History GK questions

GK by subject Updated 11 Oct 2026

These history GK questions cover ancient, medieval and modern India along with the freedom struggle, and each comes with the answer and a short explanation. There are 56 multiple-choice questions arranged by period, so you can revise one era at a time.

The questions are built on fixed historical facts such as battles, dynasties, reformers and movements. They suit school students, SSC, railway and state exam aspirants, and anyone who wants a quick history GK revision in English.

Answered 0 / 56Right 0Wrong 0

Ancient Indian history GK questions

Q1. Who first excavated Harappa in 1921?
Show answer
Answer: C. Daya Ram Sahni
Daya Ram Sahni excavated Harappa in 1921, and the Harappan civilisation is named after this first site.
Q2. The Great Bath of the Indus Valley Civilisation was found at which site?
Show answer
Answer: D. Mohenjo-daro
The Great Bath is a large brick-lined tank at Mohenjo-daro, probably used for ritual bathing.
Q3. Which Harappan site is famous for its ancient dockyard?
Show answer
Answer: B. Lothal
Lothal in Gujarat had a brick dockyard, showing that the Harappans traded by sea.
Q4. The Rigveda is divided into how many books, called mandalas?
Show answer
Answer: A. 10
The Rigveda has ten mandalas; the Gayatri Mantra is found in its third mandala.
Q5. Buddha's first sermon at the Deer Park is known by which name?
Show answer
Answer: B. Dharmachakra Pravartana
The first sermon at Sarnath is called Dharmachakra Pravartana, the turning of the wheel of law.
Q6. Where did Gautama Buddha attain enlightenment?
Show answer
Answer: D. Bodh Gaya
Buddha attained enlightenment under a peepal tree, later called the Bodhi tree, at Bodh Gaya in Bihar.
Q7. Which ruler of the Nanda dynasty was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya?
Show answer
Answer: D. Dhana Nanda
Chandragupta Maurya, guided by Chanakya, overthrew Dhana Nanda of Magadha and founded the Maurya Empire.
Q8. Who wrote the Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft and economics?
Show answer
Answer: C. Kautilya
The Arthashastra is credited to Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, adviser to Chandragupta Maurya.
Q9. Which Greek ambassador at the Mauryan court wrote the book Indica?
Show answer
Answer: B. Megasthenes
Megasthenes was sent by Seleucus Nicator to Chandragupta Maurya's court and described India in his Indica.
Q10. Ashoka's Kalinga War was fought in the region of which modern Indian state?
Show answer
Answer: C. Odisha
Ancient Kalinga lay mostly in modern Odisha; the bloodshed of the war led Ashoka to embrace Buddhism.
Q11. Which Gupta ruler is called the 'Napoleon of India' because of his conquests?
Show answer
Answer: A. Samudragupta
Historian V. A. Smith called Samudragupta the 'Napoleon of India'; his campaigns are recorded in the Allahabad Pillar inscription.
Q12. Which Chinese pilgrim visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II?
Show answer
Answer: A. Fa-Hien
Fa-Hien travelled to India in the early 5th century during Chandragupta II's reign to collect Buddhist texts.
Q13. Sangam literature was composed in which language?
Show answer
Answer: A. Tamil
Sangam literature is the earliest body of Tamil poetry, produced in assemblies of poets in ancient South India.

