History of Pakistan and India KP PMS Paper I 2025

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
WRITTEN EXAMINATION FOR THE POSTS OF PMS OFFICER / AETO BPS-17
(2025)
HISTORY OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN (PAPER-I)
Time Allowed: 03 Hours Total Marks: 100
Note:- Attempt any five questions.
Q.No.1 Assess the long-term political and military consequences of Mahmud’s campaigns in Northern India. Did his invasions merely create a power vacuum, or did they fundamentally shatter the morale and strategic capabilities of the Rajput confederacies, thereby paving the way for the Ghurid conquests a century and a half later? (20)
Q.No.2 Evaluate the economic and administrative reforms of Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Were their ambitious projects—such as market controls and token currency—visionary attempts at state-building and economic management, or were they fundamentally flawed and tyrannical measures that destabilized the empire? (20)
Q.No.3 To what extent did the Sultanate period represent a “clash of civilizations” versus a period of dynamic cultural synthesis? Analyze this with specific reference to developments in architecture, literature, and music. (20)
Q.No.4 Critically assess the role of the nobility, particularly the “Turkan-i-Chihalgani” during the 13th century. Were they the architects of imperial stability or the Sultanate’s administration or a parasitic oligarchy whose internal power struggles consistently undermined the authority of the Sultan? (20)
Q.No.5 Analyze the First Battle of Panipat. Was Babur’s victory a “gunpowder revolution” that demonstrated the absolute superiority of his military technology and tactics (like the Tulughma), or was it primarily a result of Ibrahim Lodi’s strategic blunders and the internal decay of the Delhi Sultanate? (20)
Q.No.6 Analyze the evolution of Mughal religious policy from Jahangir to Shah Jahan. Was this period a steady retreat from Akbar’s syncretism towards Aurangzeb’s orthodoxy, or did it represent a complex balancing act, attempting to maintain an inclusive state while accommodating the growing influence of the orthodox Ulama? (20)
Q.No.7 Evaluate the wealth and stability of the Mughal economy in the 17th century. Was it the empire a powerful, self-sufficient agrarian giant, or was its prosperity increasingly dependent on the inflow of silver from the New World and maritime trade dominated by European companies, making it vulnerable to global economic shifts? (20)
Q.No.8 Trace the evolution of Mughal miniature painting from Akbar to Aurangzeb. How do the changing themes and styles—from the dynamic, narrative-driven illustrations of the Akbarnama to the formal, static court portraiture of Shah Jahan—reflect the changing political ideologies and self-perception of the Mughal Emperors? (20)