Indian history has many famous books, writings, and records that show the culture and social life of different times. They also give useful information about politics and the economy of those periods. From the ancient works of Chanakya, Panini, and Kalidasa, to the medieval writings of Abul Fazl, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Battuta, and the modern works of Gandhi, Nehru, and Tilak, each tells us about the thinking of its time. These books and their writers are often asked in competitive exams, so they are important for students to study. The MCQs below cover well-known books, authors, and personalities from ancient, medieval, and modern India to help with quick revision.
The famous text Ain-i-Akbari, which gives detailed information about Akbar’s administration, was authored by:
a) Abul Fazl
b) Badauni
c) Nizamuddin Ahmad
d) Amir Khusro
Answer: a) Abul Fazl
The book Akbarnama, considered the official history of Akbar’s reign, was also written by:
a) Abul Fazl
b) Jahangir
c) Abdul Hamid Lahori
d) Nizamuddin Ahmad
Answer: a) Abul Fazl
The famous Persian poet and scholar Amir Khusro, who enriched Indian literature, was associated with which Delhi Sultan?
a) Balban
b) Alauddin Khilji
c) Ibrahim Lodi
d) Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Answer: b) Alauddin Khilji
The autobiography of Babur, Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Baburnama), was originally written in which language?
a) Persian
b) Arabic
c) Turkish (Chagatai)
d) Urdu
Answer: c) Turkish (Chagatai)
Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Memoirs of Jahangir), an important Mughal-era text, was written by:
a) Jahangir himself
b) Abul Fazl
c) Abdul Hamid Lahori
d) Dara Shikoh
Answer: a) Jahangir himself
Shah Jahan Nama, the official chronicle of Shah Jahan’s reign, was composed by:
a) Abdul Hamid Lahori
b) Abul Fazl
c) Badauni
d) Nizamuddin Ahmad
Answer: a) Abdul Hamid Lahori
The book Alamgir Nama, describing Aurangzeb’s reign, was authored by:
a) Mirza Muhammad Kazim
b) Badauni
c) Bernier
d) Abul Fazl
Answer: a) Mirza Muhammad Kazim
Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi, a record of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq’s reign, was authored by:
a) Firoz Shah Tughlaq himself
b) Amir Khusro
c) Abul Fazl
d) Ibn Battuta
Answer: a) Firoz Shah Tughlaq himself
Tabqat-i-Nasiri, a Persian history of Muslim rule in India up to 1260 AD, was authored by:
a) Minhaj-us-Siraj
b) Barani
c) Al-Biruni
d) Ibn Battuta
Answer: a) Minhaj-us-Siraj
The famous travelogue Rihla, which describes India during Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s rule, was written by:
a) Al-Biruni
b) Ibn Battuta
c) Marco Polo
d) Domingo Paes
Answer: b) Ibn Battuta
Kitab-ul-Hind (Tahqiq-i-Hind), which gives a detailed account of Indian society and culture, was authored by:
a) Al-Biruni
b) Ibn Battuta
c) Abul Fazl
d) Firdausi
Answer: a) Al-Biruni
The autobiography India Wins Freedom, describing India’s freedom struggle, was written by:
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
c) Rajendra Prasad
d) Sardar Patel
Answer: b) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Discovery of India, a classic book that narrates India’s history and culture, was written by:
a) Mahatma Gandhi
b) Jawaharlal Nehru
c) Rabindranath Tagore
d) Subhash Chandra Bose
Answer: b) Jawaharlal Nehru
My Experiments with Truth, the autobiography describing the life and principles of Mahatma Gandhi, was originally written in:
a) Hindi
b) Gujarati
c) English
d) Sanskrit
Answer: b) Gujarati
An Autobiography: Toward Freedom, which gives a detailed account of Nehru’s early life and political journey, was authored by:
a) Jawaharlal Nehru
b) Mahatma Gandhi
c) B.R. Ambedkar
d) Rajendra Prasad
Answer: a) Jawaharlal Nehru
Geetanjali, a collection of poems that won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, was authored by:
a) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
b) Rabindranath Tagore
c) Sarojini Naidu
d) Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Answer: b) Rabindranath Tagore
Anand Math, a patriotic novel which includes the song Vande Mataram, was written by:
a) Rabindranath Tagore
b) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
c) Dinabandhu Mitra
d) R.C. Dutt
Answer: b) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
The play Neel Darpan, which depicted the oppression of indigo farmers by the British, was written by:
a) Dinabandhu Mitra
b) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
c) Rabindranath Tagore
d) Bipin Chandra Pal
Answer: a) Dinabandhu Mitra
The book Economic History of India, which criticized British colonial policies, was authored by:
a) Dadabhai Naoroji
b) R.C. Dutt
c) M.G. Ranade
d) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Answer: b) R.C. Dutt
The work Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, which introduced the concept of the “Drain of Wealth,” was authored by:
a) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
b) Dadabhai Naoroji
c) R.C. Dutt
d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Answer: b) Dadabhai Naoroji
The book Arctic Home of the Vedas, in which the author tried to prove that Aryans originally lived in the Arctic region, was written by:
a) Swami Vivekananda
b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
c) Dayananda Saraswati
d) Aurobindo Ghosh
Answer: b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
The revolutionary book Indian War of Independence 1857, presenting 1857 as a national revolt, was authored by:
a) R.C. Dutt
b) V.D. Savarkar
c) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
d) Bipin Chandra Pal
Answer: b) V.D. Savarkar
The book Gita Rahasya, written during imprisonment in Mandalay Jail, was authored by:
a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
b) Lala Lajpat Rai
c) Swami Vivekananda
d) Aurobindo Ghosh
Answer: a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
The book Why I am an Atheist, which explains his revolutionary philosophy, was written by:
a) Chandrashekhar Azad
b) Bhagat Singh
c) Sukhdev
d) Rajguru
Answer: b) Bhagat Singh
The book The Discovery of India was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously to its author, who was also India’s first Prime Minister. He was:
a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
b) Lal Bahadur Shastri
c) Jawaharlal Nehru
d) Indira Gandhi
Answer: c) Jawaharlal Nehru
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