Consider the following statements. I. Mandu is in Dhar district. II. Hindola Mahal is in Mandu. Select the correct answer on the basis of above statements.
- (a)Only I is true
- (b)Only II is true
- (c)Both are false
- (d)Both are true
Correct — D, both statements are true. Mandu (Mandav) is a hilltop town in Dhar district of western Madhya Pradesh, so statement I holds. The Hindola Mahal — the 'swinging palace', named for its steeply sloping (battered) walls — is one of Mandu's best-known monuments, built under the Malwa Sultanate, so statement II holds as well. Both being correct, the answer is 'both are true'.
- (a)Only I is true — Understates it — statement II is also true; the Hindola Mahal really does stand at Mandu.
- (b)Only II is true — Wrong — statement I is also true; Mandu lies within Dhar district.
- (c)Both are false — Wrong — both statements are factually correct.
Mandu, perched on the Vindhyan plateau above the Nimar plains, was the fortified capital of the Malwa Sultanate (and earlier a Paramara stronghold). Its monuments — the Jahaz Mahal, Hindola Mahal, Hoshang Shah's tomb and Rupmati's Pavilion — are landmark examples of the Malwa/Mandu style of Indo-Islamic architecture. Administratively the town lies in Dhar district.
'Both true / both false' items reward precise location memory. Lock two facts: Mandu is in Dhar district, and Mandu's marquee monuments (Jahaz Mahal, Hindola Mahal) belong to that town — then both statements clearly stand.
- Mandu (Mandav) is in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh.
- The Hindola Mahal is a Malwa-Sultanate monument at Mandu, named for its sloping 'swinging' walls.
- Other Mandu monuments: Jahaz Mahal, Hoshang Shah's tomb, Rupmati's Pavilion, Baz Bahadur's palace.
- Mandu was the capital of the Malwa Sultanate.
- Mixing up Mandu (Dhar) with Maheshwar or Omkareshwar on the Narmada
- Attributing the Hindola Mahal to a different town
MPPSC asks 'which monument is in which town/district' and two-statement location checks; UPSC tests place-to-region matching for central India.
Consider the following pairs: Famous place : Region — 1. Bodhgaya : Baghelkhand; 2. Khajuraho : Bundelkhand; 3. Shirdi : Vidarbha; 4. Nasik (Nashik) : Malwa; 5. Tirupati : Rayalaseema. Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
- (a) 1, 2 and 4
- (b) 2, 3, 4 and 5
- (c) 2 and 5 only
- (d) 1, 3, 4 and 5
Answer(c) 2 and 5 only
Same skill — placing a famous site in its correct region (Khajuraho : Bundelkhand, just as Mandu sits in Dhar/Malwa).
Where is the Matangeshwar temple located in Madhya Pradesh ?
- (a) Mandu
- (b) Chitrakoot
- (c) Tripuri
- (d) Khajuraho
Answer(d) Khajuraho
Same 'locate the MP monument' test — the Matangeshwar (Shiva) temple is at Khajuraho, with Mandu offered as a trap option.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Hoshang Shah's tomb, often called India's first marble tomb, is located at:
- (a)Mandu
- (b)Chanderi
- (c)Burhanpur
- (d)Gwalior
Answer(a) Mandu.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Mandu served as the capital of which medieval state?
- (a)Malwa Sultanate
- (b)Bahmani Sultanate
- (c)Gondwana kingdom
- (d)Bundela kingdom
Answer(a) Malwa Sultanate.