Who was the author of the book of travels, called Rihla, written in Arabic, providing extremely rich and interesting details about India?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Rihla, the Arabic book of travels on India → Ibn Battuta
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Medieval Travellers, Chronicles & Sources: 38 previous year questions
UPSC has asked 38 questions on Medieval Travellers, Chronicles & Sources between 1990 and 2026: CDS 17 · CSE 7 · CISF (LDCE) 5 · Geo-Scientist 4 · NDA 3 · CAPF 2. 27 of them came after 2015, so this is a live topic examiners keep returning to. 7 were set in Civil Services Prelims; the rest come from UPSC's other papers, which draw on the same question bank.
Tap an option to check yourself. Answers follow the official UPSC key; where the key was dropped or disputed the question is not shown.
Consider the following pairs: Traveller Century/Centuries I. Marco Polo Tenth and eleventh centuries II. Al-Biruni Thirteenth century III. Duarte Barbosa Sixteenth century How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Correctly matched → only Duarte Barbosa: sixteenth century | Marco Polo, Al-Biruni → centuries wrongly matched
Who among the following travellers reported the use of seed drill on the Karnataka coast which is considered to be the earliest reference of the presence of the device in India?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Earliest reference to a seed drill (Karnataka coast) → Duarte Barbosa
Arrange the following foreign travellers to India in chronological order, beginning with the earliest: 1. Peter Mundy 2. Antonio Monserrate 3. Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin 4. Ibn Battuta Select the answer using the code given below :
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Travellers in order → Ibn Battuta → Nikitin → Monserrate → Peter Mundy
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists: List I (Traveller): P. Seydi Ali Reis; Q. Ibn Battuta; R. Peter Mundy; S. Duarte Barbosa List II (Country): 1. Morocco; 2. Turkey; 3. Portugal; 4. England
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Seydi Ali Reis → Turkey | Ibn Battuta → Morocco | Peter Mundy → England | Duarte Barbosa → Portugal
Which of the following terms were used in the Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period to denote a peasant ? 1. Raiyat 2. Asami 3. Muzarian 4. Majur Select the correct answer using the code given below :
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Indo-Persian terms for a peasant → Raiyat, Asami, Muzarian
Who among the following has described the medieval Indian postal system as of two kinds—the horse-post called Uluq’ and the foot-post called 'Dawa?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Postal system of horse-post (Uluq) and foot-post (Dawa) → Ibn Battuta
Francois Bernier was physician to
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Francois Bernier was physician to → Prince Dara Shikoh
Who among the following European travellers was the physician of Prince Dara Shukoh ?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Physician of Prince Dara Shukoh → Francois Bernier
Who among the following European travellers was the physician of Prince Dara Shukoh ?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Physician of Prince Dara Shukoh → Francois Bernier
Who among the following foreign travellers was appointed Qazi of Delhi by Muhammad Tughlaq?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Appointed Qazi of Delhi by Muhammad Tughlaq → Ibn Battuta
Ibn Batuta went to China as the envoy of which one of the following Delhi Sultans?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Ibn Batuta went to China as envoy of → Muhammad bin Tughluq
Seydi Ali Reis was a Turkish traveller to India in the
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Seydi Ali Reis, Turkish traveller → 16th century (Humayun's reign)
Who wrote the book of travels called Rihla ?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Book of travels called Rihla → Ibn Battuta
Which traveller described the postal system prevalent in India in the medieval period in detail ?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Described the medieval Indian postal system in detail → Ibn Battuta
Jahangir got impressed by the Turkish fluency of which one of the following European travellers and made him a Mansabdar of 400 sawar?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Jahangir made him a Mansabdar of 400 for his Turkish fluency → William Hawkins
Which European traveller had observed, “A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers”?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)'A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone' → Abbe J. A. Dubois
Which European traveller had observed, ―A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers‖?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)'A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone' → Abbe J. A. Dubois
Which one of the following pairs of travellers and their nationality is not correctly matched ?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)NOT correctly matched → Tavernier - Dutch | Tavernier → French
