Mughal Empire and the Marathas MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

Mansab was a rank in imperial service. Within the mansabdari system, zat indicated personal status and salary scale, while sawar indicated cavalry obligation. A mansabdar could draw income from a jagir, but a jagir was not private property. It was a revenue assignment or collection right in place of salary. Therefore only the statement about zat is correct.

Jahangir is linked with painting, natural history interests, the symbolic chain of justice and Sir Thomas Roe's embassy during 1615-1618. Shah Jahan is associated with the height of Mughal architecture, including the Taj Mahal at Agra and the Red Fort at Delhi. Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golconda in 1687 during his long Deccan campaigns. These three cues give the matching Jahangir-chain of justice and Roe, Shah Jahan-architecture, and Aurangzeb-Deccan annexations.

Shivaji's coronation at Raigad in 1674 is presented as the moment when military authority was converted into formal kingship. That makes the assertion true. The Ashta Pradhan council did include offices such as Peshwa, Amatya, Sachiv, Mantri, Senapati, Sumant, Nyayadhish and Panditrao, but one should not treat them as modern cabinet ministers answerable to an elected legislature. They were royal officers under the king. So the reason is false.

Mansabdari is described as a ranked service system under Akbar. Within it, zat indicated the officer's personal status and salary scale, while sawar indicated the cavalry obligation attached to that rank. This is a common exam distinction because both terms belong to mansab, but they do not mean the same thing. The statements correctly separate status and salary from cavalry duty, so both are correct.

The incorrect statement is that the Third Battle of Panipat ended Maratha political power completely. Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas on 14 January 1761 and checked their northern advance, but they also state that Maratha political power did not end. Maratha houses remained influential later in the eighteenth century until the Company wars changed the balance. Palkhed in 1728, the confederate houses and Abdali's victory are all correct.