Medieval Indian history questions

Q14. Which ruler did Babur defeat in the Battle of Khanwa in 1527?
Show answer
Answer: B. Rana Sanga
A year after Panipat, Babur defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar at Khanwa, which made Mughal power secure in north India.
Q15. Akbar's forces defeated whom in the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556?
Show answer
Answer: A. Hemu
In 1556 Bairam Khan, leading the young Akbar's army, defeated Hemu and secured Mughal rule in Delhi.
Q16. The Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 was fought between the Marathas and whom?
Show answer
Answer: A. Ahmad Shah Abdali
Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan defeated the Maratha army at Panipat in 1761.
Q17. Construction of the Qutb Minar was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak. Who completed its upper storeys?
Show answer
Answer: D. Iltutmish
Aibak built the first storey and his successor Iltutmish added the next three.
Q18. Which Delhi Sultan is known for his market control reforms?
Show answer
Answer: A. Alauddin Khalji
Alauddin Khalji fixed prices of grain and other goods and set up market officers to enforce them.
Q19. Which Sultan shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad?
Show answer
Answer: B. Muhammad bin Tughlaq
Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved the capital to Daulatabad (Devagiri) in the Deccan, but the move later had to be reversed.
Q20. The Vijayanagara Empire was founded in 1336 by which brothers?
Show answer
Answer: A. Harihara and Bukka
Harihara I and Bukka Raya of the Sangama dynasty founded the Vijayanagara Empire on the Tungabhadra river.
Q21. The Battle of Talikota in 1565 led to the decline of which empire?
Show answer
Answer: D. Vijayanagara Empire
At Talikota the combined Deccan Sultanates defeated Vijayanagara, and its capital Hampi was sacked.
Q22. Which Mughal emperor started the Din-i-Ilahi?
Show answer
Answer: C. Akbar
Akbar started the Din-i-Ilahi in 1582 as a path drawing on ideas from several religions.
Q23. Who fought against the Mughal army in the Battle of Haldighati in 1576?
Show answer
Answer: C. Maharana Pratap
Maharana Pratap of Mewar fought the Mughal army led by Man Singh at Haldighati in 1576.
Q24. At which fort was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj crowned in 1674?
Show answer
Answer: B. Raigad
Shivaji Maharaj was crowned at Raigad in June 1674 and took the title Chhatrapati.
Q25. Which Sikh Guru founded the Khalsa in 1699?
Show answer
Answer: B. Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib on Baisakhi in 1699.
Q26. Which invader carried away the Peacock Throne from Delhi in 1739?
Show answer
Answer: B. Nadir Shah
The Persian ruler Nadir Shah sacked Delhi in 1739 and took Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne with him.
Q27. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited India during the reign of which Sultan?
Show answer
Answer: C. Muhammad bin Tughlaq
Ibn Battuta served as a judge (qazi) under Muhammad bin Tughlaq and described India in his travel book, the Rihla.

Modern Indian history questions

Q28. Which Nawab of Bengal was defeated in the Battle of Plassey in 1757?
Show answer
Answer: D. Siraj-ud-Daulah
Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah at Plassey, helped by the betrayal of Mir Jafar.
Q29. In which year was the Battle of Buxar fought?
Show answer
Answer: B. 1764
At Buxar in 1764 the British defeated the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula and Shah Alam II.
Q30. Under the Permanent Settlement of 1793, land revenue was fixed permanently with which group?
Show answer
Answer: C. Zamindars
Lord Cornwallis made the zamindars owners of the land and fixed the revenue they had to pay forever.
Q31. Which was the first state annexed under the Doctrine of Lapse, in 1848?
Show answer
Answer: B. Satara
Lord Dalhousie annexed Satara in 1848 as the first case of the Doctrine of Lapse; Jhansi and Nagpur were annexed later under the same policy.
Q32. Which Governor-General introduced the system of Subsidiary Alliance?
Show answer
Answer: C. Lord Wellesley
Lord Wellesley's Subsidiary Alliance made Indian rulers keep British troops at their own cost.
Q33. Sati was declared illegal in 1829 under which Governor-General?
Show answer
Answer: C. Lord William Bentinck
Lord William Bentinck banned sati in 1829, supported by the campaign of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
Q34. Who founded the Brahmo Samaj?
Show answer
Answer: C. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which later became the Brahmo Samaj.
Q35. Which book did Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, write?
Show answer
Answer: B. Satyarth Prakash
Satyarth Prakash sets out Dayanand Saraswati's teachings; he founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875.
Q36. The Revolt of 1857 began on 10 May 1857 at which place?
Show answer
Answer: D. Meerut
Sepoys at Meerut rose on 10 May 1857 and then marched to Delhi.
Q37. Between which two places did India's first passenger train run in 1853?
Show answer
Answer: D. Bombay and Thane
The first passenger train ran from Bori Bunder in Bombay to Thane on 16 April 1853.
Q38. Which Viceroy announced the Partition of Bengal in 1905?
Show answer
Answer: A. Lord Curzon
Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905, which sparked the Swadeshi movement; the partition was annulled in 1911.
Q39. Who founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897?
Show answer
Answer: A. Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 in the name of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Q40. Who founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873?
Show answer
Answer: D. Jyotirao Phule
Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in Pune to fight caste discrimination and spread education.
Q41. The Revolt of 1857 in Jhansi was led by whom?
Show answer
Answer: D. Rani Lakshmibai
Rani Lakshmibai led the fight at Jhansi and died fighting near Gwalior in 1858.

