Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
The correct sequence begins with the Bahmani Sultanate founded in 1347 by Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah at Gulbarga — the first independent Muslim sultanate in the Deccan. This was followed by prolonged conflict with the Vijayanagara Empire across the 14th–16th centuries over the Krishna-Godavari doab. The fragmentation of the Bahmani Sultanate into the Adil Shahi, Nizam Shahi, Qutb Shahi, and Barid Shahi kingdoms occurred in the late 15th–early 16th centuries — well before the Battle of Talikota (Bannihatti) in 1565, which ended Vijayanagara's dominance. Options (a) and (b) misplace the sequence, and option (d) reverses the founding date entirely.
- The Bahmani Sultanate adopted a centralised administration based on Persian models, dividing the kingdom into provinces called Tarafs.
- The Dakhni or Marathi nobility (Deccani faction) and the Persian immigrant nobility (Afaqi faction) collaborated harmoniously in the Bahmani administration without internal conflict.
- The Bahmani Sultanate introduced the Jagirdari system for land assignment and revenue collection, similar to the contemporary Mughal system.
Statement 1 is correct — the Bahmani Sultanate followed Persian administrative models and divided its territory into units called Tarafs, each governed by a Tarafdar, providing a structural framework for governance and revenue collection. Statement 3 is also correct — the sultanate employed the Jagirdari system, granting officials jāgīrs (estates) in return for military and administrative service, predating the more famous Mughal Mansabdari system. Statement 2 is incorrect — the conflict between the Deccani and Afaqi factions was persistent and intense, not harmonious, and is considered a major cause of the sultanate's eventual fragmentation.
Option (d) is incorrectly matched — the Barid Shahi of Bidar was the smallest and weakest of the four Deccan Sultanates; it never emerged as a dominant power and was frequently squeezed between its larger neighbours, making the claim of territorial dominance historically false. The other pairs are correctly matched: Nizam Shahi of Ahmednagar is rightly associated with Malik Ambar's administrative reforms, Adil Shahi of Bijapur with the magnificent Gol Gumbaz and Indo-Islamic architecture, and Qutb Shahi of Golconda with the legendary Golconda diamond mines and Persian court culture.
Reason (R): The Mughal Emperor Akbar's military campaigns into the Deccan forced the Bahmani nobility to splinter into independent regional kingdoms to protect their territorial interests.
The Assertion is correct — the Bahmani Sultanate did fragment into four regional sultanates in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. However, the Reason is incorrect — this breakup was driven by internal causes: chronic factional conflict between the Deccani and Afaqi nobility, weakening of central authority, and the growing autonomy of regional governors. Akbar's Deccan campaigns (late 16th century) came well after the fragmentation had already occurred, making the Mughal expansion a later pressure rather than the primary cause — a classic Assertion-Reason trap.
- The Battle of Talikota was fought between the united Deccan Sultanates and the Vijayanagara Empire, resulting in a decisive victory for the Deccan forces.
- The Vijayanagara defeat at Talikota directly led to the empire's complete collapse and the end of Hindu resistance in South India.
- The Battle of Talikota was also known as the Battle of Bannihatti and is considered a major turning point in South Indian political history.
Statement 1 is correct — the Battle of Talikota (1565), fought between an alliance of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, and Golconda against the Vijayanagara Empire, resulted in a decisive Deccan victory; the Vijayanagara army under Rama Raya was defeated, beginning the empire's political decline. Statement 3 is also correct — the battle is alternatively called the Battle of Bannihatti and is universally recognised as a watershed moment shifting South Indian power toward the Muslim sultanates. Statement 2 is incorrect — while Talikota severely weakened Vijayanagara, the empire continued for nearly 50 more years in diminished form; attributing its complete collapse to this single battle is an oversimplification.
