History Test - 13

The correct answer is Francois Bernier

Key PointsFrancois Bernier

• He was a Frenchman, a doctor, political philosopher and historian.
• He came to the Mughal court in search of opportunities.
• He was in India for twelve years from 1656 to 1668. He was closely associated to the Mughal court as a physician to Prince Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan.
• He travelled to several parts of the country and wrote accounts of what he saw and comparing India with the situation in Europe.
• He dedicated his major writing to the king of France Louis XIV.

The correct answer is Daulatabad.

Key PointsIbn Battuta and Indian cities

• He found the cities in the subcontinent with full of exciting opportunities for those who had the necessary drive, resources and skills.
• They were densely populated and prosperous.
• Most cities had crowed streets and bright and colourful markets with wide variety of goods.
• He describes Delhi as a vast city, with a great population, the largest in India.
• Daulatabad was equal in size of Delhi.
• The bazaars were not only places of economic transactions, but the hub of social and cultural activities.
• Most bazaars had a mosque and a temple and space were marked for public performances by dancers, musicians and singers.
• He found Indian agriculture very productive because of the fertility of soil.

The correct answer is Ghazni

Key Points

Al-Biruni

• Al-Biruni was born in 973 CE, in Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan.
• In 1017 CE, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni. 
• Al-Biruni had accompanied Muhammad of Ghazni to India.
• The chief purpose of Sultan Mahmud, the king of Ghazni, was to plunder the immense wealth in the form of gold and money at some of the more famous Hindu temples, the sole aim of Albiruni was to gain from the immense riches of Indian philosophies and the sciences.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

Key Points

Ibn Battuta

• Ibn Battuta was an inveterate traveler who spent several years traveling through North Africa, West Asia, and parts of Central Asia (he may even have visited Russia), the Indian subcontinent, and China, before returning to his native land, Morocco. 
• The coconut and the paan: Ibn Battuta’s strategies of representation are evident in the ways in which he described the coconut and the paan. These two kinds of plants were unfamiliar to his audience.
• He had compared coconut with that palm; they look exactly the same except that the one produces dates and bears the nuts as its fruits. He describes the paan as a tree that is cultivated in the same manner as the grape vine.

The correct answer is All of the above.

Key PointsFrancois Bernier : A French Traveller

• A number of Portuguese, Dutch, English and French travellers came to India in the 16th and 17th century. 
• French doctor, political philosopher and historian Francois Bernier spent twelve years (1656 to 1668) in India and was closely associated with the Mughal court.
• Bernier travelled to several parts of India and wrote detailed accounts by comparing the situation in India with Europe.
• His works were published in France in 1670-71, and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian. His writings became extremely popular.
• Montesquieu used Bernier’s accounts to develop his idea of oriental despotism. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Bernier gave a detailed report on rural society. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Bernier considered Indian King was the king of beggars. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

The correct answer is Arabic.

Key PointsAl-Biruni 

•  Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present day Uzbekistan.
• Al-Biruni received the best education available at the time. He was well versed in several languages: Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit.
• In 1017, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars and poets back to his capital, Ghazni; Al-Biruni was one of them. He arrived in Ghazni as a hostage.
• Al-Biruni's Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is simple and lucid.
• Al-Biruni was familiar with translations and adaptations of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit texts into Arabic.
• Al-Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter, beginning with a question, following this up with a description based on Sanskritic traditions, and concluding with a comparison with other cultures.
• Al-Biruni depended almost exclusively on the works of Brahmanas, often citing passages from the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manusmriti, etc., to provide an understanding of Indian society.
• Al-Biruni tried to explain the caste system by looking for parallels in other societies.
• Al-Biruni's has given account of the system of vamas.

The correct answer is 15

 Key Points

Abdur Razzaq 

• Abdur Razzaq the great Iranian scholar came to India in the 15th century.
• He was born in 1413 and was appointed the Qazi of Samarqand under Shah Rokh Khan.
• Abdur Razzaq stayed in the court of the Vijayanagara empire Diva Raya II from 1442-1443 and gave a vind description of the Vijayanagara kingdom.
• Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese official in south India, who traveled Vijayanagara Empire during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya in 1518.
• Among the other important travelers who came to India in the medieval period were Antonio Monserrate, Peter Mundy, Jean Baptisite Tavernier, Franciso Pelesart, and Nikolo Muncci.

The correct answer is Both 1 and 3.

Key PointsAl-Biruni’s description of the caste system

• Al-Biruni tried to explain the caste system by looking for parallels in other societies.
• He noted that in ancient Persia, four social categories were recognised. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• He suggested that social divisions were not unique to India.
• He pointed out that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in their observance of piety.  Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• He accepted the Brahmanical description of the caste system but disapproved of the notion of pollution.  Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• He remarked that everything that falls into a state of impurity strives and succeeds in regaining its original condition of purity.
• The conception of social pollution, intrinsic to the caste system, was according to him, contrary to the laws of nature.
• Al-Biruni’s description of the caste system was deeply influenced by his study of normative Sanskrit.

The correct answer is None of the above

Key PointsFrancois Bernier

• A number of Portuguese, Dutch, English and French travellers came to India in the 16th and 17th century. 
• French doctor, political philosopher and historian Francois Bernier spent twelve years (1656 to 1668) in India and was closely associated with the Mughal court.
• Bernier travelled to several parts of India and wrote detailed accounts by comparing the situation in India with Europe.
• His works were published in France in 1670-71, and translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian. His writings became extremely popular.
• Bernier described Mughal king as the king of “beggars and barbarians”. 

The correct answer is Ibn Battuta.

Key PointsIbn Battuta

• Ibn Battuta's book of travels, called Rihia, written in Arabic, provides extremely rich and interesting details about the social and cultural life in the subcontinent in the fourteenth century.
• This Moroccan traveller was born in Tangier into one of the most respectable and educated families known for their expertise in Islamic religious law or shari'a.
• Travelling overland through Central Asia, Ibn Battuta reached Sind in 1333.
• The Sultan was impressed by his scholarship, and appointed him the qazi or judge of Delhi.
• Some of the best examples of Ibn Battuta's strategies of representation are evident in the ways in which he described the coconut and the paan, two kinds of plant produce that were completely unfamiliar to his audience.
• Ibn Battuta described Delhi as a vast city, with a great population, the largest in India. Daulatabad (in Maharashtra) was no less, and easily rivalled Delhi in size.