Freedom struggle history GK questions

Q42. In which year did Mahatma Gandhi return to India from South Africa?
Show answer
Answer: C. 1915
Gandhi returned to India in January 1915; 9 January is observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in memory of this.
Q43. Which was Gandhi's first satyagraha in India, in 1917?
Show answer
Answer: A. Champaran
The Champaran Satyagraha in Bihar in 1917 took up the cause of indigo farmers.
Q44. Which British officer ordered the firing at Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919?
Show answer
Answer: C. General Reginald Dyer
Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to fire on an unarmed crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.
Q45. Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement after which incident in 1922?
Show answer
Answer: D. Chauri Chaura
After a mob set fire to a police station at Chauri Chaura in February 1922, Gandhi called off the movement.
Q46. Why was the Simon Commission (1928) boycotted in India?
Show answer
Answer: D. It had no Indian member
All seven members of the Simon Commission were British, so Indians protested with the slogan 'Simon Go Back'.
Q47. In which city was the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) resolution passed in December 1929?
Show answer
Answer: B. Lahore
The Purna Swaraj resolution was passed at Lahore in December 1929 under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency.
Q48. From where did Gandhi begin the Dandi March in March 1930?
Show answer
Answer: B. Sabarmati Ashram
Gandhi set out from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930, reached Dandi on 5 April and broke the salt law on the morning of 6 April.
Q49. In which year was the Quit India Movement launched?
Show answer
Answer: B. 1942
The Quit India resolution was passed in Bombay on 8 August 1942, with Gandhi's call of 'Do or Die'.
Q50. Which two revolutionaries were hanged along with Bhagat Singh on 23 March 1931?
Show answer
Answer: A. Rajguru and Sukhdev
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in Lahore jail; 23 March is remembered as Shaheed Diwas.
Q51. Who led the Kakori train action of 1925?
Show answer
Answer: D. Ram Prasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil and his comrades seized government money from a train near Kakori, close to Lucknow, in August 1925.
Q52. Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak are both associated with which movement of 1916?
Show answer
Answer: D. Home Rule Movement
Tilak and Annie Besant set up separate Home Rule Leagues in 1916 to demand self-government.
Q53. Which agreement of 1931 ended the first phase of the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Show answer
Answer: A. Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 1931, Gandhi suspended civil disobedience and agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.
Q54. Who was popularly known as 'Frontier Gandhi'?
Show answer
Answer: A. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan led the non-violent Khudai Khidmatgar movement in the North-West Frontier Province.
Q55. Which satyagraha of 1928 earned Vallabhbhai Patel the title 'Sardar'?
Show answer
Answer: C. Bardoli Satyagraha
Patel led the farmers of Bardoli against a tax increase in 1928, and the women of Bardoli gave him the title 'Sardar'.
Q56. Who gave the slogan 'Give me blood, and I will give you freedom'?
Show answer
Answer: C. Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose gave this call to the soldiers and supporters of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army).

How to prepare

Study history period by period. Attempt one section without looking at the answers, then read every explanation, because it usually holds a second fact (a year, a place or a person) that examiners ask in another form. Keep a timeline notebook and add each battle, reform and movement in order; seeing 1757, 1764, 1857 and 1905 on one line makes the sequence easy to remember.

Link people with places and years in small groups: Governor-Generals with their policies, reformers with their organisations, and satyagrahas with their causes. Revise the questions you got wrong after three days and again after a week. For competitive exams, practise a full section of 13 to 15 questions in about eight minutes to build speed.

Study tips

Make a one-page timeline for each period and revise it daily for a week.
Group Governor-Generals with their policies, such as Wellesley with the Subsidiary Alliance and Dalhousie with the Doctrine of Lapse.
Re-attempt the questions you got wrong after three days to fix them in memory.

Questions people ask

How should I prepare history GK questions for competitive exams?

Divide history into ancient, medieval, modern and freedom struggle, and revise one period at a time. Use timelines and keep practising MCQs with explanations.

Which period of Indian history is asked the most in GK tests?

Modern history and the freedom struggle are asked most often in SSC, railway and state exams. Ancient and medieval questions usually focus on dynasties, religions, battles and monuments.

Are these history GK questions useful for school students?

Yes, they cover topics taught in classes 6 to 10, such as the Harappan civilisation, the Mauryas, the Mughals and the national movement. Each answer has an explanation that adds a useful fact.

Are history GK questions in Hindi also available?

This page has history GK questions in English. Our Hindi GK page includes a history section with questions written in Hindi.

Every question on this page is written and fact-checked by the GK Quizzes team. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it. How we make our questions.