jalal ud-Din Akbar.

A) Lord Protector
B) Regency
C) Steward
D) Proxy

Question 6

The Mughals' primary challenge for control over Hindustan and the crucial Silk Road trade came from the _________ princes and their Persian allies.

A) Iranian
B) Uzbek
C) Afghan
D) Tajik

Question 7

Akbar ordered the building of the city of Fatehpur Sikri to give thanks to and honor the memory of _________, a Sufi holy man who had predicted the birth of a male son to Akbar, on the site of the holy man's camp in the village Sikri.

A) Zainuddin Shirazi
B) Zar Baksh
C) Salim Chisti
D) Bulleh Shah

Question 8

As was the case in China, the "inner" world of the household and the "outer" world of business, politics and warfare were clearly defined by _______.

A) age
B) gender
C) class
D) caste

Question 9

The Mughals' expansion into Bengal foreshadowed a clash with a very different kind of enemy, the Shan people of Southeast Asia called the _________.

A) Ahoms
B) Mong Yang
C) Hsenwi
D) Mong Kawng

Question 10

These discriminatory religious policies also created great distrust and many difficulties in dealing with self-governing, non-Muslim groups within the empire, most notably among the _________, who blended Hindu and Muslim traditions.

A) Ahoms
B) Sheikh
C) Hsenwi
D) Sikhs

Question 11

Despite these internal conflicts, Aurangzeb's military prowess helped him to secure key areas that had long eluded Mughal efforts: Bijapur, Golconda and much of the Maratha lands of the _________ region of South Central India.

A) Berar
B) Deccan
C) Orissa
D) Gondwana

Question 12

In the realm of the visual arts, and just like with the Safavid Persians and the Ottomans, one of the more interesting aspects of Islam as practiced by the Mughals is that, like the prohibitions regarding wine and other intoxicants, the injunctions against depicting the human form in art were often largely ignored in the _________.

A) public works
B) literature
C) museums
D) private chambers of the royal court

Question 13

While this new philosophy did not end Akbar's military campaigns, which he saw as ordained by God, it ultimately did lead him to conducting spirited religious debates with his subjects and formulating a new religion he called _________.

A) Islam
B) din-i ilahi
C) Ain-i-Akbari
D) Muraqaba

Question 14

By borrowing heavily from Sufi mysticism, Persian court protocols, Zoroastrian sun and fire veneration, and even Muslim and Christian Neo-platonic spiritualism, Akbar's divine faith sought to:

A) Increase the power of the Sunni Islamic clerics and draw followers from other religions
B) Create a new religious sect that would draw followers from other religions
C) Make him the Supreme Being of the Empire
D) Limit the power of Sunni Islamic clerics and draw followers from other religions

Question 15

A century before Akbar, Indian mathematicians had pushed their calculations of the value of pi to within nine decimal places, and expanded their facility with trigonometry to the point that some of the fundamental concepts of infinite series and _________ had been worked out.

A) algebra
B) geometry
C) calculus
D) scientific notation

Question 16

Shah Jahan did away with the _________ of former Mughal rulers and established a more legalistic and exclusively pro-Muslim environment more aligned with Sunni theology, a trend which would reach its pinnacle of power under the reign of Shah Jahan's own son, Aurangzeb.

A) polytheistic views
B) monotheistic views
C) dualism views
D) religious pluralism

Question 17

The House of Timur's new rulers, especially his son Humayun, were now faced with the problem of consolidating, organizing, and administering Babur's vast domain. Unfortunately, Humayun's interests were geared more toward _________ mysticism, poetry, astrology, and, at times, wine and opium than they were toward responsible leadership.

A) Sufi
B) Muraqaba
C) Dhikr
D) Dualistic

Question 18

In order to defend Hindustan, the Mughals built a series of fortresses throughout their inner domains and along the frontier. Which of the following is not the site of one such fortress?

A) Allahabad
B) Lahore
C) Red Fort in Delhi
D) Hyderabad

Question 19

Under Aurangzeb, there were two major trends: the start of an ongoing decades-long war with the Marathas, a federation of fiercely independent Central Indian clans; and his controversial bid for a more robust and legalistically effective _________ of Mughal India.

