History

The Indian National Congress was founded in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1885. This is a well-documented historical fact, making Bombay the correct answer.

Amir Khusro was a famous scholar and poet who was patronized by Sultan Alauddin Khilji, a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. This is a well-documented historical fact.

The Second Battle of Panipat (1556) was fought between the Mughal forces led by the young emperor Akbar and his regent Bairam Khan, and the army of the Hindu king Hemchandra Vikramaditya (commonly known as Hemu). Hemu had captured Delhi and Agra and declared himself king. The battle ended in a decisive Mughal victory after Hemu was wounded and captured. The other options are historically inaccurate for this battle: Humayun and Sher Shah Suri were not involved as both were deceased by then; Ahmad Shah Abdali fought in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761); Ibrahim Lodhi was defeated in the First Battle of Panipat (1526). Option D, although misspelling Hemu as 'Himochandra', correctly identifies Akbar and Hemu as the leaders in the Second Battle of Panipat.

Theodore Beck was the first Principal of M.A.O College in Aligarh, appointed in 1883. Henry Siddons was a later principal, but not the first. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the college but was not its principal, and Lord Elgin was a British Viceroy unrelated to the principalship.

Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan became the Chief Minister (Premier) of Punjab after the 1936-37 elections under the Government of India Act 1935. He led the Unionist Party and was a prominent political figure in Punjab during that period.

Tipu Sultan sought assistance from the French government to resist British expansion in India. He corresponded with the French to form alliances against the British East India Company.

Akbar was the Mughal emperor who built the Agra Fort. He started its construction in 1565 and it served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors until 1638.

Dina Wadia's mother was Emibai, the first wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Therefore, option A is correct.

Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, was born in the city of Kabul in 1542. Therefore, option B is correct. The other options are incorrect birthplaces.

Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakr married the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, a prominent ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. This historical fact is well-documented, making option C correct.

The Peacock Throne was commissioned by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in the early 18th century. It is famously associated with him rather than Shah Jahan or the other listed emperors.

Shimla was the summer capital of British India, where the colonial administration moved during the hot summer months to escape the heat of the plains. This practice was well established during British rule.

Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani was a prominent historian of the Delhi Sultanate but he was not a scholar in the court of Qutub-ud-din Aibak. He began his career in India under Sultan Iltutmish and later served Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud. The great scholar associated with Qutub-ud-din Aibak's court was Hasan Nizami, a Persian poet and historian known for his work 'Taj-ul-Masir'. Amir Khusrau and Ziauddin Barani were notable scholars but associated with later rulers. Therefore, the correct answer is Hasan Nizami.

Babur was the first Mughal emperor who established the Mughal Empire in India in 1526 after winning the Battle of Panipat. The other options were later Mughal rulers.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement, also known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was signed in 1916 between Britain and France to divide Ottoman territories in the Middle East after World War I.

The Indian Civil Services (ICS) as a formal institution was introduced after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, under the British Crown's direct rule established by the Government of India Act of 1858. Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India under this new system and played a key role in the transition from East India Company rule to Crown rule, including the establishment of the ICS as the administrative framework. Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal but did not introduce the ICS. Lord Mayo, who served later as Viceroy (1869-1872), introduced reforms to the ICS but did not establish it. Ramsay Macdonald was never a Viceroy of India. Therefore, the correct answer is Lord Canning.

The Mughal architectural style is a blend of Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural elements, combining features from all these traditions to create its distinctive style.

Historical records and multiple authoritative sources confirm that there were 20 Mughal emperors in total, starting from Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in 1526, to Bahadur Shah II, the last emperor who was deposed in 1857. Therefore, option A (20) is the correct answer. The original explanation incorrectly stated that none of the options were correct, but option A is historically accurate.

Aurangzeb is known for his orthodox Islamic policies, including banning music in his court and region, unlike Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Jahangir who were more tolerant of music and arts.

Archaeological evidence shows that the Indus civilization towns are spread over a wide area from Kabul in the west to Delhi in the east, covering parts of present-day Pakistan and northwest India. This range best matches option A.

Polo is widely believed to have originated in ancient Persia, which corresponds to modern-day Iran. Historical records indicate that the game was played by Persian nobility as early as the 6th century BC.

At the time of the 1947 partition of British India, India agreed to pay Pakistan a financial settlement as part of the division of assets. The agreed amount was approximately 75 crore Indian Rupees. This figure is historically documented as the financial share Pakistan was to receive after partition. The options given include 75 crore as option A, which is the correct amount. Therefore, the correct answer is A: 75 crore. The initial confusion in the explanation about typographical errors is incorrect; 75 crore is the historically accurate figure.

The incident in 1971 that provided India the opportunity to attack Pakistan was the skirmishes on the border, which escalated tensions leading to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The other options are either incorrect or unrelated to that specific historical event.

The Treaty of Amritsar, signed on 16 March 1846, formalized the sale of Kashmir by the British East India Company to Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu. According to multiple historical sources, including the treaty text and scholarly analyses, Gulab Singh purchased Kashmir for 75 lakh (7.5 million) Nanakshahi rupees, not 80 lakh as sometimes mistakenly cited. This amount was to be paid in installments along with symbolic tributes such as a horse, shawl goats, and Kashmir shawls. The treaty marked the beginning of Dogra rule in Kashmir after the First Anglo-Sikh War and the collapse of the Sikh Empire following Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death.

The All India Khilafat Committee was formed on 5 August 1919 to coordinate the Khilafat Movement in India. Therefore, option B is correct, not A.