UPSC Prelims 2002 · General Studies

Question 5: History and Culture

The historian Barani refused to consider the state in India under Delhi Sultans as truly Islamic because

athe majority of the population did not follow Islam

bthe Muslim theologists were often disregarded

cthe Sultan supplemented the Muslim law by framing his own regulations

dreligious freedom was accorded to non-Muslims

AnswerThe answer is (c).

Ziauddin Barani, the fourteenth-century historian, wanted a Sultan who ruled strictly by the Sharia. Sultans such as Alauddin Khalji made their own regulations (zawabit) where the religious law gave no answer, or did not suit the state's needs. Barani held that a state run partly on the Sultan's own rules was not truly Islamic. Remember: zawabit = Sultan's own secular regulations, placed beside the Sharia.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) A non-Muslim majority was a fact of Sultanate rule, not Barani's test of whether the state was Islamic.
(b) Not the ground the question wants; Barani's point is the Sultan's own regulations.
(c) Right: the Sultan supplemented Muslim law with his own regulations (zawabit).
(d) Not the ground the question wants; the point is the Sultan's own law-making.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2002, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.