A) "unification"
B) "reconstruction"
C) "Islamification"
D) "transformation"

Question 20

During the seventeenth century, all but one of the following European nations largely supplanted Iberian influence in the region:

A) France
B) Britain
C) Italy
D) The Netherlands

Question 21

Akbar´s attempt to create a new divine faith was doomed to failure in part because:

A) din-i ilahi was perceived to be a religion that appealed to courtiers and nobles only
B) many followers joined the new divine faith for opportunistic rather than spiritual reasons
C) many followers embraced a less strict form of Islam instead
D) it was embraced by Sunni theologians

Question 22

Which of the following is not a long-term consequence of the creation of a world trading system by the European maritime powers:

A) Indian commodities were now being shipped globally
B) the Dutch and the British saw a sharp decline in their supremacy in India
C) growth of the Indian textile trade
D) growth of American silver and food and cash crop imports into India

Question 23

Fathullah Shirazi, a gifted Indian engineer, astronomer and philosopher:

A) came up with the concept for a multibarreled gun, similar in design to that of Leonardo da Vinci
B) invented the surgical scalpel
C) designed the world's first rocket launcher
D) is credited with designing the world's first automatic weapon

Question 24

Akbar's Sufi mystical training had increasingly predisposed him toward tolerance and eclecticism, which gradually developed into a personal philosophy he called _________, or "at peace with all."

A) sulh-i kull
B) Ain-i-Akbari
C) Dhikr
D) Sikhism

Question 25

After 1600, Akbar was faced with a domestic insurrection led by his own son Salim which nearly brought an untimely end to the latter's claims as heir apparent. In the end, however, Salim was able to prevail and ascended the throne as _________.

A) Khusrau
B) Salim
C) Aurangzeb
D) Jahangir

Question 26

While relations between Muslims and India's other religions were syncretic, in that they co-existed but remained largely separate, the political and social systems created by the Mughals were in many respects a successful example of the _________ of an "extraction state" and several centuries of ruling more settled areas.

A) caste system
B) synthesis
C) oligarchy
D) monarchy

Question 27

Aurangzeb's long rule renewed the Mughal trend of expanding into the Northeastern areas controlled by the Ahoms, whom he ultimately succeeded in converting into _________ after a military standstill.

A) Mughal chiefs
B) Mughal clients
C) Mughal representatives
D) Mughals citizens

Question 28

The basic administrative unit of the Mughals was the _________, a unit comprising an area usually containing a town and from a dozen to about a hundred villages.

A) league
B) meter
C) acre
D) pargana

Question 29

After Jahangir's death in 1627, his son Khurram inherited the throne and reigned as Shah Jahan. His rule coincided with perhaps the high point of Mughal cultural power and prestige, as reflected in its iconic monument, the _________.

A) The Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daula
B) Salim Chisti
C) Taj Mahal
D) Bulleh Shah

Question 30

Under Mughal rule, an elaborate, graded system of official ranks was created in which the recipients, called _________, were awarded grants of land along with the revenues those working the land generated.

A) mansabdars
B) governors
C) viceroys
D) pashas

Question 31

The Persian tradition of miniature painting flourished in Mughal India, as did larger works on a variety of surfaces, while charcoal sketches and the _________ painting technique were the artistic media of choice.

A) ragmalas
B) padma
C) gouache
D) ragas

Question 32

Great mosque projects also represent highlights of Mughal artistic sophistication and monumental scope. Among them are the Friday Delhi Mosque in Shahjahanabad and Aurangzeb's huge _________.

A) Badshahi Mosque in Lahore
B) Taj Mahal
C) Salim Chisti
D) Bulleh Shah

Question 33

In addition to being a monument to his beloved wife, the Taj Mahal is also an architectural allegory for:

A) The conquest of Hindustan by the Mughals in the sixteenth century.
B) Allah's judgment in paradise on the day of the resurrection.
C) The incorporation of Sikhism into Sunni Islam as the result of the Mughals.
D) The dazzling whiteness of Mumtaz Mahal's customary clothing.

Question 34

Like his model Genghis Khan, Timur:

A) Created an empire that long outlasted him.
B) Claimed that he was self-directed and did not rely on the power of the gods.
C) Set his ultimate sights on western Europe.
D) Proved surprisingly liberal in the treatment of at least some cities that surrendered.

