Regional & Provincial Kingdoms MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Correct answer: C - 1 and 3 only

St. Francis Xavier was indeed one of the founders of the Society of Jesus alongside Ignatius of Loyola, so statement 1 is correct, and his feast is celebrated annually in Goa, making statement 3 correct. However, he died on Shangchuan (Sancian) Island off the coast of China in 1552; his body was later brought to Goa and enshrined at the Basilica of Bom Jesus, so the claim that he 'died in Goa' in statement 2 is wrong. Therefore only statements 1 and 3 are correct.

Correct answer: B - 2 only

Only the second pair is correct. Durgara is the old name of the Dogra country, the hill tract around present-day Jammu, so pair 2 is correctly matched. Champaka corresponds to Chamba in present-day Himachal Pradesh, not Central India, so pair 1 is wrong. Kuluta refers to the Kullu valley on the upper Beas, again in Himachal Pradesh, and has nothing to do with Malabar on the Kerala coast, so pair 3 is also wrong. Hence the answer is 2 only.

Correct answer: B - Coins

Fanam was the name of small gold and silver coins that circulated widely in peninsular India, used by states such as Vijayanagara and later by Travancore and other southern kingdoms; multiple fanams equalled higher value coins like the varaha or pagoda. Because it was a unit of currency, the options describing clothing, ornaments or weapons are all wrong. Aspirants familiar with south Indian economic history or Vijayanagara coinage could answer this directly. The correct answer is coins.

Correct answer: C - Bahadur Shah

Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, hard pressed by Humayun's Mughal invasion, signed the Treaty of Bassein (December 1534) ceding Bassein to the Portuguese, and under a separate agreement of October 1535 with Governor Nuno da Cunha allowed them to build a fort at Diu in return for military support; he was later killed in 1537 during negotiations with the Portuguese off Diu. Ahmad Shah, the founder of Ahmedabad, ruled in the early fifteenth century before the Portuguese arrived in India. Mahmud Begarha actually fought the Portuguese, joining the Egyptian fleet at the battles of Chaul and Diu (1508-1509). Muhammad Shah is not associated with any cession of Diu.

Correct answer: A - 1 and 2

The Nawabs of Arcot (the Carnatic) functioned as deputies under the Nizam of Hyderabad before becoming effectively independent, so statement 1 is correct. The Wodeyar kingdom of Mysore rose from the territories of the disintegrating Vijayanagara Empire after the battle of Talikota, so statement 2 is correct. Rohilkhand, however, was carved out by Afghan Rohilla settlers in the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab and was not formed out of territories occupied by Ahmad Shah Durrani, so statement 3 is wrong, leaving 1 and 2 as the correct pair.

Correct answer: A - Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan

Mysore emerged as a major regional power under Haidar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, who fought a series of wars against the English East India Company. Murshid Quli Khan and Alivardi Khan were associated with Bengal, while Saadat Khan founded the autonomous line of nawabs in Awadh. Hence Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan is the correct answer.

Correct answer: D - 1, 2 and 3

Pair 1 is correct: Hyder Ali rose to power in the kingdom of Mysore in the eighteenth century. Pair 2 is correct: Saadat Khan, titled Burhan-ul-Mulk, founded the autonomous line of Nawabs of Awadh. Pair 3 is correct: Murshid Quli Khan established the effectively independent Nawabship of Bengal and reorganized its revenue administration. Hence all three pairs are correctly matched.

Correct answer: A - Eastern Ganga dynasty

The Konark Sun Temple in Odisha was built in the 13th century by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. The Senas ruled Bengal; the Chandelas built the Khajuraho temples; and the Solankis (Chaulukyas) of Gujarat are associated with the Modhera Sun Temple and Rani-ki-Vav. Hence the Eastern Ganga dynasty is correct.