FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT TO POSTS
IN BPS – 17 UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 1994
ISLAMIC HISTORY AND CULTURE, PAPER – I
Time Allowed: 3 Hours Maximum Marks: 100
NOTE: Attempt FIVE questions in all, including Question No, 1, which is Compulsory. All questions carry equal marks. Credit will be given for critical and perceptive statement of historical facts, not for vague, generalized and platitudinous expression.
1 Read the following statements carefully and write down the correct answers in your answer-book:
(i) The Oxus is a ___ in ___
(ii) Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad in ___
(iii) Ibn Sina’s Al-Shifa deals with surgery/tasawwuf(mysticism)/medicine/philosophy
(iv) Arrange chronologically: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali; lbn Khaldun; lbn Sina; Nizam al-Mulk Tusi.
(v) Al-Zahrawi was a famous philosopher/Sufi/poet/surgeon/traveler
(vi) Hajjaj b. Yusuf was the viceroy for eastern provinces during the caliphate of ___ and ____
(vii) Write down the names of two Abbasid caliphs who were the most ardent supporters of Mu’tezilah.
(viii) Give the names of two prominent rales of the Atabeg dynasty
(ix) The expedition of Tabuk was commanded by ___ in ___
(x) Nasr bin Sayyar was the governor of ___ under the Caliph ____
2 Trace the history of spread of Islam in Asia, underlining the factor behind its rapid expansion in the Central, Western and Southern regions of this Continent. Support your answer with historical
evidence.
3 Give a brief but comprehensive sketch of the political, financial and military institutions of the Byzantine empire in the early 7th century (C.E.) and discuss their impact on the Arab empire under the Umayyads.
4 Discuss the development of Sufi thought and practice during the pre-Mongol period (i.e. prior to the sack of Baghdad in the 7th/13th CC.)
5 Write a concise note on any ONE of the following: (i) Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history (ii) Batiniyyah Movement (iii) Khawarij (Kharijites)
6 Give the historical background of the Prophet (SAW)’s migration to Yathreb and discuss the importance of Hijrah in Islamic thought and history.
7 Give a meaningful review of the Ottoman expansion into Europe and historical consequences.
8 Discuss the development of Arts and Sciences during the Umayyad Caliphate.