Question 35

At the battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur's army had the advantage of:

A) The new military technologies of matchlock muskets and field cannon.
B) Vast numerical superiority.
C) 1000 war elephants that had been trained for battle conditions.
D) Afghan tribal chiefs who had a fearsome reputation for brutality.

Question 36

As distasteful as it was for a _________ to curry favor from the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp, Humayun received his support and reclaimed his throne in 1555.

A) Shia Muslim
B) Sikh
C) Hindu
D) Sunni Muslim

Question 37

Akbar's religious policies were viewed, by his fellow Muslims:

A) As a necessary accommodation to the large numbers of Hindus under his control.
B) As proof that he had actually become a non-believer.
C) As the result of the influence of his wife Manmati.
D) As a necessary, if harsh, reinstatement of Muslim fundamentalism in his domains.

Question 38

After he had launched a coup against his father, Akbar, Salim:

A) Was executed by impaling, as a warning to future rebels.
B) Was sent into exile in Persia
C) Became a Sufi priest and removed himself from the Mughal succession.
D) Suffered a revolt led by his own son Khusrau.

Question 39

The memory of Humayun's __________ was galling to the Mughals.

A) Defeat at the hands of the Safavids
B) Composition of a bizarre religious treatise that tried to synthesize all religions
C) Admission that he could not conquer the south of Hindustan.
D) Forced conversion to Shiism.

Question 40

As Mughal power was sapped by the revolts of the Marathas and others in the eighteenth century, the armed forces of the ___________ became important players in regional politics.

A) Qinglong Emperor
B) Russians
C) Ottoman Turks
D) European trading companies

Question 41

Akbar had a sudden intense mystical experience in 1578, gradually developing a personal philosophy he called "sulh-i kull", meaning "_________".

A) Kill them all, and let Allah sort them out.
B) Achilles sulked in his tent.
C) At peace with all.
D) All religions are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Question 42

By the time of Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the Marathas had set up their own administrative system with forts and taxes, and were:

A) Carrying off Shah Jahan's fabled Peacock Throne.
B) Forcibly converting Muslims to Hinduism.
C) Encouraging the Mughals to marry their daughters to Hindus.
D) Encouraging raids on Mughal caravans and pack trains.

Question 43

Akbar's four principal ministries included all of the following except:

A) Legal and religious affairs
B) Diplomatic relations with European trading companies
C) Army and military matters
D) The royal household

Question 44

The chief duties of the Mughals' zamindars were to:

A) Channel small-scale competitive energies into productive activities.
B) Purge the administrative elite of Sikhs.
C) Reform the military command structure.
D) Interpret Islamic law in accordance with Aurangzeb's directions.

Question 45

After the reimposition of the jizya tax on non-Muslims, Hindus who had newly converted to Islam:

A) Gave up their caste affiliation in an effort to hide their past identity.
B) Were quickly promoted into the mansabdar class.
C) Preserved their caste and clan affiliations, especially in terms of profession.
D) Were forced to demonstrate their conversion by undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Question 46

Women could, and often did, exercise a greater degree of power and influence among the ___________ than among most other groups in India.

A) Sikhs
B) Shiite Muslims
C) Hindus
D) Turkic peoples

Question 47

The astronomers of the Kerala school had calculated elliptical orbits for the visible planets a century in advance of __________.

A) Galileo Galilei
B) Johannes Kepler
C) Tycho Brahe
D) Ptolemy

Question 48

The skills of Hindus and Jains were increasingly sought by the Mughal court, and Akbar made a Hindu his ___________ and employed Hindu court astrologers.

A) Finance minister
B) Religious advisor
C) Protocol chief
D) Son-in-law and heir

Question 49

_________ writers, painters, and poets followed Humayun to India, where their talents enlivened the arts and helped develop Urdu verse forms.

A) Italian
B) Persian
C) Hindu
D) Kurdish

Question 50

Aided by the ease of travel within the Mongol Empire, _________ had, by the fourteenth century, become the dominant religion among the Central Asian Turkic peoples.

A) Islam
B) Hinduism
C) Buddhism
D) Sikhism

Question 51

The Mughals gave India one of its most prolific eras in terms of profusion and synthesis of literary genres, with _________ remaining the chief languages of literature.

