In which of the following years did Nadir Shah invade India?
- (a)1736 AD
- (b)1737 AD
- (c)1738 AD
- (d)1739 AD
Correct — D, 1739 AD. The Persian ruler Nadir Shah defeated the Mughal army of Emperor Muhammad Shah at the Battle of Karnal in February 1739 and then occupied and plundered Delhi, carrying off the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. 1739 is the year this invasion of India — as distinct from his earlier campaigns in Afghanistan — is dated.
- (a)1736 AD — Too early — Nadir Shah had not yet begun his campaign toward India; his siege of Kandahar (the staging point) started only the following year.
- (b)1737 AD — The year Nadir Shah began besieging Kandahar in Afghanistan — a step before his actual invasion of India, not the invasion itself.
- (c)1738 AD — The year he took Ghazni and Kabul and crossed toward the Khyber Pass — still on the Afghan side, before the Battle of Karnal and the sack of Delhi in early 1739.
Nadir Shah's invasion is the classic illustration of Mughal military collapse in the 18th century: a smaller Persian force routed the far larger but disorganised Mughal army at Karnal, and Delhi was sacked and plundered with almost no further resistance.
The options are consecutive years (1736-1739), so the question rewards knowing the precise year of the actual invasion of India (Karnal/Delhi) rather than the earlier years of Nadir Shah's Afghan campaign that led up to it.
- Battle of Karnal fought in February 1739 between Nadir Shah and Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah
- Nadir Shah occupied and plundered Delhi, taking the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond
- The invasion exposed Mughal military weakness and encouraged later invasions by Ahmad Shah Abdali
- Nadir Shah was the founder of Persia's Afsharid dynasty
- Confusing Nadir Shah (Persian, single 1739 invasion) with Ahmad Shah Abdali (Afghan, repeated invasions 1748-1767)
- Picking the year of Nadir Shah's Kandahar siege (1737) or his Afghan campaign (1738) instead of the actual India invasion year (1739)
Invasion-date recall (Nadir Shah 1739, Abdali's invasions) is a frequent direct MCQ; pair the invader with the year and the reigning Mughal emperor.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists: List I I. 1556 II. 1600 III. 1680 IV. 1739 List II A) Battle of Haldighati B) Nadir Shah's capture of Delhi C) Death of Shivaji D) Grant of Charter to East India Company E) Accession of Akbar Codes:
- (a) I-C, II-D, III-B, IV-A
- (b) I-E, II-D, III-C, IV-B
- (c) I-E, II-B, III-A, IV-D
- (d) I-A, II-E, III-C, IV-B
Answer(b) I-E, II-D, III-C, IV-B — matching 1739 (IV) to Nadir Shah's capture of Delhi (B).
UPSC 1998 tests the identical fact — 1739 is the year of Nadir Shah's capture of Delhi — as one leg of a match-the-year-to-event question.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who was the Mughal emperor at the time of Nadir Shah's invasion of India in 1739?
- (a)Bahadur Shah I
- (b)Muhammad Shah
- (c)Ahmad Shah Bahadur
- (d)Shah Alam II
Answer(b) Muhammad Shah.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi in 1739 is most associated with the loss of which treasure to Persia?
- (a)The Peacock Throne and Koh-i-Noor diamond
- (b)The Nizam's jewels
- (c)The Golconda diamond mines
- (d)Ranjit Singh's golden throne
Answer(a) The Peacock Throne and Koh-i-Noor diamond.