Al-Biruni's Travels to India MCQs

Al-Biruni's Travels to India

• Al-Biruni traveled to India to study Sanskrit texts and learn from Brahmin scholars
• He was interested in comparing Indian society with other societies

Al-Biruni's Approach in the Kitab-ul-Hind

• He started each chapter with a question, described based on Sanskrit texts, and compared with other cultures

Barriers to Understanding Indian Society

• Al-Biruni cited difference in religious beliefs, insularity of local population, and language differences as barriers to understanding Indian society
• Lack of historical documentation was also a barrier

Ibn Battuta's Impressions of Indian Cities

• Ibn Battuta found Indian cities to have crowded streets, prosperous markets, and spaces for public performances like music and dance
• He noted that Indian cities derived wealth from appropriation of rural surplus
• He did not find that Indian cities existed entirely due to imperial patronage

Ibn Battuta's Impression of the Imperial Postal System

• Ibn Battuta found the imperial postal system in India to be highly sophisticated and efficient

Features of Indian Cities According to Ibn Battuta

• Ibn Battuta described Indian cities as having detailed accounts of their architectural grandeur, prosperous merchant communities engaged in long-distance trade, crowded markets and bazaars, and spaces for musical and dance performances

Bernier's Critique of Mughal Land Ownership

• Bernier believed that the Mughal claim to ownership over all land led to a lack of incentive for agricultural investment, decline of manufacturing, and uniform ruination of agriculture
• Bernier did not believe that the Mughal system led to the emergence of a class of improving landlords

Bernier's Perspective on Indian Society

• Bernier represented Indian society as lacking a middle class, with widespread poverty among peasantry, and without a highly sophisticated manufacturing sector
• Bernier believed in the virtues of private property and was apprehensive about the formation of an aristocratic class
• Bernier contrasted Mughal India with contemporary Europe and promoted the idea of an investor landowner class

Test your knowledge with 30 challenging multiple-choice questions based on the passage. Questions cover topics such as the reasons for Al-Biruni's travels to India and his approach in each chapter of the Kitab-ul-Hind.