Consider the following statement: ―So much is wrung from the peasants, that even dry bread is scarcely left to fill their stomachs.‖ Who among the following European travellers had made the above statement about the condition of peasantry in the Mughal Empire?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)'Even dry bread is scarcely left' (Mughal peasantry) → Francisco Pelsaert
According to the French traveller Tavernier, the majority of houses in Varanasi during the 17th century were made of
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Majority of Varanasi houses (Tavernier) → brick and stone (per key)
The important source for Akbar‟s reign, Tarikh-i-Akbari was written by which one of the following Persian language scholars?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Tarikh-i-Akbari → Nizamuddin Ahmad
Who among the following European travellers never returned to Europe and settled down in India?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)European traveller who settled in India, never returned → Manucci
Who among the following European travellers never returned to Europe and settled down in India?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)European traveller who settled in India, never returned → Manucci (Venice; died Chennai, 1720)
Which one of the following foreign travelers elaborately discussed diamonds and diamond mines of India? [2018-I]
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Traveller who discussed India's diamonds and mines → Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Which one of the following statements is NOT correct ?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)NOT correct → Marco Polo has not mentioned the pearl fishery of Tuticorin | Sharaf Qai → revenue minister of Allauddin Khalji
The Rihla was written in
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Rihla → Arabic, fourteenth century, by Ibn Battuta
Match the following List I (Text) List II (Author) A. Kitab-al-Hind 1. Ibn Battuta B. Rehla 2. Al-Biruni C. Humayun Nama 3. Lohori D. Badshah Nama 4. Gulbadan Begum Codes:
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Kitab-al-Hind → Al-Biruni | Rehla → Ibn Battuta | Humayun Nama → Gulbadan Begum | Badshah Nama → Lahori
Marco Polo's trip to India (1271 AD) earned much fame in Europe on account of
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Marco Polo's fame → his account of commercial, religious and social conditions in the East
Ibn Battuta‟s work, Rihla, completed in 1355, is
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Verified fact to follow.
Which one among the following books was authored by a lady of the Mughal Royal House?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Book by a lady of the Mughal house → Humayun Nama (Gulbadan Begum)
Consider the following statements about the famous traveller, Ibn Battuta 1. He was a Moroccan traveller. 2. He narrated his experiences while travelling the sub continent in the 14th century in Kitab- ul-Hind. 3. He was sent as the envoy of Sultan of Delhi to China. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Ibn Battuta → Moroccan; envoy of the Delhi Sultan to China | Kitab-ul-Hind → Al-Biruni, not Ibn Battuta
In Indian history, who was Abdul Hamid Lahori?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Abdul Hamid Lahori → official historian of Shahjahan's reign
Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)NOT correctly matched → Akbar: Sir Thomas Roe | Thomas Roe → court of Jahangir
Who among the following ladies wrote a historical account during the Mughal period?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Mughal lady who wrote a historical account → Gulbadan Begum (Humayun-Nama)
Consider the following passage: In the course of a career on the road spanning almost thirty years, he crossed the breadth of the Eastern hemisphere, visited territories equivalent to about 44 modern countries, and put behind him a total distance of approximately 73, 000 miles. The world's greatest traveler of pre-modern times to whom the above passage refers is
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Greatest pre-modern traveller (~73,000 miles, ~44 countries) → Ibn Battuta
The Russian traveler who visited the Deccan during the medieval period of Indian history was
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Russian traveller to the Deccan → Nikitin
Consider the following European missions during the Mughal period: 1. Thomas Roe 2. Tavernier 3. Rudolf Acquaviva The correct chronological order of their visits is
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Answer D (official UPSC key)European missions in order → Rudolf Acquaviva (1578) → Thomas Roe (1615) → Tavernier (1630-1668)
Related topics
Early Medieval North India (Rajputs, Palas, Pratiharas, Senas) · 51Early Medieval South India (Pallavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Cholas) · 54Turkish/Arab Invasions & Delhi Sultanate · 54Vijayanagara, Bahmani & Regional Kingdoms · 88Mughal Empire: Political History · 85Mughal Administration, Economy & Society · 60Marathas · 21Sikhs & Sikh Empire · 9Bhakti Movement · 70Sufi Movement · 23Medieval Literature, Language & Learning · 16