Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.

• Muhammad Bin Tughlaq was the ruler of the Delhi sultanate when Ibn Batuta came to India.

Key Points

• Ibn Battuta was a traveller from Morocco.
  • He came to India during the reign of Muhammad bin-Tughlaq (1333-1347).
  • Muhammad bin-Tughlaq was impressed by his scholarship and appointed Ibn Battuta the qazi or judge of Delhi.
  • He was ordered in 1342 to proceed to China as the Sultan’s envoy to the Mongol ruler.
  • His account is often compared with that of Marco Polo, who visited China (and also India) from his home base in Venice in the late thirteenth century.
  • Ibn Battuta’s book of travels called Rihla, written in Arabic provides extremely rich and interesting details about the social and cultural life in the subcontinent in the fourteenth century.

Additional Information

• Alauddin Khilji
  • He was the second sultan of the Khilji dynasty and was the most powerful king of this dynasty. He ruled for about twenty years from 1296 to 1316.
  • He became the sultan of Delhi after killing his uncle and father-in-law Jalaluddin Khilji, the founder of the Khilji dynasty.
  • Alauddin was a very ambitious person and a warmonger.
  • He liked to call himself ‘The Second Alexander’.
  • During his regime, he expanded his kingdom to a large area.
  • He conquered Gujarat, Ranathambor, Mewar, Malwa, Jalore, Warangal, and Madurai.
• Ibrahim Lodhi
  • He was the last king of the Lodhi dynasty and the last sultan of Delhi.
  • He was the son of Sikandar Lodhi. Daulat Khan Lodhi, the Governor of Punjab, invited Bahur to overthrow Ibrahim.
  • He captured Gwalior and was defeated by Rana Sanga of Mewar.
  • He was defeated and killed at the hands of Babur in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 AD.
• Feroz Shah Tughlaq
  • He was born in 1309 and became sultan of Delhi after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
  • He was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty that ruled over Delhi from 1320 to 1412 AD.
  • He was in power from 1351 to 1388 AD.
  • He used to pay his army in-kind i.e Land and not in real money.
  • The British called him the ‘father of the irrigation department’ because of the many gardens and canals that he built like - The canal connecting the Yamuna to the city of Hissar. 

The correct answer is Surat

Key Points

• The East India Company arrived first at Surat, India in 1608 in the ship Hector commanded by William Hawkins.
• The British established their first Indian factory at Surat (1612).
• Within a few years had established a permanent factory there.
• Surat was the port used by the textile manufacturers of Gujrat and was the most important center for the overseas trade of the Mughal Empire.
• A factory was eventually established at Surat in 1612 when the Portuguese fleet was defeated by the English.

Additional Information

• Cochin: The earliest account of Cochin is derived from the records made by the Chinese traveler, Ma Huan.
  • At the beginning of the XVI century, Cochin was the seat of the Portuguese in India, including the time of the capture of Goa in 1510.
  • Cochin was the first princely state to join India willingly after Independence.
• Calicut: Vasco da Gama sailed on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East.
  • He made numerous stops in Africa before reaching Calicut in 1498.

The correct answer is Alwar.

• Neemuchana known as second Jallianwala massacre is situated in Alwar, Rajasthan.

Key Points

• The Neemuchana massacre of 14th May 1925 is a terrifying example of how ruthlessly and inhumanly an Indian state under British protection could deal with its agriculturists’ agitation for a genuine cause.
• It was the culmination of an ongoing confrontation between the Darbar and the present agitator in Bansoor and Thanagazi Nizamats of the Alwar state.
• Many people believe to have been killed and many more injured among the protestors at Neemuchna.
• The Neemuchana massacre is called the Jallianwala massacre of Rajasthan.

Additional Information

• Neemuchna Farmer Movement took place during the reign of Maharaja Jai Singh Alwar.
  • The reason was an increase in fine rates.
• On 14th May 1925, Farmers of Alwar Organised a Kisan Sabha in Nimuchna Village of Alwar to protest against the increase of fines.
• The Royal Army of Alwar fired on this gathering killing more than 800 farmers. Gandhiji described this massacre as the Second Dyershahi.

The correct answer is Sabarmati Ashram.

Key Points

• On 12 March 1930, Dandi March was undertaken from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi by Gandhiji.
• To achieve the goal of Complete independence, Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was started by Gandhiji with the Dandi March.
• He started his march along with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to the small village Dandi to break the Salt Law.
• The march lasted from 12th March 1930 to 6th April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.

Additional Information

• Gandhian Era:
  • Mahatma Gandhi was in South Africa when he was summoned by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, after which he returned to India in 1915.
  • The period from 1915-1948 can be construed as the ‘Gandhian era’ in Indian National Movement.
  • The period between 1919 to independence is marked by three important struggles –
    • Non-cooperation movement of 1919
    • Civil Disobedience movement of 1930, with its call for complete independence
    • The famous Quit Indian Movement of 1942. 

The correct answer is Indian Struggle - Subhas Chandra Bose.

Key Points

• The Indian Struggle, 1920–1942 is a two-part book by the Indian nationalist leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that covers the 1920–1942 history of the Indian independence movement to end British imperial rule over India. 
  • In 1927 Katherine Mayo, a foreign journalist, visited India.
  • She wrote a book called 'Mother India'.
  • It was about Indian civilization, culture, and life. She saw only sheer ignorance and filth in India and nothing good or decent.
  • People who were opposed to the freedom of India had given money for the publication of Miss Mayo's book.

Additional Information

• The India Divided book was written by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
  • Rajendra Prasad was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, scholar, and subsequently, the first president of India, in office from 1950 to 1962.
  • He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian Independence Movement and became a major leader from the region of Bihar and Maharashtra. 
• India Wins Freedom is an enlightening account of the partition from the author, Maulana Azad’s perspective.
  • It includes his personal experiences when India became independent and his ideas on freedom and liberty.
  • The book takes the form of an autobiographical narrative and goes over the happenings of the Indian Independence movement.
• In response to that book, Lala Lajpat Rai wrote the book unhappy India book.
  •  In this book, Lala Lajpat Rai gave a fitting reply to the false propaganda of Miss Mayo.
  • In this book, Lala Lajpat Rai compared Indian society with the contemporary USA and Britain.