History Quiz

Who founded the Maurya Empire in the 4th century BCE?

• Ashoka
• Chandragupta Maurya
• Bindusara
• Samudragupta

Answer: Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda dynasty around 321 BCE, guided by his adviser Chanakya. Ashoka was his grandson, and Samudragupta belonged to the later Gupta dynasty.

Which civilisation built the mountain citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru?

• Aztec
• Maya
• Inca
• Olmec

Answer: Inca. The Inca built Machu Picchu in the 15th century, high in the Andes. The Aztecs and Maya lived much further north, in Mexico and Central America.

The French Revolution is usually dated from the storming of the Bastille in which year?

• 1776
• 1789
• 1815
• 1848

Answer: 1789. Crowds stormed the Bastille prison in Paris on 14 July 1789, now France's national day. 1776 is the US Declaration of Independence and 1815 the Battle of Waterloo.

In the First Battle of Panipat (1526), Babur defeated which ruler?

• Ibrahim Lodi
• Rana Sanga
• Hemu
• Sher Shah Suri

Answer: Ibrahim Lodi. Babur's victory over Ibrahim Lodi, the last Delhi Sultan, founded the Mughal Empire. He beat Rana Sanga a year later at Khanwa, and Hemu lost the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556.

In 1922, Howard Carter found the nearly intact tomb of which Egyptian pharaoh?

• Ramesses II
• Khufu
• Cleopatra
• Tutankhamun

Answer: Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings was packed with treasures, including the famous gold mask. Most royal tombs had been robbed in ancient times, which made this find unique.

In which year did the Berlin Wall fall?

• 1961
• 1975
• 1989
• 1991

Answer: 1989. The border opened on 9 November 1989, and Germany reunified in 1990. The wall had gone up in 1961, and the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

The 'Great Bath' was discovered at which Harappan (Indus Valley) site?

• Lothal
• Harappa
• Kalibangan
• Mohenjo-daro

Answer: Mohenjo-daro. Mohenjo-daro, in present-day Sindh, Pakistan, has the Great Bath, a large brick-lined pool probably used for ritual bathing. Lothal in Gujarat is known for its dockyard.

Who was the only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate?

• Razia Sultan
• Chand Bibi
• Rani Durgavati
• Nur Jahan

Answer: Razia Sultan. Razia, daughter of Iltutmish, ruled from 1236 to 1240. Nur Jahan was a powerful Mughal empress, but she ruled through her husband Jahangir, not in her own name.

Which English king agreed to the Magna Carta in 1215?

• Henry VIII
• Richard I
• John
• Edward I

Answer: John. Rebel barons forced King John to accept the Magna Carta at Runnymede. It established that even the king was subject to the law, an idea that shaped later constitutions.

Gandhi's Dandi March of 1930 was a protest against a tax on what?

• Cotton
• Salt
• Land
• Tea

Answer: Salt. Gandhi walked about 387 km (240 miles) from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi and made salt from seawater on 6 April 1930, breaking the British salt law. It launched the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Krishnadevaraya was the most celebrated ruler of which empire?

• Chola
• Vijayanagara
• Maratha
• Pala

Answer: Vijayanagara. Krishnadevaraya ruled Vijayanagara from 1509 to 1529 from its capital at Hampi, in present-day Karnataka. His court was famed for poets, including Tenali Rama of popular legend.

Which of these rulers was NOT a Mughal emperor?

• Babur
• Humayun
• Sher Shah Suri
• Akbar

Answer: Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah Suri was an Afghan ruler who defeated Humayun in 1540 and founded the Sur dynasty. He is remembered for his rupiya silver coin and for rebuilding the road later called the Grand Trunk Road.

Which Wonder of the Ancient World stood at Alexandria in Egypt?

• The Hanging Gardens
• The Colossus
• The Mausoleum
• The Lighthouse (Pharos)

Answer: The Lighthouse (Pharos). The Pharos lighthouse was built in the 3rd century BCE and guided ships into Alexandria's harbour for centuries. The Colossus stood at Rhodes, and the Hanging Gardens were said to be in Babylon.

Johannes Gutenberg is famous for which mid-15th-century invention in Europe?

• The telescope
• The printing press with movable type
• The mechanical clock
• The compass

Answer: The printing press with movable type. Gutenberg's press in Mainz made books far cheaper to produce; the Gutenberg Bible dates from the 1450s. Printed books spread ideas fast and helped drive the Renaissance and Reformation.

Who was the last Governor-General of India, and the only Indian to hold the post?

• C. Rajagopalachari
• Lord Mountbatten
• Rajendra Prasad
• Sardar Patel

Answer: C. Rajagopalachari. C. Rajagopalachari succeeded Lord Mountbatten in June 1948. The post was abolished when India became a republic on 26 January 1950 and Rajendra Prasad became the first President.