U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2020

Medieval Historiography

Authentic Past Paper Standard Evaluation

Consider the following text and arrange them in chronological order: 1. Fatawa-i-Jahandari 2. Prithviraja-Raso 3. Kitab-ul-Hind 4. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri Select the correct answer from the codes given below.

Solution & Analysis

Answer: D

Concept Historical texts in medieval India were produced across different periods—from the initial interactions with the Arab world to the height of the Delhi Sultanate.

Explanation Chronology: 1. Kitab-ul-Hind (Al-Biruni): c. 1030 CE (Ghaznavid era). 2. Prithviraja-Raso (Chand Bardai): Written after 1192, traditional date c. 1235. 3. Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (Minhaj-i-Siraj): c. 1260 (Early Slave dynasty). 4. Fatawa-i-Jahandari (Barani): c. 1357 (Tughlaq era).

Logical Breakup
Logic 1: Al-Biruni (3) is the earliest, coming with Mahmud of Ghazni.
Logic 2: Chand Bardai (2) followed after the fall of the Rajputs.
Logic 3: Minhaj (4) wrote under Nasiruddin Mahmud.
Logic 4: Barani (1) is the latest, living through the Tughlaq period.

Active Recall

Question

Which of these texts is written in Arabic?

Answer

Only the Kitab-ul-Hind is written in Arabic; the others are in Brajbhasha or Persian.

Core Insight

The shift from Al-Biruni's objective sociology to Barani's political theory reflects the changing nature of Indo-Islamic rule.