Medieval India Test - 5

In 1578, Guru Ram Das excavated a tank, which subsequently became known as Amritsar (pool of the nectar of immortality), giving its name to the city that grew around it. In due course, Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple), was built in the middle of this tank and became the supreme centre of Sikhism.

The Sukerchakia Misl was one of 12 Sikh Misls in Punjab during the 18^th century concentrated in Gujranwala and Hafizabad district in Western Punjab (in modern Pakistan) and ruled from 1752 to 1801. The Sukerchakia last Misldar (commander of the Misl) was Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Towards the end of the 18^th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh united all the Misls and established an independent kingdom in Punjab. At age 12, his father died; then he inherited his father's Sukerchakia Misl estates and was raised by his mother Raj Kaur, who, along with Lakhpat Rai, also managed the estates.

A Peshwa looked after the general administration and welfare of the kingdom, promoted harmony in the administration, represented the king in his absence and put his seal below the king's to all royal letters and despatches. Shivaji was assisted by eight ministers in his administration. Each of them was the head or the Pradhan of his department. They did not work as a joint council advising the king. On the contrary, each of them was responsible for the working of his department to Shivaji.

Shivaji founded an independent Hindu Maratha Kingdom in 1674 with Raigarh as its capital.

The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor of Portuguese India Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510. Goa was not among the cities Albuquerque had received orders to conquer: he had only been ordered by the Portuguese king to capture Hormuz, Aden and Malacca.