A) Hindi and Persian
B) Arabic and Persian
C) Oriya and Maithili
D) Kashmiri and Arabic

Question 52

For Babur and his successors, their ruling family would always be "The House of Timur," prompting historians to sometimes refer to the line as the Timurids. However, because of their claims to the legacy of Genghis Khan, they would be better known to the world as the _________.

A) Huns
B) Mughals
C) Sheikh
D) Mangral

Question 53

Inconsolable after the loss of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan built a magnificent tomb complex in her honor near _________.

A) Kerala
B) Calicut
C) Lahore
D) Agra

Question 54

The end of the fourteenth century marked the stunning rise of Temur Gurgan, who was widely known from the Persian rendering of his name as Timur the _____.

A) Lame
B) Bloody
C) Son of Genghis
D) Rising Sun

Question 55

Zahir ud-Din Muhammad was better known by his nickname, Babur, which means "leopard" or "tiger" in __________.

A) Turkish
B) Mongol
C) Persian
D) Urdu

Question 56

In the 1550s, Mughal forces secured the eastern, southern, and western flanks of their lands, anchoring Islam with the territory they called "__________".

A) Outer Mughalia
B) Hindustan
C) India
D) Punjab

Question 57

The Mughals built fortresses at strategic points throughout their inner domains as well as along the frontier, and the largest was the Red Fort in _______.

A) Allahabad
B) Kandahar
C) Dacca
D) Delhi

Question 58

Akbar married the Rajput princess Manmati, despite her adherence to:

A) Hinduism
B) Shiite Islam
C) Sikhism
D) Christianity

Question 59

Jahangir's son Khusrau was forced to watch as his comrades were put to death by ____________.

A) Drawing and quartering
B) Hanging
C) Impalement
D) Crucifixion

Question 60

A four-way struggle broke out among the sons of Shah Jahan upon his death in ________.

A) 1627
B) 1605
C) 1707
D) 1657

Question 61

Akbar wore his hair long under his turban like the __________.

A) Confucians
B) Catholics
C) Sikhs
D) Sufis

Question 62

__________ reimposed the hated jizya tax on non-Muslims, which had been abolished by Akbar.

A) Khurram
B) Aurangzeb
C) Muhammad Dara Shikuh
D) Gobind Singh

Question 63

Aurangzeb spent much of the last two decades of his life campaigning against the _________.

A) Safavid Persians
B) British in Bengal
C) Hindu Marathas
D) Remaining members of his family

Question 64

For the English, the acquisition of Bombay (Mumbai) from the _________ in the 1660s gave the British East India Company a superb harbor.

A) Mughals
B) Portuguese
C) French
D) Chinese

Question 65

The Mughals appointed members of the new _________ elite to positions in the provincial governments and state ministries.

A) Zamindar
B) Pargana
C) Timurid
D) Mansabdar

Question 66

Indian _________ calicoes (named for the Indian port of Calicut) proved immensely popular in Europe for underwear and summer clothing.

A) Cotton
B) Wool
C) Silk
D) Linen

Question 67

The familiar term "pajamas" comes from the __________ word pajama, the lightweight summer garments worn in India and popularized as sleepwear in Europe.

A) Persian
B) Turkish
C) Hindi
D) Arabic

Question 68

________ turned the running of his empire over to his wife, the striking Persian princess Nur Jahan, on several occasions, and she mediated the succession wars after his death.

A) Shah Jahan
B) Jahangir
C) Babur
D) Akbar

Question 69

The Gunpowder empires, named for their reliance on cannons and small arms in their military campaigns, included all of the following except:

A) The Safavids
B) The Mughals
C) The Ottomans
D) The Habsburgs

Question 70

Mughal relations with Safavid Persia, where _________ was the official state religion, meant a certain influence on the Mughal court was unavoidable.

A) Sufism
B) Sikhism
C) Shia Islam
D) Sunni Islam

Question 71

Muhammad Ghauth Gwaliori's ___________ tapped sources from Hindu and Muslim astrology, Jewish Kabbala traditions, and Sufi mysticism.

A) The Five Jewels
B) The Baburnama
C) The Hamzanama
D) The Fatehpur Sikri

Question 72

The Golden Temple in the city of ________ became the religious center of the Sikhs, and they defended their faith against the repressive policies of Aurangzeb.

A) Srinagar
B) Calcutta
C) Gwalior
D